Chapter 1 of:
The Three C's of Camping; Chaos, Calamity, Catastrophe

The first time Dan and I took our four children camping they ranged in age from five to thirteen. Being from very humble beginnings ourselves, it was all we could do to keep up with house payments, music lessons, soccer, lacrosse and gymnastics, never mind buying camping equipment or saving for an actual holiday.

The best thing that ever happened to us was our meeting and eventual life-long friendship with George and Joy. Even though, to this very day, we still do not understand what started the friendship, we have nurtured this union and could not wish for better buddies. My hubby Dan was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud in those days, not wanting to experience anything new. He loved staying home watching the tube. He did relent enough to join a man’s bowling league, and to go fishing in George’s boat once or twice.

George and Joy had been bugging us to come out camping, but Dan always had a pat answer. "We have no camping equipment," he would say over and over.

The kids and I really wanted to try out camping. We all nagged him about it. Over the winter, George and Joy didn’t give up on him, and every chance they got they would insist that we go with them the first campout in the spring.

At the first signs of tulips and daffodils they started to plan. Dan, not being one to try out new things, was making it obvious how much he was dreading it, but did not want to hurt George and Joy’s feelings. I’m sure he felt totally out-numbered as we all discussed what fun it would be, and the children got more and more excited. Joy’s parents, Bob and Olive, had a four-man tent they would loan us for the weekend for the children to sleep in, and Dan and I would sleep in the extra bed in George and Joy’s trailer.

We had some sleeping bags that we had purchased over the years for summer gymnastics camp and extra kids' sleepovers. We dug out the dusty summer chaise lounges from storage, brushed them off, and along with George and Joy's, we made up enough camp cots for the kids to set up in the tent. Extra towels, some soap, toothpaste and the usual six suitcases you need when you travel with kids was readied. All that was needed now was to buy the groceries for the weekend.

On Wednesday night we met at the Safeway and pooled our ideas for the weekend food, and before we knew it the station wagon was full of groceries. Dan still wasn’t sure, and sort of lingered in the background, looking for all the world like he had been caught up in something he was definitely not going to enjoy.

Thursday night came along and right after work we headed out. The destination was Aquadel Campsite at Chilliwack, BC. The campsite had a pool and a nine-hole golf course, lots of firewood for campfires, in fact, everything a group of brand-new campers would need. George and Joy were bound and determined that our first taste of camping was going to be wonderful.

The kids were ecstatic. They wanted to try everything as soon as we drove into the campsite, and of course it was already dark when we got there. Somehow, Dan and George got the tent set up using the headlights from the two station wagons. Joy and I opened up the cots and set them up inside the tent with the sleeping bags neatly laid out on each cot.

The fellows had built a campfire, but even the campfire couldn’t keep the kid's attention. All they wanted to do was to go and try out their rustic new beds so they could really experience this camping thing. So off they went to bed, at only 10 p.m., and without being told to do so.

Between the excitement of this great experience for them, and all the fresh air, it was only a few minutes before they were sound asleep. It was still pretty chilly in April, but they seemed to be toasty warm when they all went to bed, and also when I checked on them before the adults turned in at midnight.

Sometime in the early hours of the morning I woke up and realized how cold it actually was. I got up and took more blankets from the station wagon and put them on the kids in the tent so that they would not be cold. We would have to come up with a better solution to keep them warm for Friday and Saturday night.

When we all got up Friday morning the aroma in the air was of freshly perked coffee, maple syrup and frying bacon. We were all starved, and even Dan ate a hardy breakfast. The kids swore that they were warm enough all night, even though I was sure that without the extra blankets they would have been hammering at the trailer door to come into a warmer place.

After breakfast the kids just disappeared. They were exploring the campsite, checking out all the things to be done later on in the day. That gave the four adults time to sit and talk over another cup of coffee. Between the four of us, we decided it would be better to try to get some heat into the tent for the upcoming night. George and Joy had an electric heater we could plug into an extension cord and place it in the tent. For sure the kids wouldn’t need those extra blankets tonight!

