Try Camping by Barbara Edwards

Camping opens a whole world of new experiences. Maybe instead of camping month it should be camping all year. For a writer, camping appeals to the need for quiet time to find the inner muse.

Camping exposes you to scents, sounds, touch that the ordinary life doesn’t have along with a variety of interesting people. I could tell you about the places I’ve camped, but I already do on my regular blog, http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com.

 My first time camping was with the Girl Scouts in a canvas shelter on a platform. Not too wild, but the air was clear. At night I needed a flashlight to find the path to an old-fashioned out- house.  Yep, I remember that trip as the scariest in my life.

Since then I’ve camped rough, with a sleeping bag and a water-proof ground cloth.  It had its moments as we watched meteors burn into the atmosphere in August. I backpacked the Appalachian train with a tiny tent that had flexible poles. That time we got caught in the remnants of a hurricane and hunkered in the tents until the trail dried.

I camped in a blue canvas tent at a Camporee with the Boy Scouts. Ten thousand boys, two thousand male leaders and two women together in that tent who shared the fun over a long weekend.

Then I started Civil War Re-enacting with the Third Florida, Company A. Our Captain believes in as authentic a portrayal as possible. For years we set-up a six-foot canvas A-frame just like the ones used by Confederate troops.  I learned that if you touch canvas in the rain it leaks like a sieve. It can be warmed with a kerosene heater. To be cool, you leave the flaps open and hope for a breeze. It is glorious fun.

The next logical step was a tag-a-long trailer. I found a small trailer the incentive to kill the person I shared it with within a month.  

The next year we bought a fifth-wheel that is hitched to our pick-up truck. Roomy enough for our big dog, we have traveled to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Florida Keys, Charleston and twenty years of Civil War battle re-enactments.

We’ve talked about getting a RV like the Holiday Rambler or Prevost, but I like smaller. 

Maybe a class C or even a Truck Camper with a slide. We’ll see.

I hope I let you see how much I love camping. I hope to see you there, exploring the world.

Check out my website: www.barbaraedwards.net