What was your first real camp-out?

[MattM37]

I can't remember much about the first time. My parents would take me and my siblings car camping just below Lock 17 on the Black Warrior River. Dad and his best friend would run jugs for catfish all night while the women tended the fire and kids. A blanket was spread on the sand near the fire to sleep on, under the stars.

Around 13 years old, my brothers, friends and I starting camping without adult supervision. We'd go to the back of the horse pasture, build a fire and hang out, listening to a transistor radio. The horses were curious but stayed well away from the fire. We'd spread a large tarp to put sleeping bags on. The dogs loved it and would pile up with us, sleeping under the stars.

I've never camped alone but that's on my bucket list. Would like to do a few solo days canoeing the Cahaba River.

Dairy farmer uncle dug a pond and put up a screen-house, back in the woods where his fields ended. The pond was spring fed and cold enough for trout; he had it stocked with rainbows. We boys would practically live up there in the late summer, feasting on trout and sweet corn picked right from the field alongside.

[pineywoods]

I started out so far back that I don't really know when I crossed the line from blankets in the back yard to full-on camping. I'm sure it had to do with when I joined the Boy Scouts. Since I lived on the outskirts of a rural town, I didn't have to go far to make the transition. My parents never went camping.

Lots of fun memories from back then. The scouts went on a lot of local campouts and I went to the big Anniversary Jamboree in Colorado Springs in 1960---got to see President Eisenhower ride through in his open limo.