your best camping trip

[stjohn]

This should be fun.I am setting here at 4 in the morning worrying about my kids first trip away from home w///out Mom and dad(there going to the coast for a senior trip)brought back some memories.Went to the Grand canyon when I was 5 we got there about this time in the morning and my dad and 2 older brothers thought it would be cool to walk around the fence and relieve themselfs over the cliff I was so mad at my mother cause she would not let me do it (how many times in a lifetime does somebody have a chance to do that)Awwell maybe some day w/ my grand kids(if I am lucky enough to have any)And there was the time we were camping on the river and my daughter ask if she could feed the ducks I said sure and gave here afew slices of bread and she went behind a little hedge(she was about 5 at the time)The next thing i herd was a blood curdaling(not sure about the spelling)scream Itook off down the hill only to find out they were not ducks but baby geese w/ a very large mother goose who did not like my daughter get so close she had her penned up ask the hedge peck at her shins dad chased the big bad goose and got to be hero for the day(lots of hugs and kisses she don't do that much anymore now that she is 19)no harm done just one scared little girl that does not like geese to this day.good times

[madjack]

...being an avid camper my whole life the really good ones are just too numerous to list so I will say that it is usually the last one...
madjack

[48Rob]

It is difficult to choose...

A couple of my more memorable trips were as follows;

Took my then 12 year old daughter canoeing overnight on a secluded river.
Camped along the shore (where else...) and watched the swallows catching bugs until it got too dark to see them.
Then the mosquitos came out, billions of them!
We had just a pup tent, and it was in the low 90's that night, fitting for the 4th of July.
That was one long night.

The second was the maiden voyage of our first tear.
My son and I built it as a project, and then took a two week trip, pulling it with our old car.
The idea was to have one last special trip with him, before he "grew up" all the way, to create one last childhood memory.
He had just turned 16, and it worked well.
We had a great time, made a lot of memories, and became even closer.

A few months later, the little boy was no more.
The timing was just right!

Click here if you want to see the pictures

Rob

[TomS]

I agree with Madjack. I've had so many great times camping, it's very hard to name the best one. I do know one thing. I feel that my life has been much richer because of my love of camping and the outdoors.

[MarksMG]

This weekend is the first camping trip with both of my boys 3 and 6 and my father who is 73 so I hope it the the best one ever . The six year old has been camping with me but this will the the 3 year olds first camping trip. I can not wait it will be a blast.

[Larwyn]

My best camping trip was 4 years ago. My Lady Lanza was at the neighboring campsite. We both had different dates. We fixed that the next weekend, been together ever since. Camping GOOD!!!!!!.........

[doug hodder]

My most memorable camping trip was in the late 90's...at about 9500' on the east side of Independence Pass in Colo...Got up really early, and went out to the rock outcrop near the campsite to sit and drink some hot chocolate...heard these incredible engines...and a P51 and a Dauntless went past...I was looking about eye level with them as they went up the valley on their way to Aspen for an air show...got goosebumps on that one...what a sound!!! I'm sure other campers were bent out of shape with the noise...but it was music to me!!!....Doug

[Nitetimes]

My most memorable camping trip was in the late 90's...at about 9500' on the east side of Independence Pass in Colo...Got up really early, and went out to the rock outcrop near the campsite to sit and drink some hot chocolate...heard these incredible engines...and a P51 and a Dauntless went past...I was looking about eye level with them as they went up the valley on their way to Aspen for an air show...got goosebumps on that one...what a sound!!! I'm sure other campers were bent out of shape with the noise...but it was music to me!!!....Doug

How could that possibly upset anyone?...camping or not you had the best seat in the house! I just love the sound of those engines. Woulda made my day too..

[asianflava]

Nuthin like the sound of that Merlin and a "Round motor".

[48Rob]

While I've never been lucky enough to see eye to eye on a mountaintop with one of those planes, we have the next best thing here in the flatlands of Illinois.

I live at the end of a runway...well, not right at the end, but a few hundred feet to the side.
The airport is fairly small, with just a 4000' strip, but the owner likes vintage warbirds.
He has a museum on the grounds, and does way more than just look at them.

