This camping trip has brought a mixed feeling about Jalama beach... We were originally supposed to stay for two nights but unfortunately crazy wind kept blowing away through the entire 1st day and night (almost blowing the tent with us inside!!) and never stopped when sun came up on the second morning so we wrapped our tent and left as quickly as possible when we woke up.
Definitely not as glorious and awesome as we had hoped for our first family camping trip to be... But we did learn a few good lessons which is helping us to be more prepared for the big adventure in the new year!!
First and foremost..., it takes a lot more effort/energy to adopt to a new environment with a little one in our hand. Rocky terrain, picnic benches with sharp edges, fire pit..., etc. Camp site can be full of high-risk areas. It took us about 2 hours to figure out where we needed to watch out for...when little roo was roaming.
She also needed a "roo spot" where she can safely hang out. She loved the little entrance on side of the tent so we set up a picnic blanket with few of her favorite toys as a kid's corner. I think it sort of worked as a quick solution; though, we will need washable toys for this situation next time!
This is another baby related topic but we definitely needed to bring a portable crib for our roo. She is not used to sleeping with us so she tossed and turned quite bit on our bed and I was chasing her with a blanket all night just to make sure that she would stay warm enough. (and naturally... I got no sleep)
On a very different note, we loved stepping away from our daily grind. This summer had a few rough spots to get through purely from our time management aspect so it was really helpful to reassess our life and obsession to "check in" with our online world.
Despite the crazy wind and all... I enjoyed walking on the beach while sun slowly sat down. Feeling the ocean breeze, seeing Shep run/swim with so much energy and simply being a part of the nature. It just felt good... you know...?
We travel to disrupt our daily routine... to discover something inspiring on the road and finding a new routine that works for us on the spot. So the trip didn't turn out as we wanted it to be... but we are still super happy that we came home little wiser and few shades darker:)
