Uninhabited areas of our nation are among the most beautiful on earth

The Wonderful Dirty Outdoors

We took the inside of our house and set it up outside about 300 miles away by a creek. We don’t travel light.

I’m talking about camping, of course, that all-American activity when we lose our minds and decide to go get dirty.

There are few other human endeavors for which we work so hard to get ready, work so hard during just to perform the simple tasks of life, and most certainly work so hard afterward hauling it all back in, cleaning it up and packing it safely away for the next time we lose our minds.

What were we thinking?

Well, for one thing, the uninhabited areas of our nation have to be among the most beautiful on earth. And one of the few ways you can enjoy them is to go camping.

For another thing, we had this yearning desire to get out of the city for a few days — no traffic, no noise, no litter.

Winding our way along several miles of dusty roads to get to our campsite left our vehicles hardly recognizable. A few hours after the kids hit the creek, they weren’t either. Mud, dust and water combined for an effective disguise. A good scrubbing in my handy-dandy portable shower was hardly more than a temporary fix.

The 2-year-old in our midst fell down while getting out of the car and was from that moment on gloriously and joyously filthy despite his mother’s futile efforts to wipe his face and hands. Apparently potato chips taste better dipped in rich brown earth.

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and enjoyed the peace and quiet until other campers began arriving on Friday. Except for an incessantly barking dog, though, our neighbors were friendly and cooperative.

This is especially appreciated in a campground considered “wilderness,” in which you haul in your own water and haul out your own trash. Human relations can get tricky in an environment without water taps and dumpsters.

There’s one thing about camping — it’s a great equalizer. Everyone becomes equally unkempt. The bed-hair, the whiskered chin, the dirty fingernails are universal — except for those sparkling few who manage to appear as groomed as if they are still at home, and nobody speaks to them.

Though our group wasn’t into sing-alongs, campfires are really good places to get to know other people better — you can tell a lot about them from the kind of jokes they enjoy. Kids, too, lose their inhibitions — a shy kid becomes a comedian and a reserved teen really can cry.

We broke camp Sunday morning and eased back into the city that evening. I was glad it was getting dark. At least the lights are pretty.