Roughing it is...

We have acquired a 17' Travel Trailer. It belonged to my mother and father and I had been talking to them about borrowing the trailer for a trip or two and after awhile we wound up making a deal so that we could just acquire the trailer and make it our own.

So now we have the option of camping in the RV or the tent. I have been asked the question (more than once and by more than one person) "what happened to your idea that roughing it was black and white TV at the Holiday Inn"? Well, it's kind of a long story...

When I was a kid our family tent camped. Well, we started out using the back of the cattle truck as our camper. I wish I had a picture of that because we were our own version of the Clampets with a quilt for the door over the back of the truck and an old green, canvas tarp for the roof. On one of our trips it started to rain. Daddy stopped and came out of a little gas station with a sack full of bubble gum - now that was a vacation - Daddy never bought us bubble gum. He told us to chew it all but not to throw it away. Later we found out why - Daddy took two pieces of the chewed gum and put one piece on the bottom of the tarp and one of the top - to stop the leaks! We started out this way because Daddy wanted to see if he would like camping. He didn't think he would - he said he had enough camping during the war. As it turned out, he enjoyed camping and we eventually graduated to a tent and all the fixings. We had many memorable trips and we all seem to remember the same ones and pretty much in the same way, so I figure those were the true highlight trips. One was a trip to Apalachicola's State Park. The road to the park was loooooooooooooooong and when we arrived discovered we were the only ones in this huge park. Most people used it during hunting season. After we set up camp we went down to the lake and prepared our supper at the picnic area. While there, a car drove in and Daddy admonished us not to say anything to anyone about our camping there just in case they were up to mischief. Well that scared me! That night, wild hogs rooted around our tent almost all night long. I lay awake asking over and over - Susan, are you awake (no answer), Marty, are you awake (no answer). I guess I finally went to sleep. What I didn't find out until much later in my life was that Daddy was awake listening to me but didn't answer because he knew if he did I would wind up in the bed with him and Mama and that wouldn't have been comfortable at all. (Of course much later in my life I understood that Daddy was always watching out for us whether we knew it or not.) But we all agree the best camping trip was in our own back pasture. That year Daddy had several young cows penned he was feeding for market. They had to be fed morning and night and so we couldn't go away. We took all the camping paraphernalia down behind the house to the edge of the swamp and set up camp. No one could see us from the house and it became a real game to sneak up to the house, feed the animals, and return to camp without being seen by anyone. Even though we lived on a dead end road with our closest neighbor being about 1/4 mile away, people were always coming and going at our house so we really did have to be careful. We had the campfire every night, roasted marshmallows, hot dogs, all the usual camp fair. Mama had two special dishes for the camp: campfire stew (none of us can remember the recipe) and she always made a jelly cake to take on the camp. So I really enjoyed camping as a kid. Then I got married and started camping with my first husband. I'm not sure what about that experience turned me off to camping but the pleasure sure got sucked out it somehow. That's when I developed my famous saying "roughing it is black and white TV at the Holiday Inn." As time progressed my first husband really got into the primitive camp scene and ultimately went Mountain Man. That was way too much for me - especially when I found out I would have to eat grasshoppers! After the divorce he would take Tiffany camping and I believe she enjoyed that and several times Tiffany and I were invited on camp trips with some special friends. Those were fun also. And every year Mama and Daddy would take the grandchildren camping and sometimes I would go with them, which was always fun too. But it was never anything I set out as my first choice. After Jim and I married he tried to get me to go camping with him and I really didn't want to and he didn't force the issue, but he did keep asking and talking to me about what my objections really were. As it turns out my objection was all the work to prepare to go, all the work while in the camp, the cooking, the cleaning, and then all the work to pack to come home, unpack and clean up at home. That's just way too much work for a "vacation." After we had worked for months anticipating a vacation, I wanted something a little more on the "do nothing at all - have someone wait on me" - side of things and camping just didn't seem to fit that description. Well Jim convinced me it didn't have to be all work and no relaxation so when the opportunity came to observe our first Sukkot, which meant tent camping, I agreed to try. What a blast! Jim was right, there is work involved in camping, but if you plan it just right there is a good mix of work and relaxation AND to be back outside was the bonus. I love to be outside, I love to see the stars at night, I love to see whatever wildlife I can spot during the day, I love the fresh air, I love the freedom of outside! I rediscovered camping can provide all those things.

So that's what happened to "roughing it is..." I am enjoying camping and the great outdoors!