again

We are going camping again.

My goal is 7 trips a season and we are on target this year. We didn’t make our first trip until late June.

It is easy and fun to camp in wonderful weather. Almost anyone can do that. But this weekend is a bit cooler and I want to test our skills and equipment a bit more.

Miriam may ask me a hundred times what we are doing for the weekend or where we are going or such, but she is a very good camp partner. She never complains, but makes the best of everything. Of course I do everything in my power to keep her comfortable.

We will be driving the Dodge pickup and the teardrop trailer. It is a good combination. Our little car has been repaired, but at 18 years old, I think I won’t use it to pull a trailer again.

But I still want to pursue car camping, where everything fits into one small coupe and yet we are comfortable and well fed.

When asked why I like to camp, I am not always good at an answer. We live near such great inexpensive camping locations. It would be a shame to waste them. It is also a place for me to recharge my soul to stop and confront the basics of life, to spend quality time with my beloved.

When I was a very small child, we spent a summer, mom, dad and I, in a tent in the north Idaho woods. My mother was a great nature lover, and I guess my love of the outdoors was what she hoped for.

I like to think it is a weekend away from electronics, and it is true that I will leave my computers home, but I will take a few toys: my iPod, an ancient GPS and my cell phone. The phone won’t make calls, but it keeps time!

Take care of yourselves, everyone.