Isn't it interesting how different people are regarding what they enjoy for recreation and escape? I have friends - adults - whose biggest thrill is a trip to Disney World. I'm not sure I'd go there if you paid the cost of admission and gave me an hourly wage for the time I spent there.
We've been on two cruises thanks to the graciousness of my parents. It was the ideal family retreat for the eight of us (parents, sons, and spouses). Mobility was beginning to be a problem for mom, so having everything close by was great. And it's hard to argue with the room service and cuisine. But I'm baffled by the cruise lines' boasting about their ever-bigger ships. How many hundreds of people can we cram into the same confined space for a week (or more)? The only way to be alone on a cruise ship is to jump overboard.
Pam and I have started planning our July vacation. The State of Oregon allows you to make reservations for their campgrounds up to six months in advance, so we're already a little late. We'll do the same thing again this year - start out at Silver Falls State Park SE of Portland. If fills up fast, and weekends are almost impossible to get because the people from the Portland metro area go there for an easy camping getaway. It has to be one of the most beautiful state parks in a state loaded with beautiful state parks.
We'll sleep in the teardrop, cook over a Coleman stove sitting on a picnic table, and sit in folding chairs to read and listen to music. We'll go on hikes on trails that wind through the forest and come out in front of monstrous waterfalls.
Two of those trails go behind their respective falls, and you can see the tiny people in this pic:
We'll probably go from there out to the coast. California has beaches, Oregon has a coast, with tide pools, cliffs, and huge trees that, in some places, grow almost down to the high tide mark.
Hike to the bathroom, shower standing on a cement floor, eat whatever you can cook on two propane-fueled burners, and sit by a campfire at night. Sort of the anti-Disney World experience.
Yeah, I'm ready!
2 comments:
I really want to go on a cruise,just one time, just to have someone wait on me and have unlimited access to lobster. But I don't like crowds and each year the ships get bigger and bigger. So I probably won't go on a cruise. But I agree, as you know, that simplistic camping is the best. Peaceful, calming, just him, me and the dogs. and a spot where I can't see or hear other campers is ideal. I will rejoice when we can once again slip away for that adventure.
Wendy, one type of cruising that looks *almost* inviting is a river cruise. Small boat, fewer people, interesting ports.... And if we're going to do that it might as well be in Europe, right? ($$$$$$$)
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