Happy Campers

Last weekend we went camping. We rented a Scamper (small camper) from the Base and took out little family out to Chiniak for the weekend. Chiniak is about an hour drive outside of town, and into the wilderness.

Camping for men is easy. They don't mind being dirty, or peeing in the woods, or not having a shower...and they love fire, beer, sitting around doing nothing!

But, camping for women is a completely different story. Being dirty is horrible and there are only so-many wet-ones you can use to try to clean yourself. Peeing the woods is an experience! If you haven't done it, you should give it a try. First, you must sneak out, as if you were going on a walk through the woods all by yourself...then you must find a tree that will hide your exposure...next, you must QUICKLY pull your pants down, squat, pee as fast as you can, wipe, and yank your pants back on like nothing ever happened. It's a race. Yet, it doesn't help when your two dogs follow you to your destination...and then continue to sniff everything!

And...have you ever thought...what do you do with the toilet paper? Do you leave the used toilet paper out in the woods and contaminate nature? Or do you bring it back with you and toss it in the trash that is hanging from the nearest tree?

And, let's talk about peeing in Alaska at 4am. Ya, its a little cold...um...but, there are over 3,000 bears on this island; and it's bear season! Have you ever thought about that?!?! At that point, it's nice to have the 2 dogs sniffing everything in hopes that they would alert you if there were a bear watching you pee.

Aside from all that...and the "shower" (of lack there-of)...we had a nice time.

Emily had a friend come out on Saturday and the two of them are so cute together. They are BFF. It's fun to watch her play. Ethan LOVES to be outside, so he had a ball! Me, well, I got plenty of sleep and Chris got some quality time with the kids.

It was a bit rough being in this 16' camper with 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs. I slept on the couch/table/conversion with Ethan, Emily and Bryndall. Chris slept on the tiny bunk bed. Chloe slept on the entire floor. No bathroom in the tiny camper, only option was to squat outside. It was cramped, but the kids loved it!