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Post by 62shastacrazymom on Aug 4, 2013 22:11:46 GMT -8
Okay okay, so don't get me wrong. I grew up tent camping, in the best of places. I slept in my jeans, with my socks at the bottom of the sleeping bag, pee'd in some oh so not fun places, caught lizards, didn't shower until I swam in the lake and as a kid, just loved it. When I met my husband, whom had a trailer, I called him a "sell out", saying "my kids wont sleep in a trailer!"......Low and behold, I liked the comfort...but our trailer was too big for me to tow and too obnoxious (sorry honey). SOOOOO...my 16sc is the perfect size...WHEN its done....
So, I was jonesin to go camping this weekend, and so I took our 4 year old on a mommy/daughter tent camp adventure to Morro Bay State Park, Ca. (just a beautiful spot)....NEVER AGAIN! I got bit about 1000 times (okay 5 times) by a mosquito which is normal but then I got a tick.........ug....I draw the line at ticks.....then my 4 year old is basically rolling in the dirt, won't shower in the campground shower....tracks in who knows what in the tent and we try to sleep as what seems to be the campground parties through the night......(without me?) with a random fireworks going off...I cannot wait for my Shasta to be done soon enuf....I set our tent up all back wards where our head was lower than our feet! Yes....annoying..but the 4 year old wouldn't switch sides to even us out...so I had to sneak there about halfway....
Oh by the way.....my kids 14, 12 and maybe my 4 year old now that she is a veteran.....will be tent camping outside of the Shasta if we cannot all fit...(trying tho!)
Anyone else feel the same?
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cowcharge
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Post by cowcharge on Aug 5, 2013 9:08:54 GMT -8
Hehehe. I still like tent camping (always loved the tent moving in the breeze, and the night sounds, but not in bear country), although with some modifications. A so-called "4-man" tent (more like 4-munchkin), a sleeping bag, a mess kit, a Swiss Army knife and a cooler doesn't cut it any more. My middle-aged, unpadded bones just can't take sleeping on the roots and rocks any more. An airbed is virtually a necessity if I want to be able to sleep, and be able to stand up in the morning. And speaking of standing up, I'm much more fond of my big tent with the 6'1" ceiling than I am of rolling around on the floor trying to put my pants on. Most everything else can stay the same as the old days, although I like to take my little Coleman gas griddle with me so I don't have to worry about soot-ruined pots and pans. Most of my camping is done by boat though, so there is plenty of room for the extras. Backpacking is for masochists, lol.
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pathfinder3081
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Post by pathfinder3081 on Aug 5, 2013 10:15:44 GMT -8
Too funny! :DAt 51 I guess my wife and I have fallin in on the "Camper Crowd" as well. Mind you we still overnight in my Clip3 backpacking tent once in a while if attending some music festivals. You really are not camping then anyway. It's more like a sleep over and your surrounded by others. We take a coffee kit and a small stove in. That, a small cooler and few snacks and we are good to go. Those self-inflating ridgerest pads are getting thinner and thinner though (Lol) Putting you pants on why rolling around on your back!
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lauren
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Post by lauren on Aug 5, 2013 13:13:31 GMT -8
The rolling on the floor to put the pants on made me LOL.. since I have had to do this a million times in the last several years. Damn tent camping! A four person tent for two adults and a child is a royal pain. With two airbeds- there is No Room to even find a standing spot, even if I could! And I'm seriously short. I will not miss the noise of the zipper always threatening to wake someone up, the trying to get off the airbed without waking someone up, the sliding down to the bottom of the tent if the ground isn't level. I MAY miss the sound of the breeze on the tent, and hearing night noises good (but couldn't we just open some windows in the trailer, when the time comes?). Ahh, the perks of using a trailer are just ramping up!!
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cowcharge
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Post by cowcharge on Aug 5, 2013 13:45:57 GMT -8
I do love sleeping on a cool night in a warm sleeping bag, though.
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Post by universalexports on Aug 5, 2013 15:58:24 GMT -8
I agree I grew up tent camping, but once you get a camper things are just more comfortable.
no rocks poking you in the back while you sleep, a lot less to pack and unpack, air conditioing a sink your own bathroom that doesnt stink to high heaven.
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Hamlet
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Post by Hamlet on Aug 5, 2013 16:51:50 GMT -8
We sometimes miss sleeping under the stars (sans tent), well, we miss it a lot. But I don't miss those freezing mornings in the high Sierras trying to get breakfast going over a backpacking stove. No fires allowed over 9000 feet. We can roll out of bed in Hamlet, use the potty room, have a hot shower if we want, and cook inside. By the time we're fully awake, it's warmed up a bit. The downside is that we rarely can camp in a place where there are no people for a very long ways around, no roads, no real trails. No listening to the wind roar around the cirque like a continuingly circling train. No breaking through the ice in the water bucket, but no sitting on a deserted ridge watching the sun rise - or watching the Perseid meteor shower on a moonless night with no artificial light around for miles and miles. And there's no feeling of accomplishment when, at the end of the summer, after another 8 days and 60+ miles of hiking up sides of cliffs, through forests, raging streams, snowfields, thunderstorms, etc, we see our vehicles and set our packs down for another year. Sigh.
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cowcharge
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Post by cowcharge on Aug 9, 2013 10:17:39 GMT -8
I still like tent camping, as long as I have my good tent. A ten-person tent is perfect for one, maybe two people.
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Post by bigbill on Aug 9, 2013 14:11:18 GMT -8
You are all wrong What it takes to make a good tent is to be completely bug proof have a fantastic bed that self levels and doesn't allow sticks or rocks to be realized and last but not least a good a/c system that gives perfect humidity and temp control. I forgot the most important thing when you wish to set it up or fold it away you just flip one switch and it is done.
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cowcharge
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Post by cowcharge on Aug 9, 2013 15:09:11 GMT -8
Haha. That tent of mine is 17 feet long and 6'1" high in the middle, but I can still put it up myself. And I had (until I popped it) a queen-sized, double-height airbed, so I could actually sit on the edge of the bed and put my shoes on like a normal person.
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Aug 9, 2013 18:48:32 GMT -8
I have 3 tents, 6 trailers and a nice big Van. I think it all depends on the situation and what it calls for at the time. But old knees don't lie. My last month long trip to Colorado in a tent got me thinking more about being up off the ground.
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Post by bigbill on Aug 9, 2013 19:19:21 GMT -8
They don't lie, but they sure can scream no no I have had enough. The last time I was in a sleeping bag on the floor of a tent my entire body screamed " if you do this again I will quit you" the next morning. As I remember it was several minutes before I could move with just minor pain.
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Hamlet
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Post by Hamlet on Aug 9, 2013 20:14:10 GMT -8
This is starting to sound like a wrinklies' reunion!
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Aug 9, 2013 20:17:51 GMT -8
Well the Indians had it right. If yer gonna live in a tent, make sure you can stand up in it.
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