We went 'camping' up north this past weekend - at least as close to 'camping' as it can be in a fully equipped RV. Jan likes to go canoeing and kayaking, and my poor arthritic body has about a forty five minute tolerance for sitting in a canoe, so I bring dolls and props along, with the hope of taking lots of doll photos while he's out paddling. I brought my six BIDs.
Marianne loaned me her Barbie camper that I made for her some forty odd years ago. It was a miniature replica of our actual family tent trailer, complete with benches, table, canopy, and license plate. I know it's a bit small scale-wise for my BIDs, but figured it might be fun anyways....
"Get up! The sun has been up for hours, and it's time for breakfast!"
Marianne loaned me her Barbie camper that I made for her some forty odd years ago. It was a miniature replica of our actual family tent trailer, complete with benches, table, canopy, and license plate. I know it's a bit small scale-wise for my BIDs, but figured it might be fun anyways....
"Get up! The sun has been up for hours, and it's time for breakfast!"
But Nami was way too comfy in her sleeping bag.
The camper came equipped with foam mattress pads and sleeping bags, all of which I made long, long ago when I was just a teenager. Marianne said all her friends used to be jealous of her stuff, because they only had the standard plastic Barbie sleeping bags, but she had covered foam mattresses, and flannel-lined, satin sleeping bags that actually did up with a zipper! Comfy!!!
The camper came equipped with foam mattress pads and sleeping bags, all of which I made long, long ago when I was just a teenager. Marianne said all her friends used to be jealous of her stuff, because they only had the standard plastic Barbie sleeping bags, but she had covered foam mattresses, and flannel-lined, satin sleeping bags that actually did up with a zipper! Comfy!!!
Borrowing that toy camper on the weekend, brought back lots of memories from when we camped in the full-size one as a family. When we were kids, our parents took us camping many times each summer. As soon as we pulled into a campground, my Dad would unload the boat off the tent trailer, set it up for my Mom, and then he'd disappear with his boat to go fishing, reappearing only at meals. We kids used to amuse ourselves swimming, exploring the woods, playing games, and I used to collect wildflowers, mushrooms and fungus.
The only camping memories I have of my Mom are of her cooking, and cleaning the trailer - sweeping it out several times per day - then sitting in her lawn chair in the afternoons reading her romance novels. Each afternoon she'd also come for a short swim, doing the breast stroke with her head a mile above water, because she didn't want to get her hair wet. We had to keep our distance and were forbidden to splash her.
Well, I thought it would be fitting to take a photo in tribute to the camping memories of my Mom. My girls don't have any bathing suits, plus they couldn't do the breast stroke even if they had one. They are also too young to be reading romance novels.....so that left one mental image...cleaning!
The only camping memories I have of my Mom are of her cooking, and cleaning the trailer - sweeping it out several times per day - then sitting in her lawn chair in the afternoons reading her romance novels. Each afternoon she'd also come for a short swim, doing the breast stroke with her head a mile above water, because she didn't want to get her hair wet. We had to keep our distance and were forbidden to splash her.
Well, I thought it would be fitting to take a photo in tribute to the camping memories of my Mom. My girls don't have any bathing suits, plus they couldn't do the breast stroke even if they had one. They are also too young to be reading romance novels.....so that left one mental image...cleaning!
I think that toy camper was made the year the real one went into retirement. The license plate says 1973, which means I was 18, and that was the last time it came along on a camping trip. We had just spent two weeks at our aunt's cottage north of Ottawa, and it had rained so much, and with the canvas being no longer water-proof, it was never set up. But the wood had absorbed so much water from all the rain, that the screws popped out of the hinges holding the wooden sides on, and the tent portion was more or less loose on top.
On the way home there was some issue with one of the car tires. We stopped once to take a look at it, and it seemed okay, but a bit farther along, the tire went flat. So my Dad changed it. A few hours later down the 401, the camper decided to have a flat too. Well, it had been imported from the Netherlands years before, and didn't come with a spare. So my Dad unhooked it, and my cousin and I were delegated to stay with it at the side of the road, as the rest of the family piled back into the car, heading off in search of a new wheel that would fit. So there we sat, my cousin and I, two teenage girls, along the busiest highway in the country.
Some time later, they came back. They had found a garage that sold tires for European imports, and bought the one they thought would fit best. My Dad changed the tire, and off we went again. Being the nervous sort, I kept looking back to check on the camper. It was smoking!!! The Tent trailer was on fire!! We immediately pulled over! It wasn't actually on fire, but the new wheel was a tad too big for the wheel-well, so the friction was causing it to smoke. I'm sure it would have burst into flames at some point. By this time my Dad had had more than enough. He grabbed the axe, and as we stared in shock, he made short work of the wooden compartment surrounding the wheel well. Now there was plenty of room for that wheel!!!!
We never used that tent trailer again.
But Marianne sure had a lot of fun with the toy one!
On the way home there was some issue with one of the car tires. We stopped once to take a look at it, and it seemed okay, but a bit farther along, the tire went flat. So my Dad changed it. A few hours later down the 401, the camper decided to have a flat too. Well, it had been imported from the Netherlands years before, and didn't come with a spare. So my Dad unhooked it, and my cousin and I were delegated to stay with it at the side of the road, as the rest of the family piled back into the car, heading off in search of a new wheel that would fit. So there we sat, my cousin and I, two teenage girls, along the busiest highway in the country.
Some time later, they came back. They had found a garage that sold tires for European imports, and bought the one they thought would fit best. My Dad changed the tire, and off we went again. Being the nervous sort, I kept looking back to check on the camper. It was smoking!!! The Tent trailer was on fire!! We immediately pulled over! It wasn't actually on fire, but the new wheel was a tad too big for the wheel-well, so the friction was causing it to smoke. I'm sure it would have burst into flames at some point. By this time my Dad had had more than enough. He grabbed the axe, and as we stared in shock, he made short work of the wooden compartment surrounding the wheel well. Now there was plenty of room for that wheel!!!!
We never used that tent trailer again.
But Marianne sure had a lot of fun with the toy one!
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