a commentary on camping

so last night i was making some reservations for a campsite for the weekend. amazingly enough, there was still plenty of space for us. or maybe it's not amazing if you consider that we are going to camp in a desert-y place in august. hmmm. oh well, that's not the point. another thing that is not the point is that the lady that i talked to wasn't very happy about being on the phone at all. having spent a number of months in her shoes, i felt her pain and was just nice, despite the chill in the air, and made it as quick and painless as possible for her.

now for the real point. so this campgroud that we're staying at is right inside mesa verde national park. it's only 6 hours away for us, but i was concerned that if we got a late start that there would be no one to check us into our campsite and help us get to where we are going. i expressed my concerns to the less-than-thrilled phone lady and she said to me that if we get there after the store closes (that's where you check in) we should just pick a campsite that works for us and then check in in the morning. in all of my many years of camping experience, this is a first! it's like 100% honor system after dark. and there's free (yes, free) showers at this place, which makes it even cooler.

so this gets me to the point i actually want to make. i often marvel at the concept of camping. it's not so much the sleeping on the ground, which is rarely very comfortable, or sleeping outdoors with only a little enclosure of fabric to keep you from getting eaten by a bear. it's the fact that your tent and all of your belongings are STILL THERE when you come back every night. i mean if someone wanted to make a killing on some outdoor gear, a campground is the first place to start, really. if i look at my camping gear, i've easily spent $400 on my tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad over the years. it's true, i go for quality. but what's stopping some less-than-honest joe schmoe from coming over and just packing up like all of that stuff was his. and with this thought in mind, i'm always just a little surprised to come back to camp and see that i still have a place to sleep. i've just decided that people who camp are a different breed altogether. it's like we've joined a secret society with unspoken rules about not stealing and striking up conversations just because you've chosen to forego the luxury of sleeping in a real bed or remaining in your car for your entire vacation. it's really an odd community in the world we live in where honesty is the only policy and it's not creepy (mostly) when the strangers the next tent down come over and strike up a conversation, just for the sake of conversation.

i love being a camper.