As a child, I camped with the Girl Scouts and with the YMCA’s Indian Princesses, but I have never camped as an adult. I was a bit nervous. Jackson has camped with his dad a few times, but he was also both excited and nervous.
We got up at 4:30am on Saturday morning to finish our packing and load up the taxi. We had bags for swimming, rain gear, food, and general stuff. We took two foldable camping chairs and a foldable wagon. (Items my generous colleague lent to us) It seemed like we had everything but the kitchen sink!
We met the group at the meeting location, but one of the busses was delayed. We waited on the corner of the street for about 30 minutes before we could load our gear. Once on the road, we drove about 4 hours out of Jakarta to a campground called Caldera River Resort. (The highlight of the journey was a bathroom stop that had a Starbucks nearby! I dragged Jackson down the hill and grabbed a cappuccino before the busses took off again!) We drove up and down and all around the mountain/volcano and upon arrival at the camp, we drove down the hill to our tent location and the bus got stuck in the mud!!
Thankfully, our tents were set up and ‘beds’ were made. (We had foam mats under a sheet, a pillow, and a top sheet.) The group met up under the dining pavilion for a potluck lunch. There was a wide variety of food items, consisting of American, Indonesian, and Chinese cuisine. After lunch, the group walked over to the rafting site. Everyone was outfitted with a helmet and vest and hopped into their rafts. It was so much fun to see each raft (about 10!) launch into the river. Jackson LOVED this and can’t wait to go rafting again.
After rafting, everyone changed into dry clothes and headed over to the ‘Flying Fox’ and had a turn at zip lining over the raging river!! The kids put on helmets and harnesses before walking over a suspension bridge and clipping onto the line from a platform where they jumped (or were pushed!). They zipped across the river and a worker pulled on the (rope) brakes for them.
While the Webelos and Arrow of Light kids made dinner, Jackson wrapped up his Bear Claws requirement. (he can now have his pocket knife with him at scouting events) For dinner, we had hot dogs and a beef soup. It was camping food, but no one went hungry. Luckily, there was support at the campsite, and a helper washed all of the dishes for us. 😊 One of the volunteers borrowed Jackson’s pocket knife to peel the vegetables, and when washing the knife, it slipped and went down the drain of the outside sink!! Of course, I said it was ‘fine’, but it was Jackson’s first knife, and he had literally JUST earned the privilege of using it!!! I did not want to have to tell him that it was gone. As it turned out, his knife was returned to him, and it was another knife that went down the drain!!! EEK!
After dinner was cleaned up, I showered, and Jackson fell and hurt his arm. As I was trying to navigate the rustic shower facilities, a little girl yelled in “Is Jackson’s mom in here?!” I shouted back that I was, and she let me know that he was hurt and in the dining pavilion. I dried off as quickly as I could, trying not to step in the muddy areas, and trying not to get the bottoms of my pants wet – and ran to find Jackson. He was OK, but his arm was sore.
After putting up my shower stuff, we sat around a lovely bonfire and roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. Jackson has not been a fan of s’mores in the past, but this time, he decided he liked them! He had two, and even made one for me! The fire was large, and in comparison, the marshmallow roasting sticks seemed short. It was hard to get the marshmallows roasted, as we had to stand too far back to avoid being scorched ourselves. We had pink Haribo marshmallows and thick Hershey’s Nuggets, but the kids didn’t know any different. They just enjoyed the excitement of the evening.
When the fire died down, it was time for bed. We climbed into our tent, turned on the battery powered fan, and tried to go to sleep. Sleep did not come easy. Jackson wanted to go home. (I wanted to go home), and we heard a little voice outside of our tent saying “I want to go home!”…it seemed everyone was ready to go home, and yet we had to spend the night sleeping on the ground. We were next to the raging river and we could hear it roaring all night. There was another group at the campground. They were adults, on what seemed to be a team building excursion. They were in the bungalows near us and playing LOUD disco music. Then the rain came. Jackson had to use the bathroom. I stepped on my glasses trying to get out of the tent. Jackson’s arm was hurting, and he needed some Tylenol. The battery on the fan died. I was imaging that spiders and mosquitos were in the tent with us. Finally, morning came, and we got up and started packing our gear.
Breakfast was quite lovely. The moms, along with a few Webelos, made eggs and bacon on camping stoves. Jackson made his own PBJ sandwich. I tried instant coffee, and it was not too bad. The helper washed the dishes. The group went for a muddy hike through nearby rice fields.
We finally packed up the buses and made the 4-hour drive home. What an adventure!