Galen Family Camping Trip

This past weekend I ventured up to the Seeley area for the annual Galen family camping trip on Placid Lake. I’ve lost track of how many years I’ve been going camping with Andy’s family but it’s something I truly look forward to now each summer.

Even though I somewhat despise sleeping in a tent, swatting at bugs, and being without running water most of the weekend, camping always seems to relax me somehow. It forces me out of town where work, chores and errands keep me running non-stop all week. And while we still had modern amenities like cell service at the campground, I found myself not even wanting to look at my phone. I wanted to just be. I wanted to wake up each day and know that my biggest concern would be when the next s’mores session was beginning.

With the campground right next to Placid Lake, we normally spend most of the day boating and polishing up on our wakeboarding and surfing skills. This year, however, strong winds blasted us for most our first day there. The water tossed about with caps of frothy white and rocked all of the boats tied up at the dock. On top of the wind, the sky was doused in concrete grey from wildfire smoke drifting from the west coast and Canada. Our summer blue skies had all but disappeared. The rough waters and smoke were disappointing but allowed for all of us to have a calm and relaxing day together at our campsite instead.

For a good chunk of Saturday afternoon, the six of us were crowded around the picnic table playing the board game, “SmartAss,” which had all of us busting up laughing. In between the chuckles we crammed our faces with popcorn, chocolate chip cookies and licorice. We may not have been out on the water, but we were having just as much fun. In between rounds of the game, Andy and I strolled about the campground and down the road……taking goofy pictures in between. 

 

Before I knew it, it was dinner time. As I sat next to Andy dishing up some delicious shrimp pasta his mom had prepared, I kept looking around at his parents and sisters. For the first time since our engagement, it really hit me that I would officially become part of his family in the next year. And even though I’ve known all of them for nearly a decade and they already feel like family, it still feels different now. But it’s a very good different.

By the time we were done with dinner, the wind had somehow miraculously disappeared. And it seemed to have tugged the smoke along with it. The skies were clear and the lake finally echoed the “placidness” of its name. It was time to hit the water! We spent the next two hours cruising back and forth across the lake with an orange sun illuminating our backs. We boated until there was hardly a speck of light left in the sky. We were all wet, tired, and ready for s’mores.

We did a bit more boating the next day and then it was time to pack things up and head home. I’m always craving a hot shower at home by the end of our camping weekends, but leaving still makes me sad. Another family camping trip down, and by the time next year’s rolls around, Andy and I will be just weeks away from saying our I Do’s!