We'd take our trailer and leave it at a local lake resort ALL. SEASON. LONG. (April to October) For many years, this simply became our summer home and neighborhood.
As each weekend approached, we'd pack up some clean clothes, stop on the way for fresh groceries and head up to our lake side oasis.
We'd take my mom up some weekends too. When my son was just learning to walk, we'd remove his shoes so he wouldn't keep taking off on us. :) When I get set up with my new computer/scanner system, I'll tell you a few stories from our camping past. This was well before digital photography and blogs. :)
And a pretty cool lifestyle it was. My son grew up with the other seasonal camper's kids there, so he was always happy and occupied, leaving me to read a book or three. So relaxing! With a colourful beach front town, with live music, great coffee house, plenty of beautiful hiking trails and loads of restaurants if you felt lazy, we had all we needed plus.
Here's one of our seasonal spots. The campground had just placed a nice new patio down for me so I went hunting to pretty things up. I dug deep into the campground bone yard, picking and choosing woodsy things, scrubbed the moss off, then white washed the works in a tone to match the lower half of my travel trailer. The tree in front got tightly wound with white Christmas lights for a wonderful night time ambiance. It was a simple redo, but the effort made it feel homey and loved. YES. I decorated my campsite too. :)
This is one of my most fav camping pictures. :) Note how we're roughing it and going without here... One fella is my campground neighbor and the other was the owner of the campsite, and together, were trying to figure out why my crappy laptop wouldn't hook up to the net. Yup. I brought my computer issues right along with me wherever I went.
While I loved the look of the last site, when a riverside location became available, I revamped things. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't take a picture of what I finally did to this site but it stopped campers dead in their tracks. Wind was an issue in the evenings so I mounted some plastic lattice along the riverside for a see through removable wind break, and placed the benches in front. Plants and birdhouses prettied up the joint.
Oh yes. I remember why I didn't take pictures. I got sick. For a long time. That story will come.
Last year, we didn't go to our all season campsite. I had to pull the unit home due to changing financial and health related circumstances. So we went 'normal' camping nearby instead. We took in a couple weeks and found a more private setting. It was very nice but also very different. When you stay for a short duration, you don't pull out all the stops to make it your home, you just go to plunk and enjoy. We grasped it for what it was, and enjoyed!
Camping has done my son and I a world of good in the past. It's a perfect way to get away from the phone and work, providing you a means of total family time and different types of conversation.
I'm not entirely sure what this summer is holding for us. We'll put up our backyard pool for a start and see where things take us. Maybe after the pool is up, the sun will decide to peek out. Maybe. :)
This is part one of a bigger story I'm going to tell you. It's about morphing along with changing circumstances, making the best out of what you have and where we are today because of it. It'll be deep.
Summer Changes - Part 1, 2 and 3 are HERE.
What are your summer plans? Any other campers out there?
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