Backpacker "Doesn't Get It"

"If you drive a motor home, you’re insulated from the rain. Your hips will never lay down to rest on a rock that’s sharp enough to poke through your sleeping pad. You won’t wake up covered in condensation, you won’t drool on the down jacket that doubles as a pillow, and you won’t have to pump your stove 45 times."

Ah, the idylic life of the backpacker. These are the comments of Evelyn Spence, an editor with Backpacker Magazine. She and a friend took a road trip through the west and were amazed at the curious names RV manufacturers choose to adorn their rigs with.

Writes Spence,"As we bee-lined across the Bonneville Salt Flats the next morning, we had numerous wildlife sightings. Dolphin. Coyote. Mallard. The Eagle. Road Bear. We had cute, nonsensical re-spellings that would make Lynne Truss want to kill herself. Carri-Lite. Komfort. Magestic. We even had mythical heroes (Midas). Heroic descriptors, or slightly exploitative First Nations references (Brave, Chieftain). Classic rock stars (Santana). Possible cartoon superheroes (The Road Ranger). Some of the names I just didn’t get. Layton. (Was that someone’s dad?) Prowler (um, creepy). Concourse. (Aren’t you driving an RV to get away from airports?)"

After mentioning how tough the life of an RVer must be, after all, we'll never hear the howl of the coyotes, nor be able to drink in the fresh scents of the wilderness, readers are presented with an opportunity to make their own comments. Not surprisingly, one of the first ones came from a Washington state woman, Elaine W. Perhaps echoing the comments of many of us 'old duffers,' Elaine writes (in part), "After 24 years growing herbs for the wholesale business, bending, weeding, planting, and constantly working so hard that most people, including you, probably can't even imagine, I want to SEE this great country of ours and sleep in my own bed at night. We are taking the plunge to 'fulltimers"... So...get over yourself! And add this to your list... "Yipee-ti-yi-yae!"

For the full story, and your own opportunity to comment, visit the High Country News.