Making memories with my family and helping others learn through our experiences is what Fougere Family Adventures are all about.
Growing up, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go tent camping and camping in our family Volkswagen van that my dad had converted into a camper to sleep a family of six at the time. Our family adventures back then involved loading our Clipper canoe on the top of the van and then hooking up to (from what I can remember) a small utility trailer. We travelled to different camp grounds within reach of East Vancouver and memories were made the moment we left the parking lot. Games like “I spy with my little eye” was something I looked forward to in a world where smart phones were not an option.
I remember one place in particular, Chilliwack lake. We used to camp on a beach at the far end of the lake. There was a large tree (or tree trunk) in the water and the water was shallow and warm. I remember how tight it was crawling into my cot that was mounted above the driver and passenger seats.
Other memories include camping in tents, rain or shine. The feeling of sleeping on rocks (or a single rock perfectly located directly under a thermarest) is the first thought of tent camping that comes to mind. And sliding off the thermarest onto the hard ground while sleeping was always fun. Then there’s forgetting a pillow and having to roll up a sweater to rest your head on. Next, there’s the memory of mosquitos buzzing around your head in the dark because it was a bad bug year or someone left the door open. And how could I forget the muggy hot nights or afternoon naps trying to sleep while feeling like you’re sleeping in an oven. If that was not bad enough, waking up to wet clothes, sleeping bags and pillows because of dew or rain water seeping in through the side walls was enough to make me not want to tent camp again. On the flip side, there was also tent camping while backpacking. I remember hiking to a remote lake and sleeping beside a great view and productive mountain lake (with fish in it of course). I remember good trips like horseback riding into mountain top lakes with great views as well. I always enjoyed bringing my pocket knife to make my own hot dog stick and to just sit there and whittle a piece of wood. I enjoyed making a camp fire and finding frogs at night. While most memories of tenting had me not wanting to do it again when I grew up, I find it fun and exciting to talk about tent camping, even the not so fun experiences.
A while ago, Austin came to me and asked to go tent camping. I honestly had not given tent camping much thought until he brought it up. I assumed the boys were happy sleeping in cabins and staying at resorts, but after seeing his interest in tent camping I started thinking about the memories my boys have been missing out on. They were missing setting up a tent, campsite and all the responsibilities that came with tent camping. They were missing out on valuable lessons (even though we talked about it, they need to experience it), like storing food when camping and keeping garbage from the critters outside. It was time to change that.
We started brainstorming on where to go and it took a while to decide on a location suitable for the “first time.” We decided to ease into tent camping and stay at our favorite resort to date. Thankfully they had a site available, so we were able to execute our plan. We checked a nearby geocache that we have in the area and restocked it with some toys for the kids who find it to help keep them busy on the lake or in the vehicle on the way home.
As we went through our camping supplies, we were not surprised to find only the bare minimum to bring with us. We chose to bring a cooler with pre-cooked food and brought other foods that we could heat up with hot water. We brought camping headlights, a tent lantern and camp chairs for the fire. Our Camp Chef stove worked amazing as it always does to heat up water for cooking, coffee and tea, but we had to use a regular kitchen pot because we do not use the Camp Chef often. After this trip, I’m thinking a camp griddle for the Camp Chef might be useful for next time and maybe a pot and pan next time.
We chose to do some fishing this trip as well. With sunny weather in the forecast, we were optimistic that the weather would have the kokanee biting at everything we put in front of their face. Fishing in the sun proved to not only be too hot to be on the water without proper shade, it was not great fishing. I figured we would do well with our rods double stacked (four rods total), but instead we learned a few times about how double stacked rods can tangle which was not so fun. Austin caught a nice kokanee trolling a lure he made himself. I caught a nice kokanee jigging a Buzz Bomb lure but that was it. We left scratching our heads as to why the kokanee fishing was so poor. We have never had weather this good when kokanee fishing. Maybe too much sun is a bad thing?
I am happy that Austin talked about what he wanted to do and experience. Sometimes, we think we are creating the memories others want, but in fact we need to ask them. Camping was a great experience and I am excited to go again soon. Now to ask the question, where to next?
Here’s some videos from this trip. Subscribe to my channel for more videos coming soon.