A family camping Memoir (Very Long)

[AustinBoston]

Part I (Part II is in the post immediately following)

My oldest is getting married in three weeks.  She is marrying a Marine, and they will be living halfway across the country.  My second daughter is already halfway across the country, having chosen a school on the east coast, and finding work opportunities for college students better out there.

We went out there in August to meet her new boyfriend and to seize what could be the last opportunity for us to camp together as a family.  Now that trip is over, and I was going through the pictures when I decided I had to tell the story.

PJay and I had both been exposed to camping as kids.  For me, it was tents, my uncle's pop-up, and boy scouts.  My brother and I often "camped" in the back yard when we got the opportunity. For PJay, it was canoe trips, cabins, and a three week trip across the country in a small motorhome.  So camping as a family was a foregone conclusion.

For a long time, we tent camped, staying in several different, ever larger, tents as need or opportunity arose.  Our range was mostly limited to what we could drive in a day (sometimes 2), but there was a variety.

A favorite destination of mine was Acadia National Park.  It had it all - the ocean, the wildlife, the mountains, the forests, lakes, history, and food.  Nothing like a Maine lobster in Bar Harbour, Maine!  I've been there at least six times, and wouldn't hesitate to return if the opportunity came up.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire were the first place we camped as a married couple.  There were many such trips.  There is no view that can compare with looking out over the Presidential range from the top of Mount Washington on a crystal clear day (clear days are rare there).  Nor is there any comparison to taking a dip in the icy waters of Dianah's Bath after a long hot hike.  On that first trip, only a few weeks into our marriage, I slipped on the wet rocks and fell in to a pothole about 8 feet deep, filled with water.  After pulling myself out, I discovered that my brand new wedding band was gone.  I was sick, PJay was furious.  We both got over it, the band was replaced, but it is an incident I will never forget.

The White Mountains was also the first place our oldest camped.  She was less than six months old, and we had a bargain opportunity come our way.  We had a little warm sleeping bag and a little air mattress for her.  It had sides so she wouldn't roll off onto the cold hard ground.  Cold was right.  We tucked her in, and I think we wrapped her in an extra blanket ot two, but she didn't stay that way.  She kept crawling out of her sleeping bag.  We took turns bringing this little ice cube that was our daughter into our sleeping bags to warm her up, then tuck her neatly back into her sleeping bag.  Two hours later, the whole process repeated.  She slept throuhg it all.  Kids adapt to camping better than parents adapt to kids camping with them.

We took the kids there several times, and on one or two occasions, went there with friends.  We watched fireworks from the top of Cathedral Ledge, and on another trip watched them from the lawn of the Mount Washigton Hotel.  There is a little restaurant outside of North Conway that serves a great steak.

To live in Massaachusetts and not visit Cape Cod is a sin.  We went "down the Cape" two or three times, visiting the long sand beaches, eating the best clamrolls on the continent, and taking in the quaint village centers.  Tent camping on Cape Cod is difficult.  There are fewer and fewer campgrounds, and the sand does very poorly at holding tent stakes in.  It was there, at less than one year old, that my second daughter had a ruptured hernia that threatened to end the trip.  On the same trip, a brake line failed in the car and almost ended the trip.  I vowed to never return, and have not (exept to visit my sister, who lives down there, but never camping).  I fear the loss is mine.

We went to Prince Edward Island when the girls were still small.  It was one of our best trips.  We visited Green Gables, marvelled at the scale reproductions of Woodleigh (if you go to PEI, don't miss that), and went on a horse-drawn carriage ride to the bluffs.  The sand beaches are white, and at the singing sands beach, the sand really does sing as you walk in it.  On the return trip, we spent a few days in New Brunswick.  One night, we awoke to the most intense thunderstorm I have ever seen in my life.  Lightening striking ten or more times a second (I am not exaggerating when I say you could literally have read by it), and the thunder to match.  The girls, about three and five, had their own little tent.  We expected them to awake in a panic, but they slept through the whole thing.

