The RV parks we stayed at had sections for vehicles and section for tents. Both sections were highly heterogeneous in appearance and character. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of any RVs but our own (of which we took around forty… new toy and all that, you understand.) But I assure you there was a huge variety.
From cute egg-shaped units like this:
to huge ones with all sorts of appendages that bulge out once you're safely parked, like this:
Or see more on this page, for instance.
I'm still curious to know where's the button that makes the bulging parts slide back into the main body of the mobile home, and what happens to all the furniture that's in it…
Anyway, as you can see, these constructions are relatively spacious, and more luxurious than many homes. So, I can understand people wanting to spend their vacation in them.
But tents – that's a different story.
Why anyone would want to give up solid walls and indoor plumbing for a flimsy, primitive, fabric "shelter" is beyond me.
The tents in the camping grounds came in all sizes, shapes and colors. Some were ridiculously tiny, others definitely large enough to sleep, say, 2 medium sized adults and two smallish kids… See pics below:
But on windy nights – and some nights were exceptionally windy, not to mention a couple of rainy nights – I was truly worried that the tents would collapse or be blown away. They didn't. I guess tent people know what they're up against and how to secure their collapsible fabric abodes.
From the window of our RV, I saw the Tent People crawl out of their tents in the freezing morning, walk in their PJs to the public toilets, towel slung over shoulder, toiletry bag in hand, then emerge a few moments later, shiny-faced, moist hair, bluish fingers. Or maybe that last detail was just in my imagination; I myself was so cold, I either dressed under the covers or had the heating on for a short while to take the chill out of the "room".
These cold mornings were in Yellowstone National Park, by the way. Once farther south, say in Zion National Park, mornings were balmy-to-warm, until the sun peeked over the rocks, when it became boiling hot. Which doesn't mean the Tent Dwellers seemed any saner to me.
I got to thinking when was the last time I slept in a tent of my own free will. I add this qualification so as to rule out my time in the IDF basic training. The big, solid, 10-bed tent on the IDF base was fine; the tiny 2-person tent that we put up ourselves during an overnight march was not. I think the only other time I spent in a tent was oh, around 1976 or 1977, when, with a few friends, we spent Yom Kippur on Dor (Habonim) Beach.
Enough nostalgia. Back to Yellowstone, Zion, North Rim. Had I been more outgoing, I probably would have gotten into conversation with some TDs and asked to see their tent from the inside. I'm sure they'd be happy to. We invited some curious people to see the inside of our "establishment".
Oh well – next time!
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