After an action-packed weekend at Artscape (nearly on our doorstep), I decided to take Mila on a camping trip to the Blue Ridge mountains. Marie could not come because of work, so this became the first night that Mila had ever slept apart from her mom. Roughing it, to be sure. We left late Monday morning and made it to the entrance to Skyline Drive at Front Royal, Virginia, within two hours. Once we got on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, we drove slowly (while stopping at overlooks) for probably another 45 minutes until we arrived at Mathews Arm campground.
I should mention that the idea of going camping alone with my 21-month-old daughter, as much as it would surely be a great bonding experience, was also slightly terrifying. I had never experienced being the sole guardian of her well-being for such a long period of time, and Mila had never experienced a full day and night without nursing either.
Things were off to a good start when I managed to get the tent up by myself while managing Mila's involvement with the process. She had some fun dancing inside the tent, and we had a little bit of reading time before venturing out for a hike. We took a short walk, on which Mila got a Smokey The Bear sticker from a campground host, and arrived at a trailhead. Although I had looked forward to doing some serious hiking on this trip, Mila was unusually disinterested in covering much ground. Instead we shortly made our way back to the campsite, where I attempted and failed to start a campfire. Soot-covered, I prepared some cold Tofu Pup "hot dogs" on buns, with a roasted corn and black bean salsa as relish, along with cold baked beans, and blueberries. Mila completely dissed the Tofu Pups, then found her spot in the front passenger seat of the car and single-handedly devoured the blueberries. She seemed content with the berries, plus baked beans, some peanuts, and bun, topped off with some apple juice. We met the dogs of our neighbors a couple of sites up the hill, and were in general good spirits.
I had to struggle a little bit with my expectations of how one should appreciate a natural environment after driving a long distance to be in it. None of my pre-conceived ideas had to do with sitting more in a parked car and pretending to drive. Perhaps Mila wanted to feel in control of where we were traveling, who knows. Anyway, this was OK for awhile but I soon wanted to do things outside of the car. I would ask Mila if she wanted to walk, or go read in the tent, and she would repeatedly practice her new favorite word, "No". She wanted to hang out in the far back of the car where the dog usually was, and in the backseat, and in the front seats. She would point out where Mommy usually sat. She especially liked being at the steering wheel and playing with all the various levers. And she wanted the car key. When I put the car key in my pocket and wouldn't give it to her, she actually took my hand and put it in my pocket to get the key! I wondered at her ability to think about manipulating actions by others, and I wondered how far I should let her have her way in a situation like this.
Attempting to segue from Mila's interest in putting her doll in the carseat, I offered the idea of driving to a nearby place to walk or just take in the sunset view. When it became clear that she would have to get in the carseat, the answer was a clear "No". Each time that I subsequently tried to pick her up and move her out of the car, or to the tent, or into the carseat, it resulted in fitful yelling and screaming to echo through the trees. I'm not sure why I didn't have the foresight to get a campsite a little further from neighbors, but I became embarrassed about the unhappy noise and also paranoid about whether I was being considered a possible kidnapper or someone equally horrible. I'm not sure how many 30-something males I have seen camping alone with a toddler, if any. I was also concerned that the tantrums were linked to Mila's anxiety about being so far away from her Mom overnight. At one point, the crying was so overwhelming as I tried to get her settled in the tent that I scooped her up and quickly buckled her into the carseat, driving out to the main road to give our poor neighbors a break. The crying didn't stop and I didn't drive far before turning around. Arriving back at our campsite, I just decided to let Mila have her enjoyment exploring the inside of the car until she felt more comfortable and in control of things. At some point during all of this, Mila saw that I was a bit depressed and spoke to me directly in the most sincere babbling tone, seemingly explaining all the necessity behind her actions.
Finally, I again asked Mila if she wanted to get down from the car and go read a book in the tent, and she replied "Teh" in the affirmative. We got settled in the tent and read by flashlight, a favorite being songs from the "Maracas" book in the Music Together series. After only one more period of toddler anxiety, involving the door of the tent and the word "Mommy", we both fell asleep under the stars.
At some point during the night (time became unmeasurable after the battery of my cell phone died), I awoke to hear the sound of a large animal walking in the woods around my campsite. Whether it was a deer or a bear I wasn't sure, but I knew enough to have all food stored in the car. Within the first minute of my hearing this, like at a certain point in the movie Jurassic Park, a drizzle of rain began falling. As the fly of the tent was in the car, I waited awhile to determine how much water could be deflected without the fly. When I began to feel water drip on my head, I knew it was time to act. Luckily, I encountered no large animal in my way and heard nothing more as I made my quick trip to the car and got the fly positioned over the tent.
When we woke up (for the final time) in the early morning sunlight, Mila was bright-eyed and happy. She quickly wanted to get on her shoes and explore the outdoors. We had a leisurely breakfast at our picnic table, but soon had to move in double-time to get our tent packed up before the distant thunderstorm wasn't so distant. We got it all in the car before the rain began falling, which it did for only about 5 minutes. We drove southward on Skyline Drive all the way to highway 33, where we would make a short run down to Charlottesville, town of Mila's Daddy's birth. During a short hike at Skyland, Mila got to see two deer at a fairly close distance. I only wish that she had been awake when I saw a small black bear bound across the road just north of Big Meadows.
When we arrived in Charlottesville, we had lunch at an Indian buffet (favorite of Mila's), stopped at a Ben & Jerry's (where Mila fed me Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream and took almost none for herself), and called Marie from the public library. We made it through, Mama.
Things to remember to bring next time:
1. More water
2. Hooded sweatshirts for all (even in the summer)
3. Insect repellant
4. Starter sticks or something for the campfire
5. Ergo baby carrier
6. Mommy
No comments:
Post a Comment