Perpetual Ruminations

What is Camp Bagoo?

In the previous episode last entry I mentioned Camp Bagoo, which many of you are unfamiliar with. So, without further ado, let me explain how Camp Bagoo came to be. For the sake of brevity, I'll try and keep this short!

I met my wife in February 2002 and we did our first campout together in early May, which almost resulted in hypothermia. But, despite this, she continues to love camping. We started out with just the basics, a tent, a few cooking and eating utensils, and some blankets; cooking and coffee were done over a fire, and our bed was the floor of the tent. But over the next few years, our camping gear increased and we soon had a gas cookstove, an air mattress, a couple of folding chairs, a crate to carry things with a wooden top that served as a small fireside table,  and a bigger tent.

I had a young puppy, Klarissa, and by the time she was about a year old, my wife got a six-week-old puppy, Hyko, as well. They soon became best of friends, and we brought them with us everywhere we went, including camping. These two were a source of constant entertainment, loved the water, full of energy, and very curious; they got into everything. Even so, they were very well-behaved with other people, stayed at the campsite (most of the time), and loved our camping adventures more than anything else, except cookies. No, they would have passed up freshly baked cookies to go camping.

While camping, we often saw signs that read, "Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-blank" and we decided we should get a sign for our camp, but what to name it? We gave consideration to many options over time, but after the two beloved pets passed away, we decided we wanted to honor them and their love for camping. But, it didn't seem to work using their names, "Camp Hyko-Clarissa" or any combinations.

As I mentioned, they were quite the characters, and after one incident with Hyko doing something mischievous, awkward, or silly (likely all of the above) my wife quoted a line from the cartoon, Mr. Magoo, "Oh Magoo! You've done it again!" But she misquoted and said, "Oh Bagoo, you did it again!"

I laughed, she looked puzzled. I explained, she laughed with me and said, "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, I did, but it was funny, and the look Hyko gave when you said it only made it funnier. You knew she was talking about you, didn't you Bagoo?"

He looked at me when I said it, cocked his head, wagged his tail, and from then on, his nickname was Mr. Bagoo. With the two being inseparable and so much alike, Klarissa soon became Mrs. Bagoo. To make it even better, they would respond to their nicknames with cocked heads or back-talk. In time they were no longer pets, dogs, or anything other than a couple of Bagoos.

In conversation with people we would, without thinking, refer to them as the Bagoos. it just became a normal term for them. "I have to get home and let the Bagoos out." Or, I have to give Mr. Bagoo a bath." Even things like feeding time, "Are you two Bagoos going to come eat?" And, they would.

Ever since they passed, we have referred to our camp as, Camp Bagoo" in loving memory of the wonderful times we shared, but we never did get a sign to put up. Life has a way of making us put things off. But, now that we have the mobile tent, we often reminisce past camping trips and how much the Bagoos would have loved the camper, especially when it rained. (They loved the water, they swam any chance they got, you couldn't keep them out of a river or lake, but they despised getting wet from rain).

Now, the time has come to finish our "Welcome" sign. Max and Bellah seem to have a bit of Hyko and Klarissa in them and will do things that the Bagoos used to do. This winter, I'll make the sign and my wife will either paint it or use her wood burner, and by spring we'll be hanging out our sign, "Welcome to Camp Bagoo".

Our mobile tent is a 1998 Coleman Bayside, it's twenty-five feet long with the bunks extended and has a slide-out dining area. It's plenty big enough for us, gives us the convenience of a camper, and the enjoyment and memories of our years tenting. When the weather turns nice again, I'll remove the "Bayside" decals and my wife will replace them by painting (I write, she's the artist) Bagoo in their place. We haven't yet decided, but are thinking about replacing them with, "The Bagoo Mobile-Tent".