My First Campout

When we weren't playing football, baseball, Army, or just riding our bikes around, we were off in the woods exploring. We had what we called the "little woods" and the "big woods”. Now, the little woods were just a little stand of trees just behind a small field at the edge of our subdivision. Of course, they seemed bigger to a seven-year-old. Beyond the little woods was another small field and then behind that were the big woods. When we walked into those woods the path was narrow and dark. These were woods that made us feel like Daniel Boone when we went exploring. It was like hiking in the Appalachians to us.

My buddies and I had been itching to head out to the big woods one night for an overnight campout but all of our parents insisted we have an adult with us. Well, somehow we talk my dad into volunteering. My aunt and uncle were living with us at the time and my uncle Dave volunteered to go also. At the time dad was about 30 years old and uncle Dave about 24. You have to know my uncle Dave. He was a pure all round athlete, loved all sports, and would try anything. He was a joker, boaster, and just plain fun loving. I really thought he was cool. The details of this campout are sketchy, but here is how I remember the highlights. (It was, after all, 53 years ago).

We tramped into the big woods around 6 PM. I was anxious to show my dad where my buddies and I hiked. After about ten minutes we came to a little clearing on a sloping hill that had an old fire pit dug out in the middle. Perfect campsite. All we brought to sleep on was one blanket and pillow. Dad and uncle Dave brought the food. The idea was to lay on one half of the blanket and cover with the other half. Everyone picked their spot to sleep and then we all gathered wood. No tent, no sleeping bag. We were men! We got a fire going a little and as I looked at our fire pit I saw my dad squirting lighter fluid on it and pretending to be peeing on the fire! All my buddies roared with laughter but I was a little embarrassed. Come on, dad! After roasting some hotdogs we settled into our blankets on the hard ground. Isn't it something how you can sleep anywhere on any surface when you're a kid? As soon as it got dark and things were winding down a blood curdling cry echoed from the woods. OCK’aWA’ka ! OCK’aWA’ka ! It scared the daylights out of us all. Two minutes later appearing out of the darkness and into our camp like a ghost walks my uncle Dave with a big smile. "I shore scared you guys, huh? Heh, heh, heh”. Yeah, he did.

That morning I peeked my head out of my blanket and saw about 10 bodies wrapped up like mummies. We had all gotten so cold we just wrapped ourselves up. Pillows were scattered everywhere and no one was even using their pillow. But you know what? It was fun back then. I don’t think I’d find sleeping on the hard ground on a cold night with just one thin blanket much fun now. But when you’re seven or eight years old, what an adventure! As we came out of the woods that morning I envisioned old Dan’l Boone himself coming home to his wife Rebecca after a six month outing. Life couldn’t be much better.
Chiefpigskin.com

North River

North River Campground in the Cherokee National Forest in Eastern Tennessee. I found it in a book that listed campgrounds in the Smoky Mountain area of the Appalachians. It was highly rated for its beauty, quietness, and solitude. Exactly what I was looking for. You see, I had missed my opportunity to take my son on a camping/baseball trip when he was younger (see my past article, "The Trip That Never Was" in my archives). Now it was nine or 10 years later and I got another idea. I wasn't going to miss this one!

In the fall of 1999 I started thinking about a trip my son, Nathaniel, and I could take together that would allow us time to ourselves. I enjoy the outdoors and camping. So I started thinking in that direction. He was a junior at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and his spring break would be in late March. So would mine. Hmmm. Maybe a camping trip in the secluded areas of the Appalachian Mountains would be a good idea. I settled on North River Campground and ran the idea past him. Thankfully, he was all for it. While most college kids were thinking about going to Florida or Cancun over spring break and getting drunk every night, my son was willing to go on a camping trip with his dad. How cool is that for a father?

