Fibro Camping

Let me start by saying that I do not come from a strong camping background.  I grew up in South Florida and failed to stay for the entirety of any Girl Scout camping trip I ever attended.  In fact, it's a big part of why I was asked to leave our troop.  Yes, I was essentially kicked out of Girl Scouts.  But that's a story for another day.  Today I'm talking about adulthood.

I've been camping twice as an adult, both times with work.  The first trip made me extremely apprehensive.  I mean, I couldn't handle it before fibro so how could I possibly make it through now?  Obi-John and my coworkers cajoled me into joining in and I am very glad they did.  And then this year I was actually excited about the trip.  Sure, I was tired and sore by the time we got home.  But as part of my whole "I won't let fibro run my life" thing it was worth it.  Obi-John and I slept on an air mattress in the emptied out trailer that hauled all of the equipment to the site so we had a pretty cozy set up.  It got chilly but not terribly cold this year and we ate really well--full breakfast with eggs, meat, and biscuits, dinner of burgers and brats one night and steak kabobs the next night.  All of that makes camping pretty sweet.  This year the girls (me and the only other female coworker) even got to pee in the defunct camper on site.  Less peeing in the woods was a definite plus.

Home Sweet Cargo Trailer

I'm in the woods!

This weekend will be a different story altogether.  We are participating in Cub Scouts Family Camping, so it's us and the boys.  In a tent.  For a weekend.  We won't have the gourmet cooking so we're working on food plans that work for all of us.  It is a scout campground, so I'm hoping for real bathrooms.  The boys will be doing a bunch of scout activities and I imagine we will have to tag along.  There will be hiking, which I do enjoy.  I'm guessing that means not a lot of downtime and rest for Mommy.  I'm working on staying positive about this despite feeling apprehensive.  My mantra right now is "this will be fun," accompanied by an only slightly maniacal smile.  I want this to be great.  I want the boys to form memories that they will cherish forever.  I want my body to suck it up and cooperate for a weekend so that I don't detract from the experience.  And I totally plan to soak in a hot bath immediately upon our return home.

To recap: I'm not sure which is the bigger accomplishment--camping with fibro or simply camping at all, given my history and disinclination to partake of nature.  My dad is getting a big kick out of the fact that I'm doing all of this camping.  He still (fondly, I'm sure) remembers those midnight calls to come get me from a campsite.

Whatever your weekend plans, I wish you good times!  Gentle hugs, FibroMIGHTS!