Our Very First Group Camping Trip
photo credit: Nadine Wegner By guest blogger Peter Valentine Our kids’ class has a tradition of reserving a block of sites at a Campground in the Catskills for a start of summer multi-family camping trip. While we love camping, we were reluctant to open our quirky unit to a 24/7 togetherness campaign. Our messy, disorganized family of five can barely get to school on time (OK, we’re never on time) and running with the pack is often a challenge. But this year, we decided to give it a try. We started out early (for us) and still managed to be the last family there. And as we tried to maneuver our food up to the now-waning community grill, and as our tent and gear still sat in a pile beside our car and as our kids’ requests for this and that grew more intense, all my fears were confirmed. This would be a prolonged display of the fact that our family was in a constant state of chaos management. And then one Mom handed me a plastic cup of single malt whiskey. And another Mom and Dad f...