My most favorite thing as a child was camping with my family. It was an almost every weekend event for us. My aunt, uncle and cousin were always with us too - I don't remember one single trip that they didn't bring their camper and come with us. We would leave our boats up at the KOA Campground (the name has changed since then) on Lake Gaston all summer and pull our pop-up Cox camper up there every friday afternoon. We all still remember fondly all the fishing the men did, the water-skiing enjoyed by us kids (and even my mom!) and most of all, the scrumptious food that could be cooked on a Coleman stove and a campfire! To this day we are still trying to recreate a ham glaze my mom and aunt made. Alas, it has never quite tasted the same... We even went to "Church on the Hill" on Sunday mornings (it was just a shelter w/ some benches under it that the campground set up on a hill on the property) to listen to local preachers and sing hymms. We thought it was really cool b/c we could wear our shorts and flip-flops to church. :)

We camped at the beaches of NC and SC. Went to Florida, Grandfather Mountain (our Grandparents made that trip with us) and many more wonderful places. I wouldn't trade any amount of money for those memories. I can still make my Daddy belly-laugh over some of those memories. Our family is very close and I feel certain those days and nights spent in close quarters were a huge benefactor of our closeness. If it rained, we took naps or played board games and cards. I don't remember one single bad time spent camping. I guess for us kids it was always an adventure. I learned so many things in those young years; how to swim, how to water ski, drive a boat. I even perfected the game of pinball while hanging out at the family arcade every night. My mom and dad would always "wander up" to the arcade on an evening walk - they were coming to check on us, but we thought their only reason for showing up was to embarrass us. LOL
Everytime I see a Cox camper on the road I get a warm fuzzy feeling and my mind goes back to those days at the campsite. I say a little prayer for the family pulling the camper that they will enjoy their time as much as we did and that they will have thousands of memories to relive for the rest of their lives.