In the campgrounds where I stayed in the US, a bear only once appeared and roamed around the brush, and that was all. On the contrary, a raccoon dog made a hole in my bag in which I put my food. A squirrel tore the bag of popcorn before my very eyes. Some creature stole a piece of ham in a plastic bag which I threw up on the roof of a rest room to keep away from bears. The nature is not always good, however, it is never boring.There are lots of national parks in and around the western part of the Rocky Mountains. And in these parks campgrounds are found without fail, supposedly because a campground is determined to be an inevitable factor for a park by law. Moreover, a campground occupies the best place of a park. This idea is fundamentally different from that of the Japanese government who tends to think and give any useless space to poor young people to camp. The philosophy about travel and leisure is not mature in Japan.A campground in Japan is not only located in a poor place, but poorly equipped. First of all, it is too crowded. Numerous tents are set up so closely that even the ground cannot be seen. In America, the neighboring tent is so far that the face of the neighbor cannot be identified. In some cases one campsite covers a whole area of a Japanese campground. Many more tents could be pitched in a huge campground like this, but a tent must be pitched at a designated site where a table, cooking grate, and a fire pit is provided. If a campground is in bear country, even a metal box for food storage is supplied. Second, a very important facility for camping is a rest room. The rest rooms in the campgrounds of the States are spacious and as clean as the one of a hotel. More importantly, it never smells, while it always does in Japan. Sometimes a rest room does not have a flushing device. In this case a chimney is equipped to exhaust odor. Finally, a rest room is required because we eat. In a popular campground a general store or food store can be found adjacent to campsites. Even a shower room and coin laundry are also found in a place like this. Nonetheless, a shower is not free, but usually $1.00 for five minutes. In Yellowstone it was said to be as expensive as $3.50.

As soon as I arrive at a campground, I ride around to find the best empty campsite. When I find a favorite site, I return to the gate of the campground where envelopes for camping fees and a secure metal post in which to place these envelopes are located. I place my money in the envelope along with my campsite number and other required written information. I then put the envelope into the post. If the fee is unpaid, a ranger comes and checks later. So it is no use of trying to stay free.

For a single traveler like myself, $10 - $16 cannot be neglected, but for a large group it is never expensive because the fee is the same. This low price might invite some group of people who plan to organize a commune in the campground. Probably to prevent this, the maximum period of the stay in the campground is usually limited to be within seven days.In the campgrounds in Japan, I have never seen old people. Mostly young people go there. In America, on the contrary, the young generation is scarce and older couples and families are dominant. Most of these people arrive in a big vehicle. Some of them drive vehicles as huge as a bus. They carry a tent as big as a Japanese house and even a dog. This is literally a "moving home". Japanese office workers devote their whole life to work, dreaming to possess a tiny house, however, Americans have a mobile home besides a big house. A big vehicle for camping might be evidence of success for Americans of today. As a motorcycle rider, who can carry only a limited amount of luggage, I feel a bit jealous of these campers and at the same time I think they are ugly. Nevertheless, I think the older campers here are much more healthy and even more intelligent than the Japanese old people who make a group tour to drink and fuss at a hot spring resort.