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Camping Memories from 2005
Written on Thursday, May 18, 2006 by That's Camping
Article Categories: Travel-Plans • Miscellaneous
At the end of the 2005 season, we announced our first contest, with many generous prizes donations. The entry requirement was to send a favorite camping memory from the season. We received so many touching and warm stories, it was thrilling to read them all!
We realized how blessed we are to have so many kind, considerate and friendly visitors to our web site. Camping is such a wonderful way to make new memories with family and friends, and we are so proud that you all shared your precious memories with us. Thank you!
As promised, here are the Camping Memories we received! I hope you enjoy reading them, as much as we enjoyed receiving them! Note: Winners are listed first, and all others are listed in order of receipt.
From dis2cruise - the winner of the Danforth Bay free weekend
Well, my favorite camping experience was really camping. You see this year we went camping for the first time in a pop-up tent. We haven't been camping for a while and when we did, we always camped locally in a tent for about two days at the most.
We went to Danforths Bay in late July for a whole week. We were a Family of 4 plus our golden retriever, Kacy (this was her 1st experience camping). I have never been to New Hampshire before so the experience plus being at such a nice campground was also worth it as well.
The whole week was so beautiful. We rented boats, canoes, went swimming, and of course Kacy went swimming too in her own designated area. But by far the best part of our summer vacation was being together. You see, we all live such crazy lives and for some reason when we were camping time just seemed to "slow down". We relaxed by the fire and roasted marshmallows and we were a family, and we actually talked and laughed!!.
Since my children are 12 and 13 yrs old, they are so involved with their friends, sports and of course the big "socializing thing". It's sometimes hard to connect with your kids and have fun again. My husband works in New York City and has a crazy commute of 2 1/2 hrs each way everyday to work so quality time isn't always there. Speaking about relaxing we could have taken a cruise or some fancy tropical island but nothing beats listening to the crickets chirp at night when you are sleeping and feeling the coolness of the mountain air on your face at night.
We are booked again for the same week next year at Danforth Bay, there was never a hesitation when we re-booked. The nice thing about it is the memories are still so fresh in our minds.
From CamperMom - the winner of the Papoose Pond Weekend Escape
My favorite camping memory this summer was the first night I camped with just myself and my two boys, ages 4 and 6 (spouse had to meet with customers that week). I was on crutches and the boys and I had just finished doing dinner dishes and hanging beach towels to dry. We got the fire going at dusk and settled in on chairs around the fire. As the fire dwindled down, I needed more wood from under the camper bunk. My oldest jumped up and insisted that he would do it for me. "I don't want you to get up with your hurted leg, Mommy." Then he took the battery lantern over to the camper, turned it on and proceeded to carry 4-5 more logs over beside the fire so that I could stoke the campfire. But that wasn't the best part. The best part came when he was finished, and both boys climbed up into my lap for a pre-bedtime campfire snuggle. All that love and the feeling that you've actually taught them something!
From Mary G - the winner of the Flush King
This summer we did a Turf and Surf camping trip. The only thing that was consistent was the rain. Our 12 year old was less than happy about two weeks of dripping skies and little chance to swim. So on the second lag of our trip “the surf” we went to Acadia National park Maine. We came up with a great way to bring our 12 year old back into the fun of adventure… she had two stuffed animals and we set them up in different locations around the park and took pictures of them climbing, hiking, watching Thunder Hole explode as well as other adventures. One day we hope to put together a story about the adventure of two friends. It is already one of those memories that will be with us for a life time.
From Kerry F - the winner of a set of DeLorme atlases for the New England area
My favorite camping memory this year came when my boyfriend "popped the question" on our September camping trip to ME. We were camping at Little Ponderosa in Booth Bay and had gone to Pemaquid Point to watch the wonderful sunset....and just like in the movies, as the sun was sinking into the ocean, my man got down on one knee and asked me to be his bride...our little 16ft Sunline has now been rightfully nicknamed "the love shack". Looking forward to many more great camping memories in the upcoming years! Thanks "That's Camping"!
