Camping with ticks

For Memorial day we decided to go camping at a near by state park. We hadn't gone for years, our son had never been, we have all this cool gear, there was a strawberry festival at the park, we think we're tough.... for all these good reasons we thought it was a great idea. Hmph. 

Lessons learned (or maybe just reminders): 

There are good reasons we haven't gone in years

Gear is not a good enough reason

We needed better gear for that hike

We won't enjoy a festival after a terrible night camping

We are not that tough

Ticks and worry take all the fun out of sitting in the grass

Not all ticks give you Lyme Disease

Allergies are worse in the woods

I hate bugs

Pregnant women still have to pee a lot, even if they are in the woods

Fires don't burn well with wet wood

We prefer air conditioning over muggy heat

First we had to walk 1.06 miles to get from the car to the camp site. We were unprepared for the "trail" since we had not been there before.

Jared is superman and pushed all our crap (and sometimes the guy too) on these very uncooperative wheels through a huge meadow, over rocks, and up a gravel road.

This is how NOT to avoid ticks getting all over your child

The guy was such a good sport and walked a long way for those little legs. Over an hour later, we arrived at the camp site. By then we had already pulled 2 ticks off of the little guy. 

This eagle scout made the most of the water-filled fire pit. He laid as many flat rocks as he could on the bottom to build the fire on. It had been raining for days prior to our trip and we were forbidden by law to bring our own wood in to the park. Only the wet scraps remained. Consequently, we enjoyed lots of smoke, which did get rid of the pests flying around our faces. :)

Using the battery-powered air pump we brought for the air mattress to wake up the fire.  Jared nearly passed  out trying to blow on the fire. Then we used this! Genius!

An hour later the fire was hot and strong enough to heat the hot dogs. That was all. We had brought delicious tin foil pockets of veggies and herbs, and a fruity dessert but the fire wasn't hot enough to cook them. At least we didn't go hungry. 

Admiring my hero from afar

The sun had done down, it was all dark, and the camera flash nearly blinded me and the guy. We don't normally look so wide-eyed and bushy tailed. :) 

Breakfast. By 6:30 am we had had enough and were ready to just go home. I woke up so much in the night, each time to nightmares of ticks eating my family alive, painful legs cramps, or pee attacks. However the ticks had paralyzed me with with fear to leave the tent. On one such pee trip I found a tick in my pants along the waist line. We found 3 more in the tent before packing up - one below the mattress, one in the guy's port-a-crib, and one in our blanket! Oh, not to mention the one that had attached to the guy's little butt. 

The natural beauty was my favorite part - a highlight a midst many dark stressors. 

We found this treasure the next morning on our hike back to the car.  S must have dropped it the day before.  I bet some lonesome tick found shelter in it over night. 

When we arrived at home we all showered and checked for more ticks. I had one stubborn tick on my back that just would not come out smoothly. Jared eventually saved me and we are all fine. However, we did learn a lot about the proper way to I.D and remove ticks. My sister contracted Lyme Disease from a tick in childhood and I am very paranoid. But, we are good now.

Our take home message from what I fear has come off as a very negative post: The Ondricek family prefers day hikes to overnight camping. We love the scenic views, the non-flesh eating creatures, and the physical activity as long as we can go home, shower, and sleep comfortably in our own beds. Now we know. And so do you. :) 

Any lessons you've learned that make for a fun family camp trip?