We went camping a couple years ago. I mean tent camping, not luxury camping with a trailer, generator, and all the comforts of home. I'm talking about roughing it. Dirt. Bugs. Flashlights. It was no fun camping with a 6-year-old autistic kid. It was a chore.

This weekend we went camping again. More dirt. More bugs. More regret. Camping with an 8-year-old autistic kid is no more fun than camping with a 6-year-old autistic kid. It was difficult and there was little structure to our days. Sleeping in a tent is not our norm. And it really gave us an appreciation for indoor plumbing.

Follow up:

Braden is much less routine-oriented than most children with autism we know. And yet camping shatters any such routine of any sort. Even bed time is drastically different. Not only was he sleeping on the ground in a tent, but in the same room as Mom and Dad. He knows that's way out of the norm and therefore he's not comfortable with it. The walls of a tent provide no sound barrier as his room does. The tent is not temperature controlled. The ground is much more firm than the mattress on his bed. While camping he can count on nothing to offer him the things he expects.

We only stayed for 2 nights at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, Oregon. But those were 2 sleepless nights. Well, technically we probably got about 4 or 5 hours of uncomfortable sleep each night. Braden went to sleep late and woke up before the sun. We had to keep him busy all day so that meant go, go, go.

The last night we put him to bed earlier because he was exhausted. We figured he'd be out within half an hour. All the sites are close to each other and since we were camping with our church we went to the sites next door and mingled. We thought that, without us right there, Braden would fall asleep quick. So I popped a beer and relaxed with some friends. We had dinner and drinks. After a while Mom happened to go near to our tent for something. She got just close enough and could hear Braden sobbing in the tent.

He hadn't been able to fall asleep. He seemed scared and tired. I felt like the worst Dad in the world. Here I was having a beer and a glass of wine and just enjoying company while my son was in misery. That was a terrible feeling.

Braden wanted us in the tent with him. So we got ready for bed one at a time. One of us stayed in the tent while the other went to the restroom. When we both got into the tent for bed with him, Braden was much more comfortable. He fell asleep and slept pretty soundly through the night.

It was quite an experience. It was an experience we aren't going to repeat for a long time.

Braden loves to travel, but he also loves to have his own room and a nice comfortable bed. We always have to get a hotel room with a room in it. We used to call that type of room a suite, but we've noticed several hotels put up a 4 foot partition between the bed and the sofa and call it a suite. No, we need a real suite.

Our days of roughing it are done. We're selling the tent. We just have to face it - we're hotel people. We need the comforts of home. A good night's sleep and indoor plumbing are vital for us when it comes to facing autism the following day. And I won't even get into the behavior trips. Uhhhhhhh.

As a little side note; We got home from camping just hours ago and our home air conditioner went out. Today it was over 100 degrees. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same. At least it was cool in Brookings!