As you may recall, a short while back I wrote about spending an afternoon late last summer (2000) with my nudist friends, Jim and Ann and their kids. At the end of that day, Ann said we’d all have to do something again before too long. Well, about the middle of September, Ann called and invited me to go camping with them at the nudist club they belong to. It turned out to be so much fun! Here’s how it all came about.

When I got home from class one afternoon, there was a message from Ann on my machine. Her message said to call her right away because they were making plans to go camping for the weekend and they wanted to invite me along. I called her back immediately.

"Hi, it’s Sunny," I said.

"Oh, hi!" Ann said. "Haven’t heard from you in awhile. How’ve you been?"

"I’m fine," I replied. "School is really keeping me busy this semester."

"I know how that goes," Ann said. "Well, if you feel like you can take a break from it, think about this: we’ve just decided here at the last minute that we’re going to get in one more camping trip before it gets too cold. So we’re going camping this weekend at the nudist club we belong to – you know, the one we told you about - and we wondered if you’d like to come along. You’re more than welcome, but of course we’d understand if you’re too busy with school and work to get away. I know it’s short notice."

Ann and Jim had already told me all about the nudist club they belonged to and I had been secretly hoping that they would invite me to go along sometime. It sounded like such an awesome place. This would be a dream come true.

"Oh, that would be so cool!" I exclaimed. "The only thing is I need to check out my work schedule for the weekend and get my shifts covered when I’m scheduled to work. Can I let you know for sure tomorrow?"

"Sure, no problem," Ann said. "No hurry. And no pressure. We’re going regardless, but we’d love to have you come, too if you can and if you want to. We’re planning to leave here Friday afternoon and get back Sunday night sometime – not too late, though."

"Oh, I’d love to go," I said. "And thanks for thinking of me. I just need to cover some bases before I can say for sure. I’ll let you know tomorrow. OK?"

"OK. Hope it works out. Bye now," Ann said.

"I’m going to do everything I can to make it work out," I said. "Call you tomorrow. Bye."

That evening at work (I work part time as a lifeguard at the local community center pool), I checked the schedule for the upcoming weekend and during a break I called in a few favors. By the time I went home, I was free for the weekend. And was I ever hyped up about getting to go to a nudist campground and be nude outdoors for a whole weekend. Forty-eight hours of continuous total freedom and liberation. I’d never even been nude in my apartment continuously for that long. Sure, I’ve been to nude beaches a few times, but I had to get dressed and leave at the end of the day. And yes, I’ve been nude outdoors many times at the place in the country near where I live, but that’s a place I’m not supposed to be nude so it doesn’t feel as free as it should. And I’ve been running nude a lot in and around a new housing development where I live, but I’ve always had to sneak around and do it in the dark. But this weekend I would be going to a place where nude is totally, totally normal. I couldn’t wait.

The next day, I called Ann back and we worked out all the details about when we were leaving and what I could bring in the way of food to help out. Now all I had to do was get through the rest of the week. I just kept thinking about how great it was going to be - nude - outdoors - all weekend!

At long last it was Friday and my last class was over. I went home to my apartment, picked up my stuff, and headed over to Jim and Ann’s. They were still loading up and hitching up their pop-up camping trailer so I pitched in and helped out wherever I could. When we were finally ready to go, the four of them and the one of me climbed into their mini-van and we were on our way. It was a two-hour trip over to the campground and I talked and played with the kids, Mark (4) and Sarah (2) the whole way. They were so excited about going camping.

It was great riding through the countryside. As we drove farther and farther through the country, there were fewer and fewer houses along the way and eventually Jim slowed and turned off onto a long gravel driveway marked private. The driveway led to an open gate that took us through a thick row of trees running parallel to the road. Just inside the gate was a house that belonged to the caretaker. Jim stopped at the house, checked in, and then we drove on up over a hill and then part way down the other side to the camping area. As we topped the hill, I had a view of the entire property. It was beautiful. Beyond the camping area and facilities were undeveloped areas that alternated between open grassland and forest areas. A few trees were starting to change colors already, but it was still early in the fall so most of the trees were still green.

The camping area consisted of two rows of campsites along either side of a paved roadway. The facilities consisted of restrooms, outdoor showers, a pool, an open shelter house with lots of picnic tables, a volleyball court, and a children’s play area with swings and things like that. The facilities were not elaborate, but they were well cared for and the grounds were immaculate. The roadway dead-ended so that there was no traffic running through the camping area. But once people arrived, they just left their vehicles parked until it was time to leave anyway.

Jim turned to drive down the rows of campsites. There were about twenty occupied spaces already and Jim and Ann waved to the people they saw as we drove by. Ann said that everybody knows everybody here. Jim and Ann selected a spot just past the last camper and backed their camper into place. We all piled out of the van happy to stretch out after the long ride. The kids knew the routine quite well and immediately started to get undressed. "First things first!" Ann said to me and in about half a minute, there were five more nudists in camp (well, Sarah needed a little help). It was about 4:00 p.m. so the sun was still up and the air was warm with a gentle breeze blowing. It felt great!

