Who are the Dampened Enthusiasts and what is this site about?  Lisa and myself, Russ, are the Dampened Enthusiasts, and this site is dedicated to our love of traveling, camping and the many wonderful places we have been fortunate to visit.  We thought up the name “Dampened Enthusiasts” during our first camping trip together to Minnesota in 2003.  The trip started off hot and muggy, and by the end, we had been rained on during the night, while taking a long ride on a bike trail, and even while out on Lake Itasca in a canoe; but we didn’t let that dampen our enthusiasm for adventure.

Both Lisa and I have a long history of camping.  Lisa grew up in a family who enjoys and appreciates the wonderful things that nature has to provide, and I was fortunate enough to belong to a family that camped quite regularly along the Mississippi from La Crosse, Wisconsin, down to Clinton, Iowa.  Many a summer I remember spending time in the backwaters and sloughs of the Mississippi, “drowning worms” as my father would put it.  Unfortunately, I as I grew older, the amount of time I was able to spend camping declined significantly.  Lisa, on the other hand, continued to have the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors through her service in the Iowa National Guard. 

Throughout our lives, both of us have spent a considerable amount of time traveling and visiting some interesting places.  Lisa spent a couple of years in California and Texas, has traveled quite a bit of the western United States, and spent some time in Washington DC.  She has even had the opportunity to visit Russia, and more recently, spent a bit of time in Iraq, when her unit was deployed to the region during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Though I have not been outside of the United States, I have spent quite a bit of time exploring it.  When I was younger, my family took two summer trips, one to the east coast and the other to the west coast.  As an adult, I’ve continued to enjoy traveling as I have driven to Florida three times, Texas, Wyoming and Montana, and several trips to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and a couple of trips to Washington DC.  As a matter of fact, the summer just before Lisa and I met, we had both visited Gettysburg within a month of one another. 

Although we still enjoy taking one long trip every year, we spend most of our time in northeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin.  One of our favorite places to visit is along the North Shore of Lake Superior; Duluth, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, and a few miles in, Bear Head Lake State Park.

Camping for us has taken on a new form.  In August of 2008, we purchased our first camper.  We had the opportunity to stay in an RV one weekend, and the storm that night convinced me that I enjoy staying in a hardened shelter.  Within a few weeks we had traveled to the Scamp Dealer/Manufacturer in Backus, Minnesota, to look and see what Scamps were all about.  Needless to say, on the way home from that trip, we were the proud owners of a new 16 foot Scamp. 

As I mentioned before, this website is dedicated to our love of the great outdoors, traveling, and exploring.  While most of the focus of this site is on camping, we will be expanding this site with more information for those who love to travel, whether they be campers, or those who stay in hotels.  Also, we have filled this site with pictures of our many camping trips, locations, and campgrounds that we have visited, and even chronicled our experience with our Scamp camper. 

You will also find links to the various campgrounds we have stayed in, as well as links to some of the places we have visited.  The Our Travels page maps our the various places we have visited, and links on the maps will take you to photos and other information about those areas.  We have also included numerous Photo Albums of different trips we have taken over the years.

Finally, I would like to add that we are not affiliated with Scamp, or any trailer manufacturer or reseller of any kind.  This is merely an informational site about our experience with our Scamp, as well as travel information regarding camping, campgrounds, places to visit, etc. from our own personal travels and point of view.  We do not endorse, nor do we discourage, any of the places that we have visited.  We lay the information out about the places we have visited and encourage people to travel, explore and decide for themselves about these places.  As for camping equipment and trailers, if you have any specific manufacturing, or purchasing questions, I would like to direct you to either Scamp for Scamp Trailers, or the manufacturer or retail seller of the type of equipment you are searching for. 

We hope you enjoy our website and are inspired to get out and explore places like these on your own.  We would also love to hear from you, so if you would like to share some of your own adventures with us, please feel free to contact the Dampened Enthusiasts at Information@dampenedenthusiasts.com or russ@dampenedentusiasts.com.