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I love camping.  Always have.

Back in the day it was kind of raw and mostly about being outside.  Backpacks and sleeping under the stars.  Used a pup-tent.  Or not.  Experience Ma Nature in all her glory.  Wind rain whatever.  Fun?  I think at the time I thought so….heck, it was what I was doing and that was just fine.

Then, I got smart and started bringing comfort things from home.  Just a few things to make it a bit more comfortable.  Oh sure, the big jacket was heavy and a little bulky but I didn’t have to spend much time shivering if I wore it and that made it all worthwhile.

And I think bringing an ice chest was the turning point.  That definitive moment where camping was more about being away than it was about hanging with Ma Nature for a few days.  That was also the time when the stuff you brought camping defined your lifestyle back at home.  Yeah, the ice chest full of beer was there but it also stored food for actual meals inside.  Shoot, having a salad was not weird, it went with the pizza and rounded out the meal real nice!

Then, about the time that was okay and the friends all enjoyed camping too, it was time to upgrade the experience and get into a tent trailer.  To get into this I would need a truck to pull it.  That’s when I found a Chevy Tahoe just waiting for me.  The purchase was made and off we went.  Camping.  Thick jackets, ice chests full of beer, wine, fruits, vegetables, and even dessert was a heck of a way to go….man, we were seriously camping now!

Add a couple of kayaks to the equation and it was nothing but fun from now on.  Busting tail to get out of town and it was off to some lake somewhere for that rest and relaxation.  Now it was about fishing, and kayaking, and being comfortable while doing it.

So now we are living large!  Work during the week to let our employers know we existed and could earn our pay, and weekends where we disappeared off the grid and couldn’t care one bit about coming home.

After about ten years of this, it was time for another upgrade.  The trailer we wanted weighed too much for the Tahoe to pull and I’ll be danged if we didn’t find the trailer we wanted at super-awesome recession pricing.  The Tahoe got upgraded to a Dodge Ram 1500 4×4 (there’s a whole story here.  I’ll have to flesh that out over time.  More later.), the trailer became ours and by golly, I’m typing this entry inside it while visiting the Grass Valley Fairgrounds.

Well, I’m pretty certain you have already figured this out, but camping has changed a lot over the years!