It was dark as we drove through the outskirts of town. Stella and I had just finished going through a cheesy haunted house at a carnival in the strip mall parking lot and were on our way to a free campsite in Winslow, Arizona. Recognize the town? No? Maybe you recall the Eagles song “Take It Easy”…… “Well I’m standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona.”
My friends went on a road trip earlier in the summer and found Clear Creek Campground on freecampsites.net. It was their favorite campsite of the trip, as it’s located on a little lake and quite scenic. We rolled in to the park in the dark and found a spot on the water. However, the weather wasn’t looking good. We got out of the car and the wind was whipping. Stella and I furiously tried to set up the tent but the stakes came out as soon as we stuck them in the ground. As the tent was trying to blow away, we pulled out the poles, stuffed it in the back seat, climbed in the car, and yanked the doors closed against the wind.
What now?
Too tired to drive back into town and search for other accommodation, we made the most of it and camped out in the car. Stella sprawled across the backseat on top of our clothes and I lounged in the passenger seat.
Never. Again. Though we stayed warm, (unlike the camping in 30 degree weather that we did in Utah) my legs were sore for days from being cramped in the car.
However, if you should find yourself in Winslow, Arizona, I must say that this is a pretty camping spot. And it’s free!
Do you have any camping gone wrong stories?
Bookmarking that website!!
The two nights our camp was overtaken by mice was pretty bad. When I felt one run over my leg (well, over my leg which was under a sleeping bag), I about LOST IT!
Ahhh, a mouse crawled across your leg??? Now that is pretty bad!
Oh boy… too many to count.
The worst- We were going to an isolated island in Lake Michigan on a three day trip. We were young and stupid, so we went out drinking the night before. We woke up late for our ferry, and although we made it on the boat, lots of our things didn’t make it to the island, like most of our food, the stakes for our tent and my good hiking shoes.
When I camped in Botswana, I was with a group of college freshman who did the very same thing…. forgot their food bag and had the wrong poles for their tent. Needless to say, we all ended up going hungry. However, it was a fun time!
Aww sometime the weather is unpredictable like the wind. I know how it feel to fall asleep in the car with leg sore. Hope your next camping trip will be better
Man, we went camping on the island od St. John in the Virgin Islands, and while it remains the most beautiful campsite we’ve ever gone to, it was the tail end of rainy season and the cockroaches were out full force- we arrived way too late, set up the tent in the dark, and really didn’t realize we were shooing away gigantic roaches.
Later on in the evening, we tried to make a dinner of Chef Boyardee spaghetti, and besides having to deal with a damp grill, a few roaches flew into the pan of spaghetti!!! I was sooo disgusted-but starving.
We tossed them out and devoured the food straight from the pan….and I think I woke up everyone in the campground later on when I had to pee and the roaches kept attacking my bare ass in the bathroom!!!