The Good Humor truck at Kenneth Wilson

This isn’t a phenomena I have seen everywhere. But when you are camping in the Catskills or the Adirondacks, occasionally you’ll be sitting at camp and hear a song. And no, it’s not a camp song or a bunch of girlscouts (though you might also hear those). It doesn’t sound the way it might in a city. But there is a bell or a clanging and a little song and it is clearly moving along the road and sometimes at a crawl and others a clip. When you hear it you have to quickly decide “do I want ice cream?” “now?.” Because if you do, you better pick up your wallet and run to the road and chase down the ice cream truck. 

At Kenneth Wilson in the Catskills, it is an old-style Good Humor truck that isn’t easy to stop and moves pretty fast.  You may have to know the bathhouse cross paths to catch it on the other side of the loop if it shows up and you weren’t listening closely or expecting it. If you get lucky, some other person along the loop will have faster reflexes and slow the truck down a bit. Once you catch the truck, you better make up your mind fast, because there is no dilly dallying for the Good Humor folks. We usually get lucky in that the kids are all looking for popsicles when it is hot and leave the ice creams for old people like us. 

K using mind control to get ice cream

Sometimes the dog hears the truck first (they like ice cream too!). And you have to grab some cash and throw it at your husband and tell him “RUN!” He loves you enough to run from one loop to the next to the next chasing the truck and then waiting in line before sauntering back into camp with two ice cream bars. You gratefully open yours and grab a spoon and a paper towel so you can share some bites with the dog.  Because he’s not going to stop staring at you with that toothy grin until he gets to share in the fun!


Depending on when you eat dinner, it may be that you enjoy a Haagen Daz bar as an appetizer and not dessert. But you are camping, so who cares about those kind of formalities? Camping is all about adapting to your surroundings!