From MonIvy - the winner of a set of DeLorme atlases for the New England area
One of my favorite memories this past camping season is from a long weekend at Danforth Bay. Our family brought our daughter's friend with us. Our daughter is 13 as is her friend. We have found this age to be a great challenge for us as parents. One minute she likes us and will speak to us, the next minute - well you get the idea. The teens had a great time this weekend - everyone got along great - did many many things together. One evening we were sitting by the fire roasting marshmallows, chatting and laughing - our daughter and son (age 16) being exceptionally nice to each other - and our daughter's friend said out loud - this is so nice and fun! I wish my family would get together and do things like this! I realized that making the decision to buy our trailer and return to camping after 10+ years was one of the best decisions we made. Camping really gets your family to spend some quality time together and we were glad to share that with our daughter's friend.
From Thomas O - the winner of the New England Waterfalls book from Countryman Press
Where to start. All camping trips come with fond memories. Our most memorable trip this year was our last camping weekend at Pine Acres in Oakham MA. It was one of their Halloween weekends and we really had a great time. We have had a 20' Banta Trail Lite for the past 2 seasons and we have been to a lot of campgrounds. This place stood out as a Top 5 campground for us and we'll be back. Our Campsite was right on the lake and another family that joined us rented a trailer right near us on the lake as well. Their 3 kids and our 3 kids had a blast. The brand new swimming pool, hot tub, water park was incredible and we were fortunate to get great weather for the last weekend in September. The Trick/Treating was great. Everyone was into it and there were great activities for the kids.
From Nancy L
Rain and mud,
Slippery and yukky,
But we still had fun
For as campers we're plucky.
To upstate New York
To see the big ships
Traverse through the lock,
Was our memorable trip.
At Rob Moses State Park
For a few days in June
Yes, we watched several ships,
But saw neither sun nor a moon.
We had a nice tour
Of the nature museum.
The new hydro display
Is another must see-um.
Pack your duds and head north
To Massina you'll go.
Eisenhower Lock
Puts on quite a show.
From Katrina M
We love going out exploring with our camper. We have only been camping for 2 years now - so we have a lot of exploring to do. A highlight of our summer this year was spending the week at Loudin camping at the New Hampshire International Speedway during a NASCAR weekend! They allow you to come in the weekend before the race. For just 100.00 (and additional racing tickets) you can spend the week close to all the action and commune with other race and camping fans. It was a blast! (Even if it did rain!)
From Stacey P
This past August my family and I traveled to Lily Bay State Park on Moosehead Lake in Maine. The funniest and most memorable thing about the trip was our visit from raccoons our second night there.
This was my first trip to Maine and I was unaware of the potential for night time visitors. At Hopeville Pond State Park in CT we never see any animals other than squirrels and chipmunks. Anyway..we had a bag of trash right outside of our popup like always. Around 3 am I heard scratching and clawing and I remember thinking. Oh darn the squirrels are in the trash! Then the scratching and clawing changed to grunting and growling. Then I thought coyotes? After all, I heard them howling hours before.
As I lay there next to my husband, who was out cold by the way, I listened closer as the grunting got louder and then right beneath our bed end, a fight of some sort broke out. I couldn't believe my husband was sleeping through this. The kids woke up and asked "What was that?!" I shook my husband who was annoyed. "What?!" Then he heard the growling. He got up and peeked out. "Those are the biggest raccoons I've ever seen!" So of course the kids jump out of bed and ran to the window. "Where?"
Mike flung the door to the popup open and shined the light from the flashlight at them. This didn't really faze them. They looked at him as he shouted and they sauntered off casually. Mike moved what was left of the trash bag over to the fire pit. "I'm sure they'll be back for the rest of this we'll have to clean it all up in the morning. Well they did come back but this time they weren't as loud. I fell back to sleep.
In the morning the trash was strewn all about. We cleaned up and I asked the park ranger about our visitors. "Sorry I forgot to tell you about that when you checked in. Make sure you bring your trash up to the dumpsters at night before you retire." I remember thinking - NOW you tell me! To this day the kids talk about that night and how cool those huge raccoons were. Me I always make sure the trash is bagged and in the dumpster before bed!
Let me start off by saying I've seen raccoons on TVland in zoos but when I saw these raccoons I thought to myself...they are so big! They had to be the size of dogs! They didn't seem to scare easily either.
From jthomas
My favorite camping memory of this camping season is not one specific event, it is the week my family spent at Danforth Bay. This was our first visit to Danforth. We started camping in 2004 after purchasing a 26ft outback travel trailer. We have three children, ages 3, 6 and 9. My husband and I both work full time on opposite shifts, so during the year, we barely see each other. We hoped camping would be a relaxing time to just spend with each other. We have visited many wonderful campgrounds--Acadia, Lake George, Baileys and Lost River--and traveled with other families. Although all these places were wonderful, the trips, for different reasons, didn't provide the relaxation of the great outdoors we had hoped for. My husband actually developed Lyme's disease after our visit to Acadia!
