Pip Camps Out

We've been having backyard fires and enjoying warmer spring weather (even if the trees are still brown and bare).  I'm already dreaming of summer and one of my favorite things... camping!  No need to load up the car and go for a drive.  The backyard can be the place to be.

Pip Camps Out

Myra Berry Brown

pictures by Phyllis Graham 1966

Pip watches his sister leave for camp and decides that he too wants to sleep out under the stars.  His father considers it...

He looked at the sky turning into twilight.  He knew how good it felt to sleep under the stars.  He said, "There's going to be a beautiful moon tonight."

Out in the orchard Pip goes with his sleeping bag, flashlight, and compass (and some chocolate chip cookies).  He looks at the sky and hears all kinds of nighttime sounds.  But the best sound of all is his dad coming to join him and showing him the stars.  

(This is my very favorite page!)

The Golden Book of Camping and Camp Crafts

We just came back from camping in one of my favorite places, Ithaca, NY.  I LOVE camping.  I love the sound of the tent zipper, I love making a campfire in the morning and coffee on the camp stove.  I love how friendly other campers are, how dirty you get, how even a trip to the bath house can be an adventure with insects and animals.

We had a skunk visit our site at 4am one morning and regular chipmunk guests. We sat around the picnic table playing cards, Henry made popcorn over the fire and one night I made a dinner of fresh tuna steaks cooked in the coals (in foil packets with onions, lemon and cilantro) and Chris and I shared a bottle of wine (and we tried to put the kids to bed in their tents early!)

We've been staying at Robert Treman State Park for about 6 years now. My parents were the ones who found it first and two summers ago we rented cabins with them for a week. The trails through the gorges and woods are just beautiful for hiking and the waterfall at Enfield Glen (where we camped) is usually open for swimming. Chris thinks it's the best swimming spot around.

(Henry climbing many many steps.)

I love this book of vintage camping instructions.  I feel like we're spoiled with our light nylon tents and sleeping bags.  This was the first year we've ever used air-mattresses in the tents and I have to admit it definitely raised the quality of sleep!  We still use tin plates and cups and real utensils (anyone who knows me knows I have a weird aversion to paper dishes) and part of family bonding time is hauling water and washing up after meals.

The Golden Book of Camping and Camping Crafts

Gordon Lynn 1959

illustrated by Ernest Kurt Barth