The four children and the four adults alike spent Friday playing really hard. Seeing it was our first time camping, George and Joy showed us the ropes. George showed Dan how to hook and unhook the trailer, equalizer hitch, anti-sway bars and stabilizer jacks. Joy showed me how to set up the campsite, how to stack cupboards so everything wouldn’t land on the floor, how to use every inch of storage and how to keep a coffee pot brewing and hot water ready at all times. While the kids decided to walk over to the campsite next door to fish at the trout farm, the four adults played nine holes of golf. After lunch we all went swimming for about two hours and came back to the campsite for hot chocolate. Joy and I got dinner ready for everyone. By the time we ate and did dishes, the children had their pyjamas on and were all huddled up in their sleeping bags by the campfire, listening to the stories that Dan and George were stringing about their fishing trips and the one that got away. Fairly early in the evening the electric heater was placed in the tent to get it warm for bedtime. Finally, off they went to bed and found the tent to be as snug and warm as their own bedrooms at home. They had played so hard they were asleep almost instantly. By midnight everyone, including the adults, was fast asleep.

Saturday morning was a replay of Friday. The same aromas were wafting on the air, and if anything, we were all hungrier than the previous morning. The camp building had some activities for kids, so as soon as breakfast was over the kids once again disappeared, leaving Joy and I to the dishes. Some of the disappearing-act right after meals was probably because at home, the kids were responsible for the dishes clean up, but out here it seemed that chores would be left to the adults.

Dan and George were deep in conversation, talking about how powerful a car had to be to pull a trailer. Seemed that Dan was showing some curiosity about actually camping. Could it be he was having a good time in spite of his first doubts?

We sat around the fire with a couple more cups of coffee, planning what would be fun for the kids to do that day. A heated pool in April was not at all hard to take. It seemed, even with our planned activities, the kids had plenty to keep them occupied. We would have to make lunch today, but a wiener and marshmallow roast would be our definite mid-day event on Sunday.

So far on Friday and Saturday our weather hadn’t been at all bad. It was cold in the mornings, with patches of sun and clouds all day, but no rain even though it was forecast. The day just whizzed along too quickly, from one fun thing to another. More swimming, trout fishing and golf until it was once again time for bed. The heater had been wonderful for the tent and again tonight the children snuggled into their cots almost begging for sleep in their exhaustion. While the four of us sat around the now very quiet campfire, it began to rain lightly. We were sure it would only be a light sprinkle and so, putting our camp chairs under the awning, the four of us headed into the trailer, leaving the kids dreaming of the big Easter egg hunt the next morning.

Dan and I lay in our bed, quietly listening to the rain fall on the trailer roof. As Dan started to breath heavily in his sleep I also fell off to dreamland.

At first it was just a light shower, but as the sound of the rain became heavier and heavier on the trailer roof it woke me enough to notice that maybe the predicted rain was finally here. At one point in the night I sat up in bed and pulled back the trailer curtain to peer out to the tent. All was well; the tent was still very quiet. The sound of the rain finally put me back to sleep.

When the four of us awoke in the morning, the kids were still asleep, which was a little unusual, but they were so exhausted. As we opened the trailer curtains, we could see how much it had rained and still was raining. As we opened the trailer door we saw that the campsite was flooded with water.

It only took a couple of seconds for reality to set in – we were standing at the edge of three inches of water. In the middle of the three inches of water sat the tent, with the extension cord trailing through the water and snaking its way inside the tent, where it was hooked to the metal heater also sitting in three inches of water! The tent floor was covered in water. All four kids were on their cots still asleep.

Without waking them, George and Dan tried to make their way directly over to the electrical box to unplug the extension cord before the four kids awoke and jumped out of bed, possibly electrocuting themselves. My heart was in my throat. I wanted to yell but I couldn’t. It was only seconds until the plug was pulled, but it seemed like the men were moving in slow motion, and for me it was an eternity waiting to see that disconnected plug in George’s hand. Just a few seconds later all four kids were wide awake and wading out of their tents to higher ground, none the wiser that their parents had darn near electrocuted them.

Easter eggs were the order of the day, so not much breakfast was eaten. George had insisted on setting up hidden eggs for all the kids to find. Thank goodness he had the presence of mind to place them where they would not get soaking wet. George was so thankful that the kids were okay that he tried as hard as he could to dry out the firewood so they could experience the wiener/marshmallow roast. It was an experience for sure – the kids had their experience with smoked wieners and smoked marshmallows because we could hardly get a flame going. The fire resembled a smudge pot, but it was the thought that counted.

That afternoon we packed up the campsite and headed home. The car was abuzz with all the reminiscing of the weekend, and what a wonderful experience George and Joy had shared with us. That summer Dan went shopping for our very first trailer, which we enjoyed for many years before we traded it in for another one.

Years later we told the story of the electric heater to the four children, and they in turn relate the story now to their children, telling each of those bright-eyed little wonders how lucky they are that they were born. And when the little ones ask why, their parents just say, "Because Nana and Grampa and George and Joy tried to electrocute us kids when we were young."