Then we turned our attention to getting our campsite set up and organized. Ann and I helped Jim get the camper unhitched from the van and then we raised the top (unfolded or whatever you call it that you do to a pop-up camper). All the while we were doing this people were stopping by to say hello to Jim and Ann and in turn I was introduced to each of them. They were all very friendly and accepting and made me feel completely at ease and welcome.

Finally we finished getting things organized. The kids had been asking to go to the pool ever since we arrived so we all started off in that direction. This took us back past all the other campers and we stopped to say hi and chat along the way. I was introduced to so many people in such a short while that I couldn’t begin to remember all the names. When we stopped to talk to the people at the last camper, the kids were getting very impatient and so after being introduced I offered to take them on down to the pool while Jim and Ann visited for a few more minutes. There were no arguments with that.

There was no one else at the pool when the three of us got down there. Before the kids jumped in I reminded them of my pool rules for their safety. Then Mark and I dipped our toes in the water to check the temperature and found it to be pretty chilly. Apparently the cool nights we’d been having were having their effect on the water temperature. But that didn’t slow the kids down much. Mark asked if he could dive in and I said OK. This was not a very large pool and he’s a pretty good swimmer for his age, so I let him go to the deep end and dive in. He came up shouting about how cold it was, but then he immediately swam to the side to get out and do it all over again.

Sarah and I walked along the deck to about the middle of the pool. We both sat down on the edge and I put my feet in the water (her’s wouldn’t reach). YIKES – this water was down right cold! Oh well – keep moving – I scooted on into the water (it was only about waist deep here) and immediately did a quick forward dive from where I was to get completely submerged. I swam a few feet towards the middle and then while still under water I turned back, swam to Sarah, and stood up. As I smoothed back my hair I had to catch my breath. The shock of the cold water sort of took my breath away for just a second. Sarah was laughing because she could see by my expression that the water was cold. Then she held out her arms to me so I picked her up and dipped her down into the water. It took her breath away, too, at first, but then she started laughing again and didn’t want to get out. So I helped her with her swimming and kept an eye on Mark at the same time. Before long Jim and Ann arrived. They sat down at the edge of the pool and put their legs in, but that’s as far as they went because of the cold water. Ann immediately changed position so that her legs wouldn’t be in the water and just sat cross-legged at the edge of the pool beside Jim as they watched on as we played. We swam and played like this for a while until it was time to go back to camp.

Back in the camping area, more campers had arrived while we were swimming. It was late enough now people were beginning to fix dinner as we walked between the rows of campers and the wonderful smells of outdoor cooking made us all feel hungry. Ann declared that fixing dinner was the next order of business. She gave each of us our assignments and we all went right to work. All went smoothly and before long we like many of the other campers were sitting at our picnic table enjoying a great outdoor meal. After we finished, assignments for cleaning up and putting things away were made, and these tasks were done in short order, too.

After dinner, the kids wanted to show me the playground so the three of us went there. The sun was beginning to set by now and as we played on the swings and things, we watched a beautiful sunset. It’s amazing how refreshing and new something as common as a sunset can be when we spend so much time in town where such simple but beautiful things go unnoticed. By the time the kids were ready to go back, the sun had been down for a while and it was getting dark. As we were walking back, I was becoming aware that the temperature had dropped quite a bit and I was feeling a bit chilly by the time we reached camp. Apparently it was beginning to be noticed by everyone else, too, as I saw that many people were now dressed. Ann instructed the kids to get dressed when we got back. They objected, but their mom prevailed as always. Sarah came to me for help getting her little sweat pants and top on and as soon as she was dressed, I reluctantly slipped into my wind suit. It felt good to have some protection from the chilly night air, but at the same time I was disappointed because I had had high hopes of being nude from the time we arrived until the minute we left. But it was not to be – not only because it was just too cold, but also because I didn’t want to set a bad example for the kids.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in our campsite and talking with our neighbors. Then I helped get the kids ready for bed and we all piled in to the camper for the night. Everyone must have been tired because there wasn’t much talking by anyone. I lay awake for a while enjoying the comfort of my warm sleeping bag and reflecting back on the day’s events. My first partial day in a real nudist campground had been all I was expecting it to be. The whole setting was very natural and rustic and the people were so friendly - even friendlier than I thought they would be. Nearly everyone was nude - at least up until it got cold. Jim and Ann were probably the youngest adults there except for me. But people weren’t cliquish and didn’t seem to make any distinctions among themselves because of age or any other reason. Everyone just seemed to like each other and enjoy the company of everybody else. That’s how it’s supposed to be everywhere, isn’t it? I think nudism promotes this kind of friendliness. I was looking forward to tomorrow. ‘Life is good’ was the last thing I remember thinking before falling asleep.

