Dumb questions re: refrigerator/tent camping

[tina.tina]

Please forgive my dumb questions. We have never camped before but are very interested in giving tent camping a try this year in anticipation of a trip to FW next year.

I am specifically interested in comfortable (not roughing it) camping. If we bring a refrigerator, can we keep it in our tent without fear of animals trying to break into our tent?

I read on another thread where animals broke into someone's storage tote and got into the hamburger buns. Does anyone have a recommendation for storage bins?

I would also be very grateful if anyone knows of any other camping forums where I can lurk and ask my dumb questions.

Thanks!

PS: Any opinions on Myrtle Beach State Park would also be great!

 

[tiggerdad]

I can't link on my phone but there is one thread entitled "haven't tent camped for over 15 years..." that lists some input regarding containers and "critters". Just use the search option and put it in.

Also if you search "tent" you will get back a lot of other helpful threads regarding the things you are wondering and you will probably also find some things you might not have even thought of.

Oh yeah, there are no dumb questions. That's why we are all here. To joke, have fun, and help answer questions.

 

[tina.tina]

My daughter loved the squirrel pictures!


If anyone has any info on other camping forums it would be greatly appreciated. The only ones I've found are pretty much inactive.

Thanks!

 

[bama_ed]

I am specifically interested in comfortable (not roughing it) camping. If we bring a refrigerator, can we keep it in our tent without fear of animals trying to break into our tent?

I read on another thread where animals broke into someone's storage tote and got into the hamburger buns. Does anyone have a recommendation for storage bins?

We have a plug-in electric cooler from Coleman (that sits on the ground like a regular cooler) with a lid that "snaps" shut. On my recent visit I kept it outside at the Fort with some smellable food that was not messed with. You can always just set a pack of bottled water, a gallon jug of water, etc on the lid.

Personally I wouldn't put a fridge IN my tent because the scent of the food would possibly draw ants. Ants outside is one thing - ants in your bedding is another.

I think the possibility of animals getting in a cooler or fridge are pretty remote. Much more likely are the two-legged variety (kid) looking to swipe a beer from a cooler when the family is gone.

Bama Ed

 

[tina.tina]

Dear Mr. BAMA Ed,
Thank you for your PM. I am pretty clueless sometimes- especially about conflict, but I definitely trust your advice.

While I have been researching old threads as TIGGERDAD suggested, I found that the last time we were in WDW in April 2011 was at the same time as your trip. That was when we went to the HDDR and I started planning a trip to stay at FW. Life has changed a little and I am in school now, but we are planning to go June 2015.

I also found your thread about site measurements and I wanted to thank you for that info.

I never thought about ants coming in after the refrigerator but I should have. We had an issue before me moved in our house. Unknown to us, DS(almost 2 then) dropped a sucker in a closet. The very next day, when we came back to do more painting, etc, there was a line of ants going up the front steps, across the entry way, up the next 2 steps and across the floor to the coat closet in the living room where the sucker was.

We had ants around our French doors in our dining room in the Spring after they were installed. I sprinkled chili powder in the floor and left it a couple of days and they haven't come back.

 

[tiggerdad]

Must not have been Southwestern ants...

They love their chili powder.

 

[nabi]

We use the one Bama Ed spoke of above. Nothing has ever broke into it, but we don't haul it to bear country. We also use an Arctic Air from Sporty's Pilot shop to keep the tent cool in the summer. Some family members have a different concept of "roughing" it!

 

[tina.tina]

Must not have been Southwestern ants...

They love their chili powder.

No Southwestern ants here, we're in the Southeast. You wouldn't believe how many ants live in my yard, though. We live on a hill and I keep telling my DH if we exterminate all the ants, our house may compact down to street level since it's probably just one big ant hill.

We use the one Bama Ed spoke of above. Nothing has ever broke into it, but we don't haul it to bear country. We also use an Arctic Air from Sporty's Pilot shop to keep the tent cool in the summer. Some family members have a different concept of "roughing" it!

DD(13) definitely doesn't want anything to do with rough camping. She just got a mini fridge for her room for her birthday and it's her fridge that we're planning to take with us. My dad has a small window AC for us to borrow and the tent we're looking at has an AC port!

My sister lives on our parents' farm and they have spotted bear tracks, so nobody is camping there this summer. We have been thinking of camping in the Smokies. I might have to re-think taking the fridge there!

 

[tiggerdad]

The Smokies are a good place to camp. Done tent camping in Cade's Cove many years ago. Now camp at Creekside in Pigeon Forge since camper is so big. Would still love to do Cade's Cove again, maybe try a trip where we stay there 2 days and then pull out to Pigeon Forge so the wife can have her "electricity". In 2005 when hurricane Katrina came though I thought she was going to die without that electricity for 5 days...

I like camping any national park. We are actually trying to put together a round trip tour to Mammoth Cave, then over to Shenandoah, and south to the Smokies. Just gotta wrap up this degree and then it's planning time...

Have never had the luxury of camping in a tent with an AC unit...sounds more than doable to me.

 

[tina.tina]

The Smokies are a good place to camp. Done tent camping in Cade's Cove many years ago. Now camp at Creekside in Pigeon Forge since camper is so big. Would still love to do Cade's Cove again, maybe try a trip where we stay there 2 days and then pull out to Pigeon Forge so the wife can have her "electricity". In 2005 when hurricane Katrina came though I thought she was going to die without that electricity for 5 days...

I like camping any national park. We are actually trying to put together a round trip tour to Mammoth Cave, then over to Shenandoah, and south to the Smokies. Just gotta wrap up this degree and then it's planning time...

Have never had the luxury of camping in a tent with an AC unit...sounds more than doable to me.

My Prob & Stats class is annoying me right now!

Have you ever driven down the Blue Ridge Parkway? You could go all the way from Shenandoah to Cherokee & hop over to Gatlinburg/PF. My DH says he would rather do just about anything rather than drive through there, but it's beautiful. You could also hop on/hop off just to see some points of interest. It sort of follows I-81 in some places.

We are in between Shenandoah and the Smokies. Growing up, my family went to the beach on vacations. I guess we take our mountains for granted sometimes but we're always glad to return to the lower humidity. The elevation where we live is about twice that of Gatlinburg/PF and is also still higher than Cade's Cove. It surprises me how warm/humid it is in that area at night and I always say "This is supposed to be the mountains!" The kids are begging to go to the Gatlinburg Jellystone to see Yogi Bear, we'll see....

 

[tiggerdad]

Done the Blueridge all the way down in 2002 when we last visited Shenandoah. Beautiful drive, but hard on the brakes, so I don't forsee me doing it with the camper.

It's a 12 hour drive to Shenandoah from home, same distance as the Fort. That's why we are considering making a loop trip to break up the distances.

We r considering the jellystone in Gatlinburg instead. We r looking at the jellystone right outside mammoth cave np for sure.

Took stats a few years back...not recalling any fond memories...