Where did you vacation

[aprilgail]

TEXAS!!! Hated everyplace we went there !!

 

[PigletsPal2]

When I was about 12 years old, my father got the camping bug. Don't know where he caught it, as he never went camping as a kid, but he had to have the latest and greatest of all the camping equipment available. We had a huge tent (family of six), a gas stove, air mattresses and sleeping bags for my sisters and me, camp cots with air mattress for my mom and him, a giant Coleman cooler...you get the idea.

He made reservations for thee nights at Westmoreland State Park in Virginia. After getting lost several times enroute, we finally found the camp ground and were directed to our reserved site. It was getting dark and we kids (me, DSis 15, DSis 8, and DSis 6) were famished, so Mom started "dinner" as Dad, my older DSis and I tried to set up the tent. Dad had insisted that a practice at home before we left wasn't necessary; it was just a tent, how hard could it be? Well, it turned out to be plenty hard, and the family at the next-door camp site took pity on us and helped us get the tent erected just in time to put the "Little Ones" to bed. They and Mom had already eaten, so Dad, DSis#1 and I had what was left of cold hot dogs (an oxymoron?), cold beans, and potato chips. We had just finished cleaning up after our meal when the skies opened up! DSis#1 and I had dug a shallow "moat" around our tent to keep the rain out, but the "Noah Rain" quickly filled the moat to overflowing, right into the tent and our sleeping bags.

After about an hour of hard, steady rain, my mother announced that she was going to sleep in the car and anyone who wanted to join her was welcome. You never saw four kids move so fast! it took several minutes of shifting and adjusting, but finally everyone was ready to try to sleep. Ready, that is, until my dad decided to join us. This required several more minutes of shifting and adjusting, but we ultimately got everyone settled and we slept fitfully until the early-morning sun streaming through the windshield woke us up. As we kids tumbled out of the car, (a regular sized 4-door sedan, by the way, not even a station wagon), we saw Mom packing up the food and equipment and Dad taking down the tent, again with the help of the neighbors. This was the end of my family's camping experiment, and from that day on, my mother vowed that she would never again stay in lodgings that didn't have room service. And she never did.

The tent was re-erected in our back yard and became the unofficial club house for all the neighborhood kids.

Queen Colleen

 

[bcla]

When I was about 12 years old, my father got the camping bug. Don't know where he caught it, as he never went camping as a kid, but he had to have the latest and greatest of all the camping equipment available. We had a huge tent (family of six), a gas stove, air mattresses and sleeping bags for my sisters and me, camp cots with air mattress for my mom and him, a giant Coleman cooler...you get the idea.

He made reservations for thee nights at Westmoreland State Park in Virginia. After getting lost several times enroute, we finally found the camp ground were directed to our reserved site. It was getting dark and we kids (me, DSis 15, DSis 8, and DSis 6) were famished, so Mom started "dinner" as Dad, my older DSis and I tried to set up the tent. Dad had insisted that a practice at home before we left wasn't necessary; it was just a tent, how hard could it be? Well, it turned out to be plenty hard, and the family at the next-door camp site took pity on us and helped us get the tent erected just in time to put the "Little Ones" to bed. They and Mom had already eaten, so Dad, DSis#1 and I had what was left of cold hot dogs (an oxymoron?), cold beans, and potato chips. We had just finished cleaning up after our meal when the skies opened up! DSis#1 and I had dug a shallow "moat" around our tent to keep the rain out, but the "Noah Rain" quickly filled the moat to overflowing, right into the tent and our sleeping bags.

