Our oldest son, Dallas had 4h fishing camp this Sunday to Thursday. So, I randomly asked last week, “do you want our family to go early and camp?” This is quite out of the ordinary for me. We’ve camped many times before, but when we went camping, it was planned almost a year in advance, not a week before. We didn’t camp at all last year due to cancer, hysterectomy & broken foot. This would be our first real camping in 2 years. I looked at the ND State Parks web site, and all they had available was a yurt and a tipi. The boys both cheered, “YES!!” Ok, why not? The campground is Cross Ranch State Park, north of Bismarck, ND. 

The yurt was super cool. Even if you don’t love camping, this was pretty neat. It had beds for 6, a table and chairs, lamps, electricity, mini fridge and a heater/stove. The shape reminds me of a grain bin on the outside, and it has a dome sky light at the top. We cooked our meals over the campfire. (Cameron’s favorite way to cook) Saturday morning, we went on a birding hike put on by the park rangers. We decided to go further and venture on the path along the Missouri River. Before we knew it, we were 2 miles away and needed to head back. We had to check out of our yurt and into the tipi.

Yep, a tipi right along the river. At first, the boys were bummed to leave the yurt, but they soon embraced the idea of the (somewhat musty) tipi. They say it sleeps 6, but there were 4 cots- perfect. You have to park & then walk your stuff to the campsite. Because of the raccoons, you shouldn’t leave food there, so we made may trips back and forth. All total between the hiking and the trips to the van, we walked 10 miles on Saturday! We caught 0 fish, but had lots of giggles. 

One thing for sure, we made memories. I have a feeling the boys will remember the time we stayed in the yurt and tipi. They may forget the 100 wood ticks that we got while hiking, but I’m pretty sure they will remember this camping trip. And that’s what I want for them. I want them to learn to cook over a fire, to enjoy nature and to know that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have fun. I want them to stop and appreciate a sunset. I want them to listen to the birds, notice the wild roses and pay attention to the raccoon & deer tracks. On their journey of enough, I hope they fondly remember things like this & they feel loved.

Peace be with you on your journey of enough. I hope you take the time to enjoy some of the same things this summer.