Mountain Camping Trip

Recently, my husband and I took a camping trip up to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. Many years ago, the camping experience was quite different than what we just experienced. When I was a kid, you could take a tent, a little bit of food, and a few dollars and have a grand ole time camping. This last time, our car was loaded down with blankets, coolers, grills, pillows, clothes and then the real experience started. The first campground we went to was Julian Price Park located right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This campground was probably beautiful when it was first sectioned off back in the early twentieth century. But the day we went, it was not so beautiful. When you first drove in, you were welcomed by mega sized RVs. Now don't get me wrong, RVs are very nice and pretty in their element. But it didn't roll out the welcome mat for a minimalist who just wanted to have a nice secluded campsite to set a tent up and grill some burgers. So, after winding our way through the maze of RVs, we drove to the tent sites. I think there are about 30 or so sites for us to choose from and there were about 100 people there looking for sites. You could practically reach your arm out from one site to the next and tap someone on the shoulder. As we drove through, I looked at my husband and said, "Where have all the quiet places gone?"

There was no reply, only a sigh and a shrug of the shoulder. We finally found a decent spot and pulled the car in. We both had to use the restroom and stretch our legs, so we went to the public bathhouse on the campground. The unclean, funky smelling room was enough to turn my stomach upside down. Needless to say, we didn't stay at this campground. Then came the fear. We didn't have anywhere else to go, and it was getting on up in the day. Our lives have been so structured that we couldn't just pull off of the road and set up camp anywhere we wanted to. Not for fear of bears or mountain lions, but fear of our fellow man telling us that we can't camp there because it is his private property. So, we drive around for about an hour and find a small campground outside of Banner Elk. My husband had stayed there as a child and really enjoyed it. So, we ask for an available space. And we got a space about the size of a modest living room for one night, and paid twenty five dollars for it; twenty five dollars for about twenty hours of rest and relaxation. Our view was of a sewer box jutting out of the ground, power lines overhead, and someone's drive way. When did tent camping become so commercial? I just wanted to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and get away from civilization for a while. What happened?

So, I learned a few things from this camping trip. If you are poor and want to have a nice camping experience, save your money and pitch a tent in your own backyard. That way, you know the area, it doesn't cost too much, and you won't have to share a twenty foot by twenty foot area with anyone else.