There are no fire rings here at Wisconsin State Fair RV Park. But this graphic reminds me of THE Most Commonly Asked Question while we were camp hosting: “Where can we get firewood?”
Which makes me wonder where has my infatuation with campfires gone? Since well before we started RV’ing my ability to sit transfixed in front of a campfire — enjoying the mindless nothingness that goes with a crackling fire has dwindled off to nothing. Our daughter and son in law still like them.
Camping and campfires are almost synonymous. If I were to actually do a spreadsheet of the most common activities we witnessed campers doing during our stay as camphosts I’m sure the #1 activity would have been sitting in front of the campfire. We saw way more people doing that than even eating, or cooking. (Cuz, doncha know a lot of campers go out to eat at restaurants!)
What is it about sitting in front of a mesmerizing fire that is so appealing? I used to know. I was a great one for building the fire, and putting my camp chair nice and close to the fire; poking it with a stick every now and again; 
and just generally ‘tending’ the fire as if it were a person needing care and love. And nowadays… I really don’t care about a fire at all. We spent 5 months as camphosts and do you know how many fires we made? Zero. Bupkiss. Nada. None. We could have. We had a fire ring. There was plenty of wood. But we just didn’t.
I suppose we might have blamed our lack of interest on the skeeters: there were plenty of mosquitos willing to feast on our blood. But truth is, that wasn’t the problem. I guess it’s just a ‘thing’ that no longer interests us.
Maybe we’re just like the beaver at a campfire who would rather just have the stick, than to have a marshmellow to roast. While the marshmellows may be appealing to the bears, the beaver would rather have a hunk of wood to chew on. And that’s the way it is with RV’ing. We all have our ‘thing’ to do.
.You may remember that last July we had an interesting time when another full time camper arrived in the campground experiencing Norcold problems and he ended up having his refrigerator replaced by our son-in-law… Well, that couple like to dance: couples dancing, line dancing, square dancing — you name it, they do it. They go to weekend events where hundreds of couples gather to dance. That’s their thing. Other full timers like to kayak, or bike, or hike, or sit around a fire drinking wine/beer/booze while telling stories. It’s all about choices and doing what you want.
As for me, you won’t find me out at some Camping World buying a propane powered fire pit. Not for me. You may find me curled up in the lounge with all the windos open reading a good book, or chatting over the non-existent fence with our neighbor. I may stay awake until 9 o’clock — after a lifetime of early rising I still haven’t broken the habit of rising early (even if early isn’t quite as early as it used to be)!
I love that RV’ing gives us options. We’ve entered our 6th year of full timing now and we’re still having fun. Life is a little more routine now that we have a few years under out belt but there’s still room for surprises and changes; still no room for a script or detailed plans. In fact just yesterday as we were out running a few errands we started talking about maybe NOT driving over to Elkhart — and perhaps putting off our flooring remodel plans indefinately. Which would mean that we head directly South from here and not South by East. We have almost two weeks before we leave so who knows what might change, but change is good; we embrace change; we welcome change — just as long as it doesn’t mess up our plans. (Just kidding)
Thanks for stopping, I’ll be here to chat tomorrow morning.
From the Far Side of '70 
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