Über Gary Hornibrook

I have been a camper since my boy scout days in the early 1960's. My dad started selling travel trailers at that time too. The first line he sold was Mallard of West Bend, Wisconsin. We would get up at 5am on Saturday and drive 400 miles to the plant. There, they would have the trailer he ordered ready and parked just outside the plant office. We would sleep there at the plant that night, then drive home on Sunday. Every trip would include a stop at Wisconsin Dells where we would see one of the attractions and do some shopping downtown. Each summer we would pick out one of the trailers that was in the sales lot to use for a family vacation. We did a number of trips both locally and across the country. In 1965 we did a trip to California where we camped just outside Disneyland. From the campground pool we had a great view of the nightly fireworks as they lit up the sky over the Matterhorn Mountain. It was magical! We also did many camping trips with the families of the local volunteer fire department. It was always a great time for us kids to fish and swim and play together. In the early 1970's I was serving in the Navy and had the good fortune to be stationed at Jacksonville Beach, Florida. At that time, I had an AMC Hornet Hatchback with a custom-made tent cover for the hatch. Every weekend that I was off duty I would take off and go wherever the road took me. I camped on beaches, in parks, and sometimes just out in a field. It was a wonderful way to see the less visited back country of Florida. By the time 1980 rolled around I had a family of my own and was living in Esko, Minnesota, near Duluth. It was then that I bought a new tent, and we began a tradition of camping at the COE Campground at Crosslake, Minnesota. That tradition continues down to this day, as I make at least one trip there each year. Now, however, in place of the tent it's a comfortable 5th wheel trailer and the family now includes 4 wonderful grandchildren who always look forward to those special days. Camping has always been a joyful part of my life and I hope there will be many, many more wonderful memories yet to come!