This crazy weather is downright nippy and out of season, but then who knows why we had summer weather in March? It feels like camping weather. Lying in bed with the cool breeze blowing in the window, I had to chuckle as I thought about a time when the children were little and we were tent camping. It began to rain, so I had a bright idea. Rather than lie on the ground on sleeping bags, I suggested to the kids' dad that we erect the tent over an over-sized, sturdy picnic table and sleep off the ground. It was a great idea that worked well. Well, that is, until I woke during the night and had to go to the bathroom. This city girl didn't know how dark pitch dark could be. Rather than trot across the road to the bathroom, I decided to sneak behind the tent and pee. As I was hiking my drawers up, I heard rustling nearby. I imagined Big Foot, a killer, and then I saw this monster deer coming towards me, so I ran like a crazed woman, bare butt shining and darted headlong into the unzipped tent...and crashed into the picinc table. Kaboing! I saw more stars in that tent than in the night sky.
You'd think I would have knocked some sense into myself, but no. When hubby #2 asked if I liked to go camping, I smiled and nodded, which is best in many situations. I did request a cot. He packed up the equipment and we headed to Branson on the hottest day of summer. That evening he put up the six feet long army cots and iserted them into the five feet long pup tent.
I love being out in nature, but these days I prefer a real bed and bathroom.
10 comments:
I used to love camping. I even went so far as to go all by myself. On that weekend, I discovered: my tent leaked, a skunk can spend a really long time playing "Ring Around the Rosie" when he's outside the tent and I'm inside, and it's never a good idea to use Coleman lantern fuel to make lighting a fire easier - unless you really wanted a way to singe off 25% of your bangs.
Good times.
I have to admit that I have never been camping in a tent. We had a 40 foot motor home. That is my idea of camping. We sold it because we never go anywhere and aquired a pop-up camper. No toilet. Never again. The bathrooms required a code and we checked in after hours. I had to pee in the dogs water dish .....
Kathy--You're a wuss. After camping with the Boy Scouts many times (for a week at a time, sometimes) I can pee ANYwhere. And sometimes the LAST place I want to use is the boys latrine. (When I would use that, I'd have to sing the whole time, "There's a lady inside the latrine...There's a lady inside the latrine..." so no young men would become psychologically scarred after seeing me half-naked. (There were no doors on the latrine--not even to the outside. And believe me--no doors did not help the ventilation.)
Linda--I would have loved to see Bill's facial expression when the cots were found to be too long for the tent. (And what made him think he could fit on a 6-foot cot? Silly Bill! ;)
No tent camping here. The back of a pick-up with only a camper shell, yes. My mom and dad got to sleep on a piece of plywood laid crossways. My sister and I got the floor. Did you know that the floor of a GMC pick-up has metal ridges? It's true. And when adults get up in the middle of the night to climb out for the bathroom, they are not real particular about whether they're stepping on a cooler or a kid's head.
I am not for camping, at least the way the family I married into does it. Hubby is looking for a popup...when othre people our age are getting smart and selling theirs!!! I don't know where this story ends but I have alreayd said I am not cleaning, washing beds, cooking in a camper. This is his world! Let's see. We did this in a small pull camper when boys were young...even our dog was miserable when she saw the thing come out!!!!
Oh for peeing...do you all know about the standing and pee? I think it originates in St. Louis!
Oh Linda, I felt your pain when you crashed into that picnic table. Hopefully you had your knickers up again by then! LOL!!I've never been camping, can you believe, although I have been caravanning, many years ago when the girls were young. I think I like my home comforts too much to go under canvas, certainly at this age anyway!!
This made me chuckle. I loathe camping and need my comforts. I'd never have survived as a pioneer. . .
Too funny, Linda. I love to camp, but can never make it through the night without a bathroom trip. And those are NEVER fun when it's pitch black out. Our last trip, I made my husband stand outside with a flashlight and keep watch while I ran to the bathroom and back. But I supposed you haven't really lived until you've mooned a deer. :)
Thanks for the chuckle! I'm strictly an indoor type of gal.
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