~ A PTR for a CAMPING Trip That Might Never Be ~ *TR Started (link inside)*

[jordanyosh]

I'm not fond of bugs and critters.

I'm more interested in the type of restroom facilities..........if you didn't already know that......

 

[carissanboys]

I'm more interested in the type of restroom facilities..........if you didn't already know that......

Well, bugs and critters CAN be found in those places, I'm just sayin'

 

[jordanyosh]

Well, bugs and critters CAN be found in those places, I'm just sayin'

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Smooth move. Now I have to read your TR. You're sneaky and I like it

You don't have to read mine. Honestly. IN fact, I'm not sure you could. It's an out of control monster by now. The two threads combined have around 6,000 posts.

Heck, I don't even keep up with it.

 

[carissanboys]

You don't have to read mine. Honestly. IN fact, I'm not sure you could. It's an out of control monster by now. The two threads combined have around 5,000 posts.

Heck, I don't even keep up with it.

Oh that's right. The thread I just responded to isn't the first part! Phew. I'm a strong woman who's up to the challenge

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Oh that's right. The thread I just responded to isn't the first part! Phew. I'm a strong woman who's up to the challenge

Gud luck! If you get bored, we're partying in Chat Room #3 tonight at 8pm EST. J, your invited too.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Did Josie come back?

Well?

 

[Charleston Princess]

What there are chat rooms on the DIS??? I feel like Gene Hackman's character in "The Birdcage": I am so confused!

 

[earthfaries]

Yay! I noticed you were MIA this week. Glad you made it over

$20.00 NEW at Walmart?!! Is it the hard side one or the one that's like a big bag? I remember reading you bought one on your trip.

It's the soft one.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

What there are chat rooms on the DIS??? I feel like Gene Hackman's character in "The Birdcage": I am so confused!

Right up top of your page, next to User CP.

 

[carissanboys]

Gud luck! If you get bored, we're partying in Chat Room #3 tonight at 8pm EST. J, your invited too.

If I can get my shower and get prettied up in time, I may stop in for a few. We're not heading out to the bar until 9 p.m. Thanks for the invite

Well?

Ummm....

Here - have some cake and a beer

It's the soft one.

Ahhh - K. Ours is the hard one. Is yours water proofed? I considered getting one of those before, but wasn't sure how it would do in the rain.

Right up top of your page, next to User CP.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Ummm....

Here - have some cake and a beer

Oops. That was mistake. I fixed the quote.

I meant to quote myself asking you about Josie. I never did see what happened?

 

[carissanboys]

No, she hasn't come home

 

[earthfaries]

Ahhh - K. Ours is the hard one. Is yours water proofed? I considered getting one of those before, but wasn't sure how it would do in the rain.

It's water resistant, not waterproof. I guess for what you'd need it for, you'd need waterproof.

 

[j_lehr]

Even though my actual camping experience with the kids is fairly low, perhaps all of my reading about the topic will make up for it

While living in Australia, we purchased an L. L. Bean tent. I don't remember exactly which one it is (it's packed somewhere in our closet), but I believe it's similar to this one:

Ours also has a small screened area attached to the front. It's quite roomy, although it takes us (more like Chuck) a while to set up. I think it'll get quicker as we use it more often. We also have at least one plastic tarp to go underneath the tent and I'll purchase a second one to use on the inside (a new tip I've read about).

Next up is mattresses. In my opinion, a good night's sleep is essential to a good camping trip. After doing all of my research, we decided to purchase a self-inflating air mattress. This isn't the kind that has its own pump. It has holes on the end that have caps. When you want to use it, you unroll the pad and open the caps. It then begins to fill with air. We purchased a queen sized mattress at a camping store in Australia. It's very comfy and we actually use it a lot when we have guests staying at the house (no, we don't make our guests sleep on it - we give our bed to the guests). I couldn't find a picture of a queen sized one, or even one that looks anything like ours.

Sully and Owen shared an inexpensive full sized blow up mattress. It worked the two times we went out. I'm not sure what we'll do with Connor at this point (he just slept with us before). I'll probably just buy him an inexpensive pad to sleep on.

We have a couple of light sources, but both are battery operated. We have a flashlight that kind of doubles as a lantern:

And a battery powered lantern:

Chuck and I are big morning coffee drinkers so we purchased this splurge item:

I can't remember if we've ever actually used it or not

Of course, we have sleeping bags for all of us. Our bags are nothing fancy, although the boys did get some nice ones as a Christmas present from their aunt and uncle. Since we most likely won't be camping in cold weather, I'm not really worried about having the best bags.

In my previous PTR I mentioned that our van does not have a lot of extra space when all 3 rows of seats are in. I recently went shopping at Craigs List and found a car carrier for only $20. It's in great shape and this will help give us a little extra room to store things like the sleeping bags and pillows, etc. I'll get a picture of it at some point.

The main thing we need to purchase is a stove and I saw some at Walmart for $50 (Coleman) so that won't be too painful. We did have a camp stove and stand when we were in Australia, but we sold them at a yard sale right before we moved back home. I don't plan on purchasing much else at this point. We'll see how everything goes on our first trip out. I just plan on using skillets and pots from the house.

I'll have loads more pictures after our first attempt at camping this spring and show you pictures of our stuff and set up. The next 20 months will be a learning experience for us in prepartion of our big camping trip at The Fort

Am I forgetting any major items? Time for the experienced campers to chime in!

I am really not a camping person...but, you really make me want to give it a try! My only experience with camping is when I took my girl scout troop and even then we were in cabins. (We did get to cook outside on a little wee fire! )

 

[j_lehr]

What there are chat rooms on the DIS??? I feel like Gene Hackman's character in "The Birdcage": I am so confused!

Wow, I didn't realize this either!!

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

No, she hasn't come home

I'm sorry.

 

[carissanboys]

It's water resistant, not waterproof. I guess for what you'd need it for, you'd need waterproof.

I am really not a camping person...but, you really make me want to give it a try! My only experience with camping is when I took my girl scout troop and even then we were in cabins. (We did get to cook outside on a little wee fire! )

Come on - give camping a try!

Wow, I didn't realize this either!!

Well, it wasn't working last night anyway.

I'm sorry.

Thanks

 

[camelotcats]

I'm more interested in the type of restroom facilities..........if you didn't already know that......

Yes, we did. Carissa and I will have to give our flush reports on the restrooms at Ft. Wilderness Lodge.

 

[j_lehr]

Random question: How did you get your links to work on your front page and at the end of your posts? I tried to set mine up...but it only takes me to the page that the post is on, not the actual post. I took the links off the top of each page...but I noticed on your updates in your first post that even when posts occur on the same page they have a different string of numbers at the end. Can you help me?

Thanks!
Jes