A Weekend Camping Trip With the Pup

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When my husband and I were first married, we weren’t entirely sure what to do with all of our spare time. We filled it by binge-watching sitcoms before that was even a popular thing to do, and we also consumed ourselves with work. It didn’t take long before my husband mentioned that perhaps we ought to get a dog. We were both compassionate and giving people by nature, and a dog would fit in well with our need to help others and share love. Plus, it was great practice for when we were ready to start a family of our own!

We got Pablo, a five-year-old rescue Bichon Frise, in October of 2008 and we had five glorious years of spoiling him rotten. He had a special song for dinnertime, special T-shirts that matched mine, and a pillow made out of all of his grooming bandanas. Then, in June of 2014, we welcomed our first child. After that, we didn’t have nearly as much time to give Pablo and everyone could see it was a strain. I couldn’t possibly push a child in a stroller plus hold a leash and walk safely down our country road. So, my in-laws offered to take him in for a little while so we could adjust to our new normal. What was only supposed to be a short-term hiatus turned into them keeping him for about three years. We welcomed another child during that time and things at home just became more hectic. Plus, my mother-in-law was an excellent doggy grandmother! She took Pablo on walks three times a day and was very doting.

We got the chance this past weekend to get Pablo back for a few days. My parents kept the kids and we went camping, just the three of us, like it used to be. We wanted to see how we’d interact with him and if he’d remember us. The weather has been pretty spotty in North Carolina, so we didn’t venture out too far. We just went to the Guilford Courthouse Park and set up shop in our Volkswagen Vanagon. We’ve had the vanagon for about seven years now and it’s been a real joy to take it camping, even if it’s just in the backyard!

We spent the night by the fire, roasting marshmallows and making coffee over the open flame. We ate hobos inside tinfoil, full of potatoes, ground beef, peppers, and plenty of fresh veggies from my father-in-law’s garden. We’d been camping as a young couple before in college, even going camping in Normandy through a study abroad group we’d both signed up for in the spring of our senior year. We have many special memories made over a campfire, and I was glad to add this one to the list. We gave Pablo plenty of belly rubs and we all shared a big, king-sized blow-up mattress inside the tent that night. It was a sweet night of sharing memories of our time with Pablo and thinking ahead to how the kids would do if we brought him back home. We went to bed still unsure about what the future held, but when we woke up on Sunday, the sun was shining, Pablo was snoozing sweetly in the middle of the mattress, and we both agreed that it was time to let our kids love on him as much as we’d enjoyed doing.

We took showers at the campsite, strolled the grounds a little as a family, and checked out a few of the historical sites near the Guilford County Courthouse. We’ve lived in the Triad region of our state our entire lives and had never ventured over to that neck of the woods. There was a gorgeous, paved walking trail and plenty of places to stop and take a break. When we got back to the Vanagon, we loaded Pablo up and headed back home. On the way back, we hand-cranked the rusty old windows down, pushed the yellow, polka dot curtains aside and let Pablo stick his head out into the wind. I looked back at one point to see what looked like a huge grin plastered across his face. I think he knew he was in for a great adventure, and so did we.

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Photos

Vanagon
Ready to go on our adventure!

Vanagon
The fully restored Westfalia van.