The next morning the kids were the first ones awake and in the small confines of the camper, that meant the rest of us were awake shortly thereafter. The sun had already risen and the day held promise for being a nice one. Ann got some cereal and juice out for the kids.

"Some breakfast, Sunny?" she asked.

"No thanks," I said. "I think I’ll go for a little run and explore the trails first if that’s alright with you all."

"No problem," Ann said. "Jim, why don’t you go, too. Show her around."

"Sure. Be glad to," Jim said. "But I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up. I haven’t been running much lately."

"Don’t worry about that," I said. "Let’s just take it easy and have fun – no new Olympic records or anything, OK?"

I peeled off my wind suit and put on my socks and running shoes. I did a little stretching while Jim finished getting ready. It still felt a little chilly, but I knew that would change once we had been running a few minutes. Soon we were off on an easy jog.

The property that the club owns consists of eighty acres of land and has trails that sort of crisscross it randomly rather than just circle the perimeter. The land lies mostly in a valley and is partly forested and partly open grassland. The trails go through all parts of it. The route Jim led us on maximized the length of the trail and gave me a tour of the whole place. We ran single file down the narrow trails that ran through the trees and side by side when the trail widened in the open areas. Near one end of the property was a large pond. A small stream then ran the length of the valley from there to the other end of the property although there was barely any water in the stream as a result of the dry summer months. We finished our run back at the top of the hill above the camping area and looked back over the property at the places we had been. As we were catching our breath and cooling down we talked about what a beautiful location this was. I could see why people wanted to be members here.

By now the chill in the air had gone partly due to the temperature warming up nicely and but mostly due to the trail running we had just finished. As Jim and I walked back down the hill toward the camping area, we stopped by the showers. The shower facility consisted of a completely open area with several showerheads side by side coming out of the outside wall of the building that contained the restrooms. We kicked off our shoes and socks and then we each turned on a shower and let the warm water wash off all the sweat and dust from our run. Not having to take off clothes or dry off and get dressed afterwards makes showering so easy and convenient. Why can’t it be that way all the time? We walked on back to our campsite letting the air dry us off as we walked.

Upon arriving back at the campsite, we ate a bite and the five of us talked and goofed around a while. As always there was a lot of talking with the other camping neighbors around us. Pretty soon Jim and Ann decided to take a walk down the trail alone while the kids and I continued to hang out around the campsite playing games and playing with their toys.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to account for every minute of the whole weekend in this story. Just know that any times not specifically mentioned were spent in a laid-back, relaxing manner - no cares, no worries, no schedules.

Later in the day while the kids were napping, Ann and I went for a walk on the trail. After we were down the trail and into the quiet of the trees, Ann asked, "So, what do you think so far?"

"Oh, this place is so awesome!" I said. "I just love it. And it just feels so natural to be nude here. I mean, it’s different from being nude out in the pasture back home. Being nude here is so totally normal. There’s no pressure to do it, at least none that I’ve felt, but you just want to because it feels so right. It feels more normal here even than on the nude beach. Does that make any sense?"

"Yep. I know exactly what you mean," Ann said. "We feel that way, too. But it’s always fun to hear it from a first-timer. I think the reason that this is so different from your other experiences is that this place is under the full control of a nudist organization and it exists for its members to get away from the real world and enjoy nude recreation for a while."

"And everyone here is so nice," I said. "They’ve really made me feel welcome."

Ann said, "Yes, everybody around here is really nice. Our club has had that kind of reputation ever since I can remember."

Ann and Jim had been coming to this campground ever since they were children. In fact, this was the only place they saw each other when they were children because their families didn’t live in the same town. Whenever their families happened to be here at the same time, they used to play together along with the other kids all day long.

"That’s great," I remarked. "You’re lucky to have always been a nudist. So are your kids."

"Yeah, I know it," she said. "We owe it to our open-minded, free-spirited parents, I guess."

"Well, I’m lucky, too," I said. "Lucky that I decided to act on my curiosities about nudism and especially lucky that my path crossed with you guys this summer."

"That was pure luck," Ann replied. "But, our meeting was lucky for Jim and me, too. You’re such a sweet person and fun to be around. And it’s fun to see you discovering all the joys of nudism and hearing your refreshing views on it as you do."

"Well, thanks," I said. "But, getting to hang with you and Jim and the kids has just reinforced what I’ve always felt – that nudism is totally natural and totally right. It’s just given me even more confidence to live the way I had thought about for a long time. And you know what else, Ann? Maybe one of these days I’ll even be as good at this as you are." I made this last statement in a light-hearted manner, but apparently Ann took it a bit more seriously.

