Did you ever go camping? How much did you like it? How much didn't you like it?

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When we were kids we camped 1 week at Algonquin and the other week at our cottage in the Haliburton Highlands. The cottage was without electricity of indoor bathroom. That was with 2 parents and 7 kids aged 4 to 20 and we all fit into a VW van. I have always loved the smell of the pine forests and campfires. I owned property in Bancroft ON for awhile until I broke up with hubby #3. Hubby #4 (and the last one) was raised to go to a cottage and only camped in a tent with me once.
 
I’m camping right now and typing on my ipad as I sit beside the picnic table. Not roughing-it too much. We have a tiny little old camper that has served us well. It has everything we need.

I started camping with my cousins as a kid.

A variety of tents, back of truck, etc, etc as a young adult.

When a single mom I bought a new tent, set it up on the lawn, and then left for a weekend with my two daughters. The one thing I forgot was the cap of the roof, because I hadn’t tested it. We were so dejected and ready to head home. Never saw so many helping hands come over to improvise a new cap. A great weekend.

There were many many memorable trips.

Later new DH & I tent camped, then a 5th wheel and finally this old camper. We‘ve put a lot of miles on it. Now it and we are older so the trips are much shorter.

It’s a lifestyle and if you love it, there’s nothing like it.

We look over at youth with their fancy camping tents & equipment and laugh how they don’t realize what roughing it is.

This C-19 season it has allowed us to travel a bit. Many campgrounds are limited and have no washrooms or showers. Many are now closed for the season.
 
We both like to go camping since we were in our twenties. Camped in the US including Alaska and in Canada. We used tents years ago, now we just use our slide in pop-up truck camper. This was from our most recent trip, last month, had the first few days of snow from a Canadian cold front..DSCN1856.JPG
 
Hubby & I tent camped once with his folks.

Much later after my parents got in to camping in slide in truck campers.
We bought an old used slide in .. .
Some good memories with it.

When oldest son started to ATV, he bought a enclosed trailer to haul them in.
We soon had our own ATV .
Would haul the ATVs in trailer,, reach area we wanted to explore.
Unload ATVs,, set up sleeping area in trailer.

Hubby felt we were loosing ATV ridding time setting up 'camp.
We became owners of an older motorhome ,, that has been in some rough places to boondock.
 
What little camping our family did years ago never really interested me much.
Did it for the kids when they were growing up, as they enjoyed it.
 
During my college years I used to take the occasional 3 day weekend and camp by myself in a range of hills next to the city. that's where I read "To the Lighthouse", "Howard's End" and "Dubliners". I caught and ate a lot of rainbow trout and unforgettably, I once looked up and watched a mountain lion stroll athletically through the oak/ madrone woods about 100 feet away from me.....I saw it but it didn't notice me quietly sitting there reading E.M. Forster.
There was a place on the California coast in Mendocino County that I could hitchhike to in one day, it was next to a stream too, with many trout and breeding salmon in the summer. I never saw anything more dramatic than deer though. But something ripped open my rucksack one day when I was gone somewhere.......probably smoking MJ.
I also hitchhiked cross country a few times, living out of a pack for weeks at a time, but that was something different.
All that was 40 years ago. I'd like to go camping again but in a more genteel, safer and 'establishment' kind of manner.
 
@squatting dog, that’s a huge rig. Do you ever feel uncomfortable driving it or other big ones? Does your wife drive it too?

I drove the 5th wheel. Then we downsized and I’m too short to be safe behind the wheel. At this point, we won’t be modifying our old rig. Our camping trips are short distances now.
 
Gaer said:
My first husband , (ugh!) and my second (good) late husband didn't like camping, so the only times I went camping was by myself. I spent almost a year camping all over Alaska by myself, but it would have been a lot more fun to snuggle in a sleeping bag with some big, handsome hunk!
When my kids were teens, I'd take them to Glamouth, dirt biking and I went to Mexico and to Yosemite by myself and camped out.
After my husband died, and I finally got over the grief of him, I started thinking, I'm too old to camp out, But, you know what?
I'M NOT! Next Spring, I'm OUT THERE!
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I admire your adventurous and brave spirit Gaer. I haven't ventured as far as you have (Alaska) but I've always had a way to go camping, mainly with truck campers, and have explored much that the western U.S. has to offer. I agree, having a big handsome hunk to snuggle with would have been the icing on the cake!
 
asp3 said:
I love camping but we don't do it that often. We usually go two to three times a year, sometimes more than that. We're tent campers, but we have a king size inflatable mattress, memory foam and pillow top so we are extremely comfortable at night.

I used to go backpacking in my late teens and early 20's and enjoyed that as well. I only did it one to three times a year but I loved it.

When our sons were younger we'd do trips where we'd camp a couple of nights and then stay in a hotel or motel a night before camping again the next night.

We went camping just this last weekend with my wife's mom who had a separate tent.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

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Ahhh so many great memories of tent camping on the beach while growing up. This looks like Morro Rock.
 
We loved going camping with friends when we were younger, we started off with a tent upgraded to a camper trailer ,then upgraded to a caravan which we still have, it will never be used by us again due to us selling the car that we had for towing the van ( along with my Toyota ) and buying a brand new car that’s not suitable for towing the van (we only have one car now)

We had many great times with our kids and friends with their kids camping out of town where there’s no street/ shop / home lights to spoil looking at the stars /cooking in the camp oven or bbq‘s cooked on a wood fire, we have great memories no amount of money can buy and the “new friends “ we met by camping and remained close friends till they died .

The kids always took an old tin can and played kick the can in the dark they had so much fun they still talk about our fun camping trips even tho they are in mid to late 40’s now
 
Jules said:
@squatting dog, that’s a huge rig. Do you ever feel uncomfortable driving it or other big ones? Does your wife drive it too?
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Only when I hit the construction zones. :D
We have been towing something almost forever, so, like anything else, you get used to it. (though a few minor bruises are inevitable).
Yes, the wife can and has driven it.
It's a little intimidating at first, but, we have towed vehicles on tow dolly's, flatbed trailers,(16'-18'-20') and even a 24' enclosed trailer without any major issues. (y)

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deesierra said:
Ahhh so many great memories of tent camping on the beach while growing up. This looks like Morro Rock.
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I've never "tent camped" because I love looking up at the stars. And the beach?. Oh! never "camped"on the beach but have been out there late at night and fallen asleep overnight on the beach many times. Years ago,folks, Can't do that today.
 
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