05Dec2019
On the USA Border
In 2007, I had the pleasure of working for the Southwest Conservation Corps, based out of Tucson, Arizona USA. For three whole months I worked and camped throughout the Arizona desert on the USA border. Our small team of eight people would pitch tents for 12 day stints. We got to learn a lot about each other, ourselves, and the harsh, yet beautiful, desert during that time. Discarded Past, Hopes
Continue Reading24Nov2019
Camping at Shell Island, Wales
If anybody had told me what the whole camping experience was going to be like I probably wouldn’t have gone. Portaloos really aren’t my style. But I did go (and my mother thought I was pretty stupid to do that), so I’m going to talk you through the good, the bad and the ugly of Wales. My Experience Camping at Shell Island, Wales: Camping is a Journey as well as a Destination It was a very
Continue Reading24Nov2019
Making the Camp Toilet
My dad taught me to camp before I was potty trained. My family went to pristine forest camps in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the forties. We walked to springs for our water and cooked fresh trout and hash browns with onions on a cast iron griddle over the campfire. My dad’s two rules of camping were to "respect Mother Nature" and "always leave the campsite cleaner than we found it". He w
Continue Reading21Nov2019
Prepare When Hiking for the Unexpected
Several years ago, some friends and I went hiking for the day in the local mountains. There was 5 of us, and our plan was to park one car at the bottom of the mountain, and the other at the top, that way we could start our hike at the top, and have an all downhill hike to the other car, down the canyon about 3 thousand feet in elevation change. This was supposed to be a day hike, as we had plann
Continue Reading15Nov2019
Invest in a Waterproof Tent
My rose coloured singlet stuck to the hollow of my back. I shifted myself onto my side, feeling the soft heat emanating from my burning cheek onto the palm of my hand. Just as I had begun to dream about being kissed by this really hot guy from some movie, I felt a hand shaking my shoulder. “Vicky...Vick-k-k-y-y-y!” “Hmm...w-h-a-t?” a small pool of drool trickled down my chin, sprung
Continue Reading14Nov2019
Camping: Horse Flies, Cows and Cous Cous!
So my story begins in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District, Cumbria, England. I had embarked on a 4 day camping expedition over the rolling hills and steep mountains of the English countryside, to complete The Duke of Edinburgh Award. My Tips for Camping in the Lake District: Horse Flies and Other Lovely Insects There are a few things you should know before you go on a camping trip,
Continue Reading09Nov2019
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 Reading07Nov2019
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
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