Our last camping trip of this season was to Danforth bay, and it was awesome! We had a wonderful wooded site, right next to the ball field. We really didn't do much-except spent time at the pool, bike riding, walking, and taking part in the activities. We spent time around the campfire just talking with our kids. It was exactly what I thought camping would be! We actually booked a site for 2006 while we were still there! That week was my most favorite memory of the 2005 camping season.
From chasd60
I guess my favorite camping memory from the 2005 season would have to be the week my daughter and I spent at Acadia NP. We decided to "rough it" and stay at Blackwoods Campground in the park. (Roughing it has a little different meaning when you have 160Watts of solar panels on your roof.) We ended up moving to Seawall CG for better sun exposure, they call it "Blackwoods" for a good reason.
My daughter turned 12 years old in September and I usually take at least one week per summer for just her and I to go camping. This way she will always have those memories of camping with dad when she grows up. We like to go hiking, biking and general sightseeing together. We are both social people and enjoy meeting other campers and discussing their camping experiences and sharing ours. We have met many nice people in our -travels. We enjoyed a nice boat trip together on Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater, he dives in the water with scuba gear and has a camera with live coverage of what he is seeing while he is underwater. He brings creatures from the sea back to the boat for a little show and tell session, it was great.
The evenings sitting around the campfire are priceless and get more so, as I realize I am only a few years away from losing her to adulthood and her own life and independence, which makes it all the more special when just her and I go camping. I can spend quality time with her when we camp, there are no phones to answer and we have very few interruptions. It was great when we found a little known swimming hole in Acadia NP and were able to spend the afternoon there where the water is warm and there is no crowd. Camping gives us all special times to spend with special people and build memories that will last a lifetime.
Other memories of past camping experiences: In the years past, she and I have tent camped from Maine all the way out to the Grand Canyon and everywhere in between. Even when I had a popup, we chose to take a tent and hit the road for 19 days and covered 8000 miles. I think our first trip was to Mammoth Caves in KY for a long weekend. Our interest in camping has allowed her to see Mammoth Caves in KY (twice), Royal Gorge Colorado, Meteor Crater Arizona, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the Bonneville Salt Flats at 100mph in my truck, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and of course the Mall Of America. Our family purchased a popup in 2001 because my wife wanted to camp with us but she is not too fond of sleeping on the ground. We took our popup to Niagara Falls, the Great Smoky Mountains in TN, Assateague NP, Amish country in PA, Busch Gardens in VA and Washington DC. Since we purchased the hybrid in December of 2003, we have taken it to Disney in Florida and many local trips.
Thanks for letting me share this, it is already bringing back fond memories and making me long for the next season.
From Manny G
It was a hot day, so my girlfriend and I started to put up our tent. We noticed that soon thereafter we had about 30 little ducks in our site while we were setting up. My guess was that they were hungry so I stopped what I was doing to dig out of the trunk a box of cheese-its. Needless to say, they fell in love with us for the rest of the camping trip. It's almost like they knew what time we were having breakfast, lunch and dinner. They showed up only at those times for the four days we were there. I stopped in the camp office on our last day and told the campground worker that I had a bunch of visitors everyday and asked how much I had to pay for them being there. He asked how old the visitors were and I told them they were all babies. He looked at me strange and I then told him it was a bunch of baby ducks. He welcomed me back to his campground again just for having such a great sense of humor. Thats the end of my wonderful camping trip.
From Donald L
Favorite memory this year: My wife Michelle last December found out she has a brain tumor. Operation failed to remove the tumor, she is now undergoing Chemo to treat the tumor.We need to get away. We went to PA this past summer for a vacation and stayed at a beautiful camp ground called Lake-in-woods resort. One night, the air was crisp and clean, My wife and 4 yr old daughter noticed a field filled fire flies. This was the first time my daughter ever saw a fire fly. There had to be thousands of them everywhere. Well my best memory was watching Michelle and Emily running around for over an hours trying to catch as many fire flies as possible. That moment made us forget about the illness and focused on enjoying every moment we have together as a family. This memory I will never forget as long as I live. We love camping and hope to do much more next year.
