Ramblings From The Road
July, 2001
Hi Dolls,
Can you believe
it? Summer's almost over. I have to share my camping experience with
you. We camped in a State Park on a beautiful island in South Carolina
on the beach. We pulled in with our RV, 3 dogs, camping equipment, and
lucked out by getting the Ponderosa, Site #63. Now, we don't camp all
that frequently as we are a very busy little household. If the truth
be told, I am a Four Seasons gal. But here we are camping for two and
a half weeks and after we spread out the clothesline, the hammock, the
Taj Majal of all tents, we took a stroll around our beautiful campground
and marveled at the camping culture of America. We got nothin' on them.
Some people camp, bringing along with them, besides the requisite bicycles,
their very own golf carts, and at night when we were lit by only one
kerosene lantern, the campsites around us were festooned with Christmas
lights, pumpkin lights, hot pepper lights, all of them undulating from
Palmetto palm trees in the ocean breezes. I could not sleep from all
the lights. I thought I was in a city.
Next to our
campsite were Paula and Bob. Now Bob is a camper. He was hammering and
hanging all day long, there were electric fans outside of the RV, several
deck chairs because these people had lots of guests visiting. And they
had rigged a sink to wash their dishes so that they were using the campground's
water. Paula at one time must have been a stunner. A whiskey tenor,
never without a drink or a cigarette in her mouth, she was the friendliest
most talkative person I have met in a long time. We met when she came
over to our campsite looking for a corkscrew. This particular campground
discouraged alcoholic beverages and I am sure Paula could be heard throughout
the campground. We obliged and became fast friends with her, with friendly
hellos, morning, noon and night.
I learned
a lot about camping. Always carry a bit of rug to put in front of your
RV so that you're not tracking sand into the house. Get a double headed
hose attachment so you can connect two hoses, the hose to your RV and
one to rinse off your filthy feet, before you step on your lovely piece
of astroturf, before you step into your lovely RV. Army surplus has
equally good supplies as any camping outlet. Look in your Army surplus
first, it's bound to be cheaper. Our friend Peter who camped with us
on Site #9, had the hippest hammock I 've ever seen... from Army surplus.
You can never have too many tarps or too much rope. Always watch the
sky for an impending storm, and wrap up as quickly as possible. It took
us two days to dry out. Never try to pitch your tent in high winds...
what was I thinking?
When all is
said and done we were very well supplied as my husband was an Eagle
Scout and I packed a good two weeks before we took off. Camping is so
much fun. Food never tastes better, sleep is divine (once you get used
to all of the lights) and your neighbors can be some of the funniest
people you've ever met in your life. Loggerhead turtles were coming
up and laying their eggs on the seashore, the Atlantic Ocean was so
warm you could walk into it, and the sunsets over the marsh were sublime.
I have one
restaurant recommendation for you. My friend and I took a side trip
to Boston, and her very sweet brother in law took us to dinner in a
wonderful restaurant called Clio. It is in the Eliot Hotel, 370
Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 617-267-1607. I had the turbot, yum, yum,
yum.
That's all
for now dolls. I'm off to San Francisco tomorrow, I gotta go pack.
And please remember that the Ask Patti section is for questions only, no autographed picture requests will be honored.
Love, Patti