Our first camping trip to Vermont was the trip that I could have wrecked.  I was going through a difficult time, and it tended to make me short tempered (a serious understatement).  We had arived at the campground and were told we had to use the "overflow" section across the road.  Disappointed, we accepted.  It proved to be a mistake to be disappointed, though.  It was a wonderful site, less than 100 feet from the Falls of Llana, a spectacular waterfall.  But the weather was threatening.  PJay and I had the kids wait in the car while we raced to set up a tarp over the picnic table.  The plan was to set up the tent from a dry spot.  We didn't make it.  It started pouring.  Being the hero, I made sure PJay could stay dry under the tarp while I got soaked.  I didn't care for getting rained on.  I was about to blow my cool when I realized -for the first time- that I didn't have to.  PJay saw the change, and started in with "singing in the rain."  I told her she was about to blow it.  The rest of the week (except one brief thunderstorm) was great.  I rememer picking up the sweetest sweet corn from a roadside stand, and visiting one of the last drive-up A&W's in New England.

We went to Gettysburg once, and spent some time, as President Lincoln said, remembering what they did there.  I struggle to put meaningful words to the visit, but there are no words adequate to describe the biggest and bloodiest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere.  While in the area, we took some time to visit the Amish country of Lancaster, which is where we were just a few weeks ago.  Lancaster is famous for it's shmorgasboards(sp), and you will not go away hungry.  Try the shoo fly pie for desert.

Virginia was another place we visitied repeatedly.  (Though not always camping, and not always with the kids.  PJay and I honeymooned there and returned for our 10th and 15th anniversaries.  After all, Virginia is for lovers!)  We camped twice near Williamsburg, and once in Chincoteague.  We also camped in Virginia when we visited Washington, D.C.  I believe all Americans should visit that city.  I can't say that about any other city I've been in.  Every city has reasons to visit, but only Washington can claim that it influences the lives of all Americans.

Chincoteague is the place many children read about in "Misty of Chincoteague."  We were there for the return swimming of the horses once, and have seen the wild horses relatively close up.  It's also a great place to get crabs.  Mmmm.  If you are into museums or space exploration, visit Wallops Island, the U.S.'s first space port.  Before the Kennedy Space Center, we launched unmanned missions from Wallops Island.  Last I knew, it was still in use.

End of Part I

[AustinBoston]

Part II

After many years, we returned to Prince Edward Island.  It was one of our few return trips.  On that trip, my oldest took a jump from the footbridge at Singing Sands.  She was the only one brave enough to do it.  We were introduced to cultured mussels, and have never found them as good as they were there.  Once again, we spent some time in New Brunswick on the return trip.  While there, we took a dusk hike with a naturalist.  At the end of the hike, in total darkness, we waited while a moose made it's way through the woods.  Only the noise of the creature's movements gave us a clue as to it's size.  After about a half hour of standing together in total silence, we heard the animal cross the boardwalk we were standing on and move off through the swamp.  Not one of us saw it in the starlight.

It was on the drive home that I first suggested to PJay going on what we now call the "long trip."  The kids were getting older, and in a few years would be heading off to college.  Soon, the chance to do something really spectacular with the kids would pass.  By the time the 7-8 hour drive was done, we had decided to dedicate the entire summer of 2000 to travelling across the country.  Although logisitics (especially money) ended up delaying the trip by a year, what started on that drive became a reality two years later.

Early on, we assumed we were going to tent camp.  But the idea of a pop-up came into my head, and eventually we ended up with one big pop-up, a Coleman Bayside.  Of course, it called for something better to tow with than a 1990 Plymouth Voyager on it's third transmission, so we ended up with an Astro.

Our first trip in that new pop-up was to a reunion in Rhode Island.  We parking-lot camped for a night or two, next to a huge class A.

Our real shakedown was back to the southern part of the White Mountains.  Might I suggest, New Hampshire is the place for Northern Comfort (a.k.a. pure Maple Syrup).  It's at it's best on pancakes, but it's great with sausage links as well.

Before closing down the season, we took a long weekend at Lake George, New York.  Nearby is Saratoga, where the first major American victory of the Revolution took place.  We had supper in a small roadside restaurant that was not near the hurry of the interstate.  I don't remember the food.  What I do remember is joking with the busboy, only to find out he was the owner.  He told the kids he'd discount their food if they bussed their own table.  Imagine his surprise when (just to continue the joke) they showed up in the kitchen with their empty plates!  True to his word, he gave them each a few dollars.  We let them keep it, but then added that amount to the tip.