"Hey, now wait a minute," Ann said. "What makes you think you’re not good at this already? Look at us. Here we are – two adult women walking down a trail outdoors in the wide-open countryside. We’re nude and have been all day. Our clothes, shoes, jewelry, everything is way back at the campsite stowed away because we don’t need any of that stuff. We’re out here with nothing but what we were born with. Right?"

"Right," I agreed.

"And we’re comfortable and confident in that. We choose to be nude. We prefer to be nude. We’re not ashamed to see or be seen. No fears. No anxieties. Right?"

"Right," I agreed again as I began to see where Ann was going.

"So we both feel and act the same way about this. The fact that I’ve been doing this all my life and you’ve been doing it only for the last couple of years doesn’t really make any difference. What I’m trying to say is, you’re a natural. You’re every bit the nudist that I am. And I don’t think I’m lacking in any self-confidence or self-esteem; therefore, you aren’t either. So just go on the way you are – believing in yourself and living your life like you know you should. You’re already a great person and you’re only going to get even better."

"Well, thanks, Ann," I said in a serious, somber manner. "That was nice of you to say that."

"You’re welcome," Ann said also in the same manner mocking me so as to provide a little comic relief. We both laughed at that and then hugged before continuing our walk along the trail.

As we continued walking Ann told me lots more about the many times they had been here as kids and pointed out places where they had all played and done various things as they were growing up. There turned out to be a lot of personal history with some of the creek crossings and groves of trees and various other places. She talked a lot about her past here with Jim such as how they had grown closer together as they grew up. She pointed out where they had first kissed when they were thirteen and how they used to walk back here in the trees holding hands and just enjoying being together and eventually realizing they were in love. Lots and lots of girl talk – I won’t bore you with any more of it. It will suffice to say that we walked and talked a good deal of the afternoon and had a great time together.

When we returned and were walking down the row of campsites, I quietly drew Ann’s attention to a girl that was sitting by herself at one of the campsites. She looked to be junior high or early high school in age. She was dressed and was just sitting alone at the picnic table listening to her Discman even though her parents were nearby.

Once we were past their campsite, I said to Ann, "That girl looks so unhappy just sitting there. Why do you suppose she’s not doing something to have fun? Do you know her?"

Ann answered, "Yes, I kind of know her. I can’t remember her name, but her parents have been members here for a long time – since before she was born, I think. She’s another one who has grown up coming here. It’s funny, but some kids when they become teen-agers, they sort of turn away from nudism – at least for awhile. Peer pressure and worrying about what their friends might think is the reason, I guess. A lot of them just stay dressed and keep to themselves like that. And if their parents will let them stay home, they stop coming altogether. Jim and I were never like that, though. But we kind of had a special thing going. I guess we were so into each other that we didn’t feel any real peer pressure from our other friends. We were always so eager to see each other that you couldn’t have kept us away. But I worry about Mark and Sarah – what it will be like for them when they get that age."

"It probably doesn’t help that there’s nobody else her age here," I said. "I’m about the closest."

"That’s true," Ann replied and then said thoughtfully, "Maybe you could talk to her."

"I spoke to her earlier today as I went by, but she had her headphones on and apparently didn’t hear me. But I’ll make it a point to stop by again."

It wasn’t long before that opportunity came up. No sooner were we back in camp than the kids who had been up from their nap for a while wanted to go to the pool. I volunteered to take them and so back down the row of campsites we went. As we walked back by the girl’s campsite, I saw that she was lying on the seat of their picnic table with her headphones on. Her eyes were closed and she was sort of quietly singing along to her music. I told the kids to wait just a minute and I walked over to her.

"Hi," I said. There was no response. So I tried again.

"Hi," I said louder this time. She opened her eyes and slowly rose up onto one elbow.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked in a sort of indifferent way.

"Yes," I said pleasantly even though I felt a little irritated by her attitude. There wasn’t anyone else around, but I didn’t point that out. "I wondered if you’d like to come down to the pool with us. Just for something to do - somebody to talk to."

She paused a second and then all she said was, "No thanks."

"OK," I replied. "Maybe another time."

"Yeah. (pause) Maybe," she said. And that was that. She lay back down and I walked back to the kids.

Well, I had tried, but I didn’t take it personally. After all, I had sort of caught her off guard. As we walked on to the pool, I decided I’d try again the next chance that came along.

Then early that evening just after we had eaten supper and as I was walking Sarah down to the restroom, we walked past the girl and her family at their campsite. I spoke to the three of them and we all introduced ourselves. The girl’s name was Amanda. She continued to be very quiet and distant, but I chatted with her parents for just a minute until Sarah interrupted and insisted in no uncertain terms that she needed to use the restroom. We laughed and said good-bye as Sarah and I resumed our walk.

We hadn’t gone far when I heard, "Hey, wait up." To my surprise, it was Amanda coming up behind us.

