It’s the Victoria Day long weekend and so begins the odyssey of lily-white, sun-starved Canadians into the wilds of Canada bearing backpacks, tents, hot dog forks and sunscreen.  Forget that the forecast is only a chilly 15 degrees Celsius here on Vancouver Island this weekend, we’re going if we have to wear toques.  Luckily, we upgraded to a tent trailer last year so no sleeping on the ground will be required.

So what does it take to go camping with a peanut, nut and kiwi allergic child?  Surprisingly, it’s getting a little easier now that we have some favorite brands of items that go with us, not to mention Nonuttin’ granola, granola bars and trail mix.  We take a nut free brand of chocolate covered cookies that we use for S’mores, our own bread and buns, bake our own goodies and after that, it’s all about fruit, veggies and what can be cooked on an open flame.

This time, we’re not going alone so the planning does get a bit more complicated.  Like school events, this is where I find it easiest to simply volunteer to make all of the baked goods required.  Luckily, my 2 girls are like their mom and love to bake and cook so while I worked today, the muffins, banana bread and cake (there’s an anniversary celebration today too) were magically created at home since my girls had the day off school.  I love this teenager stuff (bet you don’t hear that too often).

I have to admit that when we first started camping when the girls were little, I was really concerned about being away from home in case an allergic reaction occurred.  Of course, we always have epi pens both on our daughter and ourselves but being away from civilization was worrisome.  What I discovered, at least on Vancouver Island, is that camping is not what I remember it to be when I was a child.  My dad was one of those guys who eschewed anything paved and took us on back roads into places I’m not sure we were actually allowed to camp.  I remember being rescued from a mud pit once by a logging crew after my dad got my grandparents motorhome stuck on particularly nasty back road.  Not exactly where I’d want to be in case of an emergency.

But every provincial park we’ve been to so far is removed from the main roads enough to feel isolated and away from civilization while still being no more than 10 minutes from a main highway, phones and even a grocery store.  I feel fairly comfortable with that. 

And now that I  have convinced my husband that camp food can be more than just hot dogs and eating out of cans, we’re all set.