In doing some early spring cleaning, I ran across a treasure of Mama J’s—a typewritten account of some of our first family camping trips, beginning when Mike and I were five. I thought it might be fun to share these accounts with you here, to see where we all get our love of nature and the outdoors. NOTE: I have included minor edits (punctuation, mainly), but the text mostly remains as it appears in the original. The boldfaced subheadings/intros are mine.
Part 1: Background
It Always Rains (by Joan Owens)
The day was beautiful, clear and sunny but not too hot as we pulled into the campground. The first black clouds appeared as we chose our site, and the first fat raindrops fell as we pounded in the last tent stake. We all hurried to finish setting up camp, laughing because it always rains when we go camping. The children can set up the tent in the backyard on a clear day with no rain forecast, and we’ll have a downpour. Always.
Our camping adventures began seven years ago. My husband, Al, our five-year-old twins, Mike and Gail, and I did a lot of summer picnicking. We were living in Wisconsin and enjoyed exploring our new state. Al’s brother-in-law had the opportunity to purchase some property in northern Wisconsin and had suggested we go up there together over the Fourth of July weekend with the possibility of camping. We were agreeable.
Two nights before we embarked on that first camping trip, we bought a four-man cabin tent. We knew nothing about tent-buying, and it cost us a lot of money, considering we didn’t know whether we’d even use it. In the long run it was a wise purchase, as it is the only piece of that original equipment we are still using. It has one tiny hole in the floor, which we mended with a bicycle tire patch, and we have used a waterproofing spray on it once. In retrospect, however, I agree with the author who said anyone foolish enough to purchase a tent with a pole in the center of the doorway deserves to walk into it.
We took it home, and with directions in one hand and helpful neighbors offering advice, managed to set it up in our backyard. According to the directions we also hosed it down. Tent fibers are treated for water repellency. However, the tent must also be able to “breathe,” or the inside would be extremely uncomfortable. A new tent in a hard, driving rain would be wet inside as the rain was driven through the breathing pores. Wetting the tent down before use helps the tent fibers swell and aids in prevention of this misting. It actually remained standing! Even then we should have had our clue about rain in the future.
We only owned one sleeping bag, a definite hand-me-down from my dad’s days of camping with a Boy Scout troop. So our next trip out we bought three super cheap, child-sized sleeping bags. I’m short enough to fit in one, and our tent purchase had left us really short of ready cash. The remainder of our camping gear was pretty primitive. We owned a hibachi for charcoal cooking and a Styrofoam cooler for refrigeration. We got everything assembled and awaited Al’s sister and her family. They finally arrived and eventually we got everyone settled for the night.
Early the next morning all the last-minute chores were done, and we departed. The farther north we traveled, the heavier the holiday traffic. That’s another clue we ignored! We’ve traveled and camped every holiday weekend since, too. Hours later, hot and hungry, we found the property. While the men explored, we rapidly reached the conclusion there was no way to camp there. We also encountered our first ticks. Few other insects annoy me as much, and tick inspection is a camp standard we strictly follow. In fact, we rather resemble a group of monkeys picking fleas off one another.
The tourist information center was able to direct us to some campgrounds, and we were very fortunate to find a site, a large, private campground with showers, flush toilets, and utility rooms. Subconsciously, it may have provided some of our bias against private campgrounds in the future. Generally, we have found private campgrounds to be well-equipped with facilities. However, sites tend to be close together and the fees high. We prefer camping where facilities may be more primitive, but we have privacy and more space. Public campgrounds, such as state parks and forests as well as national forests are also generally less expensive and quieter. We are not above using a private campground, though we usually don’t unless we need to shower pretty badly! Many more developed state parks have these facilities, too. On planning extended trips, especially over busy holiday weekends, private campgrounds are more likely to accept advance reservations.
gailsuberbielle.com 