After about an hour of hard, steady rain, my mother announced that she was going to sleep in the car and anyone who wanted to join her was welcome. You never saw four kids move so fast! it took several minutes of shifting and adjusting, but finally everyone was ready to try to sleep. Ready, that is, until my dad decided to join us. This required several more minutes of shifting and adjusting, but we ultimately got everyone settled and we slept fitfully until the early-morning sun streaming through the windshield woke us up. As we kids tumbled out of the car, (a regular sized 4-door sedan, by the way, not even a station wagon), we saw Mom packing up the food and equipment and Dad taking down the tent, again with the help of the neighbors. This was the end of my family's camping experiment, and from that day on, my mother vowed that she would never again stay in lodgings that didn't have room service. And she never did.

The tent was re-erected in our back yard and became the unofficial club house for all the neighborhood kids.

Queen Colleen

I suppose my wife doesn't particularly like camping. She loves the places we've gone camping, but she comes from a background where there's an image that tents are for poor people. There was some comedian who used to ask why people with money would go camping, when it seemed to him like it was rich people wanted to vacation like they were homeless. She's rather stay in some lodge rather than sleep in a tent.

I frankly don't use any tent that I couldn't set up and take down by myself. We even used a small backpacking tent for car camping. Just two poles and I could easily do it by myself. We have a bigger one now, but it's still not some palatial multi-room tent.

Still - my wife did freak out when we saw a bear in our campground. We holed up in a hotel room ($100) for that night while I kept the tent up and locked our stuff in our site's bear box.

 

[Planogirl]

TEXAS!!! Hated everyplace we went there !!

Should I say more room for me? Naw, one family doesn't help much.

 

[Kitty 34]

Camping in the mountains in Colorado in a pop-up years ago. Since then I only do hotels and restaurants!!!!

 

[shoney]

TEXAS!!! Hated everyplace we went there !!

Why? It is on my list of states to visit...

 

[AustinTink]

TEXAS!!! Hated everyplace we went there !!

I wish more people felt that way. Austin is bursting at the seams these days. Wish they would all go home.

 

[AustinTink]

I despise camping in all it's forms. Never again.

 

[aprilgail]

Why? It is on my list of states to visit...

Just didn't care for it- we went to San Antonio and was less than impressed- Riverwalk was ok for a couple hours but that was about it- and every street we went down there were these young men all dressed up shoving petitions in our face to try to get us to sign about the war on the "traditional American family" -" are you aware homosexuals can marry"-- my daughter turns around and says "yes and its about damn time!" in Dallas it changed to "are you aware that they let homosexuals adopt children" to get us to sign their petitions- I swear it felt like we time warped back 50 years in Texas. Houston we weren't impressed with and Dallas was just ehhh- the bbq place we went to was good in Dallas LOL- but we wouldn't go back again to Texas. We were mostly turned off by the small minded thinking I guess.

 

[shoney]

Just didn't care for it- we went to San Antonio and was less than impressed- Riverwalk was ok for a couple hours but that was about it- and every street we went down there were these young men all dressed up shoving petitions in our face to try to get us to sign about the war on the "traditional American family" -" are you aware homosexuals can marry"-- my daughter turns around and says "yes and its about damn time!" in Dallas it changed to "are you aware that they let homosexuals adopt children" to get us to sign their petitions- I swear it felt like we time warped back 50 years in Texas. Houston we weren't impressed with and Dallas was just ehhh- the bbq place we went to was good in Dallas LOL- but we wouldn't go back again to Texas. We were mostly turned off by the small minded thinking I guess.

Wow that would be annoying! It may be fun to laugh at them a few times though I guess if I ever make it there I will have to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and politics out of it!

 

[aprilgail]

Wow that would be annoying! It may be fun to laugh at them a few times though I guess if I ever make it there I will have to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and politics out of it!

The first one I just ignored but my daughter was ticked off and she let her views be known every time one of them asked us to sign!!

 

[AustinTink]

Wow that would be annoying! It may be fun to laugh at them a few times though I guess if I ever make it there I will have to keep my religion (or lack thereof) and politics out of it!

Just visit Austin. You won't encounter any of that here.

