Indiana - Shades State Park - Reminiscing

Years ago, on our first round of trailer camping, one of our favorite places was Shades State Park in Indiana. It was rather primitive. There was no electricity. Our light came from a gas lantern that hung outside one of the trailer windows. There were flush toilets in the picnic area, but that was quite a walk from the campground. We were younger then, and the walk wasn't so bad. Our little Fleetwing had a kitchen sink and an ice box. It had a closet wide enough for a porta-potti, which we used only during the night. Many sites weren't very clearly marked and were on grass. That was in the mid-70's. Our Fleetwing was only 14' long and wasn't very heavy, we weren't particularly concerned that we'd get stuck. Last time we were there, we had a trailer that was self-contained. The campground was relocated to an open clearing at the top of the hill. It just wasn't the same. We missed the grassy sites that were almost all on slopes. The trailer had a crease right in the middle of the back. We missed having walnuts drop into the chili or stew that was cooking on our old Coleman stove. We missed being able to step out of our trailer and 15 feet away was a ravine that led to Sugar Creek. We never went back. Instead, we started camping at Turkey Run State Park which was nearby.

Scruffy got one of his first lessons on being careful while setting up at Shades. It was raining. Our daughter and I were inside the trailer. Scruffy and our son were unhitching. Scruffy forgot to put the chocks behind the wheels, and we were on a slope at the top of a ravine. The trailer started rolling down the hill. Fortunately, there was a tree a few feet behind the trailer. We hit it with a thud, but we were okay. The trailer had a crease right in the middle of the back. I wish we still had that little trailer - we could join a vintage trailer club and take it out once or twice a year.

Tater

Tater, you bring back the memories. In 1972, we gave up the tent trailer for a used 15' TeePee TT, with sink and hand pump, ice box (fortunately block ice was reasonably available then), propane lamp over the table, a porti pot in the clothes closet for those emergencies, etc. Our favorite camping areas then were in dispersed sites in the Colorado Mountains with my parents, who would spoil their grandkids. We traveled to Washington DC with 3 children in that little unit, driving in more rain than that unit had ever seen, and the leaks at night confirmed the situation. The 2 boys would set up their pup tent at night to be outside. Nearly all CG's had grass along side of the trailer. Cherry Hill Park, outside of DC was a great location and CG at that time.

We had a lot of memorable times and a lot of learning experiences with an RV. We still have a good laugh when recalling some of those times. We still enjoy the dispersed site experiences in Colorado, but now are always ready to retreat to a full facility CG after a few days.

It's fun to look back. Our Fleetwing had a small dinette up front by the door that could be converted to a bed, and a gaucho that opened up to be a bed in the rear. It also had two canvas bunks (one above the dinette, and one above the gaucho) where our son and daughter slept. That 48 inch wide gaucho bed sure was cozy.

We had a stove, and a small propane tank. We had to heat water to wash dishes. We used campground showers, if they had them, otherwise we had to take "birdbaths."

I guess we could say, "We've come a long way, baby" since those days.