Barbara Linsley: Dreams On the Oregon Trail |
| Gordon White | Friday, 03 April, 2009 | |||||||||||||||
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5th grade New York school teacher, children's book author, and nature photographer, Barbara Linsley, shares her truck camping adventures and creative spirit with us.  We discovered Barbara Linsley much the same way she discovered truck camping, by accident. While searching for truck camping information online, we came across a reference to Barbara's new children's book, Dreams On the Oregon Trail. The book connects a modern day girl, Jenna, who's traveling the Oregon Trail in a truck camper with her mid-1800's ancestor, Becky, who's traveling the same route in a wagon train. The book has been well received and reflects Barbara's life long wanderlust, creative spirit, and dedication to teaching future generations about US history and the importance of preserving our National and State Parks.
TCM: How did you come to own a truck camper? Barbara: It was purely accidental. Mom and I had tent camped all over the country. When she retired, she told me she no longer wanted to travel. That left me tent camping with the car and that can get miserable. Then I had a situation once where I felt unsafe at a campground and had to leave. Shortly thereafter, a neighbor was selling his truck with a camper. At the time, I was looking for a farm truck to help me with fencing, hauling hay, and moving logs. I didn’t need the camper, but my neighbor was not willing to sell the truck without it. It was a good deal. TCM: So your discovery of truck camping really was a happy accident. Barbara: Yes. Most of the year the truck is my farm truck. Then in the summer it is my second home. TCM: Tell us about that first camper. Barbara: It was a hard side. It had a bathroom that leaked so I never used it, a hot water tank that I never used, and a broken water pump. TCM: Yikes. How did you use the camper? Barbara: I carried water jugs and used a porta-potty. Eventually the front window started to leak and that was the camper’s downfall. That’s when I bought my new camper in 2006.
TCM: How do you feel about traveling alone with your camper? Barbara: I’m totally comfortable traveling alone. It’s second nature for me. Mom thought nothing of going tent camping cross-country. That’s how I was brought up. I find campgrounds to be very safe and trust worthy. TCM: What do you like to do when you’re truck camping? Barbara: I get the greatest high seeing new places. It soothes my soul. I love going to anywhere new. I enjoy finding a forest path and wandering for hours. Some people might think states like Illinois or Ohio are boring, but the last few Springs I’ve visited the parks in those states and they’re just glorious. Our State Parks and National Forests are all gorgeous. They have all been preserved for some reason. Last Spring I traveled the Natchez Trace. I didn’t quite get all the way. I’ll be going straight down to Kentucky and then to the base of the Natchez Trace this Spring break. I’ll stop at Vicksburg and at places along the Mississippi along the way. TCM: I contacted you because you just wrote a children’s book that includes your truck camper. Tell us about your book, Dreams On the Oregon Trail. Barbara: In the book, Jenna and her mother are based on my experiences with Mom traveling across the country. Mom and I would go to these historic sites in State and National Parks and I would always be buying and reading books on what it had been like to live there. I had so many questions. For example, at Ash Hollow, it must have been so noisy with the wagons, horses, and people yelling and screaming. When we were there, it was dead quiet and peaceful. All you heard were the birds. How did the pioneers walk barefoot among the cactus? They walked barefoot to save their shoes, but how? The modern day character allowed me to ask these questions and try to answer them. Maybe the wagons had softened up the path so they could walk barefoot. TCM: Did your truck camping help to inspire the book? Barbara: I always wanted to write a book. Truck camping certainly inspired the direction the book would take. I wanted to write about the Oregon Trail and truck camping is a perfect tie-in. TCM: Is your truck camper actually in the book? Barbara: Yes. Jenna and her mother are making their way across the country in a truck camper. As they travel, Jenna is comparing her life with her ancestor who’s living out of a wagon. TCM: Have you been to all of the places that you mention in the book? Barbara: I wrote the book over five years and have been to just about all of the places. Mom told me about one place, but I never made it there. TCM: How does your truck camping impact your teaching? Barbara: I use a lot of photos I’ve taken to show the kids different parts of the country. It’s good to show them things that are not out of a book, things I’ve experienced. I show them battlegrounds and plaques with stories about what happened there. I tell them what it’s like to be there. They think they’re getting away without learning. The kids also learn why it’s important to protect these areas of the country and why we should preserve their beauty and historical value. TCM: When you camp for the night, do you prefer to boondock off-the-grid or go to a campground? Barbara: About half and half. I mostly camp at State Parks and National Forests, but if there’s a place to pull over for free, I love it. TCM: Tell us about your passion for photography. Barbara: That goes back a long way. I majored in Art in high school. After four years, my art teacher told me that he knew I had talent, but he couldn’t find it. He said it in a way that I agreed with him and it kept me looking. It turns out that I’m dyslexic and have trouble picturing things in my mind. I am a global learner in that I need to see the whole picture and then I can break it down. That’s photography. I can look at the whole and find the beauty within. I sell my photographs at a local farmers market. I’ll send you a few of the photos that sent my soul flying.
TCM: On your website it says you considered careers in espionage and law enforcement. Did you really? Barbara: As a little kid, all the shows and movies were James Bond, I Spy, and Mission Impossible. I actually thought I would apply to the police force after college, but then I spoke to a few police officers. Like other members of my family, I trust everybody. I thought about how I might trust someone and get myself or my partner killed. Then I took an early childhood development class, working with pre-schoolers. That’s when I realized, “Stop lying! You’re a teacher”. Both of my parents are teachers. Mom taught kindergarten and then forth grade. Dad was a Paleontology Professor at Colgate University. TCM: Wow. I bet his work was interesting. What’s it like truck camping with your dogs? Do they like truck camping too? Barbara: It depends on the dog. My third Border Collie was about seven and a half weeks old when we set off cross-country together. At just three months old, she had seen four Great Lakes, the Pacific Ocean, the Mississippi River, and had fallen into the Illinois River. TCM: I take it she’s not afraid of water. Barbara: Oh no. We had a great time. And it was hot on that trip so she learned where the cold air came out from the air conditioner and would point her nose at the air vent and look at me to turn it on. TCM: That’s funny. Are you chomping at the bit at the end of the school year to hit the road and go truck camping? Barbara: Yes. This year I’m taking off July 5th after an old friend visits on the 4th. This summer I’m going to Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. TCM: That sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the interview Barbara. Please keep in touch. Barbara: You’re welcome. And I will. For more information about Barbara Linsley and her book Dreams On the Oregon Trail, visit her website www.barbaralinsley.com.
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