It’s no secret in my family, I am not a camper. As Jim Gaffigan puts it, “I’m what you would call ‘Indoorsy.'” He gets me, really gets me.
But as a kid I was outside all the time in the woods and in the creeks catching crawdads and minnows and making secret lairs.
I have so many memories of playing in the woods with my friends, some are nutty memories like the time we all roller skated down to the creek then into the creek and down the creek…in roller skates. Or how I loved to pack up a bag of turkey on Thanksgiving and walk over to the woods to pretend to be surviving on the last bit of meat I had.
My friends eventually decided it was cooler to stay home and watch MTV and VH1 and make up dances alongside Paula Abdul and Debbie Gibson. I kept going to the woods alone sometimes but eventually going to the creek running through the woods was something I did less and less. Sure we’d ride our bikes along the trail sometimes but even that fell by the wayside.
Now as a Mama I want what I had as a girl for my own babies. Woods and creeks and ponds. The thrill of being in a tree or finding that perfect clearing in the trees for making a home. To this day the smell of dirt and leaves make me want to take off running to find a stick for a bow and some good rocks to climb….if I could still run that is.
Phil has been good at taking the kids tent camping from time to time through the years, but even he has said this is just about a thing of the past. Age catches up with all of us and the need for a bed more than 3 inches thick becomes the necessity it wasn’t when we were younger.
I did enjoy meeting up with the babies and Phil and cooking out in a park but once it was dark the need to be inside, to be able to wash my hands, shower, put on clean clothes and get into that real bed just overpowered me. With babies this need only grew in me. And at 41 years old…well, I don’t think I have to explain how unappealing sleeping on the ground has become.
The idea of owning an RV or a camper was not really anything I’d ever imagined we would have. But during the months we learned about them and toured them and used one it became more and more of a valid idea and a good option for our family.
With a camper we can load up and go just about anywhere. We can travel without worrying about hotels or finding people we can stay with. We can pull over and cook up a meal without worrying about what restaurant we can fit into and afford.
And finally we can take our babies into the outdoors a bit. To run and hike and explore. To make little homes out of branches and rocks and cook up delicious meals of mud and leaves.
And most importantly, at the end of the day we can go into a warm camper, take a shower, put on our jammies and get into an actual real deal bed.
What wonderful memories y’all are making with your children; one day they will remember the fun they were able to share in the great outdoors! 🙂