Lady Grumpy-Pants Goes Camping

Spring of 2018 saw the return of my alter-ego Lady Grumpy-Pants. I know what you’re thinking: juvenile! But the truth is that we all get into sad moods; the blues, if you will. I’m not talking about depression here but shortish periods of…blah. Times when everything you do goes wrong or everyone around you seems unhelpful. Sometimes it’s not even anything specific. Just the overwhelming feeling of boredom that makes you want something else.

I’m old enough to be able to see these blue periods with a sense of humour. Yes, they’re exhausting but at the end of the day, what else can you do but laugh? This spring was bizarre for me and as a result, my alter-ego came out in full force. Lady Grumpy-Pants was back! And just in time for the Grasslands star party!

Last May, I went to Grasslands National Park East Block for a stary party. It was a rustic sort of place but cozy. This year, I brought my mom with me. I knew the campground had been re-done so I thought she might enjoy bringing her trailer to a new location. To be clear, the new campground isn’t bad. But it’s now like every other campground. It lost it’s wildernessy, outdoorsy feel. I like progress but I want to enjoy nature when I camp. That’s why I camp. The new grounds have lost that. Next year, I’m heading to overflow and camping next to Rock Creek.

I’m also hoping that next year, my health will allow me to do some hiking. After a long bout with a brutal cold which triggered other problems, it was very difficult for me to get around the grounds which bothered me because …well why else would you camp if you’re not going to get out and explore? We did a short drive to the south of the grounds which was lovely but I would have preferred to get down into the valley. Next year!

One of the problems with Lady Grumpy-Pants is that she’s so busy being grumpy that she forgets to do the simplest things. Like for example, setting her camera correctly. I’m embarrassed to admit that I messed up practically every photo I took on this trip. I wouldn’t be too upset since I took a lot of scenery pictures last year but since this was a star party, I’m angry with myself for not being able to get any good photos of the night sky. This is definitely a wake-up call for me! While I have no intention of becoming an astrophotographer, I should be able to take a few decent photos. I hope I’ll have more chances to practice this summer.

The May long weekend was a cold one in Grasslands. And not just because of the wind. Because I had been sick and only partially recovered, I didn’t spend as much time with the stars as I would have liked. The public event on Saturday night went very well though. It’s always neat to be able to show people the sky through your telescope.

I wish I could end this post on that lovely note but…the trip home brought a little chaos back to the life Lady Grumpy-Pants. Being that Grasslands National Park is in Saskatchewan, there are many dirt roads that one must drive on. While leaving the park, we followed the signs as carefully as possible but many simply gave directions to West Block and not to the highway. As a result, we missed our turn. Not a huge problem since this province is covered in grid roads so all we had to do was drive to the next junction and turn to the highway; just a minor detour. All of a sudden, we heard a loud BOOM! We looked behind and the rear window had an enormous hole in it! The best we can guess is that a rock jumped up and ricocheted off the trailer into the window. So we drove 4 hours back to Saskatoon with no window.

Yeah, it was an interesting trip. But when you seek adventure, not all trips are going to be good. With a sense of humour though, the worst trips are still going to be an adventure worth taking.

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