[at-l] Definition of "camping"

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

Weary asked how "camping" might be defined.  This is from my personal
experience, although not trail related as such.  On one of my many trips
from OKC to Nashville, TN over the past several years I got a bit sleepy
while driving the 10+ hour trip and stopped at rest stop just west of
Jackson, TN.  There was a sign at this very nice stop which said "No
Camping", just in case, I thought, that someone might mistake it for a
state park.  Anyway, I took a blanket out of the car and laid it on the
grass to knock the edge off my sleepiness by taking a little nap.  An
attendant came up to me and told me that there was no camping there, and
that I would have to move.  I figured he was talking about being on the
grass, so I moved under one of the covered picnic tables and laid down
on the concrete for a few minutes.  Later, when I was going past the
rest stop office on the way to the bathroom he stopped me and said, "I
saw you move over under that picnic table, and wanted you to know that
if you hadn't moved quickly that I would have called the police."

I guess my resting qualified as "camping".  I'm just the kind of guy who
may have let the police haul me off to jail just to make a point.  I can
see it now.  I'm before the judge and defending myself against illegal
nap taking.