Much of the long trip has been described elsewhere on this forum, so I won't go over that all again.  But we visitied a lot of places.  We sipped sweet tea in Arkansas.  We downed Navaho Tacos in Arizona.  We had some of the finest wines in Anaheim, California.  We had a great meal and fun conversation with the restaurant owner outside Sequoia NP.  His restaurant was perched on the side of a hill, overlooking a beautiful valley full of orange groves and grape vines.  In the Tetons, we rode horseback to a pavillion where they serve breakfast.  The breakfast was good, but the important thing was the scenery and the wildlife.  I believe the Tetons to be among the most spectacular mountains in the world.  We chewed on buffalo jerkey in Montana.  I'm only scratching the surface.  In 8 weeks, we camped in more than 15 states and visited 19 National Parks.  We drove over 13,000 miles, towing the pop-up about 10,000 of those miles.  We live in a grand country, and I am so glad we went when we had the opportunity.

Just a few weeks after returning, our second daughter and a friend went to a concert in Boston.  She had our permission to go because of the transportation that they had worked out.  They didn't tell the whole truth, though, and they were meeting their ride in a different part of town.  What no one could have known is that in the hotel on the corner where they waited, nine men were drinking and carying on with prostitutes because they knew they were going to die.  The next day was September 11, 2001.

The next summer, we went to the first ever Pop-Up Times rally in Townsend, Tennessee!  Wev stopped in Mammoth Cave NP with GeeMan, someone we had met on-line.  People were shocked that we were meeting someone we had met on-line.  They were astonished when they learned we were meeting more than 100 at the rally!  

It was at the rally that I learned just how deeply the long trip had affected us.  In one of the visitor's centers for Smoky Mountain National Park, they had set up a gallery with some truly spectacular panoramic photos of various national parks.  We had been to many of them.  I found myself fighting tears as I remembered seeing those sights, some from the long trip, others from other trips.  Acadia, the Everglades, Crater Lake, the Grand Canyon, and several more.  At about the same moment, we all realized that we were all fighting the tears.  We gave in, and had a big cry together, remembering what a big thing we did and a great time we had together on that trip.

Most of our trips have been fairly small since then.  Until recently, I didn't get paid vacation time, so we would stick to shorter trips and 4-day weekends.

Two years ago, we moved from the Boston area to Minnesota.  Minnesota had no special draw to me, but I had sugested PJay finish her degree, and the school she chose was Bethel University in suburban St. Paul.  The decision was literally earth-shattering.  I had never lived outside the town I was born in, and never lived more than 3 miles from where I grew up.  My family had always lived in New England.  On my father's side, no one had lived more then 30 miles from where my English ancestor settled for sixteen generations!  

On the day we signed to sell our house, the Old Man of the Mountains, a landmark in New Hampshire dating back to the glaciers, came crashing down.  (I told you it was literally earth-shattering!)

That camper was about to do great service again.  Our house sold, and we headed out to Minnesota, but the new house wasn't going to be ready for a while.  We lived in the pop-up for six weeks.

Since then, the pop-up has only been on two camping trips.  We use it, but it's been just a guest house on wheels.  Sometimes we were the guests.  Like the time we hauled it back to New York and set it up in Aunt Dot's back yard so we could attend a funeral.

But now, we are prepairing to send our oldest off with her chosen man.  They both enjoy camping, and have already purchased a small tent.  It will be fine for the two of them, and they can get a biger tent when they need it.

As for PJay and I, we are still debating the next move.  I would like to move to a smaller pop-up, she's thinking of a small class C.  What we both know is that our grandchildren are likely to end up scattered all across the country.  It may be that the only way they meet their cousins is if we arrange it.  Oh, there will be Thanksgivings and Christmases, but how about spending a week with Grandma and Grandpa and cousin Tommy?  I'm hoping, anyway.

After nearly 22 years, I can say with authority that camping is a great way to raise a family.  It gives roots, and it spreads wings.

Austin

[brainpause]

Enjoyed reading this (here at nearly 2am).

I remember many of the events you spoke of, including the Old Man crashing, Townsend 2002, and you/your family having a good cry at the visitor center.

I've missed you in the past two years. Glad you're back.

Larry

[dthurk]

What a wonderful story, and even more wonderful storytelling.  Your words bring the whole thing to life.  Such insight is great.  Congratulations and Best Wishes to your daughter and her to be new husband.  Thank you for taking the time to write this.

[Ron]

Thanks

[tlhdoc]

You have done it again AB.

[vjm1639]

AB your writing is wonderful as usual.  Reading this just made my day and I must say, brought tears to my eyes too.  Thanks...