"Oh, hi," I replied as she caught up to us.

"Mind if I tag along?" she asked.

"No, of course not," I said. "Come on."

"Listen, about this afternoon," Amanda began kind of sheepishly. "I think I was kind of rude to you and (pause) I’m sorry."

"Oh, don’t mention it," I said cheerfully in an effort to make her feel at ease. "It was my fault. I think maybe I woke you up or startled you or something. I’m the one who’s sorry."

"No, that wasn’t it", she said in the same tone of voice. "I was just feeling, well, out of sorts and I kinda took it out on you. Sorry."

"It’s OK. Don’t worry about it," I replied and then continued with, "It doesn’t look like you’re having a very good time. Is anything wrong?"

"No. Nothing’s really wrong. I just didn’t want to come here this weekend," she explained. "My parents made me, though. They said it’s probably our last chance to camp this year. So here I am. (sigh) Is it Sunday night yet?"

As we were waiting on Sarah, I smiled at Amanda’s sarcastic question and said, "You’d probably rather be back home hanging with your friends. Right? Maybe going to a football game? Or a movie?" Then I added in a sly tone of voice, "Or…maybe there’s a certain guy back home?"

When she smiled shyly and acted a little embarrassed at my last question, I knew I’d connected. She gradually began to tell me more about this "certain guy" that she’s secretly pursuing (but is trying to make him think it’s his idea) and a lot about herself and her best friends that she hangs with. It was all things I could relate to from when I was that age. I learned that she was fifteen and in her sophomore year of high school and that she and her parents live in a small town quite a ways from the campground.

By now we had walked over to the play area so that Sarah could swing. While I pushed Sarah, Amanda and I continued to talk. She asked me a lot of questions so I told her about my friends and me and some of the goofy things we’ve done. We talked like that and laughed and traded stories until Sarah was ready to go back.

When we got back to Amanda’s campsite, her parents were off visiting somewhere. Sarah spotted her mom and dad visiting just a few campsites away so she ran over to join them leaving Amanda and me to continue talking.

Now that she and I knew each other a little better, I decided to ask a few probing questions to see if I could find out why she wasn’t enjoying herself here and what was really bothering her. "So-o-o-o," I said slowly and then continued after a pause, "How come you’re not nude?"

"I don’t know," she replied reverting back to her earlier distant tone of voice and appearing somewhat uncomfortable with my question.

"It just seems that since you’re here, you might as well make the best of it and enjoy yourself," I said still trying to draw her back into conversation.

She made no eye contact and no response. It didn’t bother me at all whether she chose to be nude or not, but I thought that by talking about that, she might tell me the real reason she was unhappy about being here.

I asked this next question already fairly certain it wasn’t an issue, but I thought it might start some discussion. "So, are you (pause) ashamed of your body?"

"No," she replied immediately and suddenly looking at me like I had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

"Well then…?" I continued to probe leaving the question open.

"It’s just that (sigh and long pause) none of my friends know I come here and if they ever found out, I’d just die." She was talking faster now. "I don’t know what they’d do. I don’t know what I’d do. Everyone at school would just tease me and laugh at me and I wouldn’t have any friends. The girls would think I was weird or stupid and the guys would think I was some kind of easy slut. Sunny, it’d be awful. I don’t know what I’d do." And then after a short pause she added with desperation in her voice, "You know?"

Amanda was obviously quite distraught over the possibility of her friends finding out about her family’s nudist activities. Even though I didn’t think it was that big of a problem, I didn’t want to make light of her concern so I kept asking questions.

"Back home, who all knows you come here?" I asked.

"Nobody," she replied.

"How about your parents? Do they tell their friends about it?"

"No. We live in a small town and nobody would understand. So we’ve always kept it to ourselves."

"Well then, if you don’t tell and your parents don’t tell, how will your friends find out?" I asked.

"I guess they probably wouldn’t," she admitted, but then immediately asked, "but what if they did?"

"It just seems to me that it would be very unlikely," I answered. "Your situation is about the same as mine. Back home, besides Ann and Jim, there is only one person my age that knows I’m a nudist and he’s a nudist, too. I got him started. But just like you said, we know that most of our other friends wouldn’t understand, so we don’t tell anyone. But if we ever do, we’ll be very selective about who it is and how we tell them so that they don’t jump to the wrong conclusion."

"Yeah, but it’s different for you," she said. "You’re older."

"It’s no different," I insisted. "And I’m only five years older."

"I guess you’re right," she admitted. And then abruptly switching subjects, she said, "You look like you’re cold."

It was dark by now and although this day had been a lot warmer than yesterday and the temperature had stayed up longer into the evening, I was now feeling pretty chilly. We were sitting together on the same side of their picnic table seat facing away from the table. I was sitting with my arms folded and my legs close together trying to stave off the chilliness of the evening, but I was trying to endure it because I didn’t want our conversation to end just yet.

