I would have answered this sooner but we were out on a gathering.
This topic is like few others. There is a lot of thought that needs to be conveyed in this one. Many of the heart tugs have already been mentioned. I was awake a good portion of the night thinking over this question. It is nothing like , why do you drive a certain vehicle? ~ What made you pick that color? Why do you have that kind of dog? What attracted you about your mate?
This guestion is more about selecting a life style/hobby.
Why do people get up a 5 am on the day of departure and tote and load several hundred pounds of camping gear,food stores and beverage
walking 3 miles to and from the garage/house to the trailer in the process.
Why do people drive these distances to meet other folks with this same llifestyle/hobby . Do we need to connect with fellow crazies to convince ourselves we are "normal" ?
Why would the person/persons that when house hunting turned down a house because the 12 x 15 bedroom was "just too small" then decide to sleep in a small wooden box that has been described multiple times as coffin like.?
Why do we persist in going when the weather is questionable or just plain crappy already ?
What kind of a twisted genuis mind would start a torturious thread like this ? .....to be continue.......
Campfire Since the dawn of mankind itsself fire has been important. I have always felt mans facination with fire is a precondition that is ingrained in our very genetic makeup. The hearth has been the center of our home since the first fire was kindled. While it has changed thru the years from a campfire to a fireplace to a pot belly stove to a cast iron range and on to the modern gas or electric stoves of today it seems that everyone gathers in or near the kitchen
The campfire was the source of light to drive away the darkness and hold the creatures of the night at bay. A place to prepare food and to warm your own bones. Modern campers have refined the lighting and heating of our small mobile caves but there is still an unexplained facination with a fire. Is it genetic conditioning that reverts back to our caveman ancestors.
Having just arrived home yesterday from a 3 day gathering I asked myself why did I go ? Why a gathering 90 miles away when I can go 10 miles up the road and camp?
The extended family of my camping friends. If you think of your own camping "friends" there are the older fatherly and grandfatherly more experienced veterans that freely offer advice and share their wisdom. Of course taking nothing from the fairer sex there are the "grandmothers and mothers" that are helping with recipes and cooking technigues for the younger less experienced gals if they are interested.
There are the "adopted sons and daughters" that younger crowd that jump in without hesitation to tote tug and assist in the heavier aspects of setup for us older folk.
Then there are the psudo grandkids and the critters that make us laugh and are topics of many conversations.
We share a common hobby and whether we built the toy trailer one nut ,bolt ,screw ,and nail at a time or went to the dealer and purchased one, we are looking to improve our little rigs and there is a bit of good natured one-upsmanship that exists. A single improvement starts a stampede of imitation. Who will be the first to do this and that. Where are we gonna get the ideas if we don't create a physical forum where we can touch and see these ideas in the flesh.
We can experience the flora and fauna of nature just down the road there is no need to drive the 90-400 miles to a gathering. So it is difficult to usenature as a drawing card of the gatherings.
One true JOY for me is the civilians. Their unbridled curiosity is a true delight for me!
The wife and I love to cook and this is another joy in that we can share this talent with others. This weekends gathering we decided to experiment with the rootbeer cobbler and it was a hit. Our homemade hot bread in the dutch ovens is always a big hit and we never have leftovers.