Y2K and Camp Touch Me Not

December means the 10 year anniversary of Y2K is coming up. Y2K was this huge, big deal back in 1999. Everyone worried that we would have major power outages and that terrifying events would occur. Horrible things like riots, food & water shortages, communication and transportation systems going down. Many people kept food/water stored in their basement. Personally, Pepper and I did take a couple of extra precautions as ‘just in case' measures but I KNEW we would be ok.

What we did do…. we kept about 10 jugs of water in the basement (at our house if the power goes out we can’t even flush!!) we also made sure we had both cars fuel tanks full of gas and we celebrated New Years Eve with friends who lived VERY close to a nuclear power plant… it made sense to us at the time!

Why I knew we’d be ok…. The summer of 1999 was the first year that we went to Camp Touch Me Not with Dad D’s family. I was so panicked about that trip! Dad D explained that there was no water and no bathrooms…. No electricity and no real shelter. We would just be staying in the tents we brought with us. Oh, and there were bears and big cats in the area.

As we packed, I realized had NO idea how much water my little family would need for the long weekend. I had never really estimated how much water it took to brush our teeth, wash, clean dishes, cook with etc…. I had always just taken for granted that water would just come out of our faucet!

As we drove the 8 hours it took to get to the remote camp I was focused on what I was forgetting that we would not be able to do without once we got to this camp. My main thought was that I did not think we had enough water. Every time our caravan of minivans stopped to eat, get gas or go to the bathroom…. I was in the store buying water. All of the kids had water under their feet in the van by the time we arrived. It was in our roof rack luggage carrier and stowed everywhere I could find a spot. I was obsessed. Pepper had no idea how much water we would need either…. She had never even been to Girl Scout camp so she could not help me stop obsessing about the water.

Let me tell you…we had way more water than we needed. And Dad D forgot to mention that there was a K-mart about 30 minutes from the camp… and a small park about 10 minutes away with public drinking water. Not to mention the fact that it rained three of the four days we were there!!

We all had a great time at Camp Touch Me Not. We didn’t really miss the electricity or the running water…. Did miss flush toilets though!!! We went back the next year and DID NOT bring a lot of water…. A gallon or so per person. That year, Macy ate 7 S’mores the first night (that I counted, it may have been more) then threw up all over the inside of the tent… she hit EVERY sleeping bag and EVERY suitcase…. We really could have used more water that year!!

BTW… Y2K passed by with barely a glitch. A couple gallons of that water may actually still be in our basement. It was a good lesson for me though. It made me realize that getting myself worked up about the unknown just made things worse. Not that I still don’t do it... occasionally. :)