Inspiration for this blog entry came from the Etstybloggers Team Blog Carnival theme for this week ~ "With gas prices so high alot of families will be doing "staycations" where they do local stuff instead. What outdoor activities are you planning, would like to do, or write of a favorite outdoor activity you did in the past? Maybe an outdoor summer activity you do every summer, all summer. Anything outdoorsy goes."
I have always loved summer. It is my favorite season of the year. I would be happy with 10 months of summer and 2 months of cooler weather that would include ONE day of snow for Christmas.
Growing up my parents were frugal with their spending and we didn't travel very much. Summertime was prime opportunity to get outdoors to work in the garden and keep the lawn trimmed and pristine during the week. Weekends were for fun and relaxation. If we did travel anywhere, it was within 2 hours from home. We did an awful lot of camping. Did I mention we did a LOT OF CAMPING???
To this day my sister and I despise even the thought of camping. We camped from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Perhaps it was the cold damp ground, or the fact that the canvas tent was no match to rain storms and flooding. Perhaps it was the hard ground beneath us or the many nights of sleeping with teeth chattering because it was so cold.
One year we were issued air mattresses to use for the summer. We thought we were moving up in style, by golly! How disppointing it was when those lovely air mattresses started in with a round of whistles and screams in the middle of the night as they quickly went flat. So ended our thoughts of luxury camping for the summer. These days, our thoughts about the ideal camping experience is Motel 6!
While we may gripe and complain today about those camping experiences, at the time we did have a lot of fun and we do carry a lot of fond memories with us. Camping broke up the monotony of everyday life and gave us a chance get away from doing our normal daily chores. Campfires, marshmallow roasts, fishing, swimming, hiking, and lots of summer fun. We met new friends every weekend, and some were gained as summer-long friends.
While my close friends and neighbors all went away for one week of vacation to some luxury location, we took many weekend camping trips and had fun all summer long.
6 comments:
I can just picture those air mattresses slowly deflating. Great story!
I hear ya! Even though my parents didn't force us to go camping very much, I still prefer just taking day trips and day hikes to having to camp on cold, hard ground and sharing public bathrooms. ;}
Found your blog!
I HEARD the air mattresses deflating!
I LOVE camping. We did it too, from where we lived in Cape Cod going up to Maine, Vermont, & New Hampshire.
Off subject: I thought that I was the only one in the world who'd heard of "Somewhere In Time" never mind love the movie. Hubby bought it as a gift for me because of how much I enjoy watching in a couple of times a year, or if I stumble upon it on the TV and simply cannot change the channel.
^o^
Lily
We went camping all the time when I was little. I loved it! For us air mattresses were for the adults. We just had our sleeping bags and the tent floor for cushion! I'm sure if I did that now I wouldn't be able to walk for a week!
Nice post! We didn't camp out much but when we did, we had similar experiences! I hated the public restrooms the most! :D
The common thread of least like experiences...public restrooms/showers...no fun!
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