The Blog of John Patrick Larson

Tracy and I recently returned from a week of camping in Wyoming.  Just her and I, we stayed one night in a lodge outside Jackson Hole, 3 nights in the Grand Tetons, 2 nights in Yellowstone, and 1 night in an off-the-highway camp site named “Windy Valley Creek”.

Here are 13 observations which nicely capture the feel and flavor of the trip:

1. Our ability to fill 8 hours on the road with lively and fresh conversation (among other things a lot of waxing hypothetical of our parenting style and game plan) is damn useful, and bodes well for the seven more decades we plan to spend together.
2. The local beer should be enjoyed while you can–there’s no telling which ones ship out as far as your home town (for example, the quite tasty Snake River Lager cannot be found tucked away in the liquor stores of Denver, whereas the vastly inferior Trout Slayer can).
3. A 200 square foot A-frame cabin might make a fine place to hole up and write a book for the span of a winter, provided access to the a lodge 100 feet away serving aforementioned tasty lager.
4. Hiding dry and snug from the rain in a tent you pitched 15 minutes earlier is more satisfying than it rationally should be.
5. Piles of bacon, fruit and pancakes from the buffet quickly mollify the shame of visiting the restaurant in the first place due to morning campfire starting difficulties.
6. Peeing outdoors is more satisfying than it rationally should be.
7. Turns out campfires are way easier to start when it’s NOT the morning after a rainy day, so it’s ok to have enjoyed aforementioned piles of bacon, fruit and pancakes.
8. When camping, dinner is a roughly 4-hour ritual of food prep, fire starting, beer drinking, fire roasting, food eating, dish cleaning, and s’mores making.  The expense in time and effort is a joy, not a problem.
9. S’mores are just as delicious at 32 as they were when I was 8.  I’ll take 4, please.
10. There is no one I would rather spend an extended stint of one-on-one time with than Tracy, and it is so nice to have that fact laid so bare during a week like this.
11. Having 2 sleeping bags which zip together to make one big one is a setup for primo snuggling.  Useful in general, doubly so when the temperature dips to 28 degrees Fahrenheit at night in the early September of Yellowstone.
12. A place like “Windy Valley Creek” is apt to be named so for good cause: choose this as your campsite for the night with caution.
13. Our honeymoon in the Philippines lasted 3 weeks and cost around $5,000 in total.  This camping trip lasted 7 days and cost around $800.  To the extent that it is expedient to be content with less, I’m thrilled by how much I preferred the camping trip.