Campers and Camping means the enjoyment of nature and living!
Growing up in the 1950s meant camping out. Usually we would travel to either the dunes and scrub brush near Ocean City with our Whitworth relatives, or to Packwood with our neighbors the Bidisons. Millersylvania State Park (just south of Olympia) was a great memory of camping with my next door neighbors David and Kathleen, and my cousin Lindy. We played flashlight Hide and Go Seek for hours in the dark. Mostly I remember one trip with my parents and I “going around the loop,” meaning we drove northwest from Tacoma to Port Angeles and then traveled south to Lake Crescent and down to Ocean City before heading east through Olympia and northward on Highway 99 back to Tacoma.
In other words we drove around the Olympic Peninsula. What stands out about the trip are three things: my dad let me set in his lap and steer our 1953 Chrysler Windsor, which I would later call my own in 1962; we camped out along the water around Port Townsend and went fishing in the fog and ate hot dogs tainted with the aroma of kerosene; and I recorded my mom and dad floating on air mattresses at Lake Crescent with my dads 8mm movie camera. Going around the loop was the best memory because it was so private and a beautiful memory of family and Western Washington.
In adult life Peg and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in a November storm on the dunes near Ocean City. We still laugh about the horrible tasting mackerel sandwiches we packed. We were nearly broke, so we bought mackerel for sandwiches, thinking they’d be similar to tuna. Big mistake. The KFC bucket of chicken that we replaced the sandwiches with is still the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. Waking up in the middle of the night with our tent whipping back and forth in the wind had us both huddled together for warmth as we gripped tightly the center pole and hoped we would live through night.
About ten years later we moved up to a truck and camper. On weekends Peg would pack up the kids and drive to Kopachuck State Park or Penrose Point, where I would join them after work. We also traveled with the family and camped with our friends Randy and Andi Melquist, and the Jaycees (all across the state from Dosewallips to Burbank).
Bailee Doman, one of our granddaughters (we have a dozen) has been a fervent camper for years. As a youngster, Bailee attended Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp on Flathead Lake, just north of Missoula, Montana. She also worked there for two summers in college. Growing up, being a camp counselor was always one of her dreams. She loved the area so much she attended the University of Montana and is finishing up her degree in Recreation Management.
She has a podcast, Confessions of a Camp Counselor, where she interviews camp counselors from a bunch of different camps all across the country. Bailee asks people, “Have you ever wondered what it’s like working at a summer camp? Are you thinking about working at a camp? Well then tune in and listen up, because we have the inside scoop on what it’s really like being a counselor. If you want to pick the brain of a counselor, then let’s dive in.”
Bailee loves camping, nature, backpacking, and traveling and has a love for the outdoors.
You can listen to her podcasts here.
Follow her on Instagram to get updates on new episodes.
Check out Bailee’s blog here – dirtbagdreamin.wixsite.com/dirtbagdreamin
