A Lesson I learned from My Mother (who turns 90 Y/O TODAY!)

[Donna D.]

How any expect to go out camping and everything is perfect? The refrigerator keeps the temp you need, there are no barking dogs in the camp, the tug worked great with good mpg.... the fish were bitting....

You know what? You won't remember those "perfect" camp trips, but the ones where something goes "wrong," like you run out of propane, the steaks end up undercooked and you need to borrow the neighbors BBQ... or you forgot your toothbrush!

OMG, I've camped for YEARS and my Mom is RIGHT.. it's the trips that didn't turn out perfectly that are the ones I remember... ADD TO YOUR MEMORY BANK! As long as everyone is safe.. it's all GOOD.

So tell us.. what added to YOUR memory bank?

Now, after a number of years... out of your memory bank.. what makes you LAUGH (now)?

[thoer]

I think I'll be remembering my smoking Goodyear carcass for quite some time!

And very happy 90th to your Mom Donna!!

[Escape While You Can]

Well, I'll never forget trying to get a big Class A pulling a small Honda to pull over on a narrow winding road because the toad had a flat tire. We never could pass the guy because of all the blind curves, but when we finally did get around him and forced him off the road by making him slow down or run over us, the wheel was down to the rim and sparks were flying everywhere. He acted like we were trying to rob him until he stopped, an older guy, prob. in his 80s, from AZ. We helped him change the tire and boy I bet he never forgot that one.

[gbaglo]

Took my daughter and her friend camping at Blue Lake. While they did whatever teens do, I took the canoe and went fishing.
As the evening light faded, I heard a call across the water, "Gleeennnnnn, Glennnnnn".
I got back to the camp site and found that they had packed up the tent trailer and were ready to go home.
My daughter's friend was experiencing her first ever period.
Went up to the camp store and bought their entire supply of panty liners ( since that's all they had ).
And then I had another beer, while they unpacked the trailer.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Escape While You Can

We helped him change the tire and boy I bet he never forgot that one.

AND neither did YOU and that's the point of this thread... how soon we forget!

[hotfishtacos]

I have to disagree because we do remember many perfect camping trips and all the great memories and wonderful times we had but we also do remember the very few bad experiences; first time off road in the 19' for three days in the middle of the desert and we didn't know anything about RV refrigerators and ran the refer on 12 volts continually until the batteries were pretty much fried, even though we had solar. That was a quick learning curve for us!

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Went up to the camp store and bought their entire supply of panty liners ( since that's all they had ).
And then I had another beer, while they unpacked the trailer.

My eyes are leaking (I'm a MOM!)

[Donna D.]

But STEVE, the one you decided to post wasn't perfect... I just want owners to realize, you don't need to own a gazillion dollar class A (whatever) to make memories. And refers be DAMNED. It's still fun, you're still NOT at home and YOU'VE MADE A MEMORY

Every single trip is GREAT! Just some are better than others...

Folks POST, let us laugh at your memory...

[Vicki A.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your Mom!

[rbryan4]

Back in the 80's when I was stationed in Arkansas in the military, I went camping with a supposed "outdoorsman" friend from Mississippi. We camped along the Buffalo River in a beautiful spot. As it began to get dark and cold, this 'outdoorsman' decided the campfire wasn't burning enough, so he added Coleman fuel - directly from the can. As I said the words "don't do that", the flame climbed up the stream and lit the top of the can. He looked panicked, just staring at the flame. As I said the words 'don't drop it, just set it down', he tossed it -- which lit up the entire campground. He ran to the river to get water to put out the fire, and, I swear to God, he slipped and fell into the river.

To this day I laugh whenever I think of it.

[Donna D.]

A 30+ YEAR memory!

[Seef]

We remember many vacations on our Motorcycles with a very small tent and lots of rain.

Try cooking dinner on a single burner Coleman stove while holding an umbrella in one hand and mixing/stirring with the other. Meanwhile my better half was "supporting" me from within the tent.

GREAT memories!

[MarksAlot]

Ah, we're all older and wiser now and owners of Escapes. (Or at least 2 out of 3). :

[Fox hunt]

I remember tarp camping in the pouring rain -before I owned a tent I think we slept in the car too wet under the tarp. Or once took a bail of hay opened in the back of a truck and slept in it. Still had fun but I'm older and stiffer now and need a soft place to lie down!

