A Wild Weekend in the Wild

2012 has been a year of firsts for me. My first time hiking a trail – which I learned the hard way should not be done in flip-flops and a sundress. My first time camping – in a tent, at a campground so remote I didn’t even have cell service. Even my first time staying at a place with a word like “lodge” in the title.   
 
As you may have guessed, I’m more of an indoors girl. I’ve written about this before.
 
So when my husband first suggested that we pack up the kids and head to An Old-Fashioned Christmas Weekend at YMCA’s Trout Lodge in Potosi, I wasn’t sure it was something I really wanted to do. In my sheltered existence, Potosi is one of those places you hear mentioned occasionally on the local weather report, or a list of school closings.
 
It is not a place you ever have any reason to actually visit.
 
“They have running water, right?” I asked reluctantly.
 
In the end, I turned to my trusty sidekick Google to determine if this was an endeavor worth undertaking.  And to my surprise, I discovered that Trout Lodge, despite the rustic implications of its name and location, combines hotel-style accommodations with the undisturbed beauty of the Eastern Ozarks.

Plus the additional promise of an “old-fashioned” Christmas – complete with caroling, candle making, and a Pioneer Village – spoke straight to my Little House on the Prairie-loving heart.
 
I decided to give the experience a chance.
 
For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised by our mini-family getaway. Our room was clean and spacious, and most importantly, equipped with indoor plumbing. The view of the 360-acre lake from our balcony was truly breathtaking. Even the lack of a TV proved to be a blessing in disguise, since nobody was forced to fall asleep to the mindless shenanigans of Phineas and Ferb.
 
(In retrospect, I may have overreacted a bit when I read in the Visitor’s Guide about the poisonous and potentially deadly snakes that can sometimes be spotted on the property, but in all honesty, they really shouldn’t leave that lying out on the table so it’s one of the first things you see when you arrive. Are they trying to scare guests away?)
 
Poisonous snakes aside, it’s the activities that make Trout Lodge a worthy destination for families. At our Old-Fashioned Christmas Weekend, we made candles and yarn dolls, strung popcorn, decorated salt dough ornaments, and learned a more about blacksmithing than I ever thought I would know.

Simply walking the trails also proved to be fun for everyone – and by fun I mean we made it the whole way without seeing any slithering reptiles, which in my book qualifies as a smashing success.
 
My kids caught ladybugs and dug up earthworms, and proved once again that they’re way more comfortable with nature than I will ever be. Sometimes, if I didn’t have the memories of two horrifically painful labors to remind me, I would swear we weren’t even related. Yesterday, I actually found myself ordering them a worm farm as a Christmas gift.  
 
This is not something I ever thought I would do.  
 
Children, it turns out, have this annoying habit of drastically altering the way we see the world, and changing our perspective on just about everything we once thought we knew. Thanks to mine, I’m gradually learning that the great outdoors might not be as bad as I've always liked to believe.

I didn’t even run screaming in the other direction when they suggested returning to Trout Lodge this summer so that we can swim in the lake, go horseback riding, and try activities like archery and geocaching.  
 
I did, of course, secretly wonder what kind of creatures and toxic bacteria may be lurking in that water, and if archery is actually as easy as Princess Merida makes it look. Baby steps, people, baby steps.
 
If you want to plan a trip to Trout Lodge for your family, I highly recommend the special themed weekends and events that are planned throughout the year. The Old Fashioned Christmas Weekend has ended for the season, but there will be a New Year’s Celebration from December 28-31, and events like Action Hero Weekend, Mardi Gras Mania, and Easter in the Ozarks are offered throughout 2013.
 
Braver parents than I can even send their kids to Trout Lodge’s Camp Lakewood for their annual Winter Camp from December 27-30.  Because as far as I’m concerned, visiting a lodge for a family getaway is one thing; sending my kids off into the wilderness to a well-run, reputable YMCA camp to fend for themselves against deadly snakes to make new friends and have tons of great new experiences is quite another.
 
But then again, 2012 was a year of many firsts. There’s no telling what I’ll do in 2013.

Photos: Alyssa Chirco

By Alyssa Chirco, SmartMama blogger for SmartParenting

Alyssa Chirco is a St. Louis freelance writer, mother and margarita lover, not necessarily in that order. In addition to writing for St. Louis Kids, she is Contributing Editor for Parenting Squad, writes regularly about parenting and family for Lifetime Television's The Balancing Act, and firmly believes there are few problems in life that cannot be solved with a good margarita.