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Thats right...I am not going for some some sleek and fast sports car. I'd rather be picking them out of the grill of a 40-foot long motorhome. Why would such a vehicle be my dream ride? Well it all comes down to being able to travel. I want to see the North America coast-to-coast, including Canada and Alaska, and what better way to do that than cruising the highways in a motorhome. I could cruise the highways and byways in comfort, sleep wherever I parked, and technically say that I was camping. Hopefully by then we will have found a cheaper and more efficient fuel to power a Bounder, and the price of such an excursion wouldn't be too big of a factor. But no matter what, thats the dream.

It is hard for me to choose one place where I enjoy the great outdoors. I say that because I don't really have one specific place that I have regularly gone in recent years. Having lived along the coast in Florida for my entire life, I have been out on the boat and to the beach quite regularly, but I don't consider a trip to the beach or a day on the boat as being in "the great outdoors." In fact it is hard for me to consider any coastal place in Florida as "the great outdoors."

When I think great outdoors, I think of forests, mountains, hills, scenic overlooks, trails, and camping. I think crisp and quiet night air, campfires, fireflies, and starlit night skies. To really be in “The Great Outdoors,” I think there needs to be at least some possibility to waking up to some large, carnivorous creature wandering around the camping area looking for a meal. I have visited several national parks, including Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, and Glacier. Those are great places to visit, but I can hardly consider those as my "favorite places" because I don’t travel to those places regularly (though I do want to make it back to Glacier National Park at some point).

No, I have to think back to when I was younger and spent my summers in Upstate Western New York with my extended family. Almost every summer we would take a week or so and rent a cabin at Allegany State Park, which sits along the border with Pennsylvania. Like most any other state park, there are several hiking trails, picnic areas, a lake with a beach, a run-down mini golf course, and plenty of ways to spend a leisurely day. There are places to play horseshoes, tennis, and large open fields to do whatever.

The cabins were pretty basic, with six beds (a term I use loosely), and a main room with some basic kitchen appliances and furniture. There was a porch where we would put up a hammock, and a fire pit where we would grill burgers and chicken. I have many memories of sitting around the campfire late at night and looking out over an open field nearby where the fireflies were lighting up. It was all so simple.

What I enjoyed most about Allegany, though, was its network of paved bike trails that circled the lake and sprouted off to different camping areas and scenic points. It wasn’t a huge network of trails, but it was hilly and fun to ride, and that was about all I needed to be happy when I was young. I would get up early in the morning when it was cool and misty just to ride around while the sun came up. There were places that overlooked fields where the deer could usually be seen. There was a covered bridge that traversed a cold stream, a stop near a marshy area where beavers built dams, and a hill from which you could look down over the entire lake and activities area. It was fun to ride to the different camping areas and ride the camp loops to see the RVs and tents, and sometimes the crazy decorations that people would put up to spice up their campsites.

While Allegany doesn’t have the status of a national park, nor does it have scenery that rivals the mountainous areas out west, I can say that out of all of the “Great Outdoors” places that I have been, it is definitely the place where I would most like to return.