I attended a family reunion of sorts this week-end. My mom, dad, sister, brother, and their spouses all met in mid Florida for a week-end of camping with my husband, children and I. The majority of folks I work with or hang with don't get the camping thing. They'd prefer a luxurious hotel, or a cruise ship to the getting back to nature scene.

My first camping experience was when I was three months old. Obviously I don't remember it, but camping is something I grew up with. Besides family camping, both my mom and dad were scout leaders. Some of my best memories growing up were on Boy Scout trips with my dad's troop. I jokingly tell people I was a Boy Scout. I was sort of a tom-boy growing up, and definitely enjoyed hanging out with boys as opposed to girls. Boys do fun stuff like climb trees, build dams across a river with rocks, pick up and examine toads.

Anyway, back to the camping thing.

Throughout my life, I've tent camped, pop-up camped, and trailer camped. Because Hubby and I had our children so early in our marriage, the only way we could afford vacations was to go camping. We have taken the kids to the Outer Banks, Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, Cades Cover, Jekyll Island in Georgia, Several campgrounds in North Carolina, most in the Smokeys, and also several in our home state of Florida. In 1997 my father rented a motor home in the Netherlands and my mom, dad, sister, nephew, daughter and I camped through out the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. It was absolutely awesome. The beauty of camping as opposed to staying in a hotel, was that we got to meet so many local people. Camping is quite popular in Europe.

Anyway, I guess I'm waxing philosophical lately and have been thinking alot about this camping thing.

Hubby and I purchased a travel trailer last November, and vowed to spend at least one week-end a month away. That in itself has been good and bad. We are spending more time together, but we are also going through a difficult time in our marriage (long story) so sometimes a forced togetherness isn't always good.

I do enjoy nature. I'm sort of weird that way, I guess. I'm not squeamish about bugs, or reptiles, or wild animals. But, I'm not certain that is why I enjoy camping.

I think it has more to do with getting away from the rut of day to day life. We do have a T.V. in our camper but seldom watch it. Every morning on camping trips I cook breakfast, something I seldom do at home. It is sort of therapeutic. Then of course there is the getting to see things you don't always get to see. I love waterfalls. I read recently that tumbling water ozonates the air, which gives the viewer a sense of peace. That is why walking on the beach is so relaxing.

This particular week-end though, I discovered something else. The whole family getting together had a nostalgic aspect. My kids are grown now. My son brought his girlfriend, and slept in his own tent. My daughter, who has been busy with college, boyfriend and a social life came camping with us as well. We hadn't done a family camping reunion in a long time, and I think both kids realized how much they enjoy camping, but not just that, the socialization of being with family in that atmosphere. What is kind of neat is that because we are all seasoned campers, we tend to do work with each other in tandem. For example, my sister and her husband forgot tea bags and cocoa mix. We had it, we shared it, and also shared conversation over it.

We decided to have Thanksgiving on this camping trip since we were all together. It was fun cooking, everyone bringing something to the table, but even more fun to do it in the camping setting. It never felt stressful, like Thanksgiving can sometimes be. I mean, if you think about it, it's not like you have to clean the house to have guests over. I also love sitting around a campfire, cooking marshmallows or smores or whatever. I love the togetherness.

I guess what I've learned from camping is that it forces people out of their daily rut and makes them socialize.