by Sundae Watros

Created on: May 01, 2008

I have been a camper most of my life. My husband and I started with tents, then bought an older, used truck camper (that, we had a long time). We bought a travel trailer when our family grew to include grandkids and last year(inspite of the gas prices)we traded it in for a motor home.
With a tent you must carry everything you need in your vehicle. Our motor home is our vehicle with a rest room included. I am past the days of getting up in the middle of the night or early morning and trekking outside to the public facilities. Some of the bathrooms are outhouses still and by mid-July you're lucky if the smell doesn't knock you out. I guess lye is bad for the environment and good help in keeping some of our state parks clean is hard to find.

Let me tell you one tent story.

Our children were young, 7 and 5. We borrowed a friend's van and found a campsite in a state park. The site was large and there weren't a lot of sites available to choose from so we set up camp on a site by a hill. Big Mistake. During the night a huge storm came through with thunder and lighting and buckets of rain. We grabbed the kids and put them down for the night in the back of the van. My husband and I had managed to grab some beers so we sat up front most of the night talking and enjoying a beer or two. It still is one of my fondest memories.

The rain went on all night and we could not see what was happening to our camp but with the dawn we had a new laugh. Our tent and all the contents were floating. Every piece of clothing and bedding was soaked. This made a trip to town and the laundromat a must and of course since we were in town we might as well have breakfast, play the tourist and wait for the rain to pass. Later that day when the sun did come out we returned to camp and I have pictures of us playing lawn darts, standing in ankle deep water.

Sure that was fun but I have had just as much fun camping while staying warm and dry in my trailer or motor home, thank you.

There is a little tiny state park close to home we spend a week or more at a time at. It also has outhouses but because the locals use this camp more than tourist the bathroom is kept clean and does smell nice. There is a hand pump with great tasting water and the sites are relatively private.
Camping there by a beautiful river in a state forest with abundant wildlife is a treat for the soul and the senses. But sometimes the wildlife gets a little to close to camp. One Saturday afternoon my husband had left camp to go into town

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>