CAMPING

Hey there sagacious reader.  I wonder, are there any campers out there? Happy campers?  I think I might have been one waaay back in the day. Before I got old and cranky!  Or at least as close to one as I'll ever be.  But I do enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors; the fresh air redolent with the scent of wildlife, the quiet whisper of the wind in the trees, the soft murmur of the water rushing in the streams.  Ah nature, so peaceful, so relaxing.

As a child, I don't remember ever camping with my family. (I know, I know, my memory is shot, but still...)  When we went on vacation we pretty much stuck to civilization. Motels and such on the way to our destination which was always the same.  The Rocky Mountains.  Seems like a camping destination doesn't it?  Ironically, we stayed in a log cabin on my grandparents ranch.  A large, 6 bedroom, 2 bath ranch house of a log cabin.  Very civilized.  At least by the standards of the day. (No TV for the longest time, yikes!)

I do remember one summer evening going with my sisters and some friends out on the ranch to camp for the night. Our (male, of course) cousins came up with the bright idea and talked us into joining them.  I was a bit of a (naive) youngster then and it sounded like fun. And for a while it was. Setting up the tent, making it all cozy with our sleeping bags. Laughing by the campfire.  But when it was time for sleep, things weren't so much fun anymore. Damn, it was cold!  And the ground was hard!  I think I was awake, shivering most of that (long, long) night. Trying not to move 'cause moving let in the cold which promptly sucked all the warmth out of me and my sleeping bag.  That was not good.  Not good at all. I didn't much enjoy it and had no interest in repeating the experience.

Many, many years passed.  Much like child birth, I forgot how painful the experience was so tried again.  That trip was much better.  I was (somewhat) older and (a little bit) wiser and better equipped to deal with the cold nights and hard ground. Being properly prepared for camping can make all the difference.  Not to mention being young and agile enough (I was in my early 20's) to deal with all the hassles.  Though this experience was better than my first, it was still nothing I was excited about repeating.

More years passed.  I got married and had children.  (Why, I still haven't quite figured out--the children part, anyway)  :-)   As money was tight back then, all of our trips included lots of camping with a motel stop here and there to break things up.  Not to mention how lovely it was to take a shower and sleep in a real bed every now and again.  And a chance to eat out!  Not having to cook in the style of my great, great grandparents.  What a treat that was!  

We always planned our trips to stay in National Parks and Monuments or State Parks.  Many of the places we visited were only easily accessible by camping. That was cool. Kept the crowds down.  Neither my husband nor I cared for crowds. That being said, the majority of the people who were our 'campmates' were friendly and good spirited as such people are.  I mean, if you're in a National Park camping, odds are that you are on vacation, right? And who is grumpy when on vacation?  That usually happens on the drive home when your work week is looming and the reality of it slaps you in the face.  

Our first several years of camping we tooled around in a 1978 VW camper van. That was ok.  Made the camping experience much better.  We (I) would carefully select our camping site and my husband would level the van, pop the top and voila!  Done. The cooking gear was all ready stored in the cabinets as was the 'dry' food staples.  The van had a sink and a two-burner stove and could sleep 4 comfortably (somewhat).  Life was easier in the van.

Then my husband decided tent camping was the way to go.  I didn't necessarily agree but there it is.  Tent camping it was.  And life was never quite the same after that.  Camping can be a whole lot of work and the older I got the harder the work seemed to get. Not only was there more work to be done (I hate work) but everything became much more complicated.  Nothing, and I mean nothing was easy.  Even the air mattress which I insisted on-- these old bones were not going to lie on the hard ground; no way, not going to happen--came with its own set of problems. Cooking was a pain in the ass, cleaning up the mess was a pain in the ass, getting dressed was a pain in the ass, trying to keep from smelling like something that died the previous week was a pain in the ass, even going to the bathroom.  Everything!  Now, doesn't camping sound like fun?

Well, what can I say.  Camping, so many 'bite me' moments, so little time.
So for now I give you an overview of my camping experience.  There are many, many more moments to share but I will leave you now with this: Camping is not for the faint-hearted, the infirm or the elderly (unless you have a really nice motor home).  But to tent camping in and of itself, I say a somewhat gentle BITE ME!