 

[AustinTink]

Just didn't care for it- we went to San Antonio and was less than impressed- Riverwalk was ok for a couple hours but that was about it- and every street we went down there were these young men all dressed up shoving petitions in our face to try to get us to sign about the war on the "traditional American family" -" are you aware homosexuals can marry"-- my daughter turns around and says "yes and its about damn time!" in Dallas it changed to "are you aware that they let homosexuals adopt children" to get us to sign their petitions- I swear it felt like we time warped back 50 years in Texas. Houston we weren't impressed with and Dallas was just ehhh- the bbq place we went to was good in Dallas LOL- but we wouldn't go back again to Texas. We were mostly turned off by the small minded thinking I guess.

I've lived in Texas my whole life and never had an encounter like that. Then again, we never talk to anyone handing out literature of any kind.

 

[jevs]

Sorry I would quite happily swap out snakes for some chipmunks, have never seen a chipmunk before.

You do get used to having to be aware of the snakes and the possibility of stepping on one. We keep an old broom handle at the back door, for when we have to venture into the yard....is my weapon of choice....lol....my daughter loves the little blighters I can't stand them.

Both brown and tiger snakes are a protected species in Victoria - except on my property I wouldn't go out of my way to eliminate them as that is a surefire way of getting bitten, I have seen neighbours swerve off the road to deliberately run them over though.

 

[Planogirl]

I wish more people felt that way. Austin is bursting at the seams these days. Wish they would all go home.

San Antonio is almost always ridiculously crowded too. I guess that they're making plenty of money but it's definitely harder to get around or find places to eat that aren't jammed.

 

[Planogirl]

I've lived in Texas my whole life and never had an encounter like that. Then again, we never talk to anyone handing out literature of any kind.

I've never been approached by anyone like that. Lucky I guess.

I will also add that a group out bothering people with such nonsense doesn't mean that everyone feels that way. Austin and Houston are quite liberal. I do wish that I could say the same thing for Dallas but it seems to be getting better.

 

[bcla]

Both brown and tiger snakes are a protected species in Victoria - except on my property I wouldn't go out of my way to eliminate them as that is a surefire way of getting bitten, I have seen neighbours swerve off the road to deliberately run them over though.

There's nothing quite that dangerous in the United States, unless it's something like an escaped cobra.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/08/missing-snake-found/75437634/

Or something like this:

 

[DisneyNutMary]

People around here love going to the Jersey shore. Some go back every year to the same spot, others go for weeks at a time in the summer. I just don't get it.
My husband was so into it one year, talking about the great hotel recommendations he got from people and the stories they told him about the fun they had. So I caved. We booked an efficiency suite in Wildwood.
The hotel, er motel, looked dirty and cheap. The beds were uncomfortable. We ended up giving the kids the bedroom and we slept on the pull out couch, because I was afraid to have them so close to the door. The couch was horrible and I barely slept all week. The pool was in the shade all day, and the water was ice cold. My kids hated every minute on the beach, they are pale and burn easily, and were so used to pool water that the ocean completely grossed them out. Any night time entertainment was geared toward young adults, not kids, so we were in for the night by 8 every night. The only redeeming part was breakfast every day in a cute diner that only did breakfast, the the food was cheap and delicious. I had something different every morning and every meal was better than the last.
This was about 15 years ago, my DH hasn't even brought it up since.

 

[minneylovesmicky]

@jevs couldn't quote you, iPad is chucking a hussy fit, but the snakes are protected here in NSW too, years ago we used to use an hoe to help move them on, due to daughter playing out doors, now just use the broom handle to direct them away from the house and a cold burst of water from a hose works well too.....least you are on a property and snakes are an expected norm there, we don't, we live in town....and still get them.

 

[powellrj]

It wasn't me, but years ago we took the kids to The Indiana Dunes and I still hear about what an awful trip it was. Granted it was rainy and cold, but I thought we still had fun. Years later DD went up there for a wedding and I don't think her feeling have changed.