GAIL WHITE With enough bonding while camping, we're ready to sail on

Camper for sale. Cheap.
When we bought our camper five years ago, we envisioned wonderful weekends in the wilderness with the children frolicking in the fresh air. No phone, no television -- just a great time of family bonding.
We truly have had some wonderful family bonding times, laughing and talking around the campfire on a moonlighted night, roasting S'mores until we get a stomachache, telling ghost stories in the camper when we run out of firewood and get too scared to sit in the dark with the wildlife; and days, too numerous to mention, spent swimming and hiking.
Yes, we've had a lot of bonding in the last five years.
There was the wonderful bonding time when my husband insisted on packing all the "stuff."
My packing had become a source of unbonding time as Pat would go on a tirade as he loaded the camper before each trip. He felt I packed entirely too much "stuff."
We bonded completely as a family on this trip as we shared silverware and dishes.
Others bond, too
Something about just pulling into a campground promotes bonding. Less than 30 seconds after arriving, there is always intense family bonding.
The children receive quiet family bonding time. "Nobody move or say a word until we get the camper into the site."
Pat and I bond verbally.
"You're crooked, go to the left ... to the left ... to the left!"
"I'm trying! You want to do this?"
I used to be embarrassed by our loud bonding while parking the camper until one weekend we arrived early at a campground.
All afternoon, I witnessed and heard other families bonding just like we do as they pulled into the campground.
Sometimes, family bonding time can be expensive.
Friends of ours had a pricey bonding experience when they pulled into a tight campsite. The awning pole just barely rubbed against a tree and ripped the pole and the siding off the back of the camper.
We had a similar experience.
The first year we bought the camper, we had it popped up in the back yard for some weekday family bonding time. Pat decided it needed to be moved, so he hooked it up to the minivan and took off across the yard.
If he had simply pulled it straight forward, things would have been fine. But his eyes caught sight of a lush green area of grass at the top of the yard. When he turned the wheel, the extended bed of the camper crushed the back window of the van.
That was a $500 bonding experience.
A little bit scary
Sometimes family bonding time can be scary.
Once, we dropped the camper off the back of the van and witnessed it rolling slowly downhill. We had a memorable family bonding time getting it stopped and secured.
The time the wind blew so hard it flipped our awning onto the roof and shook the camper like a baby's rattle was a little scary, too.
The weekend before we put the "For Sale" sign on the camper we decided as a family that we have had enough camper bonding time.
Rain visited our camping trip everyday and ankle-deep mud surrounded our site as the six members of our family were stuffed like sardines in our pop-up.
Five years ago, we scoffed at rain. We gathered around and played cards.
Now, the boys are too big to gather around in the camper. There is simply not enough room. (And their feet didn't stink five years ago!)
We realized if we continue to subject ourselves to these conditions, we will end up having to post bond after a weekend of family bonding.
So, we've put the camper up for sale and decided it's time to try other family bonding time adventures.
We're thinking maybe a boat. I'm sure we will have years of easy, relaxing family bonding time in a boat.
What are you laughing at?
gwhite@vindy.com