monday memories

1979 - camping in Panama City

Monday Memories - Part 1
I can't believe I forgot about Monday Memories with Gayle at Planet M. Because when she mentioned it a week or so ago I was pretty excited to join in. Just days before I had dug up some old photo albums in search of some photos of my friend from college. So many people have been talking about reconnecting with old friends through Facebook – it just got me going down memory lane a little bit. Anyway I did find a bunch of photos that took me back. This one is from a camping trip my best friend and I took to Panama City. To be continued. (At the moment T is home and my mind is focused on her so I will add to this post a little later.)

So to continue this post from last week... I had this great old Volvo station wagon in college. It was a 1973 and perfect for hauling my paintings around (I was a fine art student) but it was also perfect for camping trips. This was a camping trip that I went on with my best friend, S, from college when I was 21 - wait is that right? '79? yeah I was 21. In a way it seems like I should have been younger because for some reason my mom went with us. But anyway, it was just the 3 of us. S brought her big tent because all I had was a little tent. Well, she thought she knew how to set it up and maybe she did but she was missing a pole which caused some problems. Our tent was the funniest looking thing - all lopsided - but it stayed up and it protected us. However I think it's a good thing it didn't rain because I feel sure we would have gotten wet. We had a great time soaking in the sun, eating seafood and buying airbrush t-shirts.

Monday Memories - part 2

I love camping. I love waking up to the sound of coffee percolating and the smell of bacon wafting in the air throughout the campground; I love how the sun warms the inside of the tent as day breaks; I love late afternoons reading in the hammock after a day of activity; I love sitting by the campfire drinking earl grey tea, talking or whittling on a piece of wood; I love the sound of metal clanking during a game of horseshoes, I love walking around the campground late at night with a flashlight seeing who has the tallest flame going in their campfire, children are playing hide and seek, and grown ups are talking and laughing - I love all the laughter and chatter you can hear through the campground as families have fun and people mingle, meeting new friends. I love crawling into the sleeping bag, listening to the crickets sing and going to sleep by the glow of the moon. I could go on and on about all I love about camping... I even love that it's ok to get dirty.

1963 - my dad cooking

1982 Lake Lanier - dad cooking a pot of stew

I have been camping literally since I was a tiny baby. All of our family vacations involved camping. We went from sleeping in the back of an old station wagon, to an Apache pop- up, to a more modern Starcraft camper that had pull out beds and a table that made in to a bed, even a sink and closet. We played Rook late into the night by kerosene lanterns. My dad would cook the most incredible meals over the fire, creating elaborate fire pits and cooking in the dutch oven. I have SO many stories to tell but I won't do that all here. After we children went our own way, my parents sold the camper. But that didn't stop us. We bought my parents a 4- man, 2 -room tent (and 2 cots for their older bodies) and gave it to them when they turned 75 - we all headed to Alabama's Oak Mountain, set up 3 tents and enjoyed one of the best camping trips ever. 

Seems every trip had some crazy memorable experience... like the time we camped at Edisto Beach after I graduated from college. We had more people than allowed on the campsite (I have 2 brothers, plus one girl friend and my boyfriend in addition to my parents) so we sort of fibbed and told them we had one less than allowed. We continually had to "hide" one of my brothers (they sort of resemble each other) when the park ranger drove around. And he drove through a lot!!


1980 - Edisto Beach - me, my mom and my dad

So many stories I could share. Oh these "memory mondays" are dangerous for me.

All this because I found that first photo and it made me remember how much I love camping, and how much miss it now. Let's pack up the car and go.