While we brought the last of our items to the correct tents, Mom was setting out a simple picnic lunch that I couldn’t wait to dig into.
Mom had made a variety of sandwiches last week and frozen them so that they’d be nice and fresh for this moment. This was the only soft bread we would get for the rest of the trip, except for the fresh bread that would be baked over the fire later. Mom had also bought a 12 pack of the fancy juice called Sunny D and labelled them so that we would each have two juice bottles to keep clean and refill with water and Tang crystals. I opened my little bottle of Sunny-D and took a big swig of the sweet liquid. Camping was fun cuz we got to eat and drink some fancy things that weren’t part of our normal life.
Dad started poking at the firepit, clearly wondering if it was worth it to get the fire going yet. I saw him glance at his watch and thrust his arm down impatiently, not liking the answer, and not yet remembering that this was a holiday, and he could make his own routine. Besides, he hadn’t bought the firewood yet.
Mom directed us to the hand-washing station she had created out of a large, empty juice jug and a golf tee plug, which she set up a bar of soap and a towel on one of the short ends of the picnic table, “wash your hands first” before we could sit at the table. We looked at each other and raced to the washing station, each eager to be the first to wash up, yet our love of order always had us washing up in order of age regardless of who arrived at the washing station first. As usual, Marianne and I jostled each other at this point. It was clear that Joey was oldest and Sam was youngest, but Marianne and I were technically the same age, so I often argued with her about who should go second after Joey, even though I knew that Marianne always won out in the end and got to go ahead of me, because she was born eleven minutes before I was, and she never let me forget it.
When we returned to the picnic table I was surprised and pleased to see that Mom had made little personalized activity boxes for us again this year. I opened mine while taking a huge bite out of my bologna and mustard sandwich. Peeking inside I saw three Archie comic books, a sketchbook, a rainbow of markers, three pencils and a sharpener, a notebook, 3 pens, a reference book about native bugs, a map of the park and surrounding area, wax coated pieces of colourful yarn to sculpt with, a deck of cards, six dice, and twenty pennies. Looking around at the others, I could tell they were happy with their boxes too.
Dad made his way over with his still-dirty hands to grab a sandwich. “Hey,” Mom tapped his wrist, “Wash first. I love you…but wash first.” His face remained without expression as he looked at her for a long time but did not wash his hands before taking a big bite out of his sandwich, then, saying nothing, he carried it back with him, over to the firepit where he continued clearing it out in preparation for a fire. “In the future, could you pile the sticks you find BESIDE the firepit, instead of in it please?” he complained to no one in particular. Us kids all looked at each other and grinned, but no one responded to him cuz we could pretend we didn’t know who he was talking to.
Mom had already placed the firebox near the fire pit. The firebox was a toolbox that contained fire starters she had made from paper egg cartons and paraffin wax. It also contained matches, lighters, duct tape, a compass, a headlamp, the rest of the cigars, spare tent pegs, candles, a big jackknife, a rubber mallet, and some other basic tools. Us kids had dumped the sticks we’d gathered in the firepit, and, despite Dad’s preference that we don’t, we probably would toss them inside the pit again next year.
Finishing his sandwich, Dad leaned forward, hands on thighs, to push himself up to standing from his squat position. Big sigh: “Whelp. I’m gonna go buy some firewood. Anyone wanna come?”
And you know what? Even though it felt like we had spent our whole lives in that cramped car, us three oldest kids still opted to pile back into it and ride with Dad to find some wood. First, we cleaned up lunch and then we piled back into the car. We couldn’t all go, because we needed space for the firewood. The back of the minivan had become our pantry, and we couldn’t put heavy wood on top of that, it would have to go on one of the seats.
Mom and Sam stayed back. Sam was drawing something in his new sketchbook that he wanted to finish, and Mom wanted to arrange things around the picnic table little better, after which they would explore around the site to find the best routes to walk to the important nearby places: potable water spigots, pit toilet, trash bin, comfort station, and the quickest way to get to the beach.
After we piled back into the minivan, we opened all the windows. We did NOT put on our seatbelts. We felt so very free, and so happy. Dad drove us past the powered comfort station that we had walked to upon arrival. “There’s our comfort station!” I helpfully called out; in case the others had missed it. The music from the car radio was playing pretty loud. Joey looked back at me and smiled a happy, closed smile and nodded at me. I looked over at Marianne and smiled hugely at her. Marianne grinned back.
Joey guided our way, using the complimentary campground map we had been given at check-in, to help Dad find the camp store. I made sure Dad knew when he was driving faster than the 20km speed limit. He might have rolled his eyes at me a couple times, but I could tell Marianne approved of my quest to keep us safe and law-abiding.
Marianne held tightly to the small bag of garbage Mom had given her, looking tensely out the window, watching for a bear-proof garbage bin to throw it in.
Dad would nod or wave the side of his hand at other campers as they walked by and peered into our vehicle with naked curiosity. Marianne didn’t like it when they looked at her, I knew that she felt threatened by their glances, but I was excited by them, “I’m gonna make friends with those ones, they look cool. I wonder if they live close to our site?”
