My Smokin’ Hot Wife Carla, along with our Standard poodle Darby and myself, are camping for a week. For those of you who do not camp, have never camped, and have taken a solemn oath never to be caught dead in any kind of camping situation, I get it. I never saw the appeal of being out in the woods, surrounded by insects and nature, with nothing to do. My idea of roughing it was a black and white TV at a Holiday Inn.
As I started getting older, the idea of getting in a motorhome and traveling all across America was a great idea, but then I realized that for the price of that motorhome, I could still see the country and stay in really nice hotel rooms as I went.
Then our best friends got a pull-behind camper and asked us to go with them to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We had a phenomenal time, hiking, cocktails by the fire, and meeting some really nice people. When we got home, we decided we at least needed to try it and see if we loved it or hated it. We bought a used camper from a couple that had had it for a year and wanted something bigger. Our idea was that if we hated it, we could sell it and get most of our money back and move on. We loved it. We averaged at least one trip a month for the first year. After 2 ½ years, Hurricane Helene took it out, so we decided to upgrade.” In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say.
We are now and will forever be campers. For real campers like Sheri and Kevin, I need to use the word Glampers. We have some comforts that they do not use, like heat and AC, running water, and toilets. THAT is camping in its truest form. Mrs. Smokin’ Hot requires a few things of comfort, like a King Size Bed, climate control, running water, and there is one thing she is not going to do in the woods, even if bears do.
Besides the quiet, the relaxation, and doing absolutely nothing if we choose, it’s also the people. We had a few people over for Carla’s birthday while camping this week (by the way, thank you for all the well wishes), and it rained before everyone got there, soaking all of our chairs. A camper across the way came over after the rain and said he had plenty of dry chairs in his camper that we could use. We’ve never seen this man before, and will never see him again, but he generously helped us out just because.
I generally walk my trash to the dumpster because I like to walk, but on the way, I get multiple offers from people who have no idea who I am but still offer to let me use their golf carts to take the trash. I’ve yet to meet an unfriendly person while camping. I can’t remember, but there must have been some sort of questionnaire that we filled out that filters out all the “Karen’s and Darrens” because I’ve never met one at a campsite. Campgrounds might be the last place on earth where people can allow their children to ride bikes and play outside of their parents’ eyesight.
If you are looking for me and my wife, you can find us sittin’ at the firepit with a glass of wine and a tumbler of brown liquor, “Cheers.”