From Bonnie D
We are season campers at Able Mountain Campground in Braintree, Vermont. We have camped there with the same two couples for over sixteen years. We've seen a lot of changes over the years, the best ones coming in the last two years since the campground has been sold. We love it there.
I remember one evening in particular where our camping buddies (3 couples) along with several friends sat around the campfire until after 10:30 at night (way past our usual bedtime of 8 pm!). We had hosted a dinner party in one of the campers, seating 13 people for a sit down dinner of roast beef cooked on a spit over the wood fire, along with baked potatoes,veggies and rolls. Dessert was served outside by the fire - lemon cake and coffee! I can almost taste it now! The stories flew around the campfire, everyone laughed and joked and tried not to think about how cold it really was!! However, the warmth generated by the wood fire and the laughter and company of good friends made it seem warm. It was late September, the season was winding down, and we were not looking forward to closing up and staying home for six or seven months. It's remembering evenings like this one that make me miss camping all the more during the long winter months. I'm already counting down the days until we can set up our camper again for the camping season next summer.
From Carl, Barb. Corey, Justin & Ben
I am happy to say our best camping trip this year was to Acres of Wildlife in Steep Falls Maine. Our family and 2 other families have made this an annual event for the fifth year. There is a total of 9 children ranging in age from 10-17, and they all find something to do at this campground. The activities director and all of us have become friends. As have many others who continue to visit this campground on an annual basis. There is always an activity going on to keep everyone busy. We have done them all from Tye-Dye T-Shirts to Ice cream Eating contest, crafts, sporting games, beach games, food throwing, candy bar bingo, adult bingo but the best time is always had in the Mud bog.
Each year we meet someone new and since we now have been going the same week for the last 2 years we get to see familiar faces each year as well. It is nice to sit by the fire at night with new friends to share drinks and smores. The kids love to tell jokes, talk about their lives or tell ghost stories. We are glad we found this campground, the Owners are fantastic people who come right to your aid if something arises. Especially this year, the site we always booked had a sink hole develop during a torrential downpour. They had just installed new piping for the new Laundry room and it ran right thru the front of our site. We got the truck moved just in time before it would have been sucked right in. We contacted the owners and they came right down with a bucket of dirt to fill temporarily until morning and make the permanent repairs. It is something we will definitely never forget.
From Jerihr
We camped on a beautiful river outside of Baltimore this past spring, so that the family could attend my daughter's graduation from U Maryland Law. On the morning of the festivities it was raining. It had rained so much that the river had overflowed its banks onto our campsite. We were so concerned about the water that my husband called the campground several times to check on our rig. They thought us amusing, since we didn't realize we were on a tidal river, and there was no problem.
From Dr Leu
My favorite memory while camping this season was at Riverdale Farm in Clinton, Connecticut. We took our two grandchildren ages 5 & 8 with us. The 5 year old had just gotten her first two-wheeler bike and insisted on trying it out. She flew down the road before I could run after her and I finally caught up with her at the camp store where she announced to one and all "I am all grown up now and can go anywhere I want to". That seems to be one of her defining moments that allowed her to glimpse a new world of special things that adults do for themselves. She entered Kindergarten in Sept. and has become the class leader. Where else but in a safe environment like a well-managed campsite could she have experiences like that?
From Bob & Patty (NewEnglandCamper.com)
NOTE: Some of the names have been changed to protect identity.
One of the things that became very obvious to us this year while camping at Danforth Bay Camping Resort is that many people tend to camp in groups whether its with family or friends (or sometimes both). We were even touched when That’s Camping invited us over for a “camping movie” on Mike’s projection screen TV at their mom’s site. They invited our family over along with their extended family and friends. That was a very memorable moment.
We have always encouraged our kids to go out and meet new friends. Half of the time the kids would find a “perfect friend” on our last day at the campground. Sometimes we would even exchange phone numbers or email address only for those napkins that we wrote the information down on to get quickly lost.
A similar thing happened this year. It all began one very hot day in June when the kids were finally out of school and we decided we were looking forward to our “long weekend”. We decided at the last moment to invite our nieces and nephew to go camping with us. All total we would have 7 children with us (4 of ours and 3 of them). What made it so grand was that with exception of the baby, each kid had their own playmate. The teens Niki and Mildred hung out at Cove beach or down at the Depot. Samuel and Austin had fun riding bikes around Lovell Loop. We had a great site as well! L8 fit our camper and a tent easily while giving plenty of room for Lianna and Jennifer to ride the powerwheels and bikes that we had for them.
