Like a 14-year-old in a candy store.

Recently, I was given the responsibility of booking a campsite for an upcoming trip with my cousin and some friends. After several phone calls, I finally got a call back from the Lakeview Campground at Alberta Beach today.

"Do you take reservations?" I asked.

The woman was immediatly hesistant to answer what I figured would be a run-of-the-mill question, considering that she runs a campsite. "Well, that depends," she answered slowly, "what are you looking for?"

"A camping site that can accomodate 3 tents."

"And what are the ages of the members of your party?"

The question seemed absurd, but I figured she just wanted to ensure we were all of age. "Um. . .the youngest is 21 and I think the oldest is 25."

I figured this answer would prove to be satisfactory, since we're all well of age.

I was wrong.

"I'm sorry," she told me. "We only take reservations for families."

"Well, it is my family," I said, with a polite laugh. "We're cousins."

"No, I don't think you understand. It would be fine if your parents were with you. But we only book to families. We don't want people partying in the campground. In fact, we're even phasing out tenting. All the campsites in the area aren't accepting tent reservations anymore."

Yes, that's right. Not only was I discriminated against because of my age, but because I want to camp in a tent. I know it's a crazy and outlandish notion, camping in something other than an RV with a satellite hookup, but call me old-fashioned.

For first time in years, I feel like a teenager in a dollar store--like when the shop owners would follow you around to ensure you weren't helping yourself to the five finger discount.

I'm not a happy camper. (Haha. Get it? I'm sooo funny.)

Can anyone recommend a campsite within an hour drive of Edmonton that has a lake and where the owners aren't total assholes?