Because You Can Never Plan Too Far Ahead

I just spent three-quarters of an hour booking a campsite. 

We go to the same campground for 3 nights in July.  We are not mad, back-country, carry it in, carry it out, bury your poo campers.  We only really go to give the kids the Camping Experience (although Girl has had enough of the Experience but can't stay home).  Boy totally loves it and the best thing about it for him is being able to pee in the bushes.   3 nights is just long enough.  Long enough to make the whole pain in the arse job of setting up the camp worthwhile and short enough so that we don't get totally pissed off. 

 We borrow a trailer with electricity, because I'm done with sleeping on the ground, so there are a limited number of sites we can use.   There is one we have used and like the location of.  It's a good size, not too close to the neighbours and doesn't back onto another site.  Just the right distance from the toilets, not too far for those inevitable middle-of-the-nights trudges in the absolute darkness, not too close to get the traffic.  Close enough to the water tap so that carrying water doesn't necessitate a trip to emerg. because you've done yourself an injury. But this site was already booked.

The on-line reservation system is awesome.   It used to be that the reservation system opened on April 1.  You had to get on the computer at midnight  to book your site for the summer.  Now, you can book your site 5 months ahead.  Which means if you want to go, say, in July as we do, you can book in February.  That means you have to be actually thinking about camping in July in February, not still putting away the Christmas decorations and trying to remember to buy Valentines for Boy to give out at school.  It also means that by the time I clue in, all the mad keener campers have booked the site we want for the dates we want.  Huh, maybe it's not all that awesome.

I was able to book a site we had used before and didn't mind it.  It is just a few sites away from The Unavailable Site but it is right on the path the raccoons use for their nightly foraging.  This is interesting (Oh, look at the wild animal kids. Isn't it huge) and cute (Aw, look at those baby raccoons trying to get into the garbage) at first until the buggars try to open your food container while looking you straight in the eye and  Mummy Raccoon hisses at you when you try to shoo away the babies trying to get into your garbage.  

So we're booked for our Annual Camping Experience. In July. With the raccoons.  Can't wait.