Camping Customs???????

[herofan]

There is a past time that people do in my neck of the woods that I don't quite understand; camping. I'm not talking about finding a nice place in the woods, pitching a tent, gathering wood, and building a fire, and spending the night. I'm talking about buying a big camper, driving to the lake in the next county, and parking in a camping area where other campers are, staying a few days with all the comforts of home, and calling that fun.

Maybe it's because i live on a farm. I can look out my window and have a possibility of seeing turkey and deer anytime. I have fields, woods, ponds, creeks, etc. I once thought that campers were for road trips, and that people would rather stay in those than a motel. but why in the world would I want to buy a camper and drive to the next county for a week? :?:

I realize that not everyone in my area lives on a farm, but it's still a very rural area. It's not like they're surrounded by skyscrapers and never even see a squirrel.

Is this a popular activity where you guys are from?

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I look at it like you do. But yes we are in the same type of place, very rural 20 miles to the lake and in the national forest, and sevarel of our neighbors will take there 30" 5th wheels down to the lake and spend a week at a time 10 to 20 minutes from home.

 

[M5farm]

I see it too. We have 2 camp ground within 15 miles of my house. They are both are on the water. I've got neighbors that will pull there camper to the park for the weekend. I don't understand it either

 

[herofan]

So, I see it's other places too. Is this something that has developed in the last few years, or has it been around forever, and perhaps i was just too poor in my childhood to notice it and think it was normal? I know campers have been around forever, but nobody I knew did this when i was a kid.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Seems like a newer thing to me, one of my dads brothers lives 5 miles from a campground on a lake, and he takes a 5th wheel and camps there. Why?

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Oh, it is probably like having a house on the lake for a week for those people. Lot of the people that I know that do that, take a boat with them. I see that as more justified than buying a home that you may spend 4 weeks a year in.

When you have livestock, it isn't easy to just up and go. But if you have nothing tying you to the home front, getting away from the house may be necessary to actually relax. I wouldn't enjoy just sitting around, but that is me.

 

[jdman1952]

We have the same thing here. Just a thought, but usually the campers are so big, they cannot afford the gas to pull them a long distance. A guy I work with is this way. He made one long trip pulling the camper AND his big fishing boat. Said he only got 5mpg and could only do 55-60 on the interstate. Said he won't do that again. Now he camps at places 30 or less miles away and makes separate trip for the camper and boat. :roll:

 

[john250]

Women are happier when on vacation. Quarter mile from home or Cancun, doesn't matter.

 

[herofan]

Women are happier when on vacation. Quarter mile from home or Cancun, doesn't matter.

There's probably a lot of truth in that. I was talking with a female co-worker the other day, and she admitted that men do a lot of stuff for their wives that they otherwise wouldn't be interested in. I wonder how the vacation scene would be different if it were all up to the men.

 

[TexasBred]

We have the same thing here. Just a thought, but usually the campers are so big, they cannot afford the gas to pull them a long distance. A guy I work with is this way. He made one long trip pulling the camper AND his big fishing boat. Said he only got 5mpg and could only do 55-60 on the interstate. Said he won't do that again. Now he camps at places 30 or less miles away and makes separate trip for the camper and boat. :roll:

See quite a few around here too. Seems most have a camper, a 4 wheeler, a UTV, a big ass smoker on wheels, a $2500 a gun deer lease, and a 4x4 dually, all parked in and around a single wide MH.

My wife's idea of camping is a week in the Hilton.

 

[Ryder]

Worse than that are people who will pay high prices for a motel room, pay restaurant prices for food, just to be able to spend time on a beach and get miserable with sand all over them, in their clothes (scant though they may be), and get horribly sun burned.
They get tired, irritable, scream at each other.

Then in a year they can't wait to do it all over again. :???:

 

[herofan]

Worse than that are people who will pay high prices for a motel room, pay restaurant prices for food, just to be able to spend time on a beach and get miserable with sand all over them, in their clothes (scant though they may be), and get horribly sun burned.
They get tired, irritable, scream at each other.

