Campfire Collection

When we were younger, my parents and all six of us kids would pack our duffle bags for a weekend at King’s Campground. Usually, that meant a couple of T-shirts, shorts, swimsuits, toiletries, and beach towels.

Then came everything else. A giant bright yellow Tupperware container, metal cooking utensils, sticks for roasting marshmallows, and just about anything we might need for the weekend.

My mom would fill the cooler with powdered milk, cold cuts, bread, bacon and eggs, and chicken and vegetables wrapped in aluminum foil to cook over the campfire. And, of course, everything we needed to make s’mores.

All eight of us would pile into the station wagon and head through the woods toward the campground. Our first stop was the wooden check-in cabin, where we'd find out about weekend activities, get our campsite information, and pick up anything we might have forgotten.

Then it was off to set up camp.

We'd help my dad put up our big eight-man tent, the dining tent, and get the campfire ready for later. Sometimes other families would join us, setting up at neighboring campsites. Other times, it was just the eight of us.

I loved the smell of the campfires already burning around us as we unpacked. We always tried to get everything set up quickly because there was a whole day at the lake waiting for us. Swimming, canoeing, paddleboating, fishing, and whatever other activities the campground had planned.

I remember ice cream socials, making friends, and all sorts of little adventures.

Like the time my mom was sunbathing in her lawn chair near our tents when a cow wandered over from a neighboring farm and stood right above her! My dad had to find the campground ranger so Beatrice, as we came to know her, could be returned home.

But as much as I loved those days at the lake, my favorite part was always the evening.

After dinner, we'd gather around the campfire, roast marshmallows, and talk about everything that had happened that day. Some stories were funny, some were exaggerated, and others probably weren't nearly as interesting as we thought they were. But we told them anyway.

I can still remember the smell of the burning wood, the warmth of the fire, and all eight of us together after a long day.

Those weekends weren't particularly fancy, but they were some of the best times of my childhood.

Each bag in the Campfire Club Collection was inspired by a different memory from those trips. The colors, the places, the people, and even some of the little things I hadn't thought about in years.

I wanted to share a bit of those memories with you, and hopefully capture some of the happiness those weekends brought me.