The Dee-Jay on the early morning drive-time talk show kept reminding us that it was hump day. It was a Wednesday, which is the middle of the work week. Wednesday puts us on a down hill slide to the weekend.
Then, the Dee-Jay gave us the weather forecast: “Well Guys, Today is supposed to be in the lower 50’s and partly cloudy”. (Not bad for Central Virginia in late January.) “Tomorrow will be close to 60 with clear sky’s. Then Friday, all forms of madness are going to break loose. Cold temperatures and a winter storm that could bring 10 inches or more of snow is expected.”
I just shook my head. I am extremely tired of winter. We experienced one deep snow in early December – much earlier than we usually see any white stuff in Central to Eastern Coastal Virginia. I know that in order to feel good, I need my sunshine and vitamin D. These cloudy, cold January days may be good for ski resorts and Polar Bears – but not for me!
That’s when I got to thinking about the hump day thing the Dee-Jay kept yakking about. The first of February is the beginning of hump month – at least in my part of the country. Nancy and I don’t usually put our camper away until late November – just before our traditional first big freeze.. By the first of April we have the camper repacked, serviced and ready to go. That’s two months on either side of Ground Hog Day – yep, we were just about to begin the hump month slide to April.
I walked out to the camper which is sitting solemn and lonely under its shelter. Inside I sat down in one of the recliners in the rear slide out. It was chilly so I turned on the heater in the electric fireplace.
Sitting there I felt a really good warm feeling inside – not from the fake electric fire place, but from just being inside the camper. As I sat there I began to think back on all the fun and exciting places Nancy and I visited last year. We met some really nice people and learned a lot about the history, character and shopping opportunities of each city or town where we camped.
One of my close friends considers our camper a frivolous and unneeded toy. He believes we should take the money we spend on the camper and use it to go to a resort or on a cruise.
We could easily do that, but we would miss so many of the opportunities that camping has afforded our family over a span of 30 plus years. All of our children grew up camping. We went places they would otherwise never have seen. They have great memories of our camping experiences and speak of them often.
Now, our grandchildren have the same opportunity. Whenever possible we take one or more with us when we go to the beach, the lake or the mountains. They get to explore nature, ride the surf, look for sea shells, fish, meet new friends and just plain old have fun.
Without the camper I wonder if any of this would ever have happened. The results of family camping are a lot like the credit card commercial where the final event is termed as “Priceless”. I simply cannot put a cost on the memories and togetherness camping has brought our family.
We did get the snow storm. 11.5 inches of the white stuff covered the ground by Saturday night.
I spent most of today plowing snow from our driveway and that of our neighbors across the road. I cleared a path to the camper and gave her a pat, assuring her that we were over the hump and it would not be too much longer before we were on the road once again.
Happy Camping!
Randy, Nancy and Oscar
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