Since it was so HOT … visiting the Danforth Bay pool was a must. During this time, Samuel and Austin made friends with a little boy named Jake who just happened to being staying a couple of sites down at L3. Later on the same evening when Danforth Bay lost power because of the excess AC usage, the kids ventured out and met up with Jake and his little brother Aaron. They asked if they could play with Jake and Aaron at their site and we agreed. During this time somehow Samuel found out that Jake and Aaron’s last name (“Tortle”) was the same as Samuel’s Dad’s middle name (which is an old family surname). This last name also as our baby’s Cameron’s middle name. Patty and I thought this was cool but didn’t really think much about it nor did we have time to talk to the parents since we were entertaining guests.
During the Fourth of July weekend, Austin bumped into Jake briefly at the pool. However they didn’t get much time to talk. A couple of weeks later we pulled into our week vacation spot and one of our favorite sites L1 (what’s not to love Internet, Extra large private site, with only 1 neighbor really). A while later on Austin realized that Jake was camping next door to us. The next day Jake’s mother Bev came over to say hello and to ask more about the relation stating that her husband Scott called his mother and found out that they were probably related to Samuel. Later on at the pool Patty got talking with Scott and found out that they were indeed related. The kids played that weekend and the Tortle family left the next day after saying goodbye. Our kids made a huge connection and were very sad to see them go. We met up with the Tortle family briefly in August when they were up to Danforth Bay on a day pass. Patty also got Scott’s uncle e-mail address and he sent Patty many pictures that her dad (he passed away in 2003) had sent the Tortle family. Many of which Patty has never seen.
In October, we met up the Tortle family twice. Once was during Columbus Day weekend. They invited us over to their camping cabin at Danforth Bay where we all carved out pumpkins. It was a lot of fun and the cabins were nice and warm and cozy when it wasn’t as nice outside. Scott and Bev baked pumpkin seeds in the toaster oven and the homemade salsa with fresh garden tomatoes and garlic really hit the spot with some low fat tortilla chips. The next weekend we went up for Danforth’s Bays RV show where it basically POURED the entire weekend (no kidding!!! – Remember all the floods on the news). The kids had fun however carving pumpkins again and playing with their new found cousins Jake and Aaron. Scott and Bev watched our kids (minus cranky Cameron) while Patty and I looked at campers. Then we returned the favor and let them look. That was it for the camping season for Patty and I as well as Scott and Bev however the friendship continues to blossom!
We invited Jake and Aaron to Austin’s Halloween party in October and then later to his cosmic bowling birthday party in November. Since then we have been in constant contact with the Tortle family since we are both independently researching new RV campers. We basically want the same setup and both dream of becoming seasonal campers with sites next to each other so the kids can pitch a tent. Between the both families we must have put hundreds and hundred of miles on our cars visiting RV dealers in three states.
The Tortles are some of the nicest people that share our values, especially when it comes to bringing up their children. They even like the same camper that we like. I’m sure our relationship with the Tortles will continue over the winter and then into the next camping season. Patty and I have felt so blessed to meet nice folks like the Tortles, Debbie & Mike (and Mindy), Seasonal Dave and family, and several others. Overall we have felt camping at Danforth Bay is like camping with one big family!
Thank You
Thank you to all our generous prize donors, and to all our contest participants!Article Categories: Travel-Plans • Miscellaneous
Comments
The comment area is open for approximately one year after the article date.
I loved reading each and every one of these. They did bring to mind our own wonderful memories. My husband Rich and I have talked over the years how amusing it is that we are so passionate about packing and then driving miles to live in a little tin can in the woods. When, in fact, we also labor and care for our blessed little home here in Bradford. But it’s a feeling, an invoking of a deep-set emotion. We are together, as a family, appreciating the immense blessing of sharing our lives. Of course we have family and friends that wrinkle their noses at the suggestion of camping. We just smile and know, the experience is so deep, so personal, it cannot be explained, only shared, as individually as each of these stories!
Posted by Karen Bowman on 05/19/06Great Camping stories! Thanks for sharing everyone and a BIG Thanks to That’s Camping for posting these and holding the contest. Hope everyone makes new camping memories in 2006.
Posted by Bob on 05/20/06
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