This is it, my glorious glampin’ darlin’s! Our last giveaway of my new book, Glamping with MaryJane.
We all know how things can go … umm … not-exactly-as-planned when you’re on the road. Flat tires, problematic potty situations, the wrong color nail polish. Stuff happens!
For instance … let’s say you’re on the road for 12 days (living large in your tricked-out Airstream) and your
… printer has an accident such that you have to wait to announce the last two book winners until you get home. Oh me, oh my.
MBA Jane, being the doll she is, took care of this one for me ladies. As you can see, she slept on it, quite literally, then picked two lucky winners from under her pillow. Kind of like the glampin’ fairy. (Notice the ‘her size’ glamped-out tent she resides in on our trips.)
You all had such hilarious stories, filled with goofs, guffaws, and hide-saving gallantry. Here are our winners!
Evelyn Cooley said:
“We didn’t start out to camp, but ended up with our VW Rabbit loaded with camping gear, 2 adults, and 2 children! We had expected to find a nice place to stay on the way, something that looked interesting. There was an event going on in the state and not one room available anywhere. We were getting ready to go back home. So sad. Someone suggested buying camping gear and camping out! Hey! We had a lot of fun picking out pans, pillows, towels, everything we would need to camp for a week. It was great fun to go around the store picking everything up & loading our cart. My son, age 4, got into the spirit of things when he saw a swing set. Dad, can we get that? Dad: “Sure put it in the cart.” Son saw it was a joke, but it was fun. We had the little VW loaded. Amazing how much you can strap to the top of a car. It was the best vacation we had!”
Karla Reinhart said:
“Once when my children were 2 and 4, we went camping up the lovely Oregon coast, had a lovely vacation in our trailer after a rocky start (as my parents were going, their truck broke down, so we had to follow them home in their trailer and they went with us, staying in our trailer). Was a great time until we were about an hour from home when we had a flat tire, or should I say a blow out, that also tore our whole sewer system out. That has not deterred me from recently purchasing a new trailer with my new husband to start enjoying what nature has in store for us.”
I hope you all enjoyed our Glamping with MaryJane giveaway extravaganza as much as I did. Congratulations to all the winners! Keep your eyes on your mailbox. 🙂
The glampin’ book giveaways are over, but our glampin’ good times are just beginning. Keep up with us by joining my new Facebook group, Glampers on the Loose, or by visiting our website, International Glamping Weekend. You can also check out my ever-growing collection of glamping photos and ideas on my Glamping boards on Pinterest.
If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, look for it in stores or place your order on Amazon.
Glamp on.
Funniest glamping story I have is actually a “camping” story. Back in the day before people “glamped” and when I was just a lil tike, my family would spend many many weekends and vacations camping on the beaches of Montauk, NY. Of course back then the adults were the ones glamping in the trailer, while us kiddos were sent out to camp in the tent. One night we had a massive rain and wind storm, and needless to say our tent did not hold out very well. we awoke to about 4 inches of water on the floor- instant waterbeds! The best was that my cousin who was sleeping in the same tent, was still fast asleep, and the ceiling of the tent was dangling about 3 inches above her face like a huge water ballon- full of water. She didn’t even know what happened until our giggling woke her up. Ahhhh- memories!
Our camper was my husband’s work van where he made cut in and installed a side window and built a shelf in the front for our two girls and their sleeping bags. We slept on cushions on the floor of the van. I cooked in an electric frying pan…early glamping! All was good and a fun time but we learned the hard way that getting up early and on our way was necessary. The van was like an oven once the sun came up with no temperature controls!!! Our girls still talk about that summer where we traveled in style!!! Making memories!
My husband and I were hosting a trail ride and all the motor homes, campers and horse trailers were pulling in during the day. I moved our motor home to be closer to our friends. Later in the evening we couldn’t get anything to turn on. The generator would not work. My husband and another man spent about 3 hours checking inside and out. Turned out I had forgotten to put it in park! Thank goodness we were on level ground! Needless to say, the guys were not real happy with me. But we laugh about it now!
Camping with my daughters when they were little brings back happy memories, some quite humorous. Once,when it was quite warm, we had gone camping and taken some some soda pop in glass bottles as a treat. Meaning to put the bottles of pop in ice when we got to camp, we left them in the warm camper. Of course, the sight of the cool river water was so tempting that we decided to go for a swim before setting up camp. Upon returning to the camper, we heard the sound of small explosions coming from within. Opening the door, we discovered that the heat had caused the bottles of soda pop to explode! Oh, what a mess! We learned our lesson, though, and always putvthe soda pop on ice right away thereafter!
I’ll steal mine from my husband…he and his friend had taken our glamper (a ’68 Shasta) up north for some tailgating fun at a U of I football game. The fall nights were a bit chilly, so before going to bed he started the camper’s heater. He woke to flames in the middle of the night flying out of the heater vent. At first he was a bit confused (too much tailgating fun, and exhaustion had him a bit disoriented) but as soon as he realized what was happening he got the propane heater shut off, somehow without any damage! We absolutely love having the oldest, or the vintage camper where ever we go…but, it certainly comes with quirks, and lots of new camper restoration projects!…all part of glamping sometimes!
