After the hiking adventures of Kentucky during my family's first camping trip, we made plans for the next summer's vacation out west. By this time, we had bought our own pop-up camper with no air-conditioning, bathroom, or other conveniences, but we loved it. Our plans were to stop at our grandparents home in Illinois, drive on to Scott's Bluff and Chimney Rock in Nebraska, and arrive at our main destination at Rocky Mountain National Park. If you ever decide to go camping in those mountains, let me give you one tip; do not go in June! The reason is that a rise in elevation means that the temperature drops, and my family knows this quite well now.
Hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains was beautiful. I have distinct memories of that place not just from the view but also the experiences. My older sister and I slept on one of the beds that “pops” out of the side of the camper; nothing separated us from the outside world except a canvas stretched over a few metal poles. My sister played a trick every morning to wake me up. First of all, every night, on the canvas above us, a layer of condensation formed from breathing out warm air in contrast to the dropping temperatures outside. Using her devious mind, she would reach out over my head, smack the canvas above me, fling her sleeping bag over her head, and wait for my reaction as hundreds of icy water droplets fell onto my contentedly resting face. This happened every morning! Ah, this was one fond memory to think about, but at least it begins to relate how cold it became every night. On chilly nights, sleeping in walls in one thing, but sleeping with only fabric between you and the outside air is another. Interestingly, I would not trade this winter experience in June for a heated house in January.
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