"Yeah, I’m cold," I replied. "Walk with me back to my campsite so I can put something on."

We continued our conversation as we walked over to my campsite. When we got there, Ann and Jim were back so I introduced Amanda to them and we talked for a little while. Then Amanda and I went off on our own again to continue our conversation.

"Back to talking about our friends," Amanda began again as we walked. "Another thing that bothers me is that my friends don’t know about me and my parents being nudists. I mean, I don’t want them to know, but at the same time, I feel like I’m holding something back from them. Like maybe I’m not being totally honest with them. I feel kind of guilty. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," I said. "On the one hand, you want to know everything about them and you want them to know everything about you so that you’re completely open with no secrets or barriers between you. But then on the other hand you know that most of them just couldn’t handle the nudist thing. They’d over react. They’d think you were weird or a perv or something worse and then they wouldn’t hang with you anymore. Not to mention that they’d tell everybody else and of course they’d tell their version of the story."

"Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean," she said astonished that someone else understood her feelings. "So what do you do?"

"It bothered me for the longest time, too for the very same reasons," I said. "But then one day when I was out by myself hiking nude and thinking about this, I started to get it. I asked myself, ‘how does the fact that I prefer to be nude affect my non-nudist friends’? The answer I kept coming up with was that it doesn’t. My preferring to be nude is just that: a preference of mine. I prefer it so I do it, but I don’t try to impose it on anybody else. I would never expect my friends to do anything they’re not comfortable with just because I wanted them to. And I would never intentionally say anything to my friends that would upset or hurt them. I care too much about them to do anything like that. And so while nudism is perfectly normal, acceptable, and preferable to you and me and everybody here, it’s just the opposite for most of our friends. Right?"

"Right," she answered.

"So we wouldn’t be doing our friends any favors by telling them something that they wouldn’t understand or couldn’t handle," I said.

"I’m not sure I totally understand all that," Amanda said in a pondering way.

"Well, you wouldn’t tell your best friend something that would hurt them or cause them grief if it was something they didn’t really need to know and it didn’t affect them, would you?" I asked.

"No!" she said emphatically. "What kind of friend would I be if I did that?"

"That’s my point," I said. "Friends are supposed to be understanding and caring and supportive of each other. So that means that I don’t tell my friends anything that from their perspective would be upsetting or disturbing if it in no way affects them. I just keep those things to myself."

"I see," said Amanda. "If it doesn’t affect them, why bother them with it- especially if it would upset them?"

"That’s the way I see it," I said. "So now I don’t feel the least bit guilty anymore around my friends. And I have a lot of friends back home and I’m really close with some of them, but like I said before, except for Ann and Jim there’s only one that’s my age that knows I’m a nudist."

"I guess that makes sense," Amanda said.

"Enough sense to make you stop worrying?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks," she said.

"No problem," I replied.

By now we had walked and talked our way out of the camping area and up to the top of the big hill. There were no lights here to interfere with our view of the night sky filled with brilliant stars. It was an awesome sight and something that we fail to notice when we’re continually surrounded by city lights. We marveled in silence for a few minutes.

Then Amanda said, "Tell me about your friend that you got started into nudism."

So I spent the rest of out time together that evening telling her that story and answering all her questions. Then we walked back to our campsites to go to sleep.

For me, the next day began much like the day before with the kids waking up and making sure the rest of us did, too. After everyone was up and around for a bit, Jim and I went for another run together. He’ll run me into the ground one of these days when he gets back in shape. We were back at the campsite having a bite of breakfast at our picnic table when Amanda came around the camper and walked up to the end of the table. She was very pleasant and said good morning to everyone. After we had finished eating, cleaning up, and putting things away, Amanda suggested that she and I go for a walk on the trails. She said she had some things she wanted to show me. We walked back past her campsite to let her parents know what we were doing and visited with them briefly before heading off to the trail beyond the camping area.

"You’re sure in a good mood today," I said as we walked and then I jokingly asked, "What happened to yesterday’s moody little brat?"

"Brat?" she exclaimed laughing. "Was I that bad? Wait. Don’t answer that. I was. And I’m sorry."

"Just kidding," I said. "I know nobody’s said anything, but I think everyone is pleasantly surprised at your sudden change of attitude."

She said, "Well, last night after we got back to camp I thought more about what we talked about yesterday and – well – you’re right. I shouldn’t worry that my friends will find out about this, because they won’t. And I shouldn’t feel guilty that I’m not telling them, because it doesn’t affect them. And I should just stop worrying and thinking that I have to be just like all my friends back home. I should just be me."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," I said. "You’ll be a lot happier."

"I already am a lot happier," she said.

"So-o-o-o, (pause) where are your clothes?"

