Home, Tarp home
Soapstone Basin // dogs, tarps, AND dad stuff
Nights out: 1 Miles driven: 136 Soundtrack: Hayley Williams, Ego Death at a Bachelorette party
Father’s Day
One night near Soapstone with the whole family, the dogs, a tarp living room, bad sleep, good bacon, and a quiet little clearing that’s starting to feel like ours.
Day 1
This place is quickly becoming a home away from home for us. It’s quick to get to, quiet, secluded, and understated. There aren’t huge views on offer, no out-of-the-ordinary scenery. Just a quiet nook in the forest that feels like ours. I was just here with the boys, but I needed to bring the whole family back. And this time, Kevin Boy even got an invite.
Instead of camping in the exact spot as the week before, we stayed a little down the road in a small clearing in the trees. We were surrounded by young, dense pines and the occasional aspen. Wildflowers dotted the clearing.
I don’t get the entire family out much these days, so I worked hard to make the experience as comfortable and homey as possible. They did me a solid for Father’s Day by indulging my weird need to sleep outside, so the least I could do was make it cozy.
I set up our tents. The family would take the rooftop Bronco fort, and I’d sleep in a ground tent with the dogs. The skies looked a bit ominous, so I rigged up a cozy little tarp with logs as supports for some rain insurance. I didn’t know it then, but that tarp would start to feel like our living room away from home — chairs underneath, kitchen nearby, and mosquito fogger holding the perimeter. A roof over our heads for no reason other than humans apparently love having one.
We spent the day under the tarp talking, reading, and letting the dogs run wild. Kevin understood the assignment and was an angel of a dog. The spazz brain goes away when he’s outside in the wild.
The kids explored, shot the BB gun, hacked at deadfall with the folding saw, and generally treated the woods like a temporary kingdom. Kevin did his part by chewing apart their stick guns.
We hit the hay early. Our time outside getting dirty wore us out. We retired to our temporary rooms and wound down. My night in the tent turned into a man-maker of an experience. I spent the night making sure the dogs were warm, cleaning up Herschel’s far-too-frequent barf in a tent, and making sure every rustle in the bushes was just a squirrel and not a sasquatch coming to abduct my family. You know, dad stuff.
Day 2
I woke up early with the dogs, who desperately “needed” to go outside and do absolutely nothing. I quietly made myself a coffee, lit the fire, and enjoyed a sunrise with man’s best friends. I didn’t think, I didn’t work, I just sat.
The kids woke up, and duty called — bacon needed to be fried and omelettes scrambled. We cleaned up camp, cleared some deadfall blocking the road, and headed back home. Over the hour it took to get back, James thanked me for planning the trip about a thousand times. That was all the reward I needed.
Everyone came home dirty, tired, and happy. The kids got to be wild, and the dogs spent the day in their element. That little clearing near Soapstone felt a little more like ours. It wasn’t restful, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
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For a quick family overnighter, comfort matters more than complexity. Our essentials were tents, camp chairs, a simple kitchen setup, warm layers, sleeping bags, dog gear, a cooler, bug control, and an easy breakfast plan. A tarp also earned MVP status by turning a basic campsite into an actual living room.
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Absolutely. Even if it never rains, a tarp gives you shade, a gathering place, and a little roof over your head. On this trip, the weather held out, but the tarp became the center of camp anyway. Chairs underneath, kitchen nearby, mosquito zone established. Home, tarp home.
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Smash tacos are hard to beat. They’re fast, filling, kid-friendly, and don’t require a complicated camp kitchen. For breakfast, bacon and omelets did the job, even if the cook was running on bad sleep and dog-related tent trauma.
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Yes, but plan for actual dog management, not just dog vibes. Bring beds, leashes, food, water, towels, and a tent setup that can handle dirt, chaos, and occasional poor life choices. Our dogs loved the trip. I loved them slightly less at 3 a.m.
Keep Wandering
More soapstone lounging: Lazy Day
More cooking for the crew: Breaking Bread
More family camping: Goblin Valley
