Hero or Dick - S4., Ep 11. - Camping

What is camping, really? We trace its evolution from survival to recreation, debate tents versus RVs, glamping, van life, and campground culture, and share our own favorite camping memories, meals, and mishaps. Along the way we explore the history, economics, etiquette, and quirks of America's favorite outdoor pastime. So...is camping still about escaping civilization, or have we simply brought civilization into the woods? 

Thanks for tuning into another episode of Hero or Dick! 

~ Kate & KJ 

Transcript

Sauna Anniversary And Summer Heat

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Oh. I'm sorry, I'm sitting here watching the screen.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

It's okay because I'm here, but now I can. Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

What are we doing here?

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Well welcome to Hero Dick Podcast. It's season four.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Episode 11. We I have a lot of pre-stuff to do here.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Printing?

SPEAKER_03 0:21

No, pre-printing. One thing I couldn't print my notes out, so I'm gonna go from my head.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Oh boy, we're probably gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

You know how that goes? Because I'm usually not that helpful anyway. Um it's it's pretty fucking hot in here.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

It's warm, but I'm comfortable.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Which is my lead-in for the warm weather? No, I got and I'm not saying this to say, oh, you're such a good man. I do such great things for people. People love me. I'm doing it, I'm doing it because our uh Brooke you have you met Brooke?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I have.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

So we've been very um Brooke and I are are you guys books.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

You guys are like text buddies. Yeah, phone buddies.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I don't know about that, but we trade books.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Pretty soon you'd be going out to dinner.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

We have the same taste in books, so um but oh, marriage.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

Um we were married in 2008. 17 years, right? No. 18 years. 18 years. Congratulations. Thank you. But m mostly for her for putting it with me, but I got her a sauna for our anniversary. Oh. I'm not a sauna person, but she is. And um set it all up. Just had it delivered and set down.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

And plug it in. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Oh no, I had to I had to hardwire it to the from the heater to the main panel in the house, but that wasn't fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

And she does love it?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

She loves it. It has a lot of health benefits.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

It does. I wish I liked the sauna. I think um I have high blood pressure. So that'll help. When I go in there, I feel like though I'm going to explode.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

You're going to, but then it'll get better.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

And I feel like um when I go into the hot springs, I've done that before too, and everybody's like, oh, it's so enjoyable. And I just feel like a lobster in a boil pot.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Well, the thing is with with Brookes, she does not like sweating. Doesn't like you know what I mean? Like right now, we took a walk a little while ago and she was like, ah, it's too hot. But she really likes the song.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

So what are the health benefits?

SPEAKER_03 2:21

Um, it can lower your blood pressure.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Um well, because it raises your heart rate, it's basically burns like 200 calories.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Just sit there.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

Yeah. Yeah. Uh but it's good for blood pressure, hypertension, stress.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

How long does Brooke go in there?

SPEAKER_03 2:38

I believe she does 20 minutes of pop.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

At about 165 degrees. It's not too bad. Well.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

But I got it from shout out to now you don't have a snowbank so that she can get out and a road plan.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

No. We will have a coming up.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

You need a now you need a cold plunge pool.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Imagine that. We'd have to get more property for that. But no, shout out to Armana. I think it's called. Oh man, I'm butchering the name now. It's an Alma. It's Armana saunas or something like that. But anyway, they're handmade. Uh the guys were top-notch. They came, delivered it for free.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Um, so if you're looking, and I'm not getting any I'm not getting a kickback for this. I'm just saying, you know, when you encounter good people that do good things. Yeah. And look at me, Mr. Privilege. We were just talking about how, you know, we have it good in this world.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

We do have it so easy. And whenever you start to whine, you just gotta say Holocaust anybody.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Yeah. And but I'm also trying to learn don't feel guilty for working your ass off and getting a couple things, which is hard to do because I feel guilty all the time about it. True.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Uh yeah, sometimes you you do feel a bit um, it's the privilege guilt, and not that either one of us are, you know, like privileged as you know, you see it in the movies or anything like that. But you know, you work hard to get where you are.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

So enjoy it. But you know what people need to do more of is rough it. They

Why Camping Exists At All

SPEAKER_03 4:10

do.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

And how would they do that?

SPEAKER_03 4:11

They might do it, and you know, some people had to do it back. I think this is uh the topic today is camping. And I think it originated from um people actually had to camp. I mean, that was the whole thing back in the day. Um, it went from a way of life, um, nomadic people moving here to here.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

They didn't have a house to go to, they had a camp. So are you saying they're people like cave dwellers? Is that considered camping?