[kstock11]

In my tent camping days, we drove about 3 hours to the campsite. Started setting up (in the dark) and the rains came. Wouldn't have been too bad except our tent was mostly mesh until you get the rain fly up. Once rain stopped, we had to sop up about 3" off the floor of the tent! Luckily we sleep on thermarest sleeping pads, so somewhat dry. Wife wanted to drive back home, but no way was I turning around and driving back as tired as I was. Ended up with a great weekend camping in Georgia with a large bear siting! I love having our Escape now!

[cpaharley2008]

I had a perfect trip out to Osoyoos and back, 6400 miles in 16 days without an incident, except for a dinged wheel hub. That said I have very pleasant memories of Utah and Montana scenery, the huge apples in Washington and a chinese take out dinner we ate in the Escape obtained in Baker City, Or. What a cute little town. Oh and we loved Osoyoos and the surrounding Canadian people. I performed my first "play it forward" in Canada as well as helped a man who had a bad accident right in the CG. All pleasant memories. I think you remember both good and bad events, but after time you mainly remember the good times, it is your mind's way to make thinking back is a pleasant thought. I'm sure my ex-wives will agree to this…….

[Catchlight]

Four decades ago, back in our single days, two friends and I backpacked up the Elkhorn trail in a remote mountainous area of northern Vancouver Island, only to encounter monsoon-like rain just half way to our destination, Landslide Lake.

Visibility dropped to near-zero, the Elk River became a torrent, and the trail turned into a boot-soaking creek, so we decided to camp and continue hiking the following day. By morning, though, seeing that the weather had worsened, we elected to spend the day in our optimistically-named "three-person" tent and continue the hike when the rain stopped. It never did.

Fortunately, our shelter remained cosily dry, despite the storm. Conversation went well, for a while, but when it eventually petered out a problem became apparent: I was the only one who had brought a book (Watership Down, by Richard Adams). So to prevent an outbreak of tent-fever we figured out a way to share it: I would read a page, tear it out, and pass it to Judy who would read it and pass it to Rick. The three of us still laugh about our tent-bound day of reading whenever we meet.

My wife and I are hoping to have years of benign, memory-worthy experiences in our Escape when we get it next month, but we'll be sure to bring along more than one book or ebook, just in case.

[tash]

Donna--happy day after your mom's birthday! Hope it was a good one!

[Jim Bennett]

My worst memory, and yes one I will never forget, comes from a backpacking trip. We hiked from AB to BC over the Great Divide to a small lake we found on a top map, Tipperary Lake. Well, as we all know it is a long way to Tipperary, we just had to try it. We hiked a bit on the night we got out there, then set off for the long hike to Tipperary Lake. A long day with great weather, and nothing uneventful. I got to see the largest silverback grizzly I have ever seen that day, and watch him grazing on a hillside a short distance across the way, very awesome. Got to the lake and set up camp, what a beautiful spot, with a gorgeous glacier coming down to a cliff above the lake.

Well, that night it rained, and was continuing to rain when we broke camp. Our plan was to hike up the valley, and to cross the Great Divide in a different pass, then return back to the start from there. I had a heavy duty garbage bag in my pack, and decided to pack the wet tent in it. MISTAKE!!! I should have packed my sleeping bag and dry clothes in it, as we ended up bushwhacking our way up the valley, and with the rain falling combined with all the water soaking us from the bushes, I got soaked. Not a huge deal, as when we get to camp we set up the tent and dry off in it.

Well, we did set up the tent, and all my gear was wet, including my down sleeping bag. The temperatures were above freezing a bit, but I still spend the coldest night in my life, and I have camped at -40 a couple times. I was wet to the bone, my sleeping bag was useless, as it was just a layer of damp. I put on all the wet wool and polyprop stuff I had on, and shivered the night away. I did drink lots of hot drinks to help.

The next day the clouds broke, and the sun came out, making our long trek back to the vehicle more enjoyable.

I won't ever forget that trip, and the valuable lesson I learned from it. Since then I have backpacked and canoed in lots of wet rainy weather, but thoroughly enjoyed it, because I learned to take the precautions to ensure my gear stayed dry.

Here is a shot of our camp on a canoe trip where it rained 7 out of 8 days. We did get some sun on this trip, and managed to keep dry. Here is our camp, this picture taken just after a huge downpour.

[padlin]

Should have known something was up when we pulled into a very popular state park half way between Nashville and Memphis for the night and found only a half dozen rv's there and water front sites available. The rain started that evening if I recall correctly, spent most of the night in the bathroom waiting out the constant tornado alerts. 3 days later the water receded enough for highways and roads to open so we could leave.

Upper: Nashville a day or 2 after we left.
Lower: We were in the red...