Every chance he gets, he puts on an airshow with his planes.
Flying just for fun, and doing shows with dogfights, dives, and stuff that would make me loose my lunch.

Being at the end of the runway means we get a great view each time they take off or land.
The engines sound great, but the best ones were a tri motor and a big bomber a few years ago.
The bomber was a B52 I think? Anyway, what a sight, like a prehistoric bird in slow motion, so huge, and so gaceful.

He doesn't have his museum online, but here is a link to a couple pictures, Frasca Field

Rob

[BrwBier]

One very memorable time was 1978, first trip to California with wife and 7 year old son and a dog. Stopped for a rest in the middle of the night on top of a mountain in southern Oregon. When our eyes adjusted we could see why its called the Milky Way. Very amazing.
Brwbier

[Ira]

Don't know if this counts, but when I was 15 and working at sleepaway camp (sleepaway camp is what Brooklyn Jews used to call it), we went on a hiking overnight in tents, a short distance away from the camp.

And Roberta Miller let me feel her up while everyone else was making Smores.

Lar, did you get lucky that weekend too!?

(Notice how I took a beautiful thing like Lar meeting his lovely lady and then turning it into something cheap and tawdry? I just LOVE doing stuff like that.)

[sftiggee]

My most memberoable camping trip was the first time my dad took me along to go fishing in Canada. I'd never gone on one of his "once a year" trips up there and I was excited. I was 18 I think, and we traded off driving the 78 dodge coachmen van camper pulling a 16 ft lund fishing boat. It was about a 16 hour drive up to the lake (past Thunder Bay), with the last 35 miles on a logging road that was totally washboarded. we even got to dodge some logs that fell off logging trucks earlier.

It was a blast. the lake was HUGE, and we caught MANY MANY good sized walleyes and Northerns (pike). I nabbed a 32 inch Northern, my dad nabbed a 36 incher. We ate lots of fish and brought home our limit of each.

We stopped at some provincial park that had some HUGE falls near THunder Bay on the way home, and we also stopped in Duluth at a rest stop to admire the scenery (rest stop was on teh top of a hill that overlooked the whole city, the lake, and Superior WI.)

All in all, it was the best camping trip ever because i really bonded with my dad that time, finally wasnt' a kid anymore. i went with him 2 more times after that, even flying hoem once from CA the firstyear i was out to go with him.

We don't go anymore since he had his farming accident, and because of his brain injury he's no longer able or willign to go such distances and tires easy, but i always have those fishing trip memories.


Now, Teardrop memorabe trip would have to be when I spent Christmas at the Grand canyon with my tear. That was a BLAST! cold, but FUN FUN! got soem great pics from it.

[Rob]

I only remember bits and pieces, and a bit from what I was told. We were living in Washington, DC. I was all of three years old. My parents bought a brand spanking new 16' Shasta Astroflyte. Loaded up the four kids and dog, hooked that thing to the DeSoto station wagon and moved to California. We travelled one day then sight-see'd for a day or two, then travelled for a day then sight-see'd. Took about two months to cross the country. Most nights the kids slept outside while the parents and dog slept inside. Yep, they have their priorities straight.

[asianflava]

Sorry to dredge up this thread, I was talking to my cousin about fishing and camping and it reminded me about a camping trip we had when I was 12years old. I'm also dilly dallying and not working on the trailer like I'm supposed to.

My dad bought this Mercedes bus and converted it into an RV. We took it down to the Keys and camped with 6 other families we knew. There were enough of us that we pretty much did whatever we wanted without adult supervision. One of the older kids in our group was usually with us or close by.

We camped for a week, some of the older kids went diving for lobster or spear fishing, us younger kids stayed at camp and played Uno or played in the sand and water. I still hate Uno to this day. We would have a big cook out almost every night cooking whatever they caught that day. We had so much lobster that we actually got sick of lobster and complained that we wanted to go to McDonalds.

We finally got to go out (just us kids) and went to a movie (and McDonalds). I saw one of my all time favorites for the first time, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although my parents and younger brother and sister took the day trip to Key West, my older brother and I never made it down there.

The bus looked like this: