I love a busy campground

Here's something I wrote after we got back from Walnut Hills Campground in VA a few years ago.

I Admit, I Love A Busy Campground



Now donʼt get me wrong, I love the peacefulness of a nice quiet campground. The serenity I feel when I am somewhat at one with nature, with only the sounds of a bird, a babbling brook,or the wind blowing through the trees. My soul needs this regeneration. Itʼs as if I am renewed once again. As if nature somehow recharges all that I have used up during my busy, hectic life.

However, though my soul needs this peacefulness, I also find that there is much for the soul to be had during very busy campground times such as the 4th of July, Labor Day, and some of the busier camping times. Oh I know, lots of folks think that those busy times are a true RVers nightmare. A time when all the novices are about going around bumping into each other like wild people trying to get that one vacation in for the summer. Oh, but I find it to be so much more!

My husband and I also RV during these busy times of the season. We frequently have only the luxury of a holiday long weekend, or the middle of busy summer season to camp. So we find ourselves, many times, in the midst of this mad rush. But just like the quiet campground offers peacefulness, a busy campground, to me, offers such a treat.

My heart thrills to the sight of children frolicking about as we enter a campground, bicycles & tricycles being ridden, floats and towels being held by folks on their way to the pool, ice cream cones being held, the sound of children laughing and playing as I wait in the truck while my husband checks in. As we roll away from the camp store in search of our site, seeing all the activity around. Yes, I do kinda like it when we are trying to get into our site that our neighbors try to help (even though we donʼt really need it) and a fellow bicyclist stops by to chat as my husband is still in the drive getting ready to back in. I think itʼs great that folks find our setup so interesting that they canʼt wait til we park. I know this may be annoying to some, but we like it. What a wonderful part of human nature to want to help.

As is our custom, we usually walk the entire campground more than once in the late afternoon. This is one of our favorite things to do, and a busy 4th of July weekend or the like is so exciting. Walking around you get glimpses of folkʼs lives. Here you have the couple with the neat campsite, complete with wooden sign, sitting together watching the passersby. Next you have the couple with the 3 children, and other members of the family, perhaps grandma & grandpa are along. . It looks as though they have brought every toy from their house to the campground and sprawled it ever so messily about their campsite. They just wanted to make sure nothing was left at home that could possibly be played with at camp. Thereʼs your vintage travel trailer. It looks like it was made in 1960, but the owner has put out USA flags and tiki lights and a welcome mat as proudly as it were made in 2005. And he very well should be proud. We see people walking their dogs. The family dog, brought along because how in the world can they leave a part of the family behind? Walking by we smell the hamburgers cooking, we see the vast amount of cooking pots, campfires, and every kind of cooking contraption known to man, at folkʼs sites. The corn on the cob is being eaten, the watermelon cut. Then thereʼs the tenting areas. Those are really interesting too. Mostly young families with small children. Big, giant tents with a big screened in area next to it with all kinds of things in it. And little bitty tents that you wonder how in the world two people can fit in. Walking by each one.....tent, 5th wheel, TT, Class A, Class C, we glance into just a brief moment in peoples lives. I feel the excitement that each family feels. Itʼs special.

At the end of the holiday and our last day, we pull out of camp, as do many others.. We see the couple folding up their tent, folks looking around and picking up their belongings, packing up all the memories that they have made on this one special trip, all tucked safely away in their hearts and minds, each family with their own experience. This is to be remembered for a lifetime. As we pull out, I am comforted in the fact that yes, there are families in this world that care enough about their children to take them camping, couples that care about each other enough to go somewhere this special, to celebrate the 4th of July, or Labor Day, or Memorial day, here all together. I am fortunate enough to experience it myself, and watch others do the same. .

So yes, I do like busy campgrounds. I get to see so many families have the time of their lives. It gives me peace in such trouble times of the world.