Find Your Lake
- Challis Hackley
- Jul 17, 2017
- 3 min read
There is a spectrum of camping, everything from backpacking to setting up a tent in your backyard. I've done various camp-outs on this spectrum throughout my life but within the last thirty days I have been at both ends of the spectrum. I've been roughing it; you can read all about my backpacking trip here. But for this trip I had things a little more cushier. In addition to a cot and pillow, we had access to showers, toilets, and water that was already clean.
The whole trip is really fun. Every year for many years now, I have gone on this two-day trip at Lathrop Lake courtesy of some family friends who own boats. There are around five families in attendance every year, (so like 20-30 people) and we take the weekend to camp, water ski tube, and eat a lot of good food.
The packing list for this trip looks a little like this...
Backpack
Towel
2 sets of swimsuits
Swimsuit Cover-up
Shirt
Fleece-lined Leggings
Sweatshirt
Toiletries
Extra Socks and Underwear
Portable Battery
Flip Flops
Toiletries
Sunscreen
BB cream
Lotions
Razor
Toothbrush
Hair stuff
Beach Bag
Water bottle
Lip Balm
Headphones
Gum
Charging Cord
Notebook
Pens
Reading Material
Solar Charger
Sunglasses
Phone
Hat
Note: Just a little tip with my beach-bag and hat. Beach bags are usually big and voluminous so it's easy to loose things when there aren't pockets. So I took my smaller stuff and wrapped it up in my hat so it wouldn't disappear into the deep dark depth of my beach bag.
This is just my personal stuff, all the rest of our camping gear was packed in our car. Anyway, enough with the packing.
The trip usually goes a little something like this. We always take the trip in the summer, June or July, so the kids are out of school. We leave Friday morning and drive to the lake, get our campsite and commence in the water activities. There's always a lot of good food, conversations, and fun. Water-skiing and wake-boarding are up first, while the lake is still calm, and then the tubes come out and the tube wars commence where you try to throw someone off the tube next to you while the boat whips you around. When you're not on the boat there are plenty of games and an area to swim in. We break for lunch and just generally spend the day lounging around on the beach and having fun... until the rain comes. Without fail, every year, the thunderstorms usually force is to leave before we're ready to. We've gotten pretty good at packing everything up in a pinch, everyone helping each other get everything into their cars.
From there we all usually head over to the camp area to set up our tents. This is usually in the evening, so after tents are set up, we start making dinner, and seriously, I can not say enough good things about camp food: grilled burgers, fresh fruit, and dutch oven cobbler. I love it so much. Dinner is usually followed by games around the campfire. Crowd favorite is usually Mafia, which is great for large groups. After all is said and done we return to our tents and hit the sack.
The next day is a lot like the first. Wake up and tear down our campsite while the Breakfast Task Force makes our morning meal, usually breakfast burritos, yum! Different people usually rolling in at different times for food. We all leave for the lake at the same time though.
And the day starts all over, tubing and treats, fun and sun. It's such a blast. And when that day is over we all leave, tired but knowing that we will have the same great time next year.
So what? So why am I telling you about my weekend getaway at Lathrop? Because I want you to find your own lake. I've been talking a lot about adventure and going out and trying new things just because you can, but the point of this post is to also say that you can find fun in a routine. I think it would be awesome if everyone had an annual trip. Something that -- no matter how crazy life got or wherever you end up in the great, big, wide world -- you can always come back to and count on. Find your lake.
Happy Travels,
Challis Hackley
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