SPEAKER_03 4:35

No.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

That's a different yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

I would say like people um moving across country, like natives who built place to place uh removable or or movable uh dwellings. Yeah, something of a necessity, and now it's interesting because people are more affluent and wealthy. It's now it's a recreation you pay money to feel uncomfortable, basically.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

But you're not uncomfortable if you're in a big RV.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So we'll get to that.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

We will.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

82 million Americans went camping recently. And I don't have the date, but re they just said recently.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Yeah. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

That's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

And you know what? That's one reason I don't like camping. Uh because there's so many people. There's so many people. I know.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

We lived in the middle of the woods and we go camping. I was like going to the city.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Hated it. So um I did hate it. So yeah, the top three things that people like to do, Americans like to do, were walk, swim, and camp. Camping was number three. Recreational camping began in the mid-19th century.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Well, why was that?

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Well, as a way of escaping industrialized urban life, which it was so very different.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Yeah. Uh well, and with the advent of the automobile, that really opened up.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

It really did. And they made people mobile.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Yeah, they built camping campgrounds, everything around the automobile, basically.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Frederick Guns Gunnery Camp was the intro to organized camping. Freddie. Freddie. You know Freddie. Yep. Fred Rick. Frederico. Or Rick. I don't know. Fred or Rick. Anyway, he introduced organized camping. That was in 1861. And so people wanted to get away from the city where it was city and gross.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

But then they just got away from the city to be together.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

So they could all hang together. Yeah. And make s'mores. And then in 1908, we'll get to s'mores. In 1908, Thomas Holding or Hilding, depending on how you read my messy writing.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Tommy.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

He wrote the camper's handbook.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

That was a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

And it was it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal, but it was a very big deal in Europe, and that was 1908, and that took off and that opened up camping in Europe. You write a book about it, that's when you could write a book about something and it would make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

So, and then in 1910, the Boy Scout started camping. Those little bastards. So if you were a Boy Scout, they highlighted camping and outdoor survival. And I can remember my brother was a Boy Scout. We lived in Puerto Rico at the time, and uh our family went camping with the Boy Scouts. And it was there was just a bunch of kids running around, and it was mayhem. But it was fun mayhem.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Rag Tan and Tad Glucans.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Oh my god, the ghost stories. Woohoo! Scary. I didn't sleep a wick. A wink? A wick.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

A wink.

Scouts Surplus Gear And The Boom Years

SPEAKER_03 7:45

Both of them. No wicks, no winks.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

So then uh after World War II, because there was uh the economic boom and people came home, and they're like, what should we do with the family? Car travel, main camping, uh, family vacation staple, and also affordable gear because they had invented a lot of stuff for World War II to take camping with you now. You know, portable stoves and cots and tents and what else do you need to camp? Sleeping bags, and surplus army. There was probably a lot of surplus. Well, there wasn't probably, there was a lot of surplus. That's my first memory of camping equipment, is like the surplus stuff that the green that ducked canvas or a flask. I mean a canteen.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

Yeah, canteen flask came later in my life. Uh but canteens.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Uh yeah, and they were heavy and uh yeah, to go camping. Now, uh because everything can be lightweight version of that, you have a backpack, you have friendly gear, it modernizes the camping and it makes it easy to go in the wilderness. Yeah. You can put it all, throw it all on your back and and go wherever you want to go.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Well, yeah. I mean, I don't know, you're probably gonna get into it.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Well, it also um makes luxury camping. Clamping is cool and a big big thing right now.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. It's like people are doing it to be cool or something. Well, co COVID kicked a lot of people into high gear.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

Uh, because people are like, fuck it, let's get out in the woods, probably safer out there.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

In COVID too, they there was I know there was a ton of uh trailers or campers that were sold. People bought a camper because you could go somewhere and and not be around people. Although if you have a trailer, you really are you you you have to camp near people because you have to, you know, if you're going to the bathroom, taking a shower, using water in that camper, you gotta dump all that.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Can't just carry it around.

Campers RV Parks And The 333 Rule

SPEAKER_01 9:55

No.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

You had have you had a camper?

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Uh we have never owned a camper. We had a pop-up camper, and that's hardly even the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

I borrowed a pop-up from somebody for a while, and then thought it would be a good idea to surprise my wife on one of our anniversaries with a small tobine J flight camper. And I actually parked it right out here in front of this building. And then we took a walk and we came walking up to it, and her she hated it. It was a whole felt so horrible because I one of some of my best memories early on when we were dating, we were camping a few times, and she always talked about liking camping, but she thought she liked camping, but but I guess when you put a price tag on it like that, I thought it would be great. Jovi and I enjoyed it, but then I just ended up selling it.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yeah. Yeah, I missed it though. I'll all have to be on board. It's kind of nice to have two when company comes, you get an extra room now for people to stay.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

At the cottage would be a good one.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

But now you have a cottage.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

So yeah, but I can I have a camper hookup for people. Oh, and so I was like, man, if we still had that, that would be pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, like an extra house. I know somebody who just sold their camper because they said this has just become a guest house. Yeah. And I just end up cleaning it when when people leave, so we're not gonna have that anymore. Bastards.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Um You probably had some camp, you had some campers out on your in your neck of the woods on some of those.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

We have on our road, there are some campers that are set up because they own the lot. Right. And there's no regul there's some places there they regulate it, that you can't have a camper on it. We I guess don't have that.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

And well, you probably don't get it.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

So prior hasn't been a problem, but yeah. I don't live next to one either. They just sold a lot next to our house.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

So uh Brook and I had an offering on that too.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Did you?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Oh, I would like to have you for another.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

I liked when you texted and asked if we had bought it because someone had bought it.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

No, it could have been you. Yeah. The witchful thinking. Anyway, hopefully they don't uh they're I think they're building, they're not been a camper there. So um camping. Yeah, when we used to camp um with my family, like I said, the Boy Scouts we did it, and then the um our we used to go as the family camp. You go, you know, everybody pile in the car, you got a tent. Uh sometimes we had a pull behind pop-up. Um, but there was enough kids too that we always brought a pup tent. Oh, sure. And so some people got to sleep in the camper, and some then we rotated, and some people went to sleep in the pup tent, which we didn't mind. I mean, that was fun. And we mostly went to uh national parks or state parks, and so they're a bit rustic. And then, you know, we didn't have a uh bathroom in ours, sure, you know, so we didn't have to worry about that. Uh, I don't even think there was electricity in it. Probably not the one I can remember, but there was a bed then with pop up, you know, it popped up and you slept. Well, parents slept on the bed, a couple kids on the floor, the other two kids.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Keep the bugs off, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah. So and you at least had a place you could go in and stand up and change out of your bathing suit or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Well, sleeping on the ground is horrible.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

We never had air mantles or anything.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

Oh would you do it now?

SPEAKER_01 13:19

No, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

With your trip coming up, are you gonna go sleep on the ground?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

No, I am not.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Roughing it?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

No. No, I'm too old to rough it anymore. I would try glamping, I guess, is um and um now um my friend Beth and her family, they have a camper, but they have it as a cottage, so they leave it at a campsite. And this campsite, what are you looking at?

SPEAKER_03 13:45

Oh, it's just some guy who was tweaking, walking through the park a lot over there.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Um, but anyway, they leave it at a campground. And this campground is not a camp, it's you know, it's a RV park, is what it is, and so it's got um, you know, I don't know, I'm gonna say 400 sites and a pool and a clubhouse and lots of stuff. There's always activities going on, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:11

You have to kind of like people to do that.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Um, yeah, it's hard to avoid people when you go there. I don't like that. We just turn our uh launchers to the back to give everyone the backside of us. Yeah. Because otherwise most people sit out there and wave and are cordial and we aren't. Ugh. Sorry. It's a great here's what it is though. It is a great place as a base camp. And you know what? When it's hot, you crank that air up, you go inside, it feels so good.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Yeah. So there are in some campgrounds, our half state park.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

North of Roger City.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

Austin is okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Austin is not really trailer friendly, I don't think. There's a beautiful trailers, yeah. Right on the beach. Yeah, that's a really nice one. Harrisville has a nice beach. Oh, Harrisville. Towas Point, very nice beach out there.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Um, but they also have an RV park right in town, Tawas does.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

So, you know, it depends on what you're looking for. Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

And if you're RV in it, you're usually well not usually. Some people are traveling from here to here, and it's a good place to stop and park.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

And if you're traveling by a Walmart in an RV, you can park there for the night.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

Or a casino.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Casinos, yeah, they love RVs there. Come on in. Come on in. So And then when you're doing that RV camping, I read there's the 333 rule, which is 300 miles per day, three nights in the campsite, and you gotta arrive by three o'clock. So you can set everything up.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Okay. That's a re it's not.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

I mean, it's nobody's nobody's gonna arrest you if you don't do it. It's just a it's not a rule. No, no, but it's like a rule or a law, it's just a suggestion.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

That's interesting. I've never heard that. I like it. Three. Three three three. Three wait, hold on a second. Three three three miles.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Get there by three.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Get there by three, three hundred miles, three.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Three hundred miles per day, stay three nights. I mean, once you get there, really, you gotta stay three nights, at least two nights.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

I feel that it it wanted to go anywhere, even lawyer.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

I do too. Um well, hotel

Every Style Of Camping Explained

SPEAKER_01 16:25

anyway. And so there's all different kinds of camping. We've talked about tent camping. How about car camping? It's not just for the homeless. People go in their, you know, like sleep in their car, enough car or our not RV, but S UV.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

And that's a whole lifestyle overlanding. Like you can buy a truck or a van. Oh you can buy those. Bring that up.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

And actually, they're pretty nice.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

It was a nice van.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Very nice van.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

It didn't work out, Kate.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Well, that's all right. You tried. Not for everybody. Not for everybody. RV and van camping. Then there's glamping, of course. And so glamping is you're camping, but you get uh all the Acutrements? Uh yes. You got your lights and hotel.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

Carpets outside and your espresso machine plugged in to your 110 volt, your awnings, your outdoor fireplaces.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Well, and that was uh another thing whenever we went camping. Um, where, let's see, where was that? But it was Burt Lake. Burt Lake. It's nice there. So we lived in the woods and but and no people around, and we went to Burt Lake camping. First of all, we were the only tent in the whole facility, I think. Everybody else had their trailers with their cute little party lights on and their satellite dish on the top, and they're watching the ball game and with their $80,000 pickup trucks. It just seemed to defeat the purpose of leaving uh the city, but it's some people like it.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Um, some people like backpack camping, so you can go into the bat into the wilderness.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Those people are crazy.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

I don't know, it'd be kind of scary. I think there's too many animals in my head.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

That sounds really cool. It does.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

The romanticized version of it sounds great, but then you go, okay, there's bears and raccoons. You gotta cash all your food, you know, you gotta hang it from trees.

SPEAKER_03 18:25

What if I fall down the side of the mountain?

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Well, that you have too. So backpacking, primitive camping things.

SPEAKER_03 18:32

You are missing, you should be facing the other way to today, Kate.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

So is there a lot going on behind me?

SPEAKER_03 18:37

Well, there are some interesting people camping. Anyhow.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

How about hammock camping? Hammock do that.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

You just go and throw it between two trees?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Yeah, because they make special hammocks that you can zip yourself into. I'm too claustrophobic. I would never do that. I like that. Oh, you're like a butterfly.

SPEAKER_03 18:57

It's probably really breathable. Now a motorcycle just went through their like some.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Uh how about this one? My parents used to do this all the time boat camping. So I'll take a boat.

SPEAKER_03 19:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Well, not even the we have the boat that they boat camped on, and I'm like, I can't believe you camped on that. I mean, it's just you fold the seats out, and one person gets one seat and one gets the other.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

That sounds comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

I think you drank a lot. Yeah. And then that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

Well, now here's the thing not everybody who camps is an alcoholic. But I'm gonna tell you right now out. I think that a lot of people I used to like camping a lot because it went really well with drinking. Because as soon as you get there, you don't have to drive anywhere. Yeah, I mean, give her a hell of man.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah, around the campfire. I think people like to party around a campfire. Nothing wrong with that. How about uh this one just sounded horrible too? A paddling or a bike camping. So you put all your stuff on your bike and ride your bike and then camp.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

I think I see people like that around town.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

They're homeless.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

Yeah, poor guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Um, and this one too. I knew some people who did this winter camping, which it would be intriguing. I think I would do that before biking.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Really?

SPEAKER_01 20:15

If you have the right gear for it, yeah, it would be fine. It would be okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

There is something about being out in the cold and the snow.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Right. Keeping the wolves away.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Yeah. I would do that.

Why People Camp And Why It Fails

SPEAKER_01 20:30

So people camp to disconnect, right?

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Or reconnect.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Or reconnect with their family.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

The earth.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Her too.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Yeah. No, I mean, I think that people God, I bet you there's because I went camping with the kids and stuff, and you idealize it in your head, like I idealize everything. And then you get there and it's like nobody ever wants to do the same thing. It's hot, it's dirty, there's bugs, I'm hungry, I don't want to eat that. But that's everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Yeah, that can happen anywhere. That happens at Disney. But people do it to enjoy nature and to spend time with family and friends.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

I liked it because you go hiking, hiking, go biking, go to the water.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

A lot of people take their bikes with them camping, and then I see them go around the campgrounds on their bikes. And I guess it depends on where you live. If you live in an urban area and you can't do that, then yay.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Um also in Michigan, of course, a lot of campgrounds are by lakes, and

Campfire Food Smores And Breakfast

SPEAKER_01 21:30

so you can just go swimming all day. And who doesn't like doing that?

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

So what's your favorite camp food? You can say the obvious, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

I don't know if I have a favorite.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Do you like s'm'ores? They're all right. I don't like them, but some people love them.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

They're good. And now people are getting creative, like making them with Oreos and uh Reez's peanut butter cup s'more was good.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

I Like marshmallows so right there.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah, you really got something against marshmallows.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

I do, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

What happened to you?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

I don't know. Marshmallows got a fight.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

Uh no, what else can you make? Wheaters?

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Foil pocket meals. Those are good. Remember those? Yeah. You put you get it all ready. Yep. And you just throw the whole foil thing on the um on the fire.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

What about catching your own fish?

SPEAKER_01 22:23

And frying it up. Okay. And if you don't catch any fish, then you have hot dogs.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Mm-hmm. Hot dogs are the easiest on a fire. Hamburgers, not so much.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Yeah. They didn't have luck with that hamburgers either.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

But breakfast in the morning, and especially if you're the one not making it and you smell it cooking in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

That's a skill, too. Cooking all that over the fire.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Anything over the fire is better. So here's one more fact I got. Oh, the largest s'more was 342 pounds. Come on. In 2019 at Camp Mead, Vermont. I don't know how they split it up.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

They do everything big in Vermont, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Uh okay. I I don't know. I've not been there in a long time. What? I've been there, but were you there like last year? No. I think I'm going there this uh next fall.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

I want to go there.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Yeah, I think it's really pretty. I have a niece working there now at the university. Oh nice. Yeah. Um the fastest tent assembly for a four-person tent uh was eight point eight eight. No, eight point oh seconds.

SPEAKER_03 23:37

No, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Eight point oh eight seconds.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

That's pretty fast, Kate.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

I mean, do you think they just threw it on the ground like those fancy ones?

SPEAKER_03 23:45

I want to know what kind of tent it is. But I like that though.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Tents date back 40,000 years.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

I believe it. Yeah. Animal skin tents.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Tents do.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

Um you think about the evolution of the tent. Like remember the old aluminum tent pole ones? Those and you can bend those things tape right, but now they got the slip or the the bunchy.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah, you just kind of know what the hell I'm saying. Roll it on the ground and it pops out, and then you put the the the topper over it, and then they have those rain toppers too. That's a big yeah, that's a big deal. If you ever woke up in a tent and it's all condense condensation on the inside, not good. No, it's not good at all.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

Um what else we got there?

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Uh I just have some fast fire.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

We're not doing that yet.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Look at your Kate is fanning herself on the soul freaking hot. So uh I think I'm camping. Yeah, you are. You're not glamping in here,

Gear Culture And What Counts As Camping

SPEAKER_03 24:45

hey.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

So what else do you want to tell me about camping?

SPEAKER_03 24:48

I'm just thinking about the industry. You know, not only do you have all those folks that make the RVs, I mean it it provides a lot of yeah, and RVs aren't cheap. No, and even the tents, you got stores that sell like Dunham's, REI, Cabela's, Bass Pro shops.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

All the equipment, all the accessories that you could get, you know, not just the obvious sleeping bags and all that. There's you know, special uh water filtrations if you're going wilderness and backpacks and fancy clothes and yeah, it's all kinds of stuff. It is for sure.

SPEAKER_03 25:23

I think it's cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Um it's all right.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

You don't like industry.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Well, are we are we to the point where we're gonna say here we're dead?

SPEAKER_03 25:31

I don't know. I feel like there's more we could have said, but well, you don't have notes. I don't know. I just like agreeing with you all the time, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Um can you think of anything else you want to add to camping?

SPEAKER_03 25:44

I bought a lot of camping stuff when the kids were young because I thought we'd camp a lot and we didn't use it as much. So if you ever need to use it, let me know.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

But do you still have it?

SPEAKER_03 25:53

I've got a nice camping stove. I got this sleeping bag.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

So you could use if the power goes out. Well, that's the one we used, our camp stove. Yeah. We have a really nice lantern too.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

I've got this grizzly sleeping bag that I think you could fit three people in and drop them off in Antarctica and bury

Old School Camping Gets The Vote

SPEAKER_03 26:10

them in snow and they'd be fine.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

You might need that, you don't know.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

So I'm gonna call call it, and I think old school real camping is a hero. Um, and not just because of my memories of it. Of course, you only remember the the good stuff, the the good part of camping, not the oh my god, I'm so bored. I can't wait to get home camping. But because we were together as a family and we did go to a lot of cool places that we maybe wouldn't have gone to. We certainly want to spend the night anyway. True. Um, but I think now camping is so different. It's I I get it. Everybody wants to be comfortable, but I don't even think that's camping anymore. No, you know, I I I don't think you can that's RVing or Yeah, that's not the same. It's not the same if you you know pull your I I I see why people do it. I know lots of people pull their trailers all together and have a party or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

It's expensive though. And how many times can you go camping in a summer? Yeah, every weekend, I guess. I don't know. I mean you get your money out of it.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

You know, the dream is to buy a camper and go live in it somewhere and sure.

SPEAKER_03 27:25

Or drive across country with your wife.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Drive across country with your spouse, and you know what? That's not for everybody. Especially sometimes not this not for you, but I know people who've done it and it's worked out okay. I know people who've done it and it has not worked out okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

And the one person comes back.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

And one person Well, you say that. I do know somebody um who I don't know them well, but they bought an RV and drove out west.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

And killed each other.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

And no, he died of a heart attack. Oh, and she didn't even know how to drive the RV. So she had to call somebody, her kids or somebody, come and come and get me.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Somebody to drive you home.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

I mean, yeah, that would be horrible.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

Well, and hey, that could be a whole thing, man. You like, did you see that Netflix series about the c the young couple that went out in the van camping?

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Oh, and the and oh my he came back. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Yeah. Which reminds me.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

And then you think of there's uh somebody in the wasn't it in the UP row somewhere where there were cliffs? Like in the the wife, the what and one, the wife fell and survived, and she's and he's in prison. Good. Yeah. And sometimes they don't survive though. Oh, I'm sorry she fell.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

Well, and you think about all the camping, how far it goes back, how much did that happen?

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Let's go camping, honey. No, thanks.

SPEAKER_03 28:49

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Um so again, I say hero for old school camping.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

Hero.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Um, it's not even a dick, it's just different in RV camping. It's not a dick.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

We bastardize everything.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Yeah, we turn it into the city. We make it too comfortable because we got to be comfortable, comfortable, comfortable.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

Idiocracy, like that movie. Yeah, that too. I will say what the probably the best memory camping I had was years ago with my son, his friends, they were having a boys' camping trip, and all the dads, like there was six or eight of us with the boys, and we all and I didn't know I didn't really want to go because I didn't know any of these guys. But you know what? We all went and we had a it was a really good time. It was, and that's probably one of the few times I've camped with my son Julian, and it was a blast.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

So good.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

So you oh good. So glad you have good camping memories or camp.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

Well, I have one horrible one, but I don't want to talk about it.

When A Campsite Turns Unsafe

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Why? It was bad, it was really bad. Happened to Austin campground. My daughter and I got like there's these guys there, and they were torture, trying to kill this raccoon that got into the garbage. They were drunk and they were going through throwing firecrackers at people's tents. Oh my god. They were trying to beat things with this huge stick, and they were just being terrible.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Did you call the police?