Then in a year they can't wait to do it all over again. :???:

I have to agree with that too. I thought maybe i was just looney, because everybody seems to love the beach too. If you look on facebook, everybody has a picture of their family on the beach. If you read anyone's profile on anything, they "love the beach." What's with all the love for water. I drink it and bathe in it, but am not fascinated with wanting to be around a large body of it all the time, especially if it costs money to do so.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't like going to the beach for the sun. I love the sound of the ocean. When I do go, I sit there under a big umbrella, with my shades on, and a beer in my hand. I don't move but maybe 3 times.
When we go camping, we camp. Tent, camp fire, the whole nine yards.
We used to live in the city and when we moved here we love it. It's like going on a vacation every day when I work in town and get to come home to my place in the woods.

 

[john250]

Women are happier when on vacation. Quarter mile from home or Cancun, doesn't matter.

There's probably a lot of truth in that. I was talking with a female co-worker the other day, and she admitted that men do a lot of stuff for their wives that they otherwise wouldn't be interested in. I wonder how the vacation scene would be different if it were all up to the men.

If it were all up to the men....
We can only dream.
Here, I see a lot of travel trailers hauled to the 4-H Fairgrounds and other week long events.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have a living quarters horse trailer. I would rather be beat with a stick than camp. We need the trailer, as stupid as that sounds. I can't justifye having that much cash in something just to rodeo out of. I only buy a trailer, that I think I can pull till somebody comes along that will buy it. In other words I see them as an investment. I try to make a little on them. I am cleaning out one today that I bought this week. I've been horsin for probably the last 25 years. I have owned well in excess of 50 in that time. The shower, and the toilet is what attracts me to them. The most. I'll try to get my wife to post a pic.

 

[Kingfisher]

Here in Central Texas what amazes me is just how many campers Townies own and pay @$60+ a month to "store" them. There are lots of places to use them but with the drought most are just sitting. They sold a lot of big pontoon house boats that are pretty cool I think.

 

[highgrit]

I just got back from the river a couple of hours ago. Went to the Cherokee Sandridge duck races. Only sold 500 tickets this year, most years 8 or 900 tickets are sold. With each ticket you get a duck with a number on it. First duck down the river wins 1k. And all ticket holders get a all you can eat fish fry. The old timers catch bream, bass and catfish and I supply the saltwater fish. I have a bunch of friends camping out there, but I will be sleeping in my own bed tonight. We're going camping next week up in North GA. My wife rents a fully furnished cabin and we cook out and watch the leaves change colors. I like going for the apples, we get our supply of apples for the winter. For those of you that don't know GA. has some good apples.

 

[Caustic Burno]

We have the same thing here. Just a thought, but usually the campers are so big, they cannot afford the gas to pull them a long distance. A guy I work with is this way. He made one long trip pulling the camper AND his big fishing boat. Said he only got 5mpg and could only do 55-60 on the interstate. Said he won't do that again. Now he camps at places 30 or less miles away and makes separate trip for the camper and boat. :roll:

See quite a few around here too. Seems most have a camper, a 4 wheeler, a UTV, a big ass smoker on wheels, a $2500 a gun deer lease, and a 4x4 dually, all parked in and around a single wide MH.

My wife's idea of camping is a week in the Hilton.

On top of that he has a 1000 gun with a 500 dollar scope he shoots four or five times a year and carries a 25 cent pocket knife everyday.
He will invest a small fortune in camo to crawl in a box blind to hide from red wasp. Nine out of ten see a panther behind every other tree
and you could run them to death after dark with a lighting bug in a mason jar. The woods are full of them right now.

 

[greybeard]

Women are happier when on vacation. Quarter mile from home or Cancun, doesn't matter.

Any woman I've ever met, if given the choice, will choose Cancun every single time.

 

[greybeard]

Here in Central Texas what amazes me is just how many campers Townies own and pay @$60+ a month to "store" them. There are lots of places to use them but with the drought most are just sitting. They sold a lot of big pontoon house boats that are pretty cool I think.

I've heard more than once, that there were more boats per population density in Midland/Odessa than any other city in Texas. It's dry as a bone there.