Camping Bug

I have been anxious to go camping all spring, and now that the weather is warm, there just doesn't seem to be any time for it.

Growing up, my parents used to load all of us kids in the car almost every weekend throughout the summer months. We'd head to the same lakes, Deer Creek, East Canyon, Pine View or Mantua (a very dirty lake). We didn't have a boat, or any big sport equipment, but we had fishing poles with tons of bait and sometimes enough hooks and bobbers. We had inflatable mattresses for the lake, rubber rafts, cooked using several Coleman stoves, homemade sleeping bags, enough firewood to keep a blazing inferno for 3 days, and each other. Camping was such fun, we'd eat what we caught. Perch and Bluegill were the catch of choice due to their delicious flavor. If we were stuck with Trout or Catfish, we'd all moan. We had tons of soda pop, usually the Shasta variety. We would stay up late at night to play games in the lamp light such as Skipbo, even if it was windy (hence, the small card deck). If you were dirty, you'd take a swim in the lake. Was it possible to get bored on these trips? No way. There was always so much to do. Nature walks, fishing, bicycling, swimming, chasing the neighboring campers kids, locking each other in the outhouse, catching frogs or other little creatures, running when we spotted a skunk, and snatching food from the cooler when mom wasn't looking.

It seems that this type of camping is near non existence. I recently overheard a conversation where one person was inviting another to go camping with them. It was like overhearing a sales pitch. "Oh, it will be so fun, we are taking the motorhome and the jetskis." It's as though the sure pleasure of being out in nature with friends was a bad thing. Toys had to be the big part of the equation. With the use of motorhomes and campers complete with TVs and bathrooms, fancy boats, jetskis, and 4 wheelers, I fear that my favorite style of camping will be long forgotten by the new generation.