If you were an active camper, does not mean you have to give up camping when you hit your golden years. Esther Bell, a Sun City resident, camping for 55 years continues to hitch her camper to the wagon and get back to nature.
Bell said, “In college, we went camping to a spot with no water, and no toilets. We brought big coolers, dug our latrines, and hung our toilet paper on branches. That trip as difficult as it sounds, but it was made worse when a tent started on fire from a spark from a campfire.”
Bell said, “We started with tent camping, then got a pop-up camper, and then a motor home. Now I have a small camper that suits me perfectly. It sleeps 4.”
Bell enjoys camping in State Parks and has a goal of staying at all sixty-three National Parks. Bell said, “I am heading up to Alaska this summer, but won’t be camping.”
What’s her favorite park?
Bell said, “Yellowstone, I’ve been there twice. It’s so beautiful. The geology of the land is beautiful. It has an extraordinary collection of hot springs and geysers. Watching Old Faithful erupt is a Yellowstone National Park tradition. We were lucky to see one of them go off. And then there are the waterfalls in the park. It’s spectacular.”
Esther Bell (second from right) enjoying a camping trip with her grandkids.
Old Faithful has attracted attention since the first explorers visited the area, and Native Americans before then. The geyser was named by Nathanial Langford, who said, “It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name “Old Faithful.”
Bell said “We would go on 5-week camping trips in Wisconsin, staying at Devil’s Lake, Baraboo, and on the river trails. We biked all over Wisconsin with two small kids on our bikes in bike seats.”
How old were Bell’s children when they started camping?
“They were babies. We brought a pad and play pens for them to sleep and eventually they got their own sleeping bags. We made friends and campsites that we visited annually and continue to meet. Last year we met in Alabama in April. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. We got hail that was as big as a grapefruit. Everyone got damage to their cars and there was coastal flooding. We had to evacuate, so we packed up and left.”
What was the scariest trip?
Bell said, “We saw a grizzly bear. It was at Glacier National Park. We were hiking a very hard trail. We were tired and we just turned around and walked down the road.”
Bell loves to travel and has more on the books.
“I’m going to Alaska and Iceland this summer. I have been on Viking River cruises from Budapest to Amsterdam and even one to Russia and Finland. Also been on tours to Germany, France and Costa Rica.”
Bell said, “I was considered a nerd growing up, but I now feel a little wild. I have gotten five tattoos. They are reminders of the people I loved in my life and are gone. Two for my husband, a cousin, and my sister. I got one just for me.”
