Linda went on her first overnight camping trip without parents at age 9. She learned how to make a bedroll in preparation for the trip. The next year her parents bought a tent trailer and the family camped all over Illinois for the next five years.
Meanwhile, Dave's family specialized in canoe camping in the the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota.
When our daughter turned three we took up backpack camping. We learned the importance of making everything be worth it's weight when we had to carry all our supplies. Did you know water weighs eight pounds per gallon?
We also learned the importance of each person carrying a fair share of the load. Every time our daughter ran ahead on the trail then ran back to us, we added more to her pack.
When we upscaled into a tent trailer, we could take more stuff with us. We also learned the value of having a furnace when sleeping in the mountains.
But the ability to live beyond the confines of the camper continued to be important.
1. Sink, stove, 3-way refrigerator, and a storage cabinet.
Our next upgrade was a VW Vanagon with a Westfalia™ conversion. We now had a refrigerator and running water!
Then Linda developed some physical problems that persuaded us to give up camping for several years. Now we are empty nesters and newly retired. A couple of driving vacations persuaded us that we still like traveling but we don't like sleeping in different beds every night nor do we like guessing how clean the next restroom will be. So we are about to buy our next camper. Stay tuned for chapter two.