Newsletter chitchat - August 20th, 2024

[Cassel]

Are you an avid camper? Or just an occasional one?

Do you camp with a tent? an RV? or a smaller trailer?

What kind of activity do you enjoy while camping?

Share your stories and photos if you have some!

[Michele]

When I was in my twenties I used to go camping every year on Labor Day weekend with a large group of friends. You had to face the tent downhill or dig a moat because it always rained at least one day of the trip. Most of us bathed in the lake with Ivory soap (because it floats), but some of the fussier young women drove a mile or two down the road where they could shower and blow-dry their hair. As young as we were, a lot of partying was going on. In the early morning, I would go down to the lake and during the day I liked exploring the woods. I do have some lovely photos, but they're in my storage unit. I really need to get over there and get them.

[Ann Seeber]

You can start a list with me in the "Never A Camper" category. I'll amend that with one attendance at a Girl Scout event where I tried some bean dish cooked in a huge pot over an open fire for the first time and actually liked it. My parents were amazed since I was a notoriously picky eater and never tried anything unfamiliar. Daughter Debbie is an avid camper and I still don't see the point.

[Rene Marker]

Not a camper!

However, one summer when I was in college, a friend borrowed her parent's small camper motor home and 6 girls went to Cedar Point campgrounds for the weekend. Cindy and I were Pam's high school friends. The other 3 girls were her friends from college. That is the closest I ever got to camping.

[Susan Ewart]

We used to be big campers, but not tent camping.  We'd have a big trip twice a year going afar to train museums and the vintage village town museums (and any other interesting museums) all over British Columbia and into the National Parks on the BC/Alberta border.   We started with a camper van we borrowed then inherited from my father-in-law and then bought a little trailer (7'x21').  When we moved to where we live now, we lived in it for 5 weeks with two cats.  It was the end of summer and freezing up at night so we had to unplug the water lines at night.  I think the stress of that time made me not want to camp anymore.  We did camp after that (mostly in Jasper or Banff as we were closer to them) but to me, it just became housework on wheels and wasn't as enjoyable anymore.  We were into hiking as well, which was easy in BC. It's mostly a mountainous province, but here on the prairies I don't have the desire to explore.  I am a mountain and ocean/lake lover which is in low supply where I live now.  Don't get me wrong, the prairies are beautiful with expansive skies and long sunsets.  A great and magical place to visit.  I do however, miss being in the mountains.

Edited August 22 by Susan Ewart