Camping Vacations

I was thinking (sometimes never a good sign) the other day how I haven’t been on a vacation in three years, which then got me thinking about vacations as a child. Dad was a teacher (6^th grade science to be exact), so he had summers off. Given this information you would think that would be great right? One of your parents having the summer off to do things with, have them take you places, etc. etc. The fact of the matter was he could never afford to take a summer off, save the summer of 1985 when we drove as a family out to Colorado to visit friends of Mom and Dad’s. 

Colorado

No, Dad worked every summer, whether it was painting houses he and some friends did on the side or working for the school system with his fellow teachers as part of the summer maintenance crew. No,his summer schedule was really no different than his school year schedule. So we didn’t take many vacations growing up. At least not the kind many of you may think of when you yourself hear the word vacation. What we did do; however, was go on camping trips, first in New Jersey, then, after the summer of ’84, in Maine. 

Cabin rental, Sebec Maine

Sebec Lake sunset

Moosehead Lake

going to secret rock out cropping on Sebec Lake

I remember talking with Dad about vacations one time and he mentioned the fact that we didn’t take a lot of vacations when PJ and I were kids. I remarked it wasn’t anything I felt I had missed out on. Then I said to him, it didn’t matter anyway, because the vacations we did take, taught me about nature. I told him I learned so much from him through camping and just being outdoors that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Something as simple as starting a campfire, would become invaluable as recently as this winter when apparently I was the only one who could start a fire in the wood burning stove at Mom and Dad’s. Amateurs (as I laugh). Growing up, nature became my haven, my church away from the chaos of life and as a result those camping trips became the greatest vacations I could have imagined or asked for. It translated into adulthood, with backpacking, hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, anything that didn't involve a motor to get to the middle of the forest, the top of the mountain, the other side of a lake. Not really the competitive type, my love of nature propels me to constantly challenge myself every time I hit the trail, alone or with my border collie Loki. All of that is because of Dad and I have him to thank for it. If he hadn’t stubbornly taken us camping every summer growing up I would not have the love of nature that I do, of that I feel certain. I love him for that.