Why I Camp

[yddad45]

I have several fond memories as a kid camping with my family. We started in a small tent and after a couple of outings went up to a 2 room tent, we were big time'ing it. I remember in 68 taking a two week vacation in Florida with my Mom,Dad, Sister and each of us kids got two take a friend ,it was great. We started in Stone Mountain Georgia, went to Cape Canaveral and saw the first moon rocket standing on the launch pad, 2 weeks before it lifted off to land on the moon, made several stops along the way and ended our vacation in a little fishing village, Destin Florida. My parents later told me we went on this 2 week excursion with a grand total of about $200. I also remember waking up a couple of nights with my parents holding on to the tent poles to keep it from collapsing during some hard summer thunder showers,ankle deep water in the tent,no A/c, no cares. It was and is a great memory. That is why I love camping today.

[Spike99]

My wife & I go camping mostly for my disabled son. Due to his health conditions, we cannot travel "out of region". If he gets sick while out of region, we cannot pay for his medical care. We'd loose everything - even if he got sick 1 time. Thus, we are retricted to be within 1.5 hour drive to the nearest hospitals. Hospitals that are qualified to treat his unique needs. And, he cannot "take change" very well either. We used to tow a 19ft TT but he couldn't handle the change of different camp sites. Thus, we're now at a seasonal camp site. He's comfortable with it and best of all, his fragile body is comfortable at our seasonal site as well. Especially with our "like at home" deck, our kayaks, its simular playground park, etc. etc. My son is "comfortable" at our seasonal site. And when he's comfortable, he doesn't get sick as often.

From my view, I also enjoy his smiles from ear to ear - as he's peddling his 3 wheel bike. He peddles in the lowest gear (which we call "turtle gear") and I jog beside him. Ready to manually direct him around the corner or ready to grab the hand brake for him. He goes "around and around" our seasonal site's flat land inner roads and other campers cheer him on. Like he's within the Olympic peddle bike race and he just won gold. Yes, another broken world record - that beat his record from last week's "around the park" peddle bike tour. Watching him (actually, being part of his life) while enjoying his movement and freedom is amazing. As they say at our seasonal camp site, "the Jayco and its supplies cost us thousands... But his smiles are priceless". He even smiles during swimming, kayaking and our many camp fire sing-along times as well. Our seasonal Camp site touches his soul in a way we cannot.

What's why we go camping....

.

[yddad45]

I'm one to talk I'm in the process of buying a 2011 Jayco 330 RTLS, but sometimes it's the simple memories that are best. Keep making it special

[clutch]

Some of our fondest memories are when the family was camping. Since 1990 we spend a lot of our time on our seasonal river lot. The kids are all grown and we are retired so we now spend the winters in Arizona. We always stay in the same town but we see different things/places comming and going. We now live in our camper 8 to 9 months a year and are questioning why keep the house. We both think we would be better off without it. It isn't really camping anymore it is living.

[clutch]

Originally Posted by yddad45

I'm one to talk I'm in the process of buying a 2011 Jayco 330 RTLS, but sometimes it's the simple memories that are best. Keep making it special

The 330RLTS is no longer camping. It is a mobile place to live.

[Headed to the Lake]

Originally Posted by Spike99

My wife & I go camping mostly for my disabled son. Due to his health conditions, we cannot travel "out of region". If he gets sick while out of region, we cannot pay for his medical care. We'd loose everything - even if he got sick 1 time. Thus, we are retricted to be within 1.5 hour drive to the nearest hospitals. Hospitals that are qualified to treat his unique needs. And, he cannot "take change" very well either. We used to tow a 19ft TT but he couldn't handle the change of different camp sites. Thus, we're now at a seasonal camp site. He's comfortable with it and best of all, his fragile body is comfortable at our seasonal site as well. Especially with our "like at home" deck, our kayaks, its simular playground park, etc. etc. My son is "comfortable" at our seasonal site. And when he's comfortable, he doesn't get sick as often.

From my view, I also enjoy his smiles from ear to ear - as he's peddling his 3 wheel bike. He peddles in the lowest gear (which we call "turtle gear") and I jog beside him. Ready to manually direct him around the corner or ready to grab the hand brake for him. He goes "around and around" our seasonal site's flat land inner roads and other campers cheer him on. Like he's within the Olympic peddle bike race and he just won gold. Yes, another broken world record - that beat his record from last week's "around the park" peddle bike tour. Watching him (actually, being part of his life) while enjoying his movement and freedom is amazing. As they say at our seasonal camp site, "the Jayco and its supplies cost us thousands... But his smiles are priceless". He even smiles during swimming, kayaking and our many camp fire sing-along times as well. Our seasonal Camp site touches his soul in a way we cannot.

What's why we go camping....

.

Spike99, it warms my heart to hear your talk about your son. God bless you and your family. You'll have memories to last a lifetime.