The Glory Days of Camping

My Mom showed me the glory of camping the summer that when we made a 'summer home' at Priest Lake, Idaho. I will never forget that summer we went camping for 6 weeks.  We didn't have a fancy camper and indeed our camp was pretty rustic.  We did have a gigantic tent with 3 rooms and cots to sleep on.  We also had prime real estate with a beach front camp site.  My brother was on a baseball team  and my Dad had to work so they joined us on weekends.

My Mom and I set out to get the camp set up and launch the boat.  It was our first time setting up camp alone so it was of course and interesting day.  It took most of the day to get the camp just the way she wanted it with plastic tarps surrounding the camp for a wind break and raking up the pine needles... (yes in the forest as we had to have a neat camp!)  The boat was launched and tied to the dock before dinner.  Now we were set for the night and even had a fire to warm us in the evening.


 
Sometime during the night, a huge storm blew in and the sound of raging wind ripping through the trees awoke us with a single shared thought..... How was the boat?  We rushed down to the dock to find one end of the boat still tied to the dock and the other floating free.  Several other boats had broken away from the dock and there were many frantic boat owners attempting to capture the wayward boats.  After much effort the boat owners working together and were able to secure the boats back to the dock and others beached their boats.  Tired, we returned to our campsite.  In the dim moonlight we saw the the wind had flattened our tent!
After much laughter.... we finally had our tent back up for a much deserved sleep.  The morning found the ideal camp site that we loved.

                    

       This was just the beginning of a lifetime love of camping.........

  I love and miss you Mom!!

The pictures are not mine but the memories are.