Mom and Dad do know how to throw a birthday party. The little Assistant to the Senior Manager celebrated her 1 month old birthday on a camping trip in the jPod. Since this family arrangement is new to us, Senior Management and I thought it would be wise to camp someplace near our home-base and someplace that had bathroom facilities.
We camped with the family and friends who have camped together every year for almost 40 years. The group always changes in size, company, and story but it is always fun. It also guaranteed plenty of baby sitters if we needed a nap or something. Little baby did well. She woke up once in the night and I, Dad, got to change a diaper in the jPod. I am thankful for the Fan-Tastic roof vent that I installed when building the jPod. It pulls enough air to make the windows whistle. It also pulls enough air to flush the soiled diaper smell out of such a small space! Without that fan, teardrop camping with a new baby would be too much of an adventure for us.
The first night we camped, the night’s sky was crystal clear and being away from the lights of the city, we could see stars that aren’t normally viewed by city people. It was beautiful. I shot a ton of long exposure pictures of the stars with varying success. It was as if the entire milky way was rolled out before us like a giant cosmic sparkling blanket that turns in on itself.
We took advantage of the fire for our cooking by using our cast iron cookware & improvising recipes. There is NOTHING like camp food cooked over a fire. Food, Folks, Fire, and Fun with the little one on her 1 month birthday.
It was a great trip and reaffirmed many of the design choices we made with the jPod for our place in life right now. Plus, there is little better in life than camping with your loved ones. I also realized that there is little more fun to be had than camping with a cute daughter, taking her on walks, and looking at the stars together.
“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” ~Clarence Budington Kelland
