Trying out the new tent...

[LiteBrite]

Quick summation - we were pop-up people for several years, then bunkhouse travel trailer people for another several years, then we were people who had sold their trailer and never went camping anymore for several years (during which time our only child got all growed up and moved out of the house).

Now hubby and I have finally become people who miss camping bad enough to try tent camping. We bought a tent a few weeks ago, we have a reservation at FW (where we stayed lots of times before in our pop up and TT) for a week in May, and now on Sunday night we're going to try a single night at a nearby campground. We would prefer a 2 nighter, and hopefully some weekend soon that will happen, but while we wait for all the stars to align to make that happen, we finally found one night when it's going to be warm enough and not raining, when there's a campsite available at the state park of our choice, and when we are free to go, so we're going for it.

I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[Rhonda]

That sounds like fun!! Have a good time!

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Sunday night we're going to try a single night at a nearby campground.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Details, details, it's Tuesday already! How did it go?

 

[disneystick]

Sometimes the best time to try a tent is when it is raining, cold and windy. This way if you survive all the worst weather...camping in good weather is a breeze. And it also lets you know if your tent is waterproofed well enough to endure the wetter times.

 

[LiteBrite]

Details, details, it's Tuesday already! How did it go?

It was really good!

The forecast called for a low around 60, which we thought wouldn't be that bad, but we ended up being pretty cold overnight. I just put on a few more layers and it was ok. (I know, I know - we're Floridians, and therefore wimpy.)

The state park (Grayton Beach) is beautiful. We had a nice site with lots of foliage between us and our neighbors.

We (read: hubby) tried to make a fire in the fire ring, but the wood was a little damp and we mostly just made smoke. We relaxed by the smoky little fire (which kept going out on us) for a while and had some wine, but eventually we gave up on it and retired to the tent to watch a DVD on the laptop.

The wine caught up with us a couple of hours later, so hubby and I got up to visit the bathhouse later. Stepping out of the tent, we found our fire, burning merrily away! I guess there was a spark I guess we gave up on it a little too soon. After we got back from the bathhouse we stood by the now perfect little fire for a couple of minutes, but we were too tired, so we doused it for real and went to bed.

In the morning we had breakfast and hung around the site for a couple of hours. Breaking camp was quick and painless - it only took us about 30 minutes total to clean, pack, take down the tent and drive away.

One of our main topics of conversation while we were there was all the ways we could improve our setup for our week at FW in May, which was fun to think and talk about.

I guess it was sort of a lot of trouble just for one night, but it was also an adventure, and we really enjoyed ourselves!

 

[disney4dan]

.... Stepping out of the tent, we found our fire, burning merrily away! I guess there was a spark I guess we gave up on it a little too soon. After we got back from the bathhouse we stood by the now perfect little fire for a couple of minutes, but we were too tired, so we doused it for real and went to bed.

On one of our camping trips at a local state park last summer, my oldest son and a friend stayed up later than the rest of us. I told him to put the fire out before going to bed. I never thought to explain how much water it takes to really put a fire out. Come about 3 am I woke up and noticed an orange glow outside the trailer, sure enough the fire had caught again and was still going strong. Luckily, the boys had left one of the pails with water and I was able to get it soaked good. They must have only put water to stop the flames, but not really soak the coals.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

It was really good! .................

I guess it was sort of a lot of trouble just for one night, but it was also an adventure, and we really enjoyed ourselves!

It was a practice run.....that you got to really enjoy, thats a bonus!!!!

We're grabbing a local CG site for the kids springbreak for a 2 or 3 nighter....about 20 minutes from the house, this will be our first attempt as a family doin the tent....wife is a little skepticle about it, she said "I said Id do it at Disney, not any ol dump you can find a spot in!" we're takin baby steps here

 

[LiteBrite]

It was a practice run.....that you got to really enjoy, thats a bonus!!!!

We're grabbing a local CG site for the kids springbreak for a 2 or 3 nighter....about 20 minutes from the house, this will be our first attempt as a family doin the tent....wife is a little skepticle about it, she said "I said Id do it at Disney, not any ol dump you can find a spot in!" we're takin baby steps here

You've gotta find something to make it nice for her, so she'll learn to love it. In a roundabout way, that's sort of how I turned hubby into a WDW lover. At first, he just tolerated it for my sake cause I loved it so much, but once we discovered FW, he loved it so much that it turned his attitude around about the whole thing, and now he's (almost) as big a WDW fanatic as I am!

So, incorporate something your wife will go gaga for into the tent camping, and maybe she'll learn to love the tent.

 

[momoffive]

Oh That sounds so familiar. I was the WDW fan and could go several times a year. DH...well I had to talk him into it the first time we went together. He was there with his family when he was in HS. His Mom just showed me pictures and he isn't smiling in any of them! Now we have been several times and our most recent was at FW. He loves to camp, I would rather have a camper, but camping is fun too. Now he is just as excited to go back again this year too. I keep looking at all the pictures so I have a better plan for our site layout, what I still need to purchase. I like the idea of a small refrig. With the 5 kids that would be so much easier than only a cooler. I'm also thinking of the easy-up with the screens and solid sides, any words of wisdom?
momoffive