Laughing, she replied, "Didn’t you hear what I just said? From now on I’m just going to be me. And one of the things about being me is that I prefer to be nude – well, at least when I’m here."

"Good," I said.

"And about that stupid remark you made yesterday about me being ashamed," she went on with determination. "I am not ashamed."

I laughed and said, "You shouldn’t be and I never meant to imply that you should. I was only trying to get you to open up and talk to me. And it worked, didn’t it?"

"Yes," she said. "You tricked me, though."

"It was for your own good."

"You sound like my mom."

"Is that so bad?"

"No," she said. "In fact, I talked to my parents about all this first thing this morning. I told them how I’d been feeling and why and said I was sorry for how I’d been acting."

"Well, that was a good thing to do," I said praising her. "What did they say?"

"They said they were glad that I told them and that they understood and wanted to do anything they could to help. They said that I should let them know anytime something like this is bothering me and we can work through it together."

"Sounds like they love you a lot and they’re on your side," I said knowing that she already knew that.

Amanda and I spent the next couple of hours wandering the trails and taking little side trips off the trail so that she could show me one thing or another of interest back in the woods or down along the creek. As I mentioned before, she had grown up playing with other kids throughout this property, so she knew every part of it. She told me lots of stories about the crazy things they did as kids and the tricks the girls would play on the boys and the other way around. Some of the places were the same ones that Ann had pointed out yesterday and it was fun to compare Amanda’s stories to Ann’s.

At one point, she led me down an almost nonexistent trail to the creek. We waded across the shallow creek to the high, vertical creek bank on the other side. Amanda said that this is another one of the places she wanted to show me and then proceeded to climb the creek bank by using exposed tree roots for footholds and handholds.

"Just follow me," she said when she was about half way up.

"Are you sure you know what you’re doing?" I asked watching her select and test each root before putting her full weight on it.

"Oh yeah. What are you waiting for? Come on!" she said. "It’s fun!"

So as not to be outdone, I began to climb, too. By the time I looked up again, Amanda was just pulling herself over the top. She gave me a hand up when I reached the top. Once we were up there, we walked through the trees over to the fence that marked the property line between the campground property and an adjoining farm. We were on the opposite side of the campground property and from where we were we could look back across the campground valley. Looking the other way we could look down into the valley where the farm was. The view was beautiful in both directions.

Amanda laughed and said, "I haven’t been up here in a long time. When I was little, the girls would sneak off up here to get away from the boys. We used to stay up here for hours and they could never find us."

"Too bad there are no boys here for you to hide from this week end," I said jokingly.

She grinned and said precociously, "If there were, I wouldn’t be hiding."

We both laughed. Then we spent the rest of the morning up there just talking about anything and everything. We sat on the grass near the top of the creek bank and Amanda asked me tons of questions. "What’s it like to have your own place?" "What’s it like to have your own car?" "What is college like?" "What are your friends like?" "How often do you go out on dates?" "What are the boys like that you go out with?" "Where do you go when you go out?" "What do you do when you go out?" That’s just a sampling of the many questions she asked. I was glad that we had become close enough friends that she felt comfortable talking to me about all that. Needless to say, we had lots and lots of girl talk that morning. The only thing that brought our long talk to an end was the fact that we both started getting hungry.

"How do we get back?" I asked afraid to hear the answer that I knew was coming.

"The same way we got up here," she answered. "You just climb back down. I’ll go first."

And she was off. I was more nervous about climbing back down than I was climbing up. I laid down at the edge and swung my leg over trying to feel the first foothold. I felt around with my foot trying to find a foothold for a few seconds, but when Amanda saw that I was having trouble she talked me through it. Once I had found the first foothold for each foot, then the rest was fairly easy although slow. Amanda was waiting for me as I took that last big step down and backward and joined her in the creek. Of course, she had to kid me about how slow and awkward I had been coming down. We washed off some of the dirt from the climb as we waded back across the creek and then when we got back to the camping area, we stopped by the showers to wash off the rest.

Amanda and I spent most of the rest of the day together socializing with others and taking Mark and Sarah to swim and to the playground. We had become good friends over the course of these two days. In the late afternoon when most people were getting packed up to leave, she helped her parents pack and I helped Jim and Ann pack and load up. Amanda and her parents were ready to leave first and they were already dressed when they came over to say good-bye. We stopped packing to talk and say our farewells.

Then Amanda asked, "So will I see you here again next summer?"

I glanced over at Jim and Ann and jokingly said, "I guess it depends on whether I’ve worn out my welcome or not."

"You’ll see her," Ann said.

"Then I’ll see you here next summer," Amanda said.

"OK. Let’s plan on it," I said as we gave each other a long hug. And then they got in their car and began their trip home.

As we were finishing our packing and preparations to leave, Ann stopped and said to me, "Sunny, I was really pleased to see you step forward and befriend Amanda like you did this week end."

