lol. I think the state parks put up the no gathering firewood signs because of us. The first thing we did was raid the empty neighboring camps. Then it was scout the nearby area for more before getting in the truck. and doing a drive around We always had a fire.

Went camping with a couple of friends in Lawton, OK at the wildlife refuge. It got dark faster than expected and we got a bit lost...on the way back to our tent some other campers were putting on a show (unbeknownst to them I guess) in their tent...that lantern put on some shadow puppet scenes that were very, VERY adult. Turn out the lanterns/flashlights people, even in the primitive camping areas, unless you want to get the wildlife a show.

The day after Christmas 1998, went camping/hiking with a buddy in Big Bend. First night we were getting ready to sleep and he was on his side of the tent and started putting on thermals and got out his heavy sleeping bag. I asked why because it was in the 70's that day...well, I was a bit stupid and just went to bed in my shorts and had a blanket over me. About 3:00 a.m., I woke up with my teeth chattering needing to pee. Yeah, I figured out real fast why he'd done that. I got up, peed (temp was now down in the 20's) and quickly got into my thermals and sleeping bag. My buddy was laughing his butt off.

When we were little, we had a camper that had no bathroom so we learned early about the composting toilets and using the outdoors. Went to one park here in Texas (around 1979 or 1980) and the smell was so overwhelming in one of those toilets that even 45 years later, I can still smell it. I was 4 or 5 and that is still the most disgusting thing I've smelled. I hope the person(s) that caused that thing sought medical help. LOL!

I’ve enjoyed reading several of these memories, thanks guys-
I have camped a lot in my life, some really good memories myself-

I will say this was one way camping in the heat was possible when I was younger-

LOL! Did that the summer before we bought the lake house. Worked rather well, actually.

Did a lot of camping with the boy during with Boyscouts and had many good trips
Took scouts to Carlsbad caverns was a great adventure the kids still talk about today

We were camping on Sam Rayburn. Daughter was maybe 8 or 10 years old the first night it must have been frog mating season as we were woken up by what seemed like hundreds if not thousands of frogs crocking in and around our campsite. Did not get any sleep that night.

Been a camper for a long time... haven't camped out in a couple of years, and it was glam camp.. but used to a lot.

The worst part of camping in the Everglades was that you needed to be inside your tent before the sun went down or you would be swarmed by mosquitoes. During the winter time it was great as very few bugs on cooler days.




Last picture above was my best trip... had been camped out at East Cape, 12 miles from Flamingo marina and the fishing sucked so I back tracked nine miles and set up tent just above the white gravel beach that I pulled kayak onto.... at high tide the water would be up on it... built a fire early, in tent before dark. Lightning bugs were everywhere that night. Woke up at first light to the sound of fish splashing.. a redfish was nosing around in what was left of the wood from campfire, as higher tide put it out. Caught my redfish, trout, and snook slam from the bank before ever getting in to my kayak.

Living the dream. Nice set up.

8 of us were camping in the grasslands for a long weekend. Ranger drives up and says they are going to do a controlled burn and he recommends that we move. We didn’t really have anywhere else to go, really liked our spot, and had been drinking pretty heavily by this point. He said he couldn’t make us go, but at the very least said we should move our stuff closer to the lake (tents were setup in the woods for shade). I asked if they posted online when they would be doing things like this so we could camp somewhere else. He just said they do it when the conditions are right for it…

4-5 guys with flamethrowers came out and just started setting the grass on fire. It was cool to watch. Later that night, the wind shifted and the fire started coming back towards us. It was not fun, but funny looking back, trying to move those tents at midnight, everyone drunk, because the fire was now heading directly towards us and we didn’t take his advice and move the tents earlier.

I used to have pictures of the guys with flame throwers but lost them several phones ago.

Last time I went tent camping was around 13-14 years ago. Been a while for sure!

... Dan

This one time in the Boy Scouts; I camped with five years older senior scout leader Scott Thompson (RIP). Great guy, captain of the defense on the football team. He would pin me down and force cheap Tequila down my mouth.
It must have been some sort of initiation, as we became great buddies after that.

Wait, there's no hazing in the scouts.

Haha! Scott’s gauntlet to manhood ceremony also involved oatmeal being forced into your ear canals after the night of nonconsensual swigs of Tequila and Bark at the Moon and Diary of a Madman being played at volume. He had a lifted Blazer with huge tires and light bars every where he had taken the roof off and painted River Rat emblazoned on the back. If you passed his tests, one could potentially benefit from his girlfriend’s sort of hot 5-7/10 friends down by the river. Great dude….he passed as a young man on a job site (bad fall from 30ft).

Spent virtually every weekend between April and September at Lake Keystone in Oklahoma. We and neighbors who had kids the same age as ours would leave on Friday afternoon and return to Stillwater late Sunday afternoon. Took our boats and would go to the sandy beach and stay all day. Ski, drink beer, lay under a shade, ski, drink beer and head back to camp for dinner. Kids still say it was their best memories.