The Great Outdoors
Growing up as a kid and teenager, I use to go camping several times a year. In Scouting, we usually camped at a Scout Reservation in a canvas tent (no floor) and on a cot. With my granddad, camping consisted sleeping in the camper shell in the bed of his truck when we would go on fishing trips. After getting my driver’s license, I would tent camp during the summer when I was out of school using tents that I bought from the local chain store down the road. Remember, I was young and broke! After I went off to college and started my career, camping took a side seat, along with fishing, and everything else, so it seemed! When my wife and I were still dating, we decided we were going to go on a camping trip to Rusk State Park and ride the Texas State Railroad’s steam train. Using one of my old tents I had packed neatly away about 4 years earlier, I was proud of my thriftiness and was amazed that my tent was still in good shape, or so I thought. After enjoying a restful night at the