This Boondocking Spot Reminded Us Of The Old Days
I suspect many of you reading this have childhood memories of traveling the country in the 1960s and 70s. For me it was traveling around with my parents who were part of a travel trailer dealership (the word/acronym “RV” hadn’t been coined yet) going to rallies, trips to travel trailer factories and other “trailer” related functions.
I fondly recall sitting in the back of the family station wagon (before the days of flip-up seats and seat belts) and watching the world go by. One of the things that always intrigued me was the signs indicating a roadside picnic area depicted by a fir tree leaning over a picnic table.
Of course, when my dad pulled into the picnic area there was no tree ready to topple onto the picnic table or our trailer. Sometimes there weren’t even trees, just shade armadas.
Back in the day, a roadside picnic area readily and conveniently served as a place to stay overnight in the trailer, as my dad wasn’t keen on paying for an overnight camp space when we were logging miles to a distant trailer function. Maybe that is how I became to favor boondocking?
As a youngster, I always wondered about who would want to eat a meal on a picnic table with a tree threatening to fall over onto it at any moment. Even worse, who would want to camp in such an area?
Our campsite in Montana
After years of traveling with a travel trailer myself, camping with children of my own and now being a grandparent, I had largely forgotten about the sign and the concerns that came with it. That is until I pulled into a boodocking spot in Montana hugging closely to a tree for shade and to maximize the space since our friends had to camp next to us.
After unhitching and setting up camp, I stepped back to admire our newly found free campsite only to realize my worst nightmare, I parked under a fir tree that was very reminiscent of the sign! Thankfully the tree didn’t fall during our stay and I didn’t wake up terrorized in the middle of the night with the fear of impending doom!
If you dare to, you will find the boondocking spot in question at N46° 28.191 W112° 25.555
Recalling childhood fears, just another adventure in RVing! Do you have a similar story? If so, please share.
Doug says
In the 60’s my family was traveling from Florida to California. One stop we made was in the middle of the night in Texas. It was just a flat spot somewhere with no trees. My mom and brother and sister slept in the camper (a truck bed camper) and my dad and I slept outside without a tent. I do remember fondly why the say “The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas”
Anyway, when we awoke, I heard my mom scream. So I woke up and looked around. All over the ground were hundreds of Tarantula spiders. We had slept among them and didn’t even know it!
But as a boy of 11, I thought it was pretty cool! 🙂
G.M. says
ahhh the good old days… well… as a kid… my parents also use a old shasta travel trailer… 6 kids… 3 and 3… and the P’s… so the boys used to camp out in the then tow vehicle… station wagon… and the girls got the trailer bunk beds my dad made into the trailer and mom sewed up on her little sewing mach… ahhh the memories…
Mom bought sweat shirts that had hoods all of the same color so we were identified… with the folks as the group…
Each had a function/duity to do … boys helped back up the trailer into the spot…and set the then screw jacks under the frame … put out the awning and cabana… gathered wood and got the campfire going… and made sure the station wagon was unhooked…so we could load up and go touring.
Mom and the gals made all the meals… in the trailer… some a little overcooked or undercooked… and we all sat around the campfire…
If we went fishing and caught something… it was cleaned by the guys and cooked by the gals… and shaired… about the only thing that was bought was the A&W gallon of rootbeer… never passed a A&W on the road…
So lots of memories of things that went well and also the adventures into failures… that were all good lessons in what to and not do… as their wasn’t any web or way to learn from others…
Friends made on the road required that you write letters and so required good penmanship and english gramar… so again it was a learning experiance… all good
Victor N Vaughn says
That tree must be a few miles south of Elliston, Montana along the Little Blackfoot River?
Dave Helgeson says
Good guess!
Ty says
Great stories!!
So true
Where has time gone?
We’ve been RV ing 4 years
While dating my wife of 37 years, we did a road trip in 75’ in my corvette
We slept in a cheap pup tent on the road
Almost suffocated
But all was good
mdstudey says
We use the picnic area in Texas for overnight stops. We are so far south that we are a day away from anywhere (S.A., Houston), and a two day drive to get out of the state unless we go to Mexico. At one picnic area last summer I heard a mewing and after making sure my cats where still inside we investigated. We found a tiny kitten abandon in the middle of nowhere. We named him Lucky and the most loving creature.
Minnie says
Difficult for me to believe anyone would camp under a leaning tree.
Pete Wilson says
Being that I live in Montana and with all of the variety of terrain we have and the ability to remote camp all the time, without a bunch of other people around, I cannot understand how people like the camp ground affair, with plug in and even electricity, guess Im just an off grid kind of person.