We're selling the tent trailer

Yesterday I took a little walk down the proverbial “memory lane.”

We have a tent trailer that we are planning to sell and Wes and I had to clean it out last night. We brought a broom, bucket and cleaning supplies and I was approaching this as a job that had to be done. I have never loved this tent trailer but going through the stuff in there brought me back to our days of camping and I was a little surprised at my feelings of nostalgia because truthfully, I don't really like camping too much. I don't like having to use public washrooms and showers, I don't like the cold, clammy feeling you get when it rains in the night. I don't like the fact that you can never keep things neat and organized (at least I can't) or that laundry needs to be done in a laundromat.

I think that it was the items that I found that brought back the feelings of nostalgia although as you will see, the events were not necessarily enjoyable at the time. I think it was a little like going through all your stuff before you move and knowing that everything you touch at one time, had a purpose and therefore could evoke some strong memories.

I found at least a dozen bungee cords which reminded me of a very unique feature of the trailer. On one of our first trips we discovered that the door popped open when someone weighing more than 75 pounds slept on one of the wings. The first time this happened was at (you guessed it) 2:00 AM. I heard the door pop open and hopped out of bed to close it, thinking that the latch had simply not caught when we first closed it. I had just gotten settled when sure enough, it happened again. It was a sleepless night. Someone would roll over and POP there it would go again.

The next day we had a solution figured out using a web of bungee cords. I just hoped that if anyone had to go out during the night they’d remember the bungee cords, otherwise there could be some trouble. Imagine a slightly uncoordinated 6 foot tall 14 year old stumbling around in a tent trailer, slightly larger than a kitchen table.

When we first bought the trailer, the ad suggested that it could sleep 6. That is a bit of an overstatement as the largest bed was somewhere between the size of a twin and a double. I love Wes and don’t mind sleeping with him but sharing a bed that small results in a fitful sleep. I was always sleep deprived on my camping holidays.

I found several decks of cards and was reminded of the time Michele and Kristen were playing some crazy game. They are aunt and niece and have the very same competitive streak. They were getting more and more animated as the game progressed and our friends were getting a little concerned that it wouldn’t be long before they would come to blows.

The blue tarp reminded me of the last camping trip we took about 2 years ago, at Clear Lake with a group of friends. That was the coldest, rainiest trip in my memory. One night we managed to get a wood stove going in one of the shelters. It was windy and rainy so we got a few tarps and used them as a wind break. We spent a lovely evening in the shelter, huddled around the wood stove. We melted pennies, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and had a great time.

Going through the drawer (yes, there was one drawer) I found sunscreen, mosquito spray and “After-Bite.” We’ve never had really bad mosquitoes on most of our camping trips but we’d never leave home without our mosquito spray. As I was wiping down the ceiling, I found a number of mosquito carcasses and remembered my nightly ritual of death where I pursued every bug with all my power so that nobody would wake up in the morning with a fresh bite.

We took out our dining tent too. I LOVE dining tents and a few years ago we had to replace ours. The only one we could find that was high enough to accomodate the height of Wes and our sons looked like a circus tent with blue and white stripes. It’s a great dining tent and stands out like nothing else in a campground. I remember spending lots of time in it on rainy days. I also remember eating in it. When we camp, Wes does most of the cooking and we generally eat very well.

I found the green coffee pot that I just love to use and was reminded of how good coffee tastes when you’re camping. And the glass wine glasses. Wine does not taste good unless it’s in a wine glass and we made sure that the glasses were well packed so they wouldn’t break.

There were lots of things about that tent trailer that I didn’t like but somehow, with the passing of a few years, those things don’t seem to matter so much. I’m glad that I had the chance to spend a few hours in it again and gain a new perspective. It’s in the yard at Wes’s office and last night, briefly, VERY briefly I thought, perhaps, I wouldn’t mind spending a night in it again. Sanity prevailed and I knew that I could loose any fond memories I have if I were to spend a night in it again. And I sure didn’t tell Wes.

There are aspects of camping that I like very much. Although my children wouldn't all fit now, I loved the snug as a bug feeling I had when we were all tucked into bed in the trailer. One year we listened to Stuart McLean CDs before falling asleep, first giggling and eventually, laughing out loud at his hilarious stories. I enjoyed camping with friends and family and remember walking from one campsite to another with my coffee cup, always finding someone who would have a pot brewing. I'll miss the campfires too.

These days, we're finding that we really love to stay in Winnipeg during the summer. There are festivals and events happening all summer long, right in our own back yard and if I go away, I'm afraid I'll miss something here. We won't need the tent trailer, that's why we're selling it. So for now, we won't be doing any camping.

I'll just be content to remember the great times we had.