slo’s FRIDAY poll - Camping In A Tent

[HeatherC]

Did you go to Nickerson?
Haven't been up to the Cape for some time but it would be nice to take DGD. Something to mull over.

Love camping and have two different set ups depending on whether it’s base camping (we call it glamping) with as many home comforts as can be squeezed in the car, or shorter term more primitive stays.
Bought a TT as a retirement present for the man but he wasn’t having one more nano second of camping the moment DGD asked to go to WDW

Didn’t go to Nickerson this time. Decided on Shawme Crowell State Park in Sandwich. We vacation a lot in Sandwich and love the area so we decided to go there. We do have Nickerson back on the list for after Labor Day. Just gets sooo crowded in July and August…..but it is beautiful.

We are also about comfort and ease. If it’s not comfy and relatively easy, it is not fun. But I grew up tent camping (two weeks every summer) so have figured out what works for us over the years and what are necessities and what are just more extras we really don’t need.

It was fun. Trying to decide where to go next.

 

[trivan]

In May, went rafting down the Colorado River and no tent needed. Slept on cots. It was awesome!

 

[Beach Bunny]

 

[mylilnikita]

I have years ago, it’s not my thing.

 

[JaxDad]

I’ve camped in tents many, many times, mostly as a kid. My teen kids and I still tent camp once or twice a year in a local beachside park. It’s always somewhat spontaneous, since the forecast needs to be absolutely cool and dry to be worth going, and it’s usually only for a weekend at a time.

My longest trip living in a tent was six months in the middle of Saudi Arabia, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Double hell to the no!!!

Ex-wife and I once visited friends at a campground inland from the Jersey Shore. They had a small RV type thing and begged us for years to experience the life. We finally agreed.

It was July 4th weekend, 1998. 4th was a Saturday. We arrived Friday 3rd late morning and were supposed to stay until Sunday afternoon.

The forecast for the whole weekend was in the high 90s. Ex-wife wanted to cancel but I twisted her arm.

It was miserable. Scorching heat, high humidity, the works. Swimming pool was filled with 1000 screaming kids. Lake was disgusting. Showers and bathrooms were dirty. Even the so-called air-conditioned clubhouse was barely tolerable.

She wanted to leave but we stayed overnight in the non-AC camper. About noon the next day she said she's leaving with or without me. I convinced her to stay until about 3ish, then we made our apologies to our hosts and left.

That weekend was a contributing factor in our divorce six months later.

I told DW about this story and she said it was a good thing she wasn't there or she would have dumped me too.

 

[mrodgers]

Of course, all the time on the bicycle. Eventually going to add camping to the motorcycle and head off by myself for a little tour. In my younger days we camped every 4th of July week, except it was more of an excuse to drink a lot, but it was actual camping, gathering firewood, cooking by fire vs. what I do now camping in campgrounds with bathrooms and showers as overnight accommodations on the bike.

 

[disney4us2002]

Nope. My idea of camping is roughing it in a motel instead of a hotel and I rarely agree to that. I prefer to be pampered on vacations not sleeping on a hard ground, fighting off bugs, and communal showers. Yuck!

 

[CynBeth]

A few times as a kid on school or girl scout trips and once as an adult but hopefully never again.

 

[tasha99]

I used to all the time. I was in the military, too, so I slept in various tents on field exercises. But now when the extended family has a camping trip, I tend to rent a cottage somewhere near and drive to that to sleep. I don't like sleeping on the ground, even on an air mattress, anymore.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I haven't camped since the 80's

 

[lanejudy]

We camp in a tent for a week every summer. We used to also do a couple of long weekends at state campgrounds each summer, but as DD gets older it's harder to fit into the schedule. I feel we need minimum 3 nights, otherwise it's too much work to set-up and break-camp with too little downtime between.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

A handful of times. One time was fun. I had recently turned 21 so there may have been a lot of alcohol helping that along. It was also chilly out so it was nice to snuggle in the tent.
The last time was in the dead of summer and my BF at the time camped with a blow-up mattress and a box fan (plugged into an outlet outside) when it was hot out. I thought it was a great idea, until it stormed like crazy in the middle of the night. We woke up and our tent was flooded, our air mattress got a hole so we were laying in water, and I honestly don't know how we didn't get electrocuted.
Then a few hours later there was someone by our car, hollering someone's name. After a few minutes my BF grabbed a hammer, hid it behind his back, and went out to see what the guy wanted. He said he thought this was his buddy's campsite, his car looked just like ours. Somehow our trunk had popped open, so he thought his friend was packing up to leave and wanted to say hi. Thank goodness the guy did leave, and so did we. I never need to camp again.

 

[maxaroni]

Yes, as a kid in Girl Scouts. It was not my thing at all, I was not a fan. I went to a couple of birthday sleepovers in the summer, backyard tents. I couldn’t sleep at all, not a fan.

 

[maxaroni]

@RedAngie reminded me with her post of the with the Y camps (basically in our backyard), in 6th grade all students went on a field trip “camping”. It was called Camp Green in Ringwood, NJ. We went from Monday - Friday and we slept in large cabins, in bunk beds. Not true camping but it was close to it, as far as I was concerned…lol. We had a large cabin for meals but spent the day doing outdoor things. We panned for iron ore, which is one of the only things I remember. We had a campfire one night and told ghost stories. Hated the whole week.

 

[JLTraveling]

We loved tent camping in state parks when the kids were little. I used to have "chicks' weekend" with DD as she was growing up.

My favorite time EVER was when DH was at his Annual Training for National Guard, and both kids were at summer camp -- I went camping BY MYSELF for 4 days. It. Was. Wonderful. I cooked when I wanted, ate what I wanted, and went to sleep when I wanted. Had a huge thunderstorm the first night, but I was dry in the tent with a lantern reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which had just come out. Sigh. Would love to do that again sometime.

My ex was working on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, and traffic is absolutely impossible during Mardi Gras. We were avid tent campers, so we decided to spend that week camping near his job. He was working 12-14 hour days, so I got most of the time to myself. My absolute favorite was the night I got a roaring fire going and sat beside it for hours reading Lord of the Rings. Another week we were camping with my parents, and we put a small TV out by the fire pit to watch Survivor. So many great memories. I need to go again soon.

 

[E&Cmom]

I only have a handful of time and that was enough. Cabins are fine.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I have never tried it... I did fall asleep outside in a lounge chair and woke up at like 2 AM few weeks ago. That's as close to camping as I have been.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I was a Girl Scout and did it a few times. I had to use a bedroll, not a sleeping bag, too poor to afford one. Yet, I enjoyed the nights in spite of definitely feeling a stigma.

 

[PollyannaMom]

A few times several years ago. Some were with DS's Cub Scout group (I especially remember one at a ball park) and a couple were with DH's coworkers and their families. - The company arranged it as a weekend river rafting thing.

Both were a lot of fun, and I enjoy the "sitting around the fire" part of it all, but I'm only good tent camping for a couple of nights before I want a "real" shower. Cabin camping, I'd last much longer.