Since moving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Oregon, I’ve gotten used to a lot of amazing things.  The mountain views, rocky beaches and lush forests were all new to me.  I fell in love with not only the man I moved out here for (now my husband), but also the beauty of Oregon. I went from being a city girl to camping in the middle of nowhere with just a tent to protect me from the monsters I make up in my head.   (“But what if there really are werewolves with two heads and seven rows of teeth????”  Sometimes watching too many horror films can make me a bad camper.)

I feel like I’m pretty close to convincing my husband that we should purchase a teardrop camper.  There are so many things to love about being surrounded by protective covering while having the luxury of pouring wine from our very own wine rack.  I’m pretty sure they are bear and cougar safe as well.  Oh, and snakes.  I doubt they would be able to open the door.  So many reasons to buy one!

I love hiking and experiencing the wild, but I also like feeling safe when we’re hoping for a bigfoot encounter.  These woods out here in the West are scary to a city girl like me.  Bigfooting is easily mistaken for monster hunting, and my imagination can run away with me.  It would be terrifying if a large troll was lurking around Mt. Hood.  (Did anyone see Troll Hunter?)  So, my point is that owning a teardrop would end my nightmares of camping.  At least I’m hoping it would.  

By Melissa Barackman