When the time finally came, we loaded up the pickup truck with our camping gear and headed off from Illinois. The trip out was smooth sailing and it took us about eight hours to get to the Cherokee National Forest. Even though it was too early for the spring growth of leaves, the Appalachians were still beautiful with an eerie grayish-brown appearance. Once we got to the entrance of the national forest, we drove another 8 miles or so on winding, narrow roads deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally-there it was! North River Campground. Nestled in a valley between three mountains and next to a babbling North River it was better than I expected. We had our pick of about nine or ten campsites since we were the only ones there and picked a site about 15 yards from the river. We got our tent and the rest of our gear up and spent the next five days of some of the most relaxing, peaceful times I ever had. The nights were cold -30°- the days were warm -70°- and at night there were so many stars it looked as though someone had sprayed the black sky with dense white glitter. Nathaniel kept a pellet gun at his bedside in case of a bear attack. (I know - the pellet gun wouldn't have stopped a squirrel, but it made him feel better.) And although it was cold, I slept great.

A typical day went like this:

Wake up around seven or 7:30 AM and wash up.

Cook and eat breakfast - hearty bacon, eggs, potatoes and toast every morning.

After breakfast, do the dishes.

Around 9 or 10 AM we opened the Bible and read about the life of David from the book of Samuel.

After a little reflective time and discussion, it was time to gather wood for the evening fire.

Around noon we had a snack and relaxed a bit.

Afternoons were spent hiking and exploring. We climbed nearby mountains, found waterfalls, and hiked the trails.

Suppertime consisted of hot dogs or hamburgers.

As the sun went down, we started our campfire and stayed up under the stars just talking. I don't even remember what about - we just talked. This was probably the highlight of the day. There is something about sitting by a campfire on a cold night.

After five days we broke camp and headed home. All in all it was a wonderful , memorable trip and we will never forget it. I learned a lesson too. It's never too late to spend time with your kids. Thanks to www.chiefpigskin.com for letting me share once again.

The Trip That Never Was

I think for the most part I did a pretty good job of spending time with my kids and family and doing some fun things. I suppose we could all do better, but there is one particular instance that has always bothered me. In fact, it’s bothered me a lot over the years. I have always been a big baseball fan and my son also loves baseball. The idea came to me one time that my son and I should take a baseball trip for about a week or two during the summer. Now this was when my son was about eight years old and I figured we had the next few years to make this trip. He would be the perfect age. This was back in the mid-to-late 80’s and baseball games were still much more affordable than they are now. Here was the plan. We would travel during the day from baseball town to baseball town, get tickets and see a ball game, then spend the night in a nearby state park campground. By leaving early in the morning we could travel to the next city, get a campsite, and then head to the ballpark. After the game, go to our tent (yes, tent) get some sleep, then do it again the next day in another city. This way, we could catch a lot of ballgames in different cities, see a lot of different parks and spend the night camping. The whole idea, I thought, would be an affordable trip. Not only affordable but a lot of fun too.

I figured we would head out for the East from central Illinois and then loop on back to the Midwest. As I looked at the map it looked like we could hit cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, New York, and come back visiting St. Louis and then back home. Oh yeah, we could visit Cooperstown in New York and see the Hall of Fame. In this way we could get some good father-son time together, travel to some great cities and ballparks, and campout at night. I thought it was a great idea and really believed we would get it done someday.

Of course we all know how busy football coaches can be in the summertime. We had our summer camp, we had weight room supervision, seven on seven games, and of course coaches meetings. On top of that, if www.chiefpigskin.com had been around, I would've been learning more football. Besides all this I was a driver education teacher and so I taught a lot of driver ed. in the summer. Some people think that teachers have the summer off but I sure never did. I was always very busy with other things.

Before I knew it my son was 10 and we still hadn’t taken the trip. But I told him someday we would. And I meant it. Before I could blink he had turned 12 and we still hadn’t taken the trip but I assured him that SOMEDAY we would. The next thing I knew, you guessed it, he had turned 14 and it was his turn to start playing high school football. Now he was just as busy with football as I was. And guess what? We didn't take that baseball trip I planned on all those years. By this time we were in the early 90’s and it just didn't get done. It's one of the things that I look back on now with regret. We should've taken that trip and I’m still convinced it was a great idea. I guess the moral of this story is to take time out from that busy schedule to do something different and fun with kids.

Years later when he was in college, my son and I took a cool trip together over spring break and had a great time. Maybe I’ll tell that story sometime. But you know what? I’ve got three grandsons now and I’m starting to get this neat idea…