My First Camping Trip

The first camping trip I remember we were in the mountains of. My dad built special bunks for my sister and I in the back of a truck. We were elevated up so that mom and dad could sleep on the bottom of the truck. I do not remember any mattresses just sleep bag s for cushions.

We had a two burner cook stove that ran on white gas. Coffee brewed in a percolator it that thick enough to chew. Cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. Dinner always had fried potatoes with it.

As we got older and bigger, we grew out of the back of the truck. It was time for a tent. Sleeping bags were still the only cushions. Until one year when we asked for a floaty raft to play in the lake. We figured out we could use these to have a little air between us and the ground. It was way better than just the sleeping bags and it had its own pillow.

The first tent I remember was an old school blue and yellow canvas tent. Do not touch the sides or you were getting wet. Eventually we got a fancy new dome tent. It was so exciting because you could almost stand all the way up in the middle. We even got real blow-up mattresses to sleep on. We thought we were so cool.

We always camped with my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids. The moms would go to town and dads would go out fishing. Us kids got to run the whole campground for hours. Riding bikes, playing Frisbee and swimming at the beach. When the dads came in it was time to scale the fish. It was the kids who got this job. It was not fun, and I learned years later that we did not need to do it to cook the fish. I think our parents either thought it was funny or were just trying to teach us a lesson. I am still trying to figure that one out.

The first time I got to camp in a pop up was with another aunt and uncle and their 4 kids. My grandparents were with us. They had a little pull behind as well. It even had a toilet it was like a hotel room on wheels. We went to the moose lodge Camporama! My grandpa and uncle were both members. All sorts of tents and campers to check out.

Grandpa made a watermelon fruit bowl for the adults with what seemed like tons of alcohol added for a kick that hits just right. People would stop to visit and nibble the fruit all day long.

There was a ton of activities kid’s games, hayrides, a playground and of course we had our bikes to cruise around. This campground even had a band every evening and bloody Mary’s every morning. My cousins and I would wait until dark and cooler hop. Looking for a drink we were not supposed to have. I remember only taking a sip or 2 thinking that’s gross. But we drank it anyway.

The last day there the lodge made a big breakfast buffet. Bacon and sausage, pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes with biscuits and gravy! Man, those where the days.