Camping tips

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those fans aren't going to cool a 6 man tent and just take up space and $
On a warm night they are a godsend. They will surprise you. 2 D batteries will run at least a couple nights. It also makes white noise, which for new campers will help. It's amazing how many rustles, creaks, and twig snaps you can hear while trying to sleep...and to a new camper it can mean a long, sleepless night.
 
On a warm night they are a godsend. They will surprise you. 2 D batteries will run at least a couple nights. It also makes white noise, which for new campers will help. It's amazing how many rustles, creaks, and twig snaps you can hear while trying to sleep...and to a new camper it can mean a long, sleepless night.
She returned them. I will tell her go buy them again. Last time I went I had to wear ear plugs cause trucks, barges, cars all blowing horn or jake breaking. Probably the worst one was the raccoon making all kinds of noise and playing footsie with me through the tent wall. Don’t put a 6ft6 person in a 2 man tent.
 
This is one of the best threads ever!

I just got back from a seven night trip - work thing. We were at 6000 feet- lots of mosquitos, ticks, deer, elk sign, and we saw a cinnamon black bear one day. Monday it was down to 39 degrees when I rolled out of the sleeping bag. Lots of fun. I told my girlfriend about it and now she wants to go. Plenty of good information here. It looks like you've got a pretty good plan. All I can add is to keep things simple, stay in your comfort zone-it'll make her comfortable as well, and relax/have fun.

Please let us know how things work out.
 
Leaving in exactly 10hrs today. I woke up earlier than normal today to start packing some stuff up and now heading to Walmart and then work. Got one tent sprayed with waterproof and washed my other two tents at the laundry mat last night. I think it made her feel bad cause she says why don’t you want to use my tent? I don’t mind using her tent but I’m taking my $300 eureka just Incase it rains so bad her tent leaks. I leaned long ago have a backup. I forgot to get wood from my buddy so that’s probably all soaked cause it rained last night. I have some cut from last summer but his is 3yo seasoned.
 
Well this is not good at all. Her and I usually talk on the phone for about 10min each morning on the way to work. (both have to be there at 8am) and she says I screwed up! I inquired why and she says the campsite she booked is 4x4 recommended because of a large hill its on. I said no, the map shows the far south east side is 4x4. She says after digging around on the campgrounds website it shows a FAQ's page and it says campsite x-x are 4x4 recommended and while cars and 2wd trucks have made it to those areas they still recommend 4x4. Our site is north west of the marking on the map stating 4x4 area. I called the office and the girl says yeah, if you do some digging on our site it shows sites x-x are 4x4 recommended. I said well your map says only the south east side is 4x4 with two arrows pointing saying 4x4 area. They said they would change it if something else was available. My truck has 175k miles on it and while its only 2hrs from home I am afraid of taking it, so she wanted to take her Honda van. I have hunted that area most of my life and never had an issue getting up and down roads when wet unless this road is all rutted up. @bds this weekend will really test our nerves together with the rain coming in, possibly bad road and small campsites. I do think she is wife material and I know she would be okay doing it too. I am trying so hard to make this weekend perfect for her and its all falling in around me! She's really beating herself up about the site only being 14x17. I said we will pitch my 6 man tent, ill drag the picnic table into the woods and when we need it ill drag it back out. Heck, I will even park, setup camp and go park elsewhere and walk back to camp to save room. She wants to change to the open field campsites but all the reviews say that area is party central with drinking, pot, noise, etc. No wonder that area isn't booked up. I told her I am flexible that if its too much of PITB I will tell the private campground pound salt due to their very, very poor descriptions of campsites and we will camp in the forest. If she needs to use the restroom or shower I will drive her to the state park down the road. Oh and all she has talked about is the 15mile canoe trip tomorrow and today the river is red flagged due to the rain we had last night. I hope it goes back down tomorrow. If not I see a lot of fishing and hiking in our future.
 
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Well this is not good at all.
Actually in your life's journey with your girlfriend, it's just a wrong street you turned into. You simply turn around and get on the right street. ;)

Wife and I had many of our camping trip plans dashed for many reasons. On one trip, due to bad storms (What do you mean I should have checked the weather forecast? Who does that? :eek::D) that wiped out access road to camping area, we had to change our camping plan. We ended up spending the weekend at a model and sightseeing the local town and eating at restaurants. While I preferred to have enjoyed nature, we remained flexible and enjoyed the weekend as much as possible. We pretended to be locals and attended farmers market, watched movies, did window shopping and strolled through the area. If you ask around at cafe/shops, people will eagerly tell you all about local "happenings" and we got to see some neat plays and special events we would have never imagined.

