Heading Out To Camp

We went camping last weekend with a group of about thirty people from our church. Each family signed up to take care of making one specific meal. We joined together with another family to make breakfast Saturday morning and Kerry volunteered to take on dessert for Saturday night. Each family also signed up to bring paper goods which we would all share.

I spent the day gathering......

...two water coolers, two air mattresses, paper towels, toilet paper, coffee cups, water cups, tin foil, flashlights, the tent, a ground cover, blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, sunscreen, bug spray, beach toys, beach towels, folding chairs, a pop up tent to act as a covered porch in case of rain or excessive sunshine, light jackets because it's getting chilly at night, Emily's guitar....

...charcoal, lighters, a big metal fire pit, ingredients to make breakfast casserole for the entire group, ingredients to make dessert for the entire group, dairy-free food for Emily, and snacks for my family packed into two coolers because it wouldn't all fit in one.

Plus, each of us packed a backpack with our clothes and swimsuits.

(The dogs know when they see all this stuff that someone is leaving and they give us looks of betrayal all day.)

Once I had everything gathered together and Kerry got home to help load it into the vehicles, I gestured at everything and said, "This is like moving. I'm honestly not sure I think camping is worth it."

Kerry responded, "Ben and I go camping once a month and we take every single thing we need on our backs. This," he gestured at the piles of gear, "is not camping!"

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