Write About It Wednesday: Camping

Camp NaNoWriMo started on April 1^st. Camp NaNoWriMo is a lot like National Novel Writing Month except that it offers you the opportunity to create and set your own goals. Instead of having a goal of writing 50,000 words your goal can be to edit so many words or write for so many minutes a day. My goal for this month is to do my re-writes for Kissed with Power. But, it hasn’t been going so well.

I’ve been dealing with bad brain fog for the last two weeks. Whenever I sit down to try to write I end up blankly staring at the screen, unable to process the words that are written, let alone come up with new and better words or ideas. *sigh* it’s such an annoying and frustrating symptom.

This post is the most I’ve really been able to clearly write in a long while.

Camp NaNoWriMo has me thinking about all the camping my family and I did growing up, me attending Girl Scout Camp, and the Campground that my Grandmother and Grandfather owned. Needless to say, camping was a big part of my childhood.

Every summer my family would drive from our home in Texas up to Maryland and Pennsylvania (where my grandparents live). We’d make the 2500-mile drive in our mini-van with our pop-up camper hitched behind. It would take about three days up and three days back. Every night we would stop at campground along the way, usually a KOA. At night, we would all climb out of the van, bleary eyed and half asleep, and we would work together to open the camper and set up the campsite. It never failed that a train would be running close by interrupting our sleep with the clacking of tires along the tracks and blasting of its horn.

I attended Girl Scout Camp on a couple of occasions. Once during the winter and twice over the same summer. The winter camp was a short astrology three-night camp. I about froze to death! The summer camps were filled with camp songs, crafts, and swimming lessons. Scents of chlorine and sunscreen always make me think of that summer.

And like I said, every summer my family and I would stay with my grandparents. One set owned a campground and general store. I spent my summers helping my grandparents run these businesses. They were on the same property as their house, so it was just an integral part of our every day life. I would wake up to the sound of the bell jingling on the door as customers came in and out in the morning to make purchases on their way to and from work or to buy supplies they needed while they were staying at the campground. Vendors would come and go once a week to stock up supplies. There was a milk guy, a bread guy, a chip guy, etc. They also sold produce from local farmers. We all would spend out days out on the front porch attached to the store. Campers would walk to the store from the campground in the evening to buy hand-scooped ice cream cones. I would help my grandfather stock and clean the bathrooms and laundry room. Ride around with him on his riding lawn mower, and walk up to check on the well that sat up on the hill.

If you can’t tell, camping plays a huge roll in my happiest childhood memories. I think everyone should go camping at least twice! (Not just once, because you can’t always tell if you like something after the first time.)

Now, for your Write About It Wednesday – Camping Writing Prompts:

Write about a child’s first camping experience.
Write about one of your camping memories.
Write about a couple on a romantic camping trip.
Write about a camping trip gone horribly wrong.
Write a horror story that takes place at a campground or summer camp.
Write about cowboys camping out under the stars.
Write about fantasy traveling companions who come across another group’s campsite.

Do you enjoy camping? Do you have a lot of fond memories of camping? Did you attend summer camp as a child? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Until next time,

Write on, Writers!