Karen Wils photo Alisa and Bob get comfy in this photo from 2000.

Karen Rose Wils

ESCANABA — Wet tennis shoes and flip-flops. The buzz of mosquitoes and the zzzip of the sleeping bag zipper. Comfy shorts and folding lawn chairs. It is officially summertime in Upper Michigan. (The first day of summer was June 20.)

Camping, hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking and canoeing entice us to be outdoors all day and, sometimes, all night.

Camp out memories are cool treasures.

It does not matter if your camping experiences took place at the family camp, a rented cabin, a pop-up camper, a tent or a rustic lean-to, it’s the outdoor adventure that creates lasting memories.

When we were kids back in the 1970s, sleeping in the back of Dad’s pickup truck in the backyard was totally awesome.

Some kids had shacks, sheds or treehouses for summer sleepouts. Pup tents, flashlights, a bag of potato chips and a comic book were a recipe for fun.

On the other end of the scale, some folks traveled from the Mackinaw to the Keweenaw with 5th wheel campers, side-by-sides and trail bikes in tow. Families have enjoyed Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks, Big Springs, Fayette and the Porcupine Mountains and have slept in the woodlands along the way.

As a kid, one of the summertime highlights was spending over nights at our family camp. Our camp is a rustic thing tucked close to the Escanaba River. With six kids and often a few cousins in a camp with no electricity, an outhouse and all of the cool spring water that you could carry, it was always a close to nature experience.

Bunk beds, a pull-out mattress, thick camp quilts and old feather pillows made the night warm and comfortable.

Mom made breakfast wonderful. The first thing you smelled in the morning while you were still under the covers was coffee perking on the woodstove. Bacon, pancakes or French toast kicked off a great day of hiking, crayfish hunting, basswood whistle making, stone skipping, river wading, wild berry picking days.

The sound of crickets and the barred owl’s “hoot, hoot, hoot whoooo,” would be the music to end another day.

Today, many lucky kids get to sleep-out at Scout camps, Bible camps and sport camps. Families go online to reserve a site for their campers for the summer months. And country cottages are opened up aired out and the pillows are fluffed ready to welcome summer visitors. Good night and sweet dreams.