Camping

There is something about a meal that just tastes better when you cook it over a campfire. I was finally able to get my summer camping fix in last weekend with a trip up to Westpoint Campground at Mondeaux Recreation Area in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (I challenge you to try to say that 5 times after half a case of Pabst). While there are those who enjoy the solitude and spending time in the forest by themselves, I have never been a particular fan of solo camping. There is something about waking up in the middle of the night to something shuffling about and harrumphing outside the thin nylon fabric of your tent. There is nothing that can send you from being sound asleep to wide awake and stoking up the fire than hearing what sounds like footsteps walking nearby when you are supposed to be alone. Nope, solo camping isn’t for me, I much prefer to drag my children into coming with me. My wife, Kim, isn’t fond of unnecessarily sweating or of being eaten by bugs so while she will come out and spend time with us at camp, she would much rather be relaxing by reading a book at home. As my children have gotten older, scheduling camping trips has become more a challenge. With my daughter, Beth, starting her student teaching this fall and working at a camp all summer and son, Alex, busy with school work and taking pictures, finding a weekend where we are all available happens with about the same frequency as solar eclipses. About the middle of last week, Beth suggested a camping trip. With Mandee lined up to go to the Jump River Lions Labor Day Truck Pulls, my weekend was oddly open. When going on a camping adventure of any length, I will typically over-plan things. My daughter tends to be the opposite deciding to take things as they happen. This led her earlier this summer to going on a camping trip in Door County with some friends and realizing that while they had a canopy, instead of a tent, they only had a small sun shelter suitable for finding shade on a beach for one person. She spent that night sleeping in her car, which at 25 is something you can still do. At 52, attempting to sleep in the front seat of my car would result in 12 trips to the chiropractor and prescription painkillers. Fortunately, I have two Rubbermaid storage tubs that I keep filled with basic camping supplies. My friend Mike calls these my prepper tubs, making fun of my tendency to want to be prepared in case some society-collapsing event happens. I figure that I need to be the gear and know-how guy in any post apocalyptic survival setting since I am not gong to make it on my looks or physique. Yes, I might have watched too many movies with that at the theme over the years. A side excuse for the camping trip was that we wanted to try out a recipe for fire-grill maple-glazed salmon. Thanks to a tick-bite induced food allergy to beef, pork and other mammal based meats, my household has been consuming more fish and poultry. As one of the people who helps put on the annual Running Tree Bonspiel each winter, I wanted to lobby to have a grilled alternative to the ribeyes that get prepared over the fire at the curling club. I wanted to make sure it would be something equally as amazing as a fire-grilled ribeye. As a result, Saturday afternoon saw me loading my fish -grilling basket with maple and garlic-marinaded salmon fillets and putting it over the fire. Not to brag - who am I kidding, I am totally bragging - they turned out amazing and not just because it had been a long time since breakfast and I was kind of hungry. They will definitely be making a future appearance in my grilling and campfire cooking rotation. Beyond getting to try out a new recipe, getting away even for a day or two and not having cellphone access was a much-needed chance to recharge my batteries and spend time with my kids before they get too busy with their own lives. Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News. Contact Brian at BrianWilson@centralwinews.com.