Camping catastrophe How Summer the non-camper found the inspiration to pull off her trip

victoria baht staff writer

Hi, everyone. My name is Summer, and I want to tell you the ultimate camping story. It all started off with a girl named Summer. Yes, that’s me.

Ever since I was a girl, other people always bugged me because my name is Summer. Quite honestly, I hated that time of the year. I hated the way the sun shined so bright and hot, how the days lasted longer. I hated the bugs, how the birds loudly chirped, and the list goes on. Well, now that I am getting older, I decided I would challenge myself to take on the ultimate camping trip.

One long weekend about three years ago, I went on my very first camping trip. Let me tell you, it did not get off to a great start. I had never been camping before, so I had no idea what I needed or what I was in for. I started off with some old, essential equipment from my father, and I thought that would do the trick. I packed a tent, an axe, a cooler of food, water, an air mattress, and a pump. In my mind, what else could I need?

That day I packed up and went off. I booked a campsite just outside of my town about two hours away and blasted some music in my car – there was no turning back now! 2 hours, 60 songs, and 2 podcasts later, I arrived at my campsite, and it was time to set up camp.

I started setting up camp by setting up my tent. Have you ever set up a tent by yourself before? I do not recommend it! It started out with old instructions that were ripped and had most of the ink worn out. Great start… thanks, Dad.

So, I gave it my best try, and after about 45 minutes of trying to set up a tent, I had figured out the problem. I was missing a pole; and not just any pole, one of the main poles that holds up the middle of the tent. Only half the tent would stay up, so that side is where I set up my air mattress –thank God that went smoothly. After it was set up, I tried to lay down on my air mattress, and as I laid down – FLOP! The ground underneath it was uneven, and I banged my head on the ground while my feet flew up in the air. That was the last straw, so it was