Growing up my dad loved to take me and my two sisters out camping. We traveled all over the US! As we got older it became very clear to my dad that he had little glampers, and no longer little campers! He married again and bought what he would label a glorious glamper with all the amenities needed for his girls. It was not. The first night we slept in it we could not stop ragging on my dad for how bad of shape this glampor of his was in. He wouldn’t listen and said we were lucky to have it, typical man. We settled in for the night. My younger sister took the bottom bunk and I released the cabinets with apparently someone thought could double as a top bunk. They held out for the night. Since my sister and I are always on the same wave length, we of course woke up at the exact same time. Both sitting up and ready to meet the glorious new day! Unfortunately, the cupboards didn’t hold and my butt went right through, opening the cupboard door, which flew open and smacked my sister right the face! Nice glamper dad!
Once when my children were two and four we went camping up the lovely Oregon coast, had a lovely vacation in our trailer after a rocky start, as my parents were going but their truck broke down, so we had to follow them home in their trailer and they went with us staying in our trailer. Was a great time until we were about an hour from home when we had a flat tire or should I say a blow out that also tore our whole sewer system out. That has not deterred me from recently purchasing a new trailer with my new husband to start enjoying what nature has in store for us.
camping in NY state, we ended up with an extra, empty tent, so the boys put there skateboards and as we found out later some snacks. We were just dozing off when we hear a ruckus, I believe to be my three boys in a tent of there own and warn them it’s time to settle down, when there was no reply I realize they are asleep. So I look out our tent and see a nose peeking out at me from the empty tent less then ten feet from me, I go to grab the camera, waking up the hubby who now investigates and tells me it’s not one but two skunks now to fat to get out the opening they got into and if I take a picture of them and get sprayed he will tie me to the top of the truck for the ride home. well, I believed he would so I watched from a distance as they ran round and round that tent, finally able to enlarge the hole they came in from and running back to the woods…that was only part of the events that happened on this particular trip, it was memorable…love your books by the way and can’t wait for this one!!!
Ahhhh. I dream of days when I can Glamp! With 3 small children and a full time job, it’s just not in the cards at the moment. But, I can imagine, that when that time comes my knack for breaking things at inopportune times would hold true. It definitely makes for fun memories! I always end up rigging a fix with strange items and unconventional tactics. I am a park ranger, so I call it “ranger rigging”.
I can already picture a tent fly rigged with pantyhose and flying kites with dental floss. My stories are yet to be revealed, but it’s the “not so perfect” moments that make everything exciting 🙂
Well, I probably had one of the first home made “glampers” around. My husband and I went gallivanting around the United States pulling behind us the back end off of an old pick-up truck, with topper included. We stayed in our little glamper for quite awhile looking for a piece of land. We felt so at home in that little contraption and like a dutiful housewife I would stay there cleaning our little abode, while my husband looked for a job. Being from Kansas we loved the Kansas sunsets, so one night when my husband returned to the Glamper I was in tears. He unhooked our glamper and drove me to the highest mountain around so that I could see a sunset. The next day we packed up and left for our home state back to the beautiful Kansas sunsets.
One of my funniest as well as my most poignant memories is Fourth of July, 1958. My family loved tent camping, especially my dad. We had just gotten a brand-new, Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon. With fold-down seats, it was the perfect camping bed for my mom and dad. We drove from our home in the the Palouse to the beautiful Blue Mountains of southeast Washington, set up our wall tent near the pristine Tucannon River and settled in for the night.
My 13-year old sister and I were bedded down in the wall tent and our parents were in the station wagon. We had just gone to sleep when my sister awakened me with, “Shhh, listen…something’s out there. I think it’s a bear.” As older sisters are prone to do, I thought she was trying to scare my nine-year-self witless. We could hear scritching and scratching on the side of our tent and boy, we squealed.
Our girly squeaks and cries woke our dad who checked out the area around the tent. He said saw nothing. However, the next morning we could see a nearly perfect circular, six-inch hole about a foot from the bottom of one side wall of the tent–a porcupine had chewed the hole in the tent.
This camping adventure is bittersweet for me. It was last time we used the tent, but not because of the porcupine hole. My dad died later that summer–it was my final camping trip with him. I think the memory of the “Porcupine Hole in the Tent” was somehow meant to give my family something to chuckle about all these years in spite of our sadness.
We didn’t start out to camp, but ended up with our VW Rabbit loaded with camping gear 2 adults and 2 children! We had expected to find a nice place to stay on the way, something that looked interesting. There was an event going on in the state and not one room available anywhere. We were getting ready to go back home. So Sad. Someone suggested buying camping gear, and camping out! Hey!
We had a lot of fun picking out pans, pillows, towels, everything we would need to camp for a week. It was great fun to go around the store picking everything up & loading our cart. My son, age 4, got into the spirit of things when He saw a Swing Set. Dad can we get that? Dad “Sure put it in the cart”. Son saw it was a joke but it was fun. We had the little VW loaded. Amazing how much you can strap to the top of a car.
It was the Best vacation we had!
Where did you get that Barbie doll w/ the really cool “updo”? And where did you get the clothes for it? It is MOST EXCELLENT!
Hi Eileen! MaryJane purchased the doll on Ebay. Go here to read the full story: http://www.raisingjane.org/journal/10477 (you’ll get a good chuckle too). Her mother made virtually all of the clothing you see her dressed up in. Really awesome! 🙂 -ace
growing up and camping in new england… the trailer was for yard camping, otherwise we hiked in with all gear. We tried to eat off the land when camping, setting a crayfish trap, berries, fruits etc. Blueberry soup was a favorite… until you catch something while camping. I will not attempt to describe the sounds that came from the bushes that night but it was a long time before anyone could think about eating blueberry soup.
I am so excited thanks Mary Jane I have never won anything before. 🙂
Karla