Saturday, July 13, 2024

Camping as a Means to Get Away from It All

We are not in control--at least, not as much as we would like to be or assume we are. We have the most control over our actions and that does have an influence on consequences. Happenstance, however, well--we have to learn to go with the roll. 

 I remember once on my wife and my trip to California, I was draining our Airstream Basecamp's sewage tank during our overnighter in Kansas. The dang thing just wouldn't drain! I pulled the valve open, and there was no flow after repeated attempts. Frustrating! After checking all the connections to no avail--all was as it should be--I suddenly realized I hadn't removed the drain plugs that came with the drain hose. Nothing was flowing because the line was plugged close! Obviously, I was tired, and the result was that I had been wasting my time. 

However, sometimes events occur that are not of our own doing. I've read and written about those occurances on this blog--axle breakage, flat tires, drunken and violent neighbors, wind shear that pushes you off the road. In all those instances, the small trailer owners dealt with the situation, muddled through, and went on to camp and enjoy. 

Sometimes the unexpected is ironic and not so bad, a kind of cosmic learning moment, if we are open to possibility of life's lessons coming our way and opening our minds. My wife calls these moments "the irony of camping to get away from it all." If the world is as we are, then there is a certain irony, a certain piquant, dark humor to some happenings. 

One recently happened to Sandy's son Thomas while he was camping at Indian Lake Campground in Farmington, Iowa. Thomas's first two camping experiences using our Airstream Basecamp 16 had been with his sister's family--two adults, three dogs, and niece and nephew. He enjoyed it, and there were some days he was camping when they were gone; however, he was hankering for that experience of "getting away from it all." 

And what is the "it" that we all want to get away from? I imagine that it is somewhat different for different campers since campers are a diverse group. However, I think we can make a few generalizations. "Getting away from it all" for some means less complexity, for others fewer rules or boundaries, away from people and hustle-bustle for many, and for many others the search for silence away from the noise and buildings and back to nature. Yes, getting away from it all means in some sense removing mankind's footprint, or as Jack London wrote, iron heel. 

So Thomas elected to camp by himself at Indian Lake Campground, to spend time alone in the silence. Indian Lake Campground is an old-style campground with a rear camping area beneath the trees where you can pretty much camp where you want as long as your plug-ins can reach one of the two 30 amp stations at each end of the area. Thomas reserved a week, drove the forty miles to the campground, set up, and then kicked back to enjoy the silence. He was alone and had achieved his goal; he'd gotten away from it all, from his sister and her partner, from the kids and the dogs. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy being with everybody; he just wanted to try something new. He was living the life.

You all probably are feeling that this is the moment where the plot turns in an unexpected direction, and you're right! The fickle finger of fate reached down and blessed Thomas with a "learning moment." 

Some neighbors arrived--nice folks, no one dangerous or disgusting. However, a lot of nice folks! A rig pulled in next to Thomas, a family consisting of three dogs, eight kids, and two parents. When Sandy told me the news--that Thomas had called to tell--she was (sweetly) laughing so hard I thought she said "three dogs, eight kids, and two parakeets! The only other time in our twenty years of marriage I had seen Sandy laugh so much was the time we went to an Asian restaurant and I taken a big bite of "cucumber" that turned out to be very spicy ginger! She took one look at my face when the intensity of the ginger hit me (who had been expecting cooling cucumber), and laughed until she was gasping and teary eyed. Now, that's true love!

Thomas had his surprise and, not surprisingly, learned that things weren't all that bad. The eight kids weren't coming over to hang with him, the dogs weren't mooching food, and the adults acted like adults. Not quite the silence or open vistas he had anticipated, but camp was quiet enough, and Thomas also had some good 45-minute walks around the lake. 

Sometimes we have the good fortune of getting away from it all both mentally and physically. Sometimes we have to find that quiet place inside even though it's a bit busy outside around us. We all develop our mechanisms for finding peace, and I've found camping to be one of the more enjoyable. How about you?

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1 comment:

  1. I do camp to get away. Away from meal responsibility, from laundry, from schedules, from dirty toilets and dogs needing walks. Ok, sometimes I bring the dog with me. My husband, who has none of these responsibilities, doesn't understand. That's ok.

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