Roughing It!

I hate camping! No, I loathe camping! Whatever the strongest word in the world for hate is...You can apply it to me and camping! My dad wanted me to have this picture some time ago, and I've been deciding what to do with it. I finally decided posting it on the blog would allow for all of us to enjoy it!

The summer of '87 (pictured above) my energetic and ambitious parents decided to buy a van and take the four of us kids camping across the country. The beauty of it was that my parents and baby sister, Joan (turned one that summer), had the privilege of sleeping in the van while Katie, Kelly, and myself (12 years old) pitched a tent EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! No worries. We were well trained in the art of pitching a tent and tearing down camp. Before the trip Dad would run little drills and exercizes like timing us on who could roll up the bags fastest, neatest, and most graceful. We were trained in the fine art of sweeping out the tent on our hands and knees with a little, straw hand broom. We were also trained to withstand any type of weather that came our way. We pitched a tent in a hail storm and tons of rainstorms. The highlight of our day would be the search and discovery of a KOA campground in the next city. We would sing, "KOA is on the way!" The camping lasted about a month. Then we arrived at Grandpa Richie's in New York where we were allowed to sleep under roof (sort of). We actually were allowed to sleep in the screened in patio. Have you ever been to NY in the summer? It's not the place you want to spend your nights outside trying to sleep? I'll take a dry heat any day! Once Grandpa Richie was done with us we headed back home! I think Mom and Dad were wearing thin. We were home in under two weeks, and I remember a hotel or two on the way. I'm surprised they didn't give us the van while they slept in the hotel!