Rock Family ‘Frauds’ After Camping Trip

When we were growing up, my parents brought us camping quite a bit. Initially, we owned a pop-up camper, but then graduated to a trailer. The trailer was equipped with air conditioning, a kitchen and a bathroom.

At the time, we were at the introductory stages of "glamping," but our camper would be modest by today's standards.

My wife told me about a month ago that she had booked a camping trip to Normandy Farms in Foxboro. Apparently, one of my son's friends was going to be there with his family, so the kids really wanted to be there together.

I was a little surprised that my wife had done this, for two reasons:

1.  She's not exactly the kind of girl that enjoys camping and the outdoors.

2.  We don't even own a tent, never mind a camper.

I just couldn't picture my wife sleeping in a tent without air conditioning or a proper bed. It turns out, my instincts were correct.

In addition to renting a campsite for the weekend, my wife booked us a room at the Renaissance at Patriot Place. We'd spend the day at the campsite, cook food on our portable grill, make S'mores around the campfire, then pack up and head to the hotel when it was time for bed. It's not something I'm proud of but, to be fair, I didn't hatch up the plans.

When my teenage daughter told us, "we're a bunch of frauds," it was hard to disagree.

While I can't ever see us pitching a tent and spending the night camping, I was definitely interested in the safari tents that Normandy Farms and other campgrounds have started to offer.

I'm thinking we wait until the fall (when air conditioning will no longer be needed) and give that a try. Seems like a happy medium to me.