Some Things Never Change [SHAWN MENDES]

June 26, 2010

"Who is ready for the second annual Mendes-Burroughs camping extravaganza?!" my dad shouted as we stood outside our fully packed minivans.

"I think you mean glamping," Eric said with a scowl.

Our first camping trip was last summer and it had been a little bit of a disaster. It had rained two of the four nights and our "waterproof" tents had flooded. Someone (me) hadn't completely closed the cooler with the perishable food and the ice melted overnight. This meant we had to toss all the yummy things and just eat canned or boxed stuff. On top of that, my mom discovered bear tracks just twenty meters from our campground which freaked her out.

This year, Lisa handled the arrangements. She rented a small cabin at Algonquin Park, right on the water. It was surrounded by several acres of woods, so anyone who wanted to rough it could stay in a tent. The moms said they could be found in the three room rustic house where there was a refrigerator to chill their wine, running water, and toilets. Eric and my dad said they wouldn't be setting foot inside the cabin since that was cheating and not real camping. Ceci and I hadn't decided on where we'd stay but to be honest, being in a house sounded better than getting eaten up by mosquitos.

"Why is my dad so corny?" I whispered to my best friend.

"I dunno, but I think it's a requirement for being a father."

It took a few minutes to decide on the driving arrangements. In the end, me, Ceci, and both dads took our van while Aaliyah rode with the moms in the other one. Their music would be better than ours, but we were more likely to stop and get junk food along the way. I could put up with hits from the 90's as long as I got some sugary crap.

Ceci and I had each gotten an iPod Touch last Christmas, so we amused ourselves with offline games for most of the ride.

"Back in our day, we had to entertain ourselves on road trips by playing the license plate game or singing songs," Eric said.

"How did you survive?" Ceci asked sarcastically.

"It was better! We used our brains!" my dad answered.

Ceci and I looked at each other and both of us rolled our eyes.

"I'd be down for singing," I offered, "but I don't know any Pearl Jam or Nirvana or whatever this is."

"Manuel...you've failed as a father if you haven't been playing good music for your kids. It's part of their basic education!" Eric said with false seriousness.

"Can you identify this group, Cecilia?" my dad asked.

"It's Cake and the song is The Distance," she replied.

"Very good," my dad said, clearly impressed.

"I prefer Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift, though," Ceci said. "There really weren't enough strong female solo artists during the 90's."

"Not true! Look at Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette," Eric argued.

"Good choices, but it's not like today where women dominate the charts," she said.

The conversation ended when we stopped to buy live bait for fishing and snacks for me and Ceci. A couple hours later we arrived at the cabin where the first order of business was unloading the vans. After that, the two large tents were pitched in a clearing deep in the woods that had a fire pit surrounded by large rocks. Apparently we weren't the only people who wanted both a campsite and a cabin.

Ceci and I were sent off to gather sticks for kindling while our parents blew up the air mattresses for the tents using a battery operated pump.

"Are you sleeping in the cabin?" I asked my friend as we trudged through the woods.