{"id":7514,"date":"2011-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/one-mediocre-campground-40-years-of-family-tradition-priceless\/"},"modified":"2011-11-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T00:00:00","slug":"one-mediocre-campground-40-years-of-family-tradition-priceless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/es\/one-mediocre-campground-40-years-of-family-tradition-priceless\/","title":{"rendered":"One Mediocre Campground + 40 Years of Family Tradition = Priceless"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first year my husband came to my annual family camping trip I remember him being a little disappointed in the whole experience. He didn’t have a bad time, it just did not live up to the expectations I had set by my inability to stop raving about it for months beforehand. I couldn’t understand why he didn\u2019t understand the awesomeness!<\/p>\n

That’s when I realized something. If you look at each year’s camping trip by itself, there is really nothing that special, awesome or \u00absuper fun\u00bb about it. Some people might even call it dull. The scenery is not that pretty, the fishing is not that good, we don’t have a boat and there are yellow jackets galore. The list of less than ideal circumstances goes on and on.<\/p>\n

But here’s the thing: my family has gone camping at the same spot, each summer, for 40 years. That’s right, 40 years. This family tradition began before I was even born. What started with a large family of nine squished into one tent has now turned into a huge family of 90 occupying a tent city. Each year’s camping experience is a compilation of memories from past years. That’s why it’s so awesome and why nobody really \u00abgets\u00bb it their first year–or even their second, third, or fourth.<\/p>\n

Every once in a while, we talk about changing the venue for our family camping trip to somewhere \u00abnicer,\u00bb but that discussion never lasts very long. We’ve made too many family memories at that mediocre campground. I don’t want to pass those memories onto my children in words. I want them to experience it and be part of it. I want them to know it for themselves.<\/p>\n

There is something comforting, beautiful and totally amazing about seeing my children play in the same dirt, walk on the same trails and interact with the family the same way I did when I was their age. These sh<\/p>\n

ared experiences help bind us together as a family and as an extended family. I think that is the essence of tradition.<\/p>\n

From our annual family campout, I’ve learned a few things about family traditions:<\/p>\n