HAPPY CAMPERS - Segment 4 (Scroll down for earlier segments)

      The next morning dawned bright and early; well, early, but not bright.

     Why do we have wet sleeping bags?” asked my wife, cleverly hiding her irritation behind a frown.  “Did we get running water overnight?”

     This gave me the perfect opportunity to help her increase her camping savvy.

     “It’s ‘dew seepage’”, I answered.

     “What’s ‘dew seepage’?” she asked.

     “During the night, dew settles on the tent.  It seeps through the material and hangs on the inside, like a bat hanging in a cave.  It stays there until you accidentally bump the tent, which then produces a flash flood, sweeping you out of the tent and several miles down a newly-formed creek.  Now, we better see if we can find our tent.” 

     Going bump in the night did not move her toward happy camper status.  In fact, she looked much like those people who had run me out of camp.

     I figured I’d give her a little time to forget this night and, several years down the road, continue my pursuit of the “Happy Camper.”

    Years later, I discovered a happy camper in my own backyard.  It was my cousin, Lester.  “I was in town on business,” he said.  “I didn’t want to wake you up when I stopped.  Since I carry a sleeping bag for special occasions, I decided I would overnight in your backyard.”

 

     “I’m sure it was a special occasion when the sprinkler system went on,” I answered.

 

     “It’s just one of those amenities of backyard camping.”

 

     “Well, you’d better come in and dry off.”

 

     After breakfast, we reminisced about our backyard campouts when we were kids.

 

     Then Lester informed me that he had gotten into advanced, extreme camping.  (And my wife considered any camping extreme.) 

 

 

Too be continued...check back soon