Well summer is here and all the kids are gone so now it is time to pick a vacation for my wife and I. Wherever we want to go and not necessarily have to worry about making it a "kids" vacation but it can be an "adult" vacation. You know that usually mostly means a lazy trip....the kind where we don't have to plan to the infinite detail like I always did before. Over the next several blog posts I will highlight ideas where we can go and provide a bit of history on how we did all these similar trips with the kids years ago.
Camping has always been a fun family trip for us, but the real question lies in can just my wife and I enjoy a camping experience by ourselves? It is possible. Or is it?
We started our camping experiences back in 1989 when we had a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month old. I had received an award just out of college to travel and study architecture abroad. Oklahoma State School of Architecture awarded me the Caudill Traveling Fellowship. I was only the sixth recipient of the award. He headed out to Europe and hit 16 different countries. The monies provided were really only enough for a single individual to travel on but I had a wife and two kids. We had to make the most of it......Camping Across Europe! That is how it all began. Back then we had a very little budget for our gear. Being the first time out, we really learned how OFF we were and unprepared!
Once we returned we lived near the Appalachian trail in Pennsylvania so we bought the massive light-weight (and very expensive) tent to handle all of us.....that number had grown to 4 kids! It was awesome. We did lots of hiking but mostly car camping. Every trip home to Oklahoma was a camping trip (except Winter). get-a-ways, up on the trail, where ever.
Once we moved to Virginia we continued going places. Camping at Orlando for Parks, Camping near Busch Gardens, Camping at Luray Caverns was just the beginning. The the boys got old enough to join Boy Scouts.....again we were off.
Since then we have camped at the beach, the parks, and most recently at Crabtree Falls. So much fun.....yep, same tent since we got back from Europe over 20 years ago. The cost for that tent was well worth it.
OK so now for just my wife and I. We could certainly head back to Crabtree Falls. That was peaceful. Another thought is to head back to Luray Caverns. We enjoyed that as well. Don't really want to camp at the beach. If we go to the beach I want to BE AT THE BEACH. Then again there are all the other places that we haven't gone before. I was thinking of using the maps/park websites and begin hitting each of the camping recommended locations and check off each location that we visit over the next 10 years.
Granted the camping has changed for us too. We need a blow up mattress. We pre-pack all of our food. It takes me a bit longer to set up the tent these days too. However, far less food, far less gear, far less planning, and much more room in our tent!
Camping my friends?
The beginning of our wine and beer list. We tried to fit in to the area with what they ate and drank.
Grocery shopping experience. This was way crazy.
Finally getting a chance to settle down and study some of all the architecture. Yes, as simple as the shower stalls at our campgrounds. There were some pretty neat details everywhere. This is what I came for.....the study of architecture. It is still taking me some time to get used to sketching. I can tell I am way to slow and need to get more loose. I will get there.
I realized I am not going to be ale to sketch everything at this pace, so cut a paste is an option as well. I also decided to sketch most of the building and then go back in later at the campsite and finish each night.
