Holy cow, fall camping! Who knew? We are sure a lot of
people know the amazing secret of fall camping, but for us it was a brand new
experience. We have shivered through wet early spring nights, huddled in the
car during late spring storms, and lie awake sweating in humid hundred-degree
heat. With educators running this show, we are on the road and in the tent our
whole summer vacation. Once school starts though, camping life has always come
to a seasonal pause. Until this weekend.
This weekend instead of immediately dropping onto the couch
and staring at screens, we guzzled some strong Americanos, ordered pizza, and
spent our Friday night packing the car for an overnight camp-out. A relatively
close state park was holding an annual Halloween bash with fall activities and
a haunted hayride. The kiddos had been asking about visiting a haunted house
and the hayride seemed to be a good alternative to long lines ending in an
expensive 15 minute experience.
As usual we did not
plan ahead and had no reservation for a campsite or the “reservations only”
hayride. We took a chance went anyway. It was only a two-hour drive, and even
if we didn’t get a camping spot, we had time to spend the whole day exploring
nature trails and historical sites.
After a little more exploring, we decided to try our luck at
getting on the “reservations only” hayride. It turns out all we had to do was
ask. The very kind woman in charge of loading the hayrides had us simply pay
the fee, and let us on. Riding through the woods at night gave the kiddos a few
good scares and lots of laughs!
As nerdy parents always do, we had to make a lesson out of
the experience for the kiddos. Risk-taking is an important part of life. We told
them that we knew we were running the risk of not getting a campsite or going
on the hayride, but these weren’t risks that resulted in consequences that weren't any worse than simply staying home. We pointed out that it was
perseverance and footwork that got us our campsite. Investigating along with
speaking up got us on that entertaining haunted hayride (that and $28).
The parents learned a few things as well. We learned fall
camping is awesome! For one thing, the earth shifts positions giving us a
better night sky. In the plains, fall is much dryer than our wet springs and
humid summers. This made everything easier, from finding kindling, to starting
our fires, to packing up a dew free tent in the morning. Hiking through the
colorful woods was gorgeous and less strenuous in the cool air. Plus, aside
from a few beetles and bees, and a brilliantly colored orb weaver spider, there were far
fewer bugs. This makes us wonder, what if we take an even bigger risk and try
camping in the winter?
