| I am a dedicated tent camper. I scoff at those obnoxious RVers with their gas guzzling, noise making, road clogging, “the circus has come to town” vehicles. And now, I am one of them. Some of you may be asking, “how did that happen?” The answer is quite simple; one muddy dog, two muddy Dudes, homeschooling, a year on the road and rain. I have always enjoyed tent camping and even spent 14 months backpacking across Asia sleeping outside most of the time and often without a tent. It was amazing falling asleep under the stars, real stars, not the kind you stick on your four year old’s ceiling. It seemed so natural being outdoors with the fresh night air, the milky way being your last sight before sleep and waking to the early morning light. I could care less if I ever slept indoors again. Of course, it helped that there were almost no bugs and only rarely did it rain. But, all of that happened before the muddy dog and Dudes. Since the muddy dog and Dudes, we have had several tent camping adventures. With one Lil’ Dude, we still used a small backpacking tent crammed in with sleeping bags, thin camping pads and clothes rolled up for pillows. With the addition of a second Lil’ Dude, we moved up to a “4 man” tent tall enough to stand up in and added an inflatable mattress, real pillows and blankets. We seemed to be gradually making the transition from hard core campers to “making camp” at the nearest Holiday Inn. But, it was our last adventure that pushed us into thinking that maybe those obnoxious RV’s weren’t so bad. We spent the weekend at a gathering by the Edisto River in South Carolina. There were drum circles and a group of flute players specializing in Native American music, a pig roast, some paddling on the river and just an all around good time except, of course, for the rain, rain, rain and more rain. It rained the whole weekend. Tents seem to be waterproof only when it’s not raining so our tent was wet inside and out. Our clothes were wet…..all of them. Which meant that we were wet and once wet a chill takes over your body that can only be reversed by a trip to the sun or there about. Except for a very small shelter, there was no way to get out of the rain. The wet very soon turned into mud which in turn covered the Dudes and the dog who made their way in and out of the tent every ten minutes in keeping with their boredom schedule. It didn’t take long for our brightly colored camping gear to turn to a muted brown and cooking became almost unmanageable. Add to that a heaping dose of hatching mosquito larva and anyone would consider “movin’ on up”. The inconveniences of our family spending a year tent camping seemed to outweigh any potential enjoyment. The thought of trying to keep schoolwork from becoming a mushy mass of cellulose, pitching a wet tent every other day and never having clean clothes let alone dry ones would make us want to turn for home. Last summer, we decided to test the RVing experience. We spent two weeks on the road. The first night that it rained, I laid in my warm, dry, spacious bed snug and smug as I listened to the pitter pat of rain on the roof. It was still raining in the morning when I got up to go to the warm dry kitchen and make a cup of hot tea while dressed in my warm dry clothes. Cooking was not a problem. The bugs were outside and the Dudes and dog were peacefully sleeping in their warm, dry clean beds. Aaahhhh. It was then that I decided RVing would be the only way to spend a year on the road. Although I still feel some guilt in having “sold out”, I think I am going to ride down the road in our gas guzzling, noise making, road clogging, “the circus has come to town” vehicle with a smile on my face.
“It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.” Dave Barry |