This hot weather reminds me of camping at Castle Rock Lake in Wisconsin when our kids were growing up. It’s all the vacation we could afford. At first, we rented a fold-out camper. Linda slept in a bed in the camper. We bought a pup tent where Kurt and Lisa slept in sleeping bags.
Ken reminded me in the campground that I could be easily heard through the canvas walls. I learned to speak softly to the kids.
I joked that Kurt started fishing with his dad when he was three years old but he didn’t learn to clean a fish until he was a teenager. That was how long it took them to catch a fish. We always vacationed in August after softball season was over for Lisa who played with the Pink Panthers. It wasn’t the ideal time for fish to bite.
We think of vacations as getting away from it all. Camping meant taking it all with us. I prepared food such as potato salad and baked cookies in advance because we ate our meals at the campground.
We had to take warm and cool clothes along because we never knew what the weather would be during the week. I looked forward to going to the laundromat in town because that was my only alone-time. Usually when our washer was on the fritz at home, I hated that trip.
Later, we borrowed Tom and Jan’s pick-up with a camper for a travel vacation. After finding out how handy they were to use, we bought a used one. In T and J’s there was a speaker in the camper so the kids could talk to us in the truck cab. Ours didn’t have that, so Ken and I enjoyed peace and quiet while he drove. I always looked for a campground with a swimming pool so the kids could work off some of their stored-up energy. It was a time that swimming lessons paid off.
We had fun but I don’t miss those days but they do make fond memories.
How did you vacation when your kids were young?