A City Girl Goes Camping for Her First Time

My family never had a lot of money when I was growing up so our most memorable family vacations were camping trips. Throughout my childhood, we took many an adventurous camping trip to the mountains, to the ocean, and to the desert. We always had a great time. To me, camping was second nature. I knew how to pitch a tent, start a fire, and dig a hole. My parents brought us up to respect nature, and, consequently, my brother, sister, and I grew up with a love for the great outdoors. So, in college when I invited my friend Cary to go on a camping trip with me, I was shocked to discover that she had never been camping before. She was a city girl through and through, hailing from San Leandro, California. Her idea of a good time was shopping at expensive department stores.

I will never forget the night before we were to leave, as I sat in her room with Cary and her mom and helped her pack for the trip. She was trying to bring her hair straightener, her IPOD, and various unnecessary toiletries. She truly had no idea what to bring on a camping trip! I advised her to ditch the comforts of her modern life and pack lightly. She was hard pressed to find casual camping clothes in her pristine wardrobe, but we managed to find something suitable. As we packed, Cary and her mom were bombarding me with all kinds of questions about camping, like "what do you eat when you're camping?" To which I replied absently "Oh, hot dogs on a stick." Their jaws dropped open and they stared at me, mouths agape. They were not impressed. I tried to explain that you can prepare all kinds of meals when camping, but that hot dogs roasted over the fire were simple tradition.

At their final, most pressing question, they both leaned in conspiratorially, and, in a hushed voice, Cary asked the question they were both dying to know:
"How do you go to the bathroom when you're camping?"
They truly had no idea! Amused, I tried to explain that you just dig a hole, squat and go, native style! They just looked at me incredulously. The whole idea of camping was completely foreign to these two city slickers!

The next day we set out on our way to a little town in Trinity County called Salyer where our favorite secluded spot along the Trinity river awaited us. This particular spot requires a rather lengthy hike down to the river, and we all had our packs plus coolers, food, and sleeping bags to carry, a strenuous load to bear on the narrow, downhill path. Cary was a sport, she never complained once. Along the way we came across some blackberry bushes. I started to pick them and, as I shoved the juicy berries into my mouth, Cary said "What are you doing?" She was giving me that incredulous look again. Laughing I said I was just eating some blackberries, and wouldn't she like to try some? Evidently she had never before encountered fruit growing in it's natural habitat. Tentatively, Cary plucked a berry. When she tasted it, a look of surprised delight came into her eyes. "It tastes like a Fruit Breezer!" She exclaimed. I told her that the Fruit Breezer candy actually was trying (poorly) to taste like the berries, amused once again by her amateur nature skills.

When we made it to the riverbank, we set up our camp and relaxed in the sand. That night we played guitars and sang around the fire. Dinner was fire roasted hot dogs, followed by roasted marshmallows, which I believe Cary enjoyed, despite herself.

The next day Cary said she had to go to the store, and hiked back to the car. Turns out, she couldn't bring herself to go to the bathroom "native style!" The trip to the store was merely an excuse to escape the harrows of nature and seek some civilized toilet in town.

After two nights on the riverbank, we packed up our gear, said goodbye to the lovely river spot, and headed for home. As we drove back toward civilization I asked Cary if she had enjoyed her first camping trip. She hesitated before she said that she had had a fairly good time but that camping really wasn't her thing. Cary's first camping trip was likely to be her last, but I still had to admire her for braving the wilderness and never letting on that she was actually quite miserable.

I guess some people just don't grow up with the same respect and adoration for nature as my family enjoys. These people are content to exist in their concrete jungles where toilets abound and the freshest fruit to be found comes in the form of a hard candy. These city slickers can have their civilization, but me, I prefer to run wild!