Camping As A Young Kid

My parents had myself and two boys, one older and one younger than me. We loved to do things together in the summer, especially camping where we made new discoveries of the province of B.C. Of special interest was ghost towns. So we knew when that time of year rolled around, we would be exploring and finding different places to learn about.

When we got on the road, the map would come out and we had a general direction and route to follow. My father loved that part, planning out the different campsites along the way and taking note of the attractions we might like to investigate. But the funny part was dad never wanted to stop early to set up camp. He figures there was a better one down the road so we often ended up doing that task in the dark.

My parents slept in the station wagon and we kids had the tent. That was fine with us but as the only girl in the tent, I had to become adept at changing in my sleeping bag. I was also very curious so they were always calling for me to come to some sort of meal because I would wander off to see what I could find. One time we were in the interior and I climbed a big hill filled with low lying cactus and dad had to come and get me. We both were pulling spines out of our shoes around the campfire.

I was what they referred to as a 'tom boy'. In other words, I loved to all the things my brothers did and in those days it was not encouraged. So I could be found up a tree or climbing under or over something. My clothes suffered but my mother was one step ahead by making us wear clothing just for play. The memory of those camping trips will always be with me.