(Apologies for missing the June post -- I started a new job in May that obliterated my free time, and I've been struggling with things to write.)
Every year, my family regularly goes camping at a provincial park for a few nights. It's pretty normal to me now, but I wanted to share a bit of what it's like. This will be approximately chronological, but will also jump around between topics.
The night before and the morning of the first day are spent packing. The amount of stuff you bring is strongly correlated with the comfort of the camping trip, and we're not that gung-ho about living in the wild. In addition to a tent, we bring changes of clothes, bathroom amenities, sleeping bags, gazebos, foldable chairs/tables, tarps, bikes, cooking equipment, air mattresses, bug zappers, fire starters, a barbecue grill, a hammer/axe, beach equipment, and a whole bunch of food and drinks. It takes a while to pack and figure out how to fit everything in the minivan, so we typically manage to leave around 2pm. Of course, we always forget something too.
Then it's a few hours' drive to the provincial park. These are in somewhat remote locations, so in the past they would often have minimal or no cell service, but recently it's gotten much better. Provincial parks have different types of overnight camping: ones that simply span a large area that you need to walk/canoe between (portage-style), and ones where you get a desginated site, maybe 100m² where you stay the entire time. My family has always done the latter, and recently we've been staying at electric sites (containing an electrical outlet) as well for the added convenience. We often arrive with just enough time to set up the tent and gazebos before it gets dark. The first night is always the leftover takeout from lunch: my preferred choice is rice with BBQ pork.1
Because we stay in the designated campsite areas, there are "comfort stations" with hot showers, electric lights and flush toilets located within a 5-10min walk. These are maintained by park staff and are quite clean, though it depends on the time of day and how crowded the park is. Camping without showering at all is doable too, but it's definitely nice to have a flush toilet compared to an outhouse.
Although we sleep in a tent, we bring an inflatable air mattress since the ground is very hard. Recently, we've also experimented with assembling small cots as well as a foldable mattress. It can get pretty cold at night (once it dropped to 5-7°C), so it's important to check the weather forecast and have adequate sleeping bags. Some sleeping bags are only rated for 10°C and won't be warm enough in the middle of the night. Other times it's so hot that I don't use the sleeping bag at all. Overall sleep quality varies, but it gets really bright around 6-7am with the sunrise and it's difficult not to get up around then. Without electric lights, it's difficult to stay up past 11pm anyways.
We always set up a campfire at some point. Each site has a designated campfire spot and the park store sells both kindling and firewood. These are designed to reduce the risk of accidental fire spread and accidental invasive species spread, respectively. However, we usually don't do smore's because no one was able to finish the gigantic bags of mashmallows, chocolate or graham crackers we got the first few times. We bring a lighter to start the fire, though in the past we've also used magnesium fire starters for fun.
During the day, we often go on a bike trail or visit the beach. The beach is usually crowded but the trails aren't, though on the trails you need to contend with the mosquitoes and (occasionally) poison ivy2. We use a hitch on the minivan to bring our bikes, but we've also hiked before and some provincial parks have rental bikes. On a really hot day, slowly wading into the freezing cold water at the beach is amazing.
Regarding mosquitoes, they tend to vary with the time of year and location. The most effective deterrent I've found is to cover up: wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and socks. Although it gets a bit hot, it's much better than being incessantly itchy for the next few days. Other things we've tried: citronella candles, Off! candles and fans, oil torches, moderately sketchy scratchable scented stickers, other sketchy scented sprays, an entire mosquito suit, standing in smoke from the fire, all with varying success.
We also tends to deal with mosquito bites in our own ways. I prefer to resist scratching and refrain from touching it at all, at most applying some lotion on it. Other members of my family swear by scratching it until liquid bleeds out, applying Afterbite cream, or other sketchy balms (Tjing Jjau Balsem, anyone?). The bites go away after ~4 days regardless, but the absolute worst is getting them on your hands or feet, since those tend to rub against other things the most.
We've typically been lucky with the weather, but sometimes it rains a lot while we're camping. Unfortunately, tents are generally not waterproof, especially from underneath once puddles form. This is what we bring the tarps for! By hanging ropes across tree branches above our tent, we create a "roof" that diverts rain to the sides of the tent, and the tarp material is waterproof. Gazebos are similarly not designed for heavy rain, so water will collect in pockets on the roof fabric and create precarious sagging situations. It's fun poking the water back out after the rain, though.
The provincial park requires campers to leave the site before 2pm, so the last morning is spent packing everything back into the minivan. It's only required that the site is empty though, so sometimes we stay in the park and do a bit of hiking or visit the park store for ice cream. While camping is fun, often by the end of the trip I'm pretty happy to be back in my own bed.