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Camping Thread?

vbrad26
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I searched, but didn't see anything. Surely we've got some people on here who are interested in camping...?
As a kid and all through my teens I did a lot of camping (in the US) and was very lucky to take a couple big trips.
One that took me from Florida, up the east coast to Maine. And another that took me (again from Florida) out west pretty much everything else was local in Florida.
I've been on a hiatus, so to speak, for almost 20 years. As I got older, I got busier. College, jobs, other priorities...
I'm still getting older and busier, but now that I have a family, I want to get them out and enjoy some of the things that I did.
My wife, who does not mind the outdoors but has never been convinced that tent camping is any fun, FINALLY agreed to a little family trip at the end of Feb.
Now this won't be the camping I'm used to. But I think it is a solid compromise, and will hopefully get them excited for more trips!
Not sure if any of you are familiar with "glamping" but that's what we will be doing. We'll have what is basically a yurt with 2 queen beds and solar for a little bit of power. The site comes with a fire pit, grill and pretty much all other camping amenities.
You really could just roll in totally unprepared and be fine, just like checking in to a Holiday Inn.
In any case, I'm super excited! So I decided to check here for some inspiration, but didn't find any!
I also need this trip to go flawlessly. Otherwise I probably won't get another chance haha.
So yeah share trips, experiences, set-ups, pictures...whatever!
 
Dan S
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vbrad26 vbrad26
Perfect. Wrong key word!
I remember this now but haven't seen it pop up recently...

It tends to be seasonal. I guess I should add some winter excursion photos, even if they aren't overnights.
 
janice&fred
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vbrad26 vbrad26
just like checking in to a Holiday Inn

I've roughed it plenty during my life so this above would be my idea of camping.
 
Syzygy
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My camping experiences have run the full spectrum. As a kid, I used to work with family and local ranchers during the spring and fall cattle drives, so it was as basic and rough as it could be...nights were for filling your belly with beans and tortillas cooked over the camp fire, using your saddle as a pillow, and "sleeping" on a basic bedroll/blanket. We'd do this for about a week each season as we moved the cattle from lowland to highland during the spring, then back down in the fall. Not recommended for the first time out with the family as I'm pretty sure you'd have a mutiny on your hands after the first night.

Then the next level up, we again had the horses with us, but would pitch camp somewhere accessible with the truck, so we had a tent, sleeping bags, Coleman stove for whipping up some meals, ate off of plates instead of straight from the can...still rough, but as long as you didn't forget to pack the necessities in the truck before you went out for the week, it was pretty nice. Still not exactly recommended for the first family trip, it's a lot more work than one would expect, and inevitably you'd have a rock, tree root, or some other lumpy piece of ground under your sleeping bag that would ensure you felt creaky and stiff in the morning...then comes the cold water 'shower'...those were always fun!

Now fast forward to how we do it today...glamping is more our style. We figure we've worked too damn hard to "rough it" and sleep on the ground, so we pack the Taj Mahal of tents, which is big enough for a queen size air mattress, 1000 count sheets, a big fluffy comforter, each of us have our 'bump out' portion of the tent to set up our 'wardrobe', and we can actually stand up to get dressed in the morning. We still pack everything in for the campsite, and rarely have power or running water, but we don't get out much when the temps are too cold, so bathing in a creek is just fine and refreshing. This could be recommended for first time family camping. You're not really roughing it, but slightly, so the experience is still memorable, without the pinched nerves in the neck and back each morning.

Haven't done the yurt thing yet, but we'd prefer that over a cabin in the woods any day. Sounds like the perfect way to get the family out in nature without having a mutiny on your hands. Enjoy getting off the grid, it feeds the soul!
 
connieseamaster
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After 2-3 attempts at boarding my childhood dog during vacations (he always came back with reports of being super lonely and unhappy while we were gone), my parents said F it and bought a pop-up camper we towed behind the minivan for the next dozen years. More civilized than a tent, but would probably barely qualify as "glamping" now. Two beds, fabric sides, galley kitchen, no bathroom and took about half an hour to set up once we got to the campground. But it worked and the dog travelled with us up and down the east coast for the rest of his life. Went to PEI, Acadia, Adirondacks, Smokies, Cape Cod, and many others. My mom's lists for packing both camper and van for 2-3 weeks became a work of art.

After the dog died and we started going farther afield, my mom and I made the deal with my dad that for every 3 days we spent backpacking, we'd get a night in one of the fancy park lodges.

