Dad and son camp in backyard for almost 50 nights straight

SALISBURY, Md. – A Salisbury University professor and his son are making the most out of being stuck at home by embracing nature in their own back yard. As of Tuesday, the two have spent almost 50 nights straight camping out.  “We were supposed to be going on a wilderness survival camp out, but it ended up being cancelled from the Coronavirus and so instead of going camping there we can camp out in the backyard,” says boy scout Nathan Polkinghorn.

Nathan and his dad Brian Polkinghorn have spent almost every night camping in their backyard since March 15th. They’ve been busy working on merit badges like including camping, astronomy, environmental science, photography, astronomy, and cooking. Nathan says he and his dad have made a lot of different things over the camp fire. “We cooked some stuff over the fire. We made mac n cheese, we cooked hot dogs, we cooked fish or chicken,” he said.

Brian and Nathan say every night around 5 o’clock – after they get the fire going they set up in their tent. The tent has multiple compartments, and is stocked with a lantern and cozy sleeping bags. The pair tells us that their favorite part of this new routine is getting to spend quality time with each other. “Telling stories, hanging out, hearing him say ‘goodnight dad’,” said Brian.