26Nov2020
The Summer I Camped Like a Hippie
It was 1972 and it would be the best summer of my youth. It was the summer I camped like a hippie. I had turned twelve that year and middle school had proven to be a culture shock for me. I had never been a hip kid. I recall that was the year I had gotten my first pair of bell-bottom pants; Mother had been apprehensive about buying them - even though they had been all the rage for years and wer
Continue Reading24Nov2020
Camping With a Vehicle
My husband Bill and I used to do a lot of camping and off-roading. Bill never went anyplace without a plethora of supplies, tools and equipment. This way, in the event of a car breakdown, he would have what he needed at hand to fix a vehicle or to survive in a less than hospitable environment (we may be the only people to go on a day-trip into a California desert with arctic-type cold weathe
Continue Reading23Nov2020
Camping Memories on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
I love the luxuries that I have available at my fingertips when I’m in the comfort of my own home. Meals cooked on the stove. Laundry done in a washer and dryer. A dishwasher doing my dishes. A warm, dry bed and clean shower with hot water. However, after a long winter stuck in the house I’m sick of these walls and the luxuries within them! May 24th weekend arrives. The first long wee
Continue Reading19Nov2020
Camping at Keuka State Park NY: Making Memories in the Rain
The wholesome family experience of camping is not limited to clear starry nights and chasing fireflies. In 2004, a stormy night on a hill gave camping a whole new perspective for this mom from New York. Jackie was determined to make camping a part of her children’s lives. School was still in session and preparations had begun several weeks earlier. Jackie booked a tent-site for a weekend in l
Continue Reading14Nov2020
RV Camping: Hold Down the Fort
Whenever my husband or I would leave our house, there was always the admonition to the other to “Hold Down the Fort”. This past weekend we went RV camping at our favorite spot; this spot is an RV park with a cement drive-through pad, water, sewage, electrical, and cable hook-ups, a pool, and a McDonald’s within two miles. RV Camping After setting up camp, hooking up the air conditioner,
Continue Reading10Nov2020
“Okay, God, I Get It: It IS a GRAND Canyon!”
My roommate, Jenna, and I view nature in two forms. First, there is “nature” which consists of flowers organized in dainty rows, zephyrs blowing through oak leaves and air conditioned buildings within reach. Then, there is “THE nature”; cruel and biting, layered in sweat, and bears attacking humbly constructed tents. So when we were required go hiking the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA for a
Continue Reading09Nov2020
Camping Memories: The Beauty of Camping
In our dimly lit basement I recently opened a photo journal; instantly, I was transported back to the time when my children were eleven and fourteen. The journal was full of so many great camping memories! Pulling a beat up camper trailer behind our truck, we set off to experience as many national parks as we could in one summer. I planned to infuse history, geography, geology and nature into my c
Continue Reading06Nov2020
A Camping Misadventure: The Perfect Failures
Mmmm camping. The crisp pine-cone incense surrounds me, the feel of forest floor between my toes, the mystery of freshly falling fog… Smudge. Five-year-old Leslie walks across my perfect picture with our mud-pawed retriever, Rocky, in tow. With twinkling jade eyes and a smile that’s too pure to pay for, he exclaims, “We’re going camping!” We? I hope Mom and Dad knew what they were
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