Rip's camping thoughts

I find as I’m driving along the roads of South Dakota, very straight and flat, that I’m thinking about the past few weeks in our adventures. Camping sure has changed over the past 15 years since we last took a one month trip across the States and Canada in our Ford Tempo, tenting along the way. 15 years ago tenting was the norm. Now RVing is the norm. Now Rip’s Joy is half way between tenting and RVing so we don’t fall into any sort of category that people recognize. We are self contained – we have a stove, water, a bed off the ground, and a porta-potty. Sometimes when we are looking for a campsite we pull into an RV park just wanting a place to stop and pop our top and sleep for the night. Now comes the questions from the camp owner – Are you self contained? - I say “yes”. His next question is- Do you have a shower? - When that question comes, I know he doesn’t want us staying at his RV campground. 15 years ago when we were tenting we didn’t shower every day; now people expect to shower every day, sometimes twice- even when camping!

Now tenting sites are usually the uneven ground for your vehicle and a small patch of flat ground for your tent which doesn’t help us because we need flat ground for our vehicle to sleep in it without being on such an angle that we roll into each other! Not that we have a lot of rolling room in a four foot wide bed!! The cost of a campsite sure has escalated too. We have paid up to $50 for a tent site per night!! Also many tent sites have become barrier bound where you can’t park your vehicle right beside where your tent would be.
Now don’t get me wrong, because we found lots of great sites and had some great camping, it just has changed in 15 years.

Jo has added a new dimension to her photography – Rip’s Joy car antenna has snuck into a few of the panorama shots she has taken! Still I don’t want to discourage the photography monster in her, because without her I’d be missing a lot of panoramic photos as we drive along.