I forgot to mention, our camping trip. I'd post pictures if I could. We went to Spruce Run Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. They have bathroom(not an outhouse) and showers, playgrounds, boating, fishing, swimming (although that was unfortunately closed when we got there), and hunting. But when we got there I discovered that I'd left the camera memory card in the device we use to unload pictures! Doh! So I could only take video and pictures on our video camera. The quality of pictures is rather poor. And I know there is a way to get the pictures onto the computer but I don't know how. You need a separate cord to attach to the camera and I have no idea where that might be.
We had fun camping though. It was a learning experience. I'm actually glad that the first time we did it, it was only for one night. We packed in a hurry and forgot some things, and just didn't have others. The kids loved it, particularly Justin and Timothy. Each campsite has a grill and firering. The boys loved the fire. We didn't buy or bring wood for a fire because we didn't know we would be allowed to. So Tom and the kids kept scavaging for twigs, branches, and paper to keep the fire going. It was work to keep it going. It occured to me that we really do take so much for granted-way back when they must have spent a large portion of their time just on survival. So much time spent on starting & keeping the fire going, finding or preparing food, finding shelter.
We would like to find another campsite though. Not that this one was bad-just wasn't quite what we were looking for. You are only allowed 6 people to a campsite, so if we have another child we would have to purchase two(which is stupid), and they were very closely spaced. I had imagined a bit more privacy. It would have been much more enjoyable if I didn't constantly have to worry that the kids were being too loud for the people all around us. We had to be out by 12 the next afternoon, so we didn't even get a full day there. And you had to be on your campsite by 8, so although it was still light out, we had to make the kids leave the playground because it was 8. There were a lot of rules and regulations. I guess because it's a state park. Like I said, it was a learning experience. The kids all asked if we would be camping again. : )
So now you know what to get us for Christmas!
7 comments:
did you guys have a tent? camping is sooooooooo much fun!!! we've never gone as a family and that is definitely something i'd love to do in the future...with jonathan's allergies i always pictured getting an rv and going around the country on vacations. this way we can cook all of our food =)
Yup, I think it was 79 for a 7 person tent at Walmart (Tom got it, I wasn't there).
Something to consider-in the book I just finished re-reading they bought an old bus and converted it for their family. You can buy a bus for much cheaper than an RV. They bought a 1984 GMC 138,000 miles for $1200. They put money into remodeling theirs though. Apparently there is a whole community out there that converts buses-who knew?! It's actually interesting to read and look at the pictures: http://jeubfamily.com/bus/bus-page-1/
Do you know of some good places to camp?
not really...regarding the good places to camp...when i was growing up we always used to go to upstate NY somewhere =) that was always fun b/c you had the lake to swim in (i'm a lake girl, not a salty ocean girl!)
HA! they're selling their bus!!! it even has a sink, cool!
I went camping once and didn't like it. But Mimi & Pop Pop used to go every weekend there for awhile. It was fun cause us older kids had the house to ourselves. But Mimi has told me that she really didn't like camping though I think it developed into her disliking campling slowly over time because she ended up doing most of the work. Pop Pop would set up camp and then she had to do every thing else.
Camping can be fun if you don't have to do the work, LOL. My friend Karen and her family have a camper that is stationary at a very clean campsite called, Driftstone on the Delaware, outside of Portland. I listened to her and hear all the work that has to be done to set-up and tear down and it is too much work for me to enjoy, but it nice to go visit. She has it just like home away from home, except it is camping. She has a screen house. A tent for her son that is big enough for him and a few friends to stay over. It has two rooms to the tent. They have all the comforts of living in the city. I asked her one time why she likes to live at the campsite, when you cook and clean like you were home. She said, because you are away from home and it feels different. She lives there most times all summer long, since her kids were little, and now her kids are 20 & 16. She hasn't gotten tired of it in all these years.
It can be a very expensive hobby to have a home to supply and then a camper to supply. Chuck's parents used to have a pop-up camper and when they would go camping the would pull it to Cape May, NJ and camp there for a week or two in the summer, when I came into the family 35 years ago. That was a lot of work to haul all your cooking utensils, bedding things, and food to enjoy for two weeks, or even just a three day weekend. Of course, I was only 18 back then, so I didn't mind all the extra work, but now I sure would. So camping has a lot of good to it and a lot of discomfort to it, it all depends if it is your back or not.
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