Akron Life June 2022

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[ Managing Editor | Kelly Petryszyn | kpetryszyn@bakermediagroup.com ]

Guide Post

Going camping brings us closer to one another.

Discover camps where you can make your own memories with our camping guide on pg. 22 that introduces you to destinations both near and far and accommodates any style from bare-bones tent camping to all frills glamping. My favorite thing to do at camp was horseback riding. At Centerville Mills, the woodsy trail was short, but getting on a horse was often the most exhilarating part of my

ally joined us, but it was often just us. And when you camp, you are with that person 24/7 for the whole weekend, facing the elements and passing downtime together. The camp food was average, but it was fun to share those meals. My dad used to get sunny-side up eggs with his breakfast, and he would break the yolk and sop it up with toast (I still enjoy doing that today). Being a kid, camp felt like one grand adventure, and even small moments were so exciting that they stuck with you. Wading in the river, doing an obstacle course and swinging on a rope tied to a tree all play like small movies in my mind. And now, I realize it didn’t really matter what we did. It mattered that we had that time together. As I got older, my now husband, Tony, became my camping partner. We’ve stayed at a Hocking Hills A-frame cabin as the vibrant leaves were dropping in the fall and at a fabulous glamping yurt with majestic animals we could hear at night at the Wilds, which is featured on pg. 28. I’m looking forward to one day taking our little girl on these trips, and I hope she will have a special bonding experience with her dad in nature as I did with mine. Browse our camp guide to find a special place where you and your family can con nect. Those quiet nights in nature have a way of slowing down time and bringing us closer together.

photo provided by Inn and Spa at Cedar Falls

When I was a kid, I looked for ward to camping with my dad. I was a member of what is now Adventure Princesses, formerly Indian Princesses, a YMCA program where dads and daughters joined local chapters to explore nature and deepen their bonds. All of the local chapters came together for large fall, winter and spring campouts and did typical activities like hiking and archery. We camped at Centreville Mills in Chagrin Falls, Camp Y-Noah in Clinton and Camp Fitch in North Springfield, Pennsylvania. Each spot holds some of my most cherished childhood memories.

year. We usually went to that camp in the fall and had a huge Halloween celebration where each chapter made its own haunted attraction. Some were haunted houses and others were tricks like sticking your hand in spaghetti and being told it’s brains. My dad is a do-it-yourselfer, so he went all out building haunted sets for us and once helped make a time machine where the daughter went in and the dad came out thanks to a backstage swap. When I look back on all those weekends, what is most special is that camping allowed me to spend so much one-on-one time with my dad. He traveled a lot for work so I didn’t always see him, and being one of four kids meant that you shared your time with everyone. My sister was in another group with my dad and occasion

[ Managing Editor Kelly Petryszyn is an adventure seeker, forever a dreamer and an avid supporter of #TeamFiona. ]

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