Remember that first-day-of-summer-feeling as a kid? No school for two glorious months, just endless days of swimming, camping, and riding bikes. For Tom Garcia and Katherine Howells’ grandkids, summer kicks off with "Grandpa Camp": a week-long tradition packed with adventure and memories.
“For that first week of summer, when school has ended but daycare hasn’t yet started, I get the kids,” Tom says. He and his wife are retired, and live in Portland, Oregon. For Grandpa Camp, Tom sets up his International in Champoeg State Park, thirty minutes south of the city. He picks his two grandsons up each morning, spends the day with them, and then drops them off after dinner. “I don't have them overnight. I'm not that crazy,” Tom laughs.
Just out the door of the International, the Willamette River winds like a silver thread. Champoeg’s whispering woods, open fields, and quiet wetlands breathe life into early summer and a simpler time.
This “day camp” kick off to summer is something the boys look forward to every year. “It’s such an enjoyable time for all of us; they’re already talking about next year,” Tom says.
During the week they ride bikes, play disc golf, watch woodpeckers, and sometimes venture into the historic town nearby. And of course, they eat delicious meals. “Their mom gives them breakfast at home, but sometimes they want to have a second breakfast,” Tom says. That often involves maple sausage and pancakes.
For lunch they love to make pasta and meatballs or bison burgers. And after lunch they have some quiet time in the Airstream for reading, even if it’s just 20-minutes.
“On Wednesday or Thursday of the week, my wife will come out from Portland for the evening,” Tom says, “for a special meal.” This year she brought their son-in-law’s mother, and the boys’ parents. “We cook a big dinner in the trailer. This year we made stew in the slow-cooker, and cast iron biscuits. Then we have s’mores after. The kids just love it. It’s their special time they get to share with their parents.
Tom says that whenever he gets back from a week of Grandpa Camp his friends always say he must be tired after so much activity. “And I say, yes, but my batteries are recharged.”
Besides Grandpa Camp, Katherine and Tom enjoy trips throughout the Pacific Northwest and California to see the rest of their family, and to attend Airstream Club Rallies. “We love it because the Airstream is our little bubble,” Tom says. “Our bed, our stuff. We always say we can make a six hour drive turn into a ten hour drive.” They love stopping along the way at a winery or a state park. They make their own meals in the trailer, or cook ahead and just reheat. It’s comfortable and familiar.
Katherine and Tom don’t keep tons of stuff in their Airstream because they like to keep things simple, but they do love to log their miles and document their trips. Tom keeps track of all of their stops, and posts photos with a travel app. Then, at the end of the year, he turns those photos into a book that they can flip through and remember where they’ve been. Each annual book stays in the trailer as a collection of memories.
For Katherine and Tom, it’s all about family, friends, and enjoying the trip just as much as the destination.
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