Camping for Fun; 50 Years and Counting!!!

Camping for Fun; 50 Years and Counting!!

As an avid camper throughout my entire life, I have enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, the secret is out; now you know I’ll be 50 years old this year. That’s a lot of camping and a ton of fun. Men don’t seem to worry about sharing their age as much as women do, suffice to say my wife is younger than me, and I’m the only gray one in the family.

With half a century of camping in the history books, I have many great memories, some wonderful experiences, and a plethora of stories to share.

My first memory of camping is from a very young age. I can’t be sure, but at best I was only 2 or 3 years old. In that era of camping, there were no giant motor homes or 40 FT 5^th wheels. No slide outs, no microwaves, and definitely no satellite TV. As my mother always said, “we were roughing it.”

I can still remember the tent we camped in. It looked like an old green canvas army tent. No fancy synthetics or carbon fiber poles, and it didn’t pop into place on its own. This monster was heavy and required a family effort to erect. Try to put one of these up by yourself, and you have the makings for an America’s Funniest Video. That was half the fun of camping.

The army tent wasn’t equipped with a queen size, pillow-top mattress either. We had two choices: sleep on the ground, or if you were fortunate enough to draw the long straw, as an upgrade you may be sleeping on an old army cot. The cots were relics as well, heavy canvas with thick wooden legs. If I owned one today, I could sell it on eBay as an antique.

One of my favorite parts of tent camping was the boating. We loaded all of our gear - the cooler, tent, and cots - into the boat for transit. Upon arrival and setting up camp on the shore of a pristine lake, we would take the boat for a spin. I replay this memory every time I hear the Alan Jackson song about his father’s old plywood boat.

One of my favorite camping memories is from the time my father let me take the wheel of the boat once camp was set up. I was only 4 or 5 years old, but I have a vivid recollection of the entire camping trip.

They say that the average camper will own 7 RVs in his lifetime. Our family followed this trend as my parents moved up from the tent to a tiny 15 FT travel trailer. Do they even make a trailer this small anymore? Yes they do, but rarely will you see a family of 5 on tour in one. Even with the upgrade, we were still roughing it by today’s standards. No TV and no fridge, just an old ice box. And if Mother Nature called, there was always the outhouse just a few yards away.

On one of our cross-country trips, the family of 5 became 7.  Not only did my grandmother join us, but we gathered up my great-grandfather for the return trip home. It was the first time that I saw a lobster up close and personal. They look a bit scary when you’re 8, although today it is my favorite food.

Yes, it was a little cozy in the tiny camper, but the real pleasure of camping is the outdoor activity like Chili Dawgs & marshmallows cooked on the campfire. Swimming, nature hikes, and cooking breakfast outside on the old Coleman Stove are also part of the typical itinerary in a camper’s day.

The family camping tradition is one that my wife and I are passing on to our 2 teenage daughters as well. Like me, the girls started camping shortly after birth. We started off with a small popup when our first daughter was born. She was only a few weeks old for her first adventure. We decided to upgrade to a travel trailer upon the arrival of our youngest daughter. In fact, the trailer and the baby were delivered on the same weekend. I have a photo of my wife standing beside the new trailer ready to give birth at any moment.

Now I have new memories to savor from camping trips with my wife and our girls. I hope they have pleasant dreams as well.

Stay tuned for a few camping tips, some free advice, and a few silly stories from the La Tour family camping fiascos. FYI one translation of La Tour is “the trip,” or in this case “the camping trip.”