I can’t list all of our camping &/or fishing trips, just some memorable moments.....for starters, we’ve been rained out EVERY time we’ve camped but one. We camped first in tents, then had a fold down camper, went back to tents, bought a hard shell camper, sold the camper & went back to tents. What do I prefer? Our hard shell camper...it even had air conditioning!
Despite what it may sound like, each of these trips had their quiet, tranquil moments when things didn't go wrong, and I really am not intentionally pointing out just the negative side of camping. It just happens that it is the "out of the ordinary" that I am sharing with you.
In September of 1979 my husband organized a Canadian fishing trip. A first for us as a couple, though he’d been there before with buddies during his wild & single days. Of course, we weren’t alone on this trip. Joe brought two of his brothers, Kenny & Bobby, and a friend named Skip. The campsite was near Minaki, Ontario, alongside the English River, and was extremely primitive.
The only time that we ever camped with my younger sister & her family was on a holiday weekend, 86 or 87 and we throughly enjoyed ourselves! I believe it was the first camping trip that we’d ever taken our dog on & he started things off by initiating one of the tents! He backed against the tent & pooped...up about 6 inches on the side of the tent. After that we tied him away from the tents!
On Labor Day weekend 1989 we went camping at Decatur Bend, Ia which offered primitive camping only. The men, my hubby & brother, took the kids and went off fishing somewhere, taking the ONLY lantern with them. At first my mom & I didn’t think a lot about it, then it started getting darker & darker & we realized that we had no lights, not so much as a flashlight, only the campfire. It was cloudy out, so we didn’t even have the benefit of the moonlight! Our dog Sandy wasn’t much help...as it became completely black around us he barked and whined at every noise! I never let that happen again!
In 1991 a bunch of us went camping together. Joe and I had our two youngest & we were using a fold down camper, My Aunt Rosie was visiting from Atlanta,Ga, & Mom stayed in her tent, and my oldest daughter had a friend come up & they stayed in another tent.
Early in 1992 we bought a little hard shell camper. It was really nice, and more than we were used to. We camped more that year than we ever had before or have since. We started in March of that year, despite the cold & occasional snow, cause now we had a furnace, and even though the heat bothers me greatly and I hate it, we camped almost all summer due to the air conditioning! Our son, at 14, preferred tent camping and always brought a tent along to sleep in...his own room, so to speak.
In 1994, we went camping twice, both times with my mom, Carol & Bill, my sister & her husband. The first timed we camped together was wonderful! We went to Wilson's Island here in Iowa, and the campground was wonderful! Again, the best time was at night, as we sat around & told jokes & relaxed by the campfire. After it got really dark we got quite a laugh out of Carol's two Cairn terriers as they barked & whined at the coyotes who howled in the distance.
We've camped and fished most of our lives: as children, as a couple, and as a family. We've had good trips and bad trips, but generally you can depend on one thing...there's never a dull moment!
The only other people we ever saw were in the occasional boats on the river, and the Canadian counterpart of a DNR officer, who stopped by once a day or so to collect the garbage to keep the bears away. On the second day we were there, the guys rented a boat & went fishing while I enjoyed myself in camp by relaxing with a good book. I placed a pallet on one of the huge flat rocks on the bank of the river, and only occasionally had to get up to stir the big pot of ham & beans I had on the campfire. As the day went on it began to warm up and as there was no one around, I removed my blouse and was lounging on my rock in my shorts & bra. About an hour later a small private plane flew over, and without thinking, I stood & waved. A few minutes later, it circled around and flew back over, and once again I waved. This happened 3 or 4 times before I remembered my lack of attire and threw my shirt back on! The next time the plane flew over was the last....
The excursion to collect more firewood was one I’ll never forget! It was dusk and the woods were very dense, not only with trees, but with mosquitos! I finally ran ahead of the guys and stood by the fire till I was skeeter free, but they left their mark on all of us.
The sleeping arrangements were easily arranged. We had a tent and made pallets in the covered back of the pickup we drove up there. The first night Joe & I were to sleep in the back of the truck, and the other guys in the tent, but it was a miserable night... We’d gone fishing most of the day, and someone had left a stringer of fish in the bed of the truck, and it wasn’t discovered till we prepared for bed, so we had not only the smell to deal with, but because we had opened the side & back windows of the topper to air things out, the mosquitos were thick! The next time we went to Canada, we took the kids & my hubby’s mother, and we rented a cabin!
