Camping in our genes.

Today, Sunday May 19, we are resting in Tucumcari, NM. It’s 93 degrees and the wind is howling outside. We went for a hike earlier in the day, however, right now it’s like being in a blast furnace so we are inside the air conditioning reading and napping.  

Since I have some time, I thought I would share photos and stories from our past that illustrate how we seem to be drawn to putting ourselves through the challenges and adventures of camping; it’s seems to be in our genes.

My maternal grandparents, Ruth and Jim, traveled around the mid-west during the 1930s and 40s in this trailer with Joyland Amusements, a traveling carnival. My grandfather managed the carnival rides and the “carnies” who set up the show. As a teenager, my mother sold tickets and frozen custard. In her memoir, entitled “Keep Moving” she says she didn’t like living in a trailer but it was better than sleeping on the ground under the carnival trucks, like the “carnies.”

When I was growing up, it was much cheaper to camp than to get a hotel for the 8 of us. This photo is from a trip out west around in the early 60s. My grandmother Ruth, in the back seat, traveled with us. The trailer on the back contained our umbrella tent, sleeping gear, clothes and a cook box. 

I have no idea how all 8 of us slept in this umbella tent. When we pulled into our camp spot for the night we each had our jobs to get the site set up as quickly and efficiently as possible. This was extremely important on those nights when we arrived after dark and it was raining.  I remember one time, in our haste to get the beds made, we touched the sides of the canvas tent. That was a big “no no” as it created the ability for the canvas to leak…I have no idea why or how!  Doesn’t really matter because in the middle of the night we were all getting wet and water was collecting around the edge of the inside of the tent. My ever resourceful mother used her box of Kotex to soak up the gather water. We all thought it was hilarious and we all forgot about sleeping in soggy sleeping bags.

Gary has family camping stories too, but no photos. I did find this photo of a camping trip he took in his VW van out to California when he was seventeen. The van broke down in Chico and he had some interesting “coming of age” experiences on that camping trip.

After Gary and I got together, we tent camped at music festivals, backpacked in Nantahala National Forest, slept in my cousin’s backyard with the coyotes howling outside our tent and kayaked/camped in the wilderness of Glacier Bay, Alaska. 

On my 69^th birthday, I said, “No more tent camping. I want an RV.” So, we bought one. Three campers later, here we are on our way to Alaska in our Greyhawk. Camping has its challenges but it certainly must have more rewards, because we just keep going back for more.