The past few years, Dan and several of his buddies have gone camping in Dolly Sods, West Virgina. Every time he returns from a trip there, Dan just can't wait to take William one day. He would tell us how beautiful the scenery is along the trails, how the camping sites were along a creek and how William would just LOVE playing in the water and exploring the surroundings. Well, now that William is 2.5 years old, we thought it might be fun to give it a try.
If you read this blog regularly, you might recall the car camping trip that Dan took William on while I was in New Orleans visiting my sister. That particular camp out was a huge success, and so Dan and I thought William would be ready to take on the wilds of West, VA. The Dolly Sods camping trip was going to require a bit of a hike off the beaten path and into a remote area of the woods. We were confident that William would love the hike because he's just a child who LOVES being outside, all day, every day. We also knew that camping at Dan's camp site by the creek would give William endless playtime and that he'd be so excited to splash in the water. So, we were fired up and ready to roll.
We got to the Dolly Sods mid afternoon and hiked to Dan's remote campsite. William loved exploring the trail and collecting rocks to put in his backpack. He even wanted to wear his train hat which is rare because he usually doesn't like hats. However, he saw that Dan and I were wearing backpacks and hats and he was totally on board to be a part of the trio. Dan did have to carry William a little ways into the woods as some of rough terrain was just too rigorous for William to navigate on his own. But, we arrived at the camping location in good time.
What's really amazing is that Dan found this particular site on his own and marked the trail along the way with rocks. The markings were still in tack and when we got the site, all the firewood that he'd collected a few months ago (on the boys trip there) was still hidden in the trees and his fire pit was still perfectly intact with the log bench he'd rigged up during the last visit. I thought that was fun to think that this was our very own hidden place in the woods and how special it was that no one had found our secret place. Dan was right, the landscape is beautiful and the campsite was so picturesque. The creek ran right alongside a large stretch of grass where we could put our tent and let William play in the water.
Dan got to work on the tent and William and I went over to investigate the creek. The water was clear and flowing over rocks and William kept saying, "watertalls mama!" He was chomping at the bit to frolic in the water, so we changed his clothes and let him play with his cars in the creek. He had a ball. LOVED every second of it. We got the fire going and started roasting our hot dogs. William thought that was really fun and he kept watching for the moon to come out in the sky.
About 8pm, William started to let us know that he was ready to go home. He just kept saying, "time to go mama. time to go dada." Bless his heart, I really think he thought we were on one of our usual day trips where it's not uncommon for us to stop and hike around so he can play outside. I think he didn't realize that we were really going to stay the night. Dan and I tried our best to rally his excitement and we talked up the tent and how were were going to watch his airplane DVD in the tent, etc. He warmed up to the idea but then relented a few times with his innocent voice saying, "time to go."
Well, we climbed in the tent, watched our DVD and then our sweet little William just sobbed. He wanted to go home, he didn't want to stay in the tent, he had no interest in the sleeping bags. He just wanted to be home. Dan and I felt helpless. It was already close to midnight, pitch black outside and we were 45 minutes from the car. There was just no way we could pack up and leave. We did everything we possibly could to comfort William. I think his anxiety was a combination of being extremely tired, he was irritated by the rustling noise of the sleeping bags, not having much appetite that night, not having his familiar bedtime milk or routine (doesn't sound like a big one but in hindsight, I think that was key) and also, I think he really thought that we were there just to play for the day. We still cannot pinpoint his emotions that night because the previous camping experiences had been so positive. Nevertheless, it took a few hours to calm him down before he just passed out in my arms. I was able to cover us up in my sleeping bag.
We got up around 8:30am the next morning and William's first words were, "hi dada! good morning!" and he shot up like a rocket just chatting about being inside the tent, playing in the creek, watching the stars, etc. He was a new man. William was back to being the little camper we knew he is. What a relief to see the smile on his face and the happiness in his voice as he talked about the camp out. He was quick to add that it was "time to go" but we also knew that he was right. So, we packed up our belongings and headed for the car. Dan carried his backpack and a 32 lb. toddler most of the way, but we took a few breaks to cool down along the way. Once back at the car, William instantly fell asleep in his car seat. I know he had a great time and we can't wait to take him back. I think we'll have to ease him back into the entire experience with a few trial runs, but I know my little boy. He's first love is being outside. I am confident that Dan and William will have many, many wilderness adventures in the years to come.
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