Summer Vacations

Most people take a summer vacation; the kids are off from school, work in corporate America is usually less frenetic, people are in a summer state of mind.

I've been a campground owner for going on 30 years so summer vacation is not something I or my family have ever really participated in. I would take my kids out of school in November, before or after NJ Teachers Convention weekend and we would go on vacation in November.

Recently someone said to me, you work all summer, you should take time to smell the roses, life is short, tomorrow's not promised, and all that other stuff people say to people they think are workaholics. #1, I'm not a 12 month workaholic, just July and August. I like being a workaholic here at Indian Rock RV Park & Campground because what we do here is provide a nice place for nice people to make nice new friends and make nice summer memories that last a lifetime. #2 I do stop and smell the roses and additionally I like to think I offer a place for other people to stop and smell the roses.

When I was a kid, we didn't camp (!) but we did take 2 weeks every year "down the shore" in Seaside Park. My cousins would come down for a week, we would have a blast playing in the ocean, playing board games, walking the beach and boardwalk, riding bicycles ... the houses we rented had no TV, no telephone (no cell phones in the 1960s and 70s!), no air conditioning. It was roughing it!

When my family bought this property in 1988, we made the decision to not put in cable TV because we believed a camping vacation was time to relax, recharge, disconnect from the everyday. Everyone did not have a cell phone, everyone did not have cable tv in their home, everyone did not have a lap top, tablet, game system, etc. In these 29 years, a lot of that has changed in that regard. When I say "no cable" to someone calling for the first time, sometimes that's all it takes to lose a reservation. Other people say, no problem, we're camping.

Do you tent camp? Did you camp as a kid? Introduce your own kids to camping and make it device free vacation. Don't give them our wi-fi code. Don't bring your work computer. Stop and smell the roses!

I love it when we get 2 or 3 families camping together with their kids... it reminds me of the days we went down the shore with our cousins. There's always one ring leader, the cousin who comes up with the ideas. There's usually one crybaby (that was me!) the one the older cousins don't want to play with but their mom makes them let her/him tag along! There's usually the naughty idea cousin (sometimes also the ring leader). The older cousin who is too cool for the camp fun. All these family dynamics I can see my family and also my kids and their cousins in. Which cousin were you?

So this post rambled here and there, but that's how I am today... summer time and it's all good.

Come see us soon!