When we got to the camp store, I raced inside to see if they had mugs, t-shirts, or puppets. Marianne and Joey raced to the freezer to pick out six large plastic-bag freezies in a variety of our favourite colours. On some level I heard Dad say to the lady, “three bags firewood and one bag kindling please, oh, and these freezies too please.” but I was lost in the world of wishing, because I had seen a racoon puppet that I really badly needed. I stood in front of it and stared at it for quite some time, thinking only about how the other kids would love the stories I tell with that puppet and how good that would feel.
Joey jostled my shoulder to let me know it was time to go. Dad and Marianne were already in the car sucking on their freezies, so I knew that now was not the time for me to ask for that puppet. I would wait.
As soon as we got back to our campsite, I could see that Mom had laid out more snacks for us to pack up and take to the beach. Regardless, Dad started chopping the wood for his fire. Sam and Mom were laying in a couple hammocks talking about the way the sun shone through the leaves above them. They had already changed into their swimsuits and were using their beach towels as pillows. I went over to give them their partially thawed freezies, while mine hung from my mouth, the condensation dripping down my chin, neck, and belly.
“We’re gonna have a great week,” Mom smiled up at me as she accepted her red freezie from me. Cherry was Mom’s favourite artificial flavour, she loved it when the red colour freezie was actually cherry flavour, because sometimes red wasn’t cherry. “We’ve been watching the sun move the shadows across the site, and so far it doesn’t look like it will get too sunny for us with this set-up.” I nodded, biting off another chunk of my freezie. None of us liked to get too hot — we liked the shade, we liked mild weather, and we liked reading.
Before heading to the beach, we’d want to gather our beach stuff, get changed into swimsuits, and pack our snacks. At home last week, Mom had made a fabulous granola cereal that we could make into GORP by filling our personalized zip-lock bags with what ever we wanted from the choices that she had laid out for us, but our hands had to be clean, and we had to use the scoops provided. As with everything, we were expected to re-use and refill our ziplock bags until they broke. Mom stashed a few new bags in case our bag broke and couldn’t hold our snacks anymore.
I washed my hands, grabbed a water bottle with my initial on it, and then headed to the back of the car to create my GORP. I chose out the bag with my name on it, using my hip to push Marianne out of my way, since I had gotten there first. I scooped in some smarties, some gummy worms, some peanuts, some sunflower seeds and a big scoop of granola. Then I sealed my bag and put it on the picnic table with my water bottle. Mom would toss all the snacks and drinks in her bag and carry it to the beach for us.
Joey went into the games tent to change into his swim shorts, while Marianne and I changed in the sleeping tent. Afterwards, we carried our towels around with us and asked when we could go to the beach. “Hang on a sec, I’ll put on my swim shorts too,” said Dad. Sam and Mom struggled to liberate their bodies out of the hammocks and then they waited with us for Dad to be ready to go. Then they showed us all the quickest way to the beach that they had discovered.
In no time we were at the beach, playing in the water and warming ourselves in the sand. Joey and Mom worked on a sand sculpture; it looked like they were making a dragon. Dad was ready with the camera to snap a picture of it as soon as they stopped — before it crumbled with heartbreak and neglect like all sand sculptures eventually do.
It had been a busy day, and the sun felt nice and warm on my skin. My body felt toasty and safe as I lay back on my sandy towel and closed my eyes, watching the sun and clouds make colourful moving shapes inside my eyelids.
Before long, I was asleep.
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Mom’s Granola recipe:
350* for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes.
While preheating the oven to 350*, place the following in a large roasting pan and put it inside the heating oven until the butter melts. Then remove it from the oven and stir it all smoothly together:
- 1&1/2 cups Butter
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup local Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon real Vanilla Extract
While it softens, collect the following into a large bowl:
- 9&1/2 cups Old Fashioned or Steel Cut Oats
- 3&1/2 cups Nuts. Choose your favourites of the following: Almond, Cashew, Hazelnut, Pecan, Walnut, salted or unsalted.
- 1/2 cup Seeds. Choose your favourites of the following: Chia, Flax, Pumpkin, Sesame, Sunflower.
- 2&1/2 cups Coconut Flakes.
Stir the dry ingredients together, then pour them into the roasting pan with the warm, melted ingredients and stir again.
Bake the mixture in the roasting pan for 20-25 minutes but remove it from the oven every 5-7 minutes for a minute to stir it well and ensure even toasting. Scrape it up from the bottom, move toasty bits to the middle.
Stir your granola periodically while you let it cool before scooping it into a storage container so that it stays nice and crisp. If you seal granola that is still warm in a container, the steam will create trapped moisture and result in softer granola.
Granola Cereal goes very well with milk, ice cream, homemade yoghourt and fresh/dried/frozen berries.
Great GORP adds:
- Plain M&M’s
- Smarties
- Chocolate Chips
- Dry Roasted Peanuts
- Gummy Worms
- Dried Banana Slices
- Dried Apricots
- Chopped Dates Coated in tiny Coconut Flakes
- Raisins
- Dried Cranberries
- Dried Apple Slices
- Dried Peach Slices
- Dried Mushroom bits