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
