Cup O’ Joe: Camping we will go

It was a weekend of firsts in the Cyr household as we joined some friends for a weekend of camping in the Millinocket area. For years my wife has tried to get me to go camping, but something always came up at work that prevented me going. Or at least, that was always my excuse.
    I must admit, I’ve never been a fan of camping. Spending the night in a tent, swatting bugs the size of quarters, has never sounded very appealing to me. I like having a nice hot shower in the morning and the comfiness of sleeping in my own bed. And I did mention the bugs, right? Perhaps I am just lacking the camping gene in my DNA?
I feel much more comfortable in front of the big screen television watching the Red Sox as the ceiling fan blows across me.
Camping was something we never did when I was a child, which probably contributes to my lack of roughing it skills. But, this was something my wife and children wanted to do as a family and I figured I had to at least give it a try. And it was my wife’s birthday, so I really had no escape clause this time.
The road trip to the camp was filled with the pre-requisite “Are we there yet?” and “How much further” questions from the children. Considering the trip was only an hour and a half, I’m not sure they would survive a longer outing.
After getting off the Interstate-95 and traveling through the town of Millinocket, I asked my wife for directions. Normally, I would be all over the pre-planning and scouting optimum routes of travel on Google, but this time I left the arrangements to my wife. We made one wrong turn and ended up backtracking about 10 miles when my wife suggested we stop and ask for directions. Normally, the mere utterance of such a suggestion is enough to send me over the edge, but this time I remained unexpectedly calm.
“Don’t you know where the camp is, Mommy?” one of the kids asked.
“Well, I don’t want to sleep in the car,” added the other, which made us chuckle.
We finally arrived at our destination, a lovely campsite situated on Jo-Mary Lake, which is one of several in the region south of Baxter State Park. Surprisingly, it was not as horrible as I had envisioned it would be. Yes the bugs were enormous and seemingly immune to the spray we had brought, but we all managed to survive. The fact that the campsite has showers and bathrooms was a nice bonus.
The first day was spent getting caught up with our friends as the kids spent much of the time in the water. Our friends were finishing up their second full-week at the campground, which would seem like an eternity for me.
On the second day, the girls went kayaking with their mother, while I lounged in a chair. Later, I took my youngest fishing with my friend Woody and his son Owen. The look on my daughter’s face when she caught her first fish was adorable and she talked about it for the rest of the weekend.
We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife, except for a baby loon and its parents. And there was a rather annoying bullfrog that kept me awake for much of the first night. The crows cackling before the sun came up had me out of the tent far sooner than I would have preferred, but it did make for a nice viewing of the sunrise.
So now that the camping weekend is complete, would you say I’m hooked? Not exactly, but I wouldn’t say I am an anti-camper any more. It makes your bed seem all the softer when you finally do get home.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at 532-2281 or pioneertimes@nepublish.com.