I figured today would be a great day to break up the vibe that the last
podcasts have been putting out, which involves a lot of emotional, touchy,
feely stuff by telling you guys about the first camping trip that I had in my trailer with Tanner.
I obviously didn't share this as it was happening because I didn't want to give it away.
In July, I had a string of shifts off for a wedding and I managed to get a couple extra
days off and we agreed it would be great to take Tabby, my trailer, to a campsite and try camping in her.
We were able to do that after the wedding. We went to a beautiful provincial park in Northern
Saskatchewan called Narrow Hills. It's a site that I had noticed when we were passing through on our
way to Saskatoon a few times and I had marked it off as a possibility. It was a big process with
the contract to try to get days off in a row. I ended up swapping a bunch of day shifts for nights,
which I was finding easier to do consecutively than a whole bunch of days, especially when you
consider the difference in stimulation and expectations from day shifts versus nights.
Being burned out, I definitely preferred this. So I worked seven nights in a row,
but I ended up with eight glorious days off consecutively. Finally, I was able to make
some plans and do some fun things. Having recently acquired Tabby, we were eager to try her out to see
what she was made of, especially since neither one of us had camped in a trailer before. Tanner
has a lot of experience with tent camping in various weather and conditions. I have maybe two
times under my belt. Not that any of it was really enjoyable. The first one was 12 kilometers into a
pretty rigorous hike after four hours of what felt like mountain goading in the rain, where I was
utterly spent. The second was on the Colorado-Utah border when we went in May, where we ended up
getting caught in a severe storm. And then at 4am when I went to pee, everything was covered in an
inch of snow. I would probably give it another shot, but I've definitely learned a lot and am
better prepared now. That's if I were to try tenting again. Though I will admit, I prefer
more comfort at this point and I don't feel the need to act all tough about it. I love hiking
and camping, but I don't think I need to be all extreme Patagonia about it to really enjoy it.
I think that's allowed. Why would I make myself unnecessarily uncomfortable just to prove a point
to people who don't even matter at the end of the day? It's what I like. It's what makes me happy
and comfortable, and that's really all that matters. We opted to go somewhere close, having
only two nights for it, which included packing for the trip, unpacking once we got back, and then
unpacking when we got back. It was a pretty short turnaround to go back to work the following day
for the both of us. Having previously been interested in what Narrow Hills Park had to offer,
I'm always on the lookout for new adventures and new places, and when I looked up their campground,
it offered electric hookups and was way cheaper than some of the more popular places in the area.
I picked a site that seemed fairly easy to back into, had access to water and washrooms nearby.
Tanner had insisted I should pick a spot I felt I could back into. Those websites, though,
are so horrible, and they don't really depict what it looks like. We ended up stopping in on our
way back to his place from the Saskatoon wedding, and it turned out to be a pretty good pick after
all. I think I did pretty good for my first time, but I've still got lots to learn. We ended up being
really lucky that we're both ADHD and scrambled. All the organization that I had done for the
camping supplies we brought with us to the states on our three week road trip were all perfectly packed,
organized, and prepared. They were neatly organized in Tupperware bins courtesy of my OCD,
and since we had been so short on time, it really saved us. We just grabbed them and went.
We ended up taking half the day to load up with other items and prep, though, so we were both
pretty tired. We really try to make the most of our time together, and our rest-to-fun balance
isn't always optimal as a result. It was about 3pm when we left his place. I backed up the truck,
trying to maneuver, hooking her up on my own, since I knew I'd be doing it solo once I hit the road.
It's nice that he was there to help, but I do believe going forward it's going to be manageable,
at least I hope. On our way, we stopped at a gravel pit to practice backing up. It was
interesting. It turns out I tend to overestimate how big I am and how much space I take up,
which is exacerbated with the trailer attached. I managed to back in and out three times,
using a very handy 75 point turn technique. There was plenty of overcorrection, overshooting,
and I found it challenging, especially since it was a wide open space, hard to judge just how
badly out of practice I am. I felt like having a reference point or somewhere to aim the trailer
back into would have been a lot more helpful. On our arrival at the campsite, there was this
Karen looking lady standing there watching us as we pulled in, and she just couldn't peel her eyes
away. It just made me feel really icky and threw me off, and I was just too stubborn to even try.
Screw this lady. I joked she probably couldn't back their rig in either, but yeah. Not my
finest moment, so Tanner backed in for us. I also get super tired lately, and I don't have a lot
of patience for much. I keep blaming the burnout, but at this point it's all I've got to work with,
and I'm really just doing the best I can to make it work. I was really thankful he could see that,
and he offered to do it. After that, it was gravy. Lowered the jacks, plugged it in, unpacked what
we needed immediately, and the rest I tucked out of sight. We had a really delicious dinner,
deer steak, foil potatoes, and a chicken Caesar salad that we made on our camp stove.
