Thanks for sharing. My story goes something like this:
I was an avid tent camper with all the gear when I met my future DW at 23yr old. She had never seen a tent before that time nor had any interest in crawling into one.
I talked her into a weekend trip to Canyon Lake, just try it you might like it.
By 10pm on the first night it started raining. By 2am I was packing up soaking wet gear in a downpour heading for a hotel. She didn't make it through the first night before saying never again. And I married her anyway. Was it that pretty smile, great cooking, not sure.
Fast forward 7 years and I have a DW and a four year old DD#1. I want to introduce DD#1 to the great outdoors and the adventure of camping but DW is playing 3rd base. We compromised by renting a PU.
That first trip was a challenge mostly due to coolmom42's list but DW endured for the sake of DD#1 really enjoying the whole adventure. I realized this is anything but a nice vacation for DW so ground rules are applied and things were better moving forward.
We started renting TT's for the onboard facilities and increased comfort.
Over the years DD#2 and DS came along and DW recognized the appreciation the family has for camping. In other words, she warmed up to it. We finally bought our first camper in 2002.
Kids are all grown and gone now and we enjoy the camper more as a rolling condo for traveling. It has been some time since I have built a campfire or roasted marshmallows.
