Camp Willapa Map, 1940 — as I remember it

I’m sure there’s a saying about not really appreciating something until you don’t have it.  If you’ve been without one of those “take-it-for-granted” things like running water — and not for just a day or two but for a full week or more — you know just what I mean!   After  seven full days and nights in that situation, I can scarcely tell you how joyous it is to shower and to flush to say nothing of use the dishwasher and the washing machine!

It’s not that I’ve never done without the amenities of running water or even electricity.  From the time I was seven until I was fourteen, I spent every July and August at Dorothy Elliott’s Camp Willapa.  We had neither of the above and I honestly can’t remeber giving it a thought.  Each group of campers (“Squirrels” were the youngest — five and six year-olds, I think) included roughly 12 or so girls of a two-to three year age span.  By the time I was 14, I was a “Junior Counselor” and lived with the Squirrels in Squirrel Lodge.

From My Scrapbook – “Our Tent, 1947”

Before that, I worked my way up the age groups, each group having their own large lodge and four or five “tent cabins” in which we slept.  Each group also had an outhouse, a fire pit over which hung an huge cauldron from which we scooped warm water in our tin basins for washing ourselves and maybe our underwear.  Most of our clothing, though — shirts, pants (called “longs” and “shorts”) were sent once a week to the Chells Laundry in Ocean Park.

Our various  daily “duties” were rotated each week and  included “outhouse duty” (sweep, mop, make sure there was T.P. and a supply of lime, “fire duty” which meant having a supply of firewood handy to the fire and keeping an eye on it throughout the day so it never died out completey; water duty which involved pumping buckets and buckets of water from the pitcher pump and filling the cauldron each day.

Hot Water Supply at Camp Willapa

Fortunately, we all took our meals at the Cook Tent whcih most years was run by Mrs. Eberhardt from Ocean Park.  I think it had electricity and I know there was running  water because one of our “punishments” was KP Duty (which I do remember, but not what my transgressions were.)

Those years were later followed by dry camping out of our VW Bug when Charlie and Marta were little.  After many camping trips with zero amenities during my Camp Willapa years, I thought having a Coleman Stove was a luxury beyond compare!

All of these memories notwithstanding, this past week waiting for my ancient pipes (not my personal ones… not yet) to be replaced by the plumber was not a pleasant time.  I would have traded almost anything for the old outhouse that I remember here when I was very young  or that old pitcher pump by the back door with its reliable stream of running water!