I have been camping since about 8 or 9 years old in the yard with a blanket thrown over a cloth line. Then came Boy Scouts and Explorers and right on as I got older. When we first got married we had a large aluminum frame tent and then a small pop up for several years. Then my wife got us in the Buck-skinner stuff and we spent about 20 years camping under canvas from a Lean-pee to wall tent to tee-pee to 10 by 14 big wall tent with a 18 foot walled fly. Inside that we had wall to wall carpet and a queen size take down bed and many comforts, but it took about 3 hours just to set up everything. That setup always seemed to be the gathering spot at most of the events we attended and we probably burned a small national forest in the fire pits under that fly. It wasn't unusual to have 25 or 30 people grouped around that campfire for several hours, just talking and laughing and sharing. Far too many of those great friends have passed on or have gotten too old to participate much any more so we have drifted away also. Again my wife talked me into purchasing our first actual travel trailer in 2000. On it's maiden voyage we discovered Bennett Springs in Missouri, and trout fishing and we have been making the 800 mile round trip 3 or 4 times per year ever since. We have since upgraded that first 26 foot camper to a 31 footer with slide-outs and all the comforts of home and don't have any intentions of looking back.

Camping, except for a few rare times while buck-skinning, means fishing to us. My wife enjoys fishing but not to the extent that I do and so now when we go to Bennett Springs I get up well before daylight so that I can walk the old dog and take care of other things, kiss her goodbye, and still get down to the stream well before the whistle blows. The old dog sleeps in the truck and the wife sleeps in comfort in the camper and I get to catch trout on a fly rod that I built on flies that I tied myself and life is so good that I don't have words for it.

As for the economics of this camping, there really isn't any, but it gives us a lot of flexibility, and comfort, and enjoyment and it hard for me to put a price on that. We put this last trailer on a ridiculously long loan term but it kept the payments low and I MIGHT get it paid for some time, but more likely Son will have to finish it off, but that is ok for us right now. One of these days we will be retired and would love to be a campground host at some place with trout fishing so we could have more time to enjoy these two wonderful things at once. For those of you who don't camp, especially if you have a family, get started as soon as possible. If you like tents by all means do that, but if you want a little more comfort or are just getting on in years trailers are a good way to go and usually won't break the monthly budgets with a payment. There is something really special about a camp fire and wood smoke and then crawling into a warm bed with soft fleece blankets and then watching a glorious sunrise. I guarantee that your kids will remember it their entire life, at least I know that I have!