"She’s a good kid," I replied. "I didn’t do much. I just listened to her talk about what was on her mind. She’s at that awkward stage – she doesn’t know if she’s a woman or still a little girl. Hey wait, that sounds like me."

"Me, too," Ann said as we both laughed.

Then returning to her serious tone, Ann said, "But I think you really did a lot – a lot more than you may know. Her mom visited with me today and told me that they had been worried about Amanda for quite some time now. She said that Amanda had been so sullen and withdrawn for the last few months, but then all of a sudden this morning she asked them if they could talk awhile. Amanda told them what had been upsetting her and why and that you and she had talked a lot about it. Amanda told them what you had said and that you had helped her to gain a better understanding of herself and her feelings and what she could do about it. And she apologized to her parents for the way she had been acting and promised to be more pleasant and open to discussion from now on."

"Yes, she told me that she had had a long talk with her parents this morning and that she felt a lot better about things now," I said.

Ann went on, "Her mom had tears in her eyes as she told me all this. I think you made a much bigger difference in Amanda’s life than you realize. Her mom feels that you’re the sole reason for the change. Amanda told them about all the things you said and her mom thinks that you’re really mature and perceptive. She is so grateful that you were here and that you were persistent in getting close to Amanda and then being a friend and mentor to her."

"Wow. I had no idea. I was just trying to help her out a little if I could," I said. "But you know, (pause) I had a pretty good example to follow."

"Oh yeah? Who’s that?" Ann asked without a clue to what I was going to say next.

I stood right in front of her, looked her in the eye, and said very seriously and simply, "You."

"Me?" she said in surprise.

"Yes, Ann, you," I replied. "You’ve been my friend, mentor, and confidant ever since that first day out in the pasture. I really look up to you and admire you and I’m so grateful for your friendship and your wisdom and your insights on life and your willingness to share all that with me – even when I don’t even know I need it. I’ve learned so much from you. True, I don’t have the same needs as Amanda, but I feel like I can always count on you to be there if I have problems and need an understanding person to talk to and give me good advice."

She stood there for just a moment. Then tears came to her eyes and she stepped forward and we embraced each other in a long hug. In a choked quiet voice she said, "Thank you. It’s so kind of you to say that."

We just stayed like that for a moment – both of us crying as we realized the depth of this special friendship that we have.

Then Jim and the kids came around the camper and saw us. He understood what was going on. But, we had to explain to the kids that nothing was wrong and that we were just crying happy tears.

We continued preparing to leave and it wasn’t long before we were packed up, hitched up, and dressed for our trip home. We said good-bye to the remaining campers and then we were on our way. The trip home was uneventful and I helped Jim and Ann unload and put things away when we got there.

When I was about ready to go, I said to Ann and Jim, "Thank you so much for taking me with you this weekend. I had a wonderful time. It was so much fun – even more than I expected it to be."

"Even though it was so cold that we had to get dressed at night? Ann asked.

"Yes, even though it was cold at night, I still had a great time!" I said. "That place is so awesome! This has been the best nudist experience I’ve ever had."

"Yeah, it’s the greatest," Ann said. "We’re lucky to have such a nice place that’s no further away than it is."

"Does that you mean you’ll go with us again sometime?" Jim asked.

"Oh yes," I said. "I’d love to go again."

"OK, then," Ann replied. "We’ll all go again next summer. Now you’d better get home and get started on all that homework you said you had."

"OK," I said as I was reminded that I was back in the real world now. "I’ll get it done. Even if it takes all night, it’ll be worth it to have had as much fun this weekend as we’ve had."

And with that I gave Ann and Jim each a hug and then hugs and kisses for the kids. Then I hopped in my car for the short drive back to my apartment.

It was a long evening of studying and preparing for my Monday classes. I had really underestimated the amount of time it would take to get everything done, but I finally finished up around 3:30 a.m. I was exhausted.

As I crawled into bed and lay back on my pillow with my hands behind my head, my mind played back some of the events of the weekend. I thought about what a great time I’d had and about all the nice people I had met. I thought about the time that I had spent getting to know Amanda. I thought about those special conversations with Ann. I thought about how everybody was so friendly to one another without regard to age or gender or any other differences. Everyone was just so laid-back and relaxed. I felt so laid-back and relaxed. I felt no pressure from anyone else to do or be anything that wasn’t me. I felt no fears or anxieties. There was no pressure to be nude – I just wanted to be – it was simply the natural way. There was no staring – no inappropriate comments. People just accepted one another for who they were. What a comforting and confident feeling of belonging that creates.

This weekend was the best nudist experience I’ve had so far. It seems that the more experiences I have with nudism, the more I like it and the more benefits I see in it. I’m going to do more of this - a lot more.

‘Life is good’ was the last thing I remember thinking before drifting off to sleep.