SPEAKER_03 30:06

No, I called them out, and then they came over and wanted to fight.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

And I grabbed the camp shovel, and my daughter was just little at the time, and I was gonna pound them in the head. And she's like, um, dad don't. And I I my heart broke. I'm like, oh my god, I was about to do something really stupid. Probably got my butt kicked, and then my daughter would see me hit somebody with a shovel. No, this is gonna go well. And then I did call the cops, and they went out there and kicked them all out. And it was horrible, absolutely horrible. My daughter and I had a great day, and then we go to bed, and all that happened because some idiots. And I don't think I've been camping since.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Oh, that's too bad.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

That's it, camping's a dick.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

No, that camping trip was a dick. And it wasn't even that camping trip, those three guys were dick.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

That happens though.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

You know what we forgot to mention about I don't know if this falls into camping, was uh summer camps.

SPEAKER_03 30:59

Oh, yeah. And Juliet, my kids dance.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

We can still say it.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Well, just saying that my yeah, my son's been a camp counselor for the past several weeks down at Westminster camp.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

And was there a horror movie filmed?

SPEAKER_03 31:16

No, no, but it's how every horror movie starts. Super eye-opening for him and a great experience for him. So that could be a whole thing too.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

That is it's different from camping, but it is a camp. But and there's lots of Did you ever go to one of those?

SPEAKER_03 31:30

The Camp Chickagami or I did, but yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Not a week-long one. Camp Chickagami, I think everybody went out there at one point, and then um uh I went to uh day camp when I lived in Puerto Rico, so I'm in like maybe like third or fourth grade, and then the last night we spent the night there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

I don't know, but we should uh yeah, we should call Brooke and have her come down here.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Because she has a camping.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

Well, I know she likes saunas.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Oh, because there's a sauna in here. All right, so that's what we think about camping. But here, let's give a fast five. These are campfire ghost stories. What? Campfire ghost stories. Okay. Yeah. The footsteps on the path.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Hero.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

You're just gonna say hero on every yeah, they're all heroes. What that one is the camper goes to uh you know, uh I can't read my notes, but he hears slow steps and finally, you know, finds out that it's like a raccoon or a squirrel or something.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Dick.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

You like a big bloody ending? All right, how about this one? Yellow ribbon.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

What is that one?

SPEAKER_01 32:51

The woman takes off her choker and a head falls off.

SPEAKER_03 32:53

I don't like that hero. That's a good one.

unknown 32:56

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

That was a very abbreviated version of it, too.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

I get the gist of it. How about I bet you she went camping with her husband?

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Probably. How about the hook? Oh, anything with the hook. The hooks and everything. Escape crazy with the hook, hand scares lane.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

That's like I know what you did last summer.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

And then they drive away on the hooks and then the worm handle.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

That happened to you, didn't it?

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Oh, this is similar. Yeah, yeah. How about the axe murderer hollow? That's perfect. Well, that's jealous husband, it's a forced. I mean, that happens everywhere, whether you're camping or not. And my personal favorite is the hitchhiker. Oh. You know, the woman is hitchhiking, and the guys pick her up, and she leaves uh her sweater in the car. And no, she he gives her the his coat to put on to keep warm. And the next day they go back to get his coat, and the lady's like, she's been dead for 20 years.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

And they go to the local cemetery, and there's his coat. Um that's my guy.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

All right.

SPEAKER_03 34:08

Um, before I forget, as I was scrolling through Instagram, which you're not on.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

No, I'm not.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

And you should be, and we need to do a thing. We need to do a hero or dick page or something.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

We can do now.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

But anyway, um, Dateline NBC this Friday features Michigan. Michigan farmhouse. Yeah, like some bad stuff went down.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

How long ago?

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Not long ago.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

No.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

So I love Dateline.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Uh I do I have it actually. Um, well, 2020, same thing. Um uh I have uh it's a channel on Sirius Radio. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So when Cassidy broke her ankle last year, I was driving back and forth to Gaylord. I put that on, and you could get in at least one good story.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

All of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:56

Speaking of Cassidy.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Hey Cassidy.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

Thank you for the mug.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:00

She made some swag for us.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

We made our her our own swag because we weren't quick enough.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

A beautiful hero or dick mug. It is beautiful. And I like the color too. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Good job. What else did we have? Caffy and Doug.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

Yes, Doug. Thank you. And uh Jovi made some stickers.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

She did. You'll see some, those are ongoing.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

Yeah, we're gonna have her do some more. So now we have shirts, we got stickers, we got mugs.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Well, we have mugs. We need to order mugs. Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

All right. Okay, everybody. See you next time.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Oh what? What's the email address?

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Oh, it's uh Hero Dick2023 at gmail.com.gmail.com. Don't email us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

See you if we care. All right. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

Bye.