We sat outside in our camp chairs, taking in the quiet starry night.
Being so north, I curiously wondered if we'd get to see any lights. There was dusting,
which I figured was the Milky Way, but suddenly Tanner pointed out the colors,
and we got to sit together all cozy while we watched the northern lights. It was very romantic,
and honestly it was something I'd been hoping to do with him for a long time. He says that they
get brighter and more colorful, but hey, considering we seldom see them where I'm from, I was so happy
to see it, and he got to be there with me. The first night went great. The air conditioning unit
works well, a little too well, so we were pretty snugly. The bed is extremely comfortable, with no
humidity or condensation buildup noted. However, the blinds are so dark, we didn't even notice it
was 9 in the morning. I got up to pee, and I blinded both of us when I opened the door. I guess
that's not a bad thing. I think meals was our favorite time. There's just something about camp
food. Eggs, potato, toast, fruit. Fresh blueberries we had picked while on our way to the campsite.
You guys, Northern Saskatchewan is where it's at for wild berries in season. I could have picked
for hours. It rained in the morning, so we chilled, had a nap. In the afternoon, we went to the gem
lakes. I really wanted to do this hike, which was a total of six kilometers that goes around each of
the lakes. We brought fishing gear, but we didn't really stop to try that until later into our hike.
By then, we were really hungry and tired. We didn't catch anything, though I did see a couple fish
tempt us by jumping out of the lake. The hike itself was perfect. Beautiful scenery, lots of
elevation change, which I love, and the trail is just really well groomed. There was a ton of spots
to stop and chill. We stopped and had lunch that we packed, and it was just a really great afternoon.
When we got back, we had a shower at the campground, which was actually really disgusting,
and I think it'll be really nice to de-winterize the trailer and use my own personal shower in
the future. There was band-aids and sand everywhere. I mean, what can you expect, but still, ew.
We grabbed ice cream from the store, and then we made chicken and veggie skewers for dinner.
We drank, relaxed in our chairs. Once the thunder and lightning started, though, we retreated inside.
It started pouring rain. The sound on the roof of the trailer was soothing. I've never been a fan
of rainstorms, but it really fit the vibe perfectly. The next morning, it was time to head out.
I was sad. It was really great to be away from cell service, where it was fairly quiet and peaceful,
where it seemed like time paused, and we could finally breathe for once. We ate breakfast and
packed up. While I was emptying the trailer, two ladies from across the way approached me and asked
if they could see the inside of the trailer. Of course, I showed them. They were impressed with
the inside of the trailer and all of its features. I was very proud of myself. They both mentioned,
we've been watching you guys pack up, and you guys are really efficient and have a really good system.
I laughed and I said, this is our first time doing this. They were shocked. I was also really proud
of this. We kept on talking, and while that was going on, Tanner backed up the truck onto the trailer
and set it up. The one lady turned and said, did you just do that all by yourself in one shot?
It was a great ego boost, and it made us feel like we really know what we were doing. Tanner has
experience backing up and hooking up trailers before, but it helps that I have a really nice
backup camera with indicators, so it basically does it for you. I can only imagine we'll do even
better the more we do it. So we're starting off on the right foot. Sometimes OCD tendencies really
pay off. On our way back to Tanner's, we stopped at the cabin at the lake and tried fishing with
family members. We didn't catch anything, but it was still fun. We'd seen them fishing off the dock,
and I told Tanner, hey, why don't we grab the rods and go? This moment is exactly what I wanted to
fill my life with. Where you're on the road, you decide you want to do something last minute.
You just change into something suitable and grab what you need out of the back of the truck and go.
All of it is available to you on a whim. We even had a cooler with us that we quickly loaded with
some drinks to enjoy in the sun. It was a very refreshing experience, but I was surprised to
find myself even more exhausted after. I think taking time to rest when you're really exhausted
and burned out just causes you to see how deep at which it's affecting you and how tired you really
are. It's a survival mechanism just to be able to power through despite being utterly exhausted,
and the moment you take a pause, it hits you like a brick wall. What did I learn from this experience?
I learned that my truck guzzles diesel when hauling, which means more stops at gas stations for
long-term travel. I now have a jerry can with me for emergencies. I learned it's going to be a lot
more expensive than anticipated to do this, especially fuel-wise. I really don't understand
how SUVs can haul trailers, even one like mine, and not need to fuel up every 200 kilometers.
For all I know they do, I built up my confidence on setup and takedown, hooking and unhooking
the trailer from the truck. A few things remain to iron out, but it's overall going to be manageable,
and I'm less stressed at the thought of doing this alone. I'm really glad we got away. Relaxing
with my best friend at the time was just what I needed. We're both looking forward to more
camping experiences in the future. So what's next? Well, I need to learn to de-winterize the trailer,
fill, empty the tanks, learn to back up like a champion, or at all at this point, and finish
up my contract so I can head out and start my journey with my girl Tabby.