I have been camping my whole life. Some of my fondest memories of being outdoors are when I was young – maybe 5 or 6 and camping with my family (four brothers and two sisters). Back then I lived in Vancouver. I had a blast playing at the beach, swimming in the lake, fishing, roasting marshmallows and sleeping in either the tent – or if I was lucky sleeping in the tent trailer with Mom and Dad. We would roast marshmallows with sticks we found in the bush and see who could take off the most layers of roasted marshmallow. My brother Bob once pulled off twelve layers; this is still the number to beat. There was the time our tent trailer received a fresh set of bear claw marks while camping in Manning Park, with us sleeping in it, or the time while camping near Merritt a bear broke into our cooler and ate all Dad’s homemade sausage and then lost all he ate all over the road or the time my brother and I found a nice creek with spawning trout that we simply caught in our net and when we took all 14 back to camp my father freaked out and punished us by making us clean and eat them all.
These days I have a 26-foot trailer (with a microwave and a shower) – more like ‘glamping’, but nonetheless I go camping as much as possible. Prince George has some of the nicest camping spots I have ever been to. Within a couple of hours you can be at any number of provincial parks or recreational sites. The wildlife you come across is majestic, fishing is spectacular, hiking is limitless, boating or just floating in the lake is so relaxing.
A few weeks ago we went camping up to Whiskers Point Provincial Park. This is about 1-1/2 hours north of Prince George. It was an overcast mild weekend. We had just had to put down our dog of 11 years and needed to get away and this was one of her favorite places. She loved to go camping – as soon as she would see us loading up the truck and trailer she would get so excited and gladly hopped over all of the gear in the back of the truck to get to her spot on the work box, where she would stay until we got to the campsite. She loved to play in the lake and ride in the boat. Getting out of the city, into the wilderness, gives you time to relax and reflect. A time to recharge. To heal. With each trip we go on there are many special memories to be made and tall tales to tell!