Our favorite time while camping is always at night when we can sit around the campfire: S’mores, jokes, sometimes some guitar music & camp songs.....Well, where my sister, De, goes, so goes her campfire stories. My kids were awestruck at the stories of “The Hook Armed Man” and “Three Fingered Willie”, and the like. They didn't sleep well that night....
This camping trip was rained out, as most were, but we got to enjoy ourselves from Friday night till Monday morning.
As usual, this campout was rained out...for the females that is. On Sunday, after a night of rain, with everything soaked, we tried to dry things by hanging the blankets & such out. But it was a lost cause due to the light mist which stubbornly hung around. Mom, me & my girls decided enough was enough & we headed home! My hubby, brother & 11 yr.old son decided to take the smaller tent and camp beside a river & continue to fish. When we females got home we unpacked the car, took baths, and were sitting in front of the tv sipping coffee &/or hot chocolate when a weather bulletin came across the tv announcing severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings for the area the guys were in. I tried to assure mom that they had enough sense not to hang around in that....I was wrong!
The next afternoon they came home with a glut of fish, and quite a tale of their adventure during the stormy night. They said that every time they got out of the tent to check their fishing lines it would start to rain harder, but they didn’t want to leave, as the fish were biting like crazy! Eventually the wind picked up to the point where all 3 had to lay in the tent, with outspread arms, to keep it from blowing away. When they got home they were still wet, but happy, sunburned, and with more than enough fish for a big fish fry!
The first place we stopped was at a primitive campground near a small dam on the Little Sioux River. It was almost dark when we got there, so we quickly set up our tents & such, ate a quick meal & settled down to sleep. The next day my husband had to work, so he took off at dawn, and the camp slept on. Once everyone got up, we realized that although the fishing might be great there, the camping area was a disaster. There were no trees big enough for shade, and the worst was the fact that the only available water source was FULL of chlorine! So much chlorine that when Aunt Rosie stood too closely & the water splashed on her slacks, they bleached instantly! While Mom & Aunt Rosie set out to scout a place that wasn't too far away, but was said to have better ammenities, the kids & I just hung around & waited for my hubby, and it was an awful wait with no shade or company. Later that day my hubby showed up & we went to the campground that Mom & Aunt Rosie suggested. I think it was at that point that Joe realized that I was done with the totally primitive camping. From that point on, I never went camping without good running water, an electrical outlet to plug my coffee maker into, and some people around to make it feel homey!
The campground is called Louis & Clark Park, just outside of Onawa, Ia. It had lots of people there, a nice lake, Flush toilets & Showers! It turned out to be one of the best camping trips we've ever taken! Later on Saturday evening my Uncle Roy, who lived not too far away, stopped by for a visit, and again, the best time was had by all when we sat around the campfire and gabbed, drinking our coffee & listening to the wind blow through the leaves of the cottonwoods that surround any good campground. It did sprinkle that night, but not enough to get anything really wet, and we relaxed fully!
Joey, our only son, always liked to get up early when camping, and he would get up & stir the fire to life usually waking us with, “How do you guys want your eggs?”. Once when we set up camp right next to a lake I woke up to a different sound...the voice was Joey’s, but the tone was different and not as close as usual. I sat up and looked out the window, unable to believe my eyes. Joey had taken the little rubber 4 man boat out and put Sandy, our dog, in it & they were in the middle of the lake! Sandy did not swim, never even went near the water, yet here he was in a boat in the middle of the lake...poor baby! They had a nice little trip around the lake and made it back safely, but I think Sandy was a bit leary of Joey for a few hours.
But the second camping trip was in Louis & Clark Park, where we'd had such a good time with Aunt Rosie just a few years before. We enjoyed the first day, but that night, it started raining, & I couldn't sleep. I sat out in our van for a long time and when I finally tried to go to sleep I realized that our tent was soaked. My family hadn't noticed it, cause they were on mats & were fast asleep, but as I kept trying to sleep, part of me would get wet & I'd try to adjust myself yet again. Giving up, I stood to return to the van & the water in the tent went up to my ankles! I woke my husband & told him it was time to leave, and he & the kids & I proceeded to go & wake up my sister, her husband & my mom in the other tent. They had cots to sleep on, and hadn't noticed that their tent floor was soaked too. My daughter, Ashley, likes to laugh over Carol's surprised, "Oh, Bill...we're soaked!" But all my brother-in -law would say was, "Where? I don't see any water?" Of course they were ankle deep too. My, what a mess!