The Aljo

Ready, set, go!  It was a race, neck and neck until the end…then the young long legged girl pulled ahead and WON! The crowd went wild! What a victory!

Championship track meet?  No, just a friendly father-daughter race around the campground loop.  That was me, the campground race champion from 1976!  Thinking back, my dad probably let me win. The crowd consisted of my mom and sister, but the victory was still sweet…and the race happened every year…just a different place and a different loop.  Eventually I think I  won fair and square.

Over the weekend on our family camping trip, I had time to reminisce about how my love for camping began.  It began with a 1960’s model Aljo trailer and red Ford pickup and our family of four.  That was what we did for vacation. We camped.  These weren’t weekend trips, they were weeklong minimum.

We would sit during the weeks prior and look at US Forest Service maps to plan our trip.  I always wanted to be involved.  I wanted campgrounds with a “flush” toilet…seldom did I get my way. We went everywhere…Oregon, Idaho, California, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona.  I didn’t realize then what a world traveler I had become.

“Back in the day” there was no club cab pickups or SUV’s, so the four of us traveled these long distances in the front of the Ford pickup. I’m not sure how that worked.  My sister and I would sit with a magazine between our legs because we didn’t want to “touch”. 

In those days it was also acceptable to ride in the back of a pickup.  We did that on occasion. We would lie down on the chair cushions and take a nap. I remember one time, we must have been traveling through Arizona…it was HOT!  My sister and I woke up and were READY to get in the air-conditioned front.  We could NOT get our parents attention.

Memories flood my mind as I write this.  The nature walks we took turns leading, hitting our heads on the low ceiling above our tiny bunk in the trailer, my dad’s “Cowpuncher Stew”, bats flying around at night that we were very scared of….the list goes on.

Those were some amazing times that instilled a love of tradition, family and togetherness in me.  Carrying on those traditions with my family has been so fun.  I hope the next generation will want to carry on the same!