My advice is to make sure you have gear/facilities to handle hard rain. Nothing kills a good camping trip like realizing you have no dry socks and your pillow is damp.
 
vbrad26
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Syzygy Syzygy
...but we'd prefer that over a cabin in the woods any day. Sounds like the perfect way to get the family out in nature without having a mutiny on your hands...

I've looked at this as well.
Airbnb and VRBO have made this sort of thing super easy!
I'll be keeping my eye on the weather, and if it looks like it may be crappy, we may quickly pivot to the cabin possibility if we can.
 
StudebakerHawk
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vbrad26 vbrad26
I searched, but didn't see anything. Surely we've got some people on here who are interested in camping...?
As a kid and all through my teens I did a lot of camping (in the US) and was very lucky to take a couple big trips.
One that took me from Florida, up the east coast to Maine. And another that took me (again from Florida) out west pretty much everything else was local in Florida.
I've been on a hiatus, so to speak, for almost 20 years. As I got older, I got busier. College, jobs, other priorities...
I'm still getting older and busier, but now that I have a family, I want to get them out and enjoy some of the things that I did.
My wife, who does not mind the outdoors but has never been convinced that tent camping is any fun, FINALLY agreed to a little family trip at the end of Feb.
Now this won't be the camping I'm used to. But I think it is a solid compromise, and will hopefully get them excited for more trips!
Not sure if any of you are familiar with "glamping" but that's what we will be doing. We'll have what is basically a yurt with 2 queen beds and solar for a little bit of power. The site comes with a fire pit, grill and pretty much all other camping amenities.
You really could just roll in totally unprepared and be fine, just like checking in to a Holiday Inn.
In any case, I'm super excited! So I decided to check here for some inspiration, but didn't find any!
I also need this trip to go flawlessly. Otherwise I probably won't get another chance haha.
So yeah share trips, experiences, set-ups, pictures...whatever!



As a former resident of Florida (SW FLA), there are several camping "pads" that are elevated over the backwaters of the 10,000,000 Islands. It was always a 'to do'. I ultimately moved out of SWFLA to the Panhandle.

I think now, that would still be a GREAT chance to camp.

https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/wildernesscamp.htm
 
vbrad26
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There are definitely lots of great spots in FL. We will just be heading over to Alafia State Park. I sure wish I still had a mountain bike as they have some awesome trails there.
Like I said, I'm hoping this will go well and will be some encouragement to get out and explore some more.
 
MRC
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vbrad26 vbrad26
I searched, but didn't see anything. Surely we've got some people on here who are interested in camping...?
From the age of 10 I did a great deal of backpacking and static camping with the boy scouts, army cadets and Outward Bound. Here's a couple of stories for y'all.

In the scouts we used large canvas tents for static sites and lightweight nylon for backpacking. The junior army (called Combined Cadet Force in the UK) used canvas for backpacking. Another difference was that scout tents used guy ropes and pegs, CCF used large pockets at the bottom of the sides that you had to fill with rocks. That compromised choice of camping site so that rather than looking for some degree of protection from high winds you were forced to stop where there was a sufficient supply of rocks. There was one night in Wales where we could not find enough rocks of the right size and as there was a big storm we lay awake all through holding the tent down with our hands.

One scout camp was static with the 8-man canvas tents. At that time cooking was on a wood fire done outside. Ir rained for 5 days and as the patrol leader it was my responsibility to keep the younger scouts in the dry and keep them fed. Not easy in constant rain. Then Lake Windermere, where we were right on the shore, rose and our site was flooded. The leader negotiated use of a barn from the farmer whose land we were on and also found a Primus paraffin (kerosene) stove from somewhere. At the end of the week we struck camp/barn and headed to the railway station to go the 200 miles home. We arrived, the tents didn't. Two months later the tents turned up. Of course they had been packed wet and now the mildew had gone right through them and they had to be scrapped. I don't know if we got any compensation from British Rail. Soon after I moved up to the Senior Scouts where the tents were all nylon and cooking was done on paraffin stoves 😁

Last time under canvas/nylon was a weekend rock-climbing trip (to Stanage Edge for the climbers here) with a group from work where I badly bruised my ribs and decided I really was too old for that sort of activity at 40+ 🙁

Another thought, does sleeping on the floor in the back of your racing car transporter count? It's a lot less comfortable than a tent. Should have just climbed into the car.
 
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