Bottom line, to my girlfriend/future wife, it really didn't matter where we went or what we did, what mattered was that we spent time together. Often in the middle of disaster camping trips where things broke, got badly stuck (We did "hard" 4x4/quad riding to remote areas) and suffered through very primitive camping sites (state primitive camping sites or anywhere nature dictated), we would look at each other and simply laugh at each other.

Believe me, our relationship/marriage/family issues have been very challenging at times during first 15 years together but various camping/4x4/quad trips to far away destinations instilled a bonding to the point where I consider my wife "combat buddy" who I have fought many life's battles with going to hell and back many times and trust as she has always covered my back and we suffered through it all TOGETHER. Wife's friends and family have failed her many times but she says I have never failed her as I have always stood by her through GOOD AND BAD times.

So you and your girlfriend suffering together on this camping trip in rain with poor accommodations is not a bad thing but a good thing. To you, it may seem like a poorly planned nightmare camping trip that's going to frustrate you but to your girlfriend, it's a test of how you will accommodate her and whether you will stick by her side to enjoy the time together.

On one really bad camping trip, wife and I were forced to eat cold canned raviolis inside a leaking tent with wet floor under pouring rain (Yup, "somebody" forgot to check the weather forecast again and our tarp over tent was not working in sideways rain) and I was despondent with disappointment. Wife gave me a smile and said, "We are making happy memories to tell our children later in our marriage to laugh about" and we just rolled around laughing.

One time, an unexpected storm surge began wiping out all the camp sites on the beach (Pismo/Oceano dunes where you can camp on the beach, right to the water) including ours at night. With waves pounding, I was up to my knees/waist in waves while I tried to salvage our camp site and push/move our truck and quad trailer back up the beach (We managed to save our truck/trailer but in the morning, we saw many stuck trucks buried halfway up in the sand and had to be dug/towed out with saltwater damage to interior. And we found out Toyota trucks with large tires can float away out in the ocean :eek:). We went back to sleep soaking wet and covered in sand. After morning shower and eating breakfast at local restaurant (because all of our food was lost or destroyed), I was pissed but my wife said, "You know, I had a wet dream last night" ... and we both burst into laughter.

Our 24 years together is full of bad camping memories BUT looking back, they were the BEST camping memories.

Take heart, no matter how bad your camping trip turns out, you will bond and make lasting memories both of you will cherish.

I told her I am flexible that if its too much of PITB I will tell the private campground pound salt due to their very, very poor descriptions of campsites and we will camp in the forest. If she needs to use the restroom or shower I will drive her to the state park down the road.
There you go, contingency plans. You are starting to accommodate your girlfriend. Good for you. See, you are indeed husband material. :D

Oh and all she has talked about is the 15mile canoe trip tomorrow
She must be in love with you.

today the river is red flagged due to the rain we had last night. I hope it goes back down tomorrow. If not I see a lot of fishing and hiking in our future.
I am sure you will see to it that both of you have the time of your lives on this camping trip!
 
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Sorry guys for the constant updates. This is driving me crazy because she has never been camping and I don't want her to hate it. Ranting on here is helping me cope with it because I don't want her to see its frustrating me. My best friend said look what we used to do when deer hunting? I said and that's why I don't do that anymore!!
 
But past does not equal to the future.

My experience has been nothing I planned has come to pass (according to my liking) but what ended up happening instead, likely what was destined in the first place, was MUCH better than whatever I had planned (You should have seen my girlfriends I tried to marry before I met my wife. I am SO GLAD I didn't marry my ex girlfriends). :D

Based on what you posted about your girlfriend, I have a sneaking suspicion she will be happy wherever you go and whatever you do as long as you FOCUS ON HER. And all the challenges that are rising may simply be a test to that objective. ;)

I think you should just relax and go with the flow and have a GREAT time with your girlfriend. If you two were destined to be together, you will enjoy whatever you do and where you go. If you two weren't destined to be together, you will not enjoy no matter how perfect things are.

Imagine an unknown trip to destination unknown to do whatever when you get there - Isn't that what life is all about? Full of surprises.

This is "adventuring" of jungles of life. And you and your girlfriend are embarking on a safari.
 
But past does not equal to the future.

My experience has been nothing I planned has come to pass (according to my liking) but what ended up happening instead, likely what was destined in the first place, was MUCH better than whatever I had planned (You should have seen my girlfriends I tried to marry before I met my wife. I am SO GLAD I didn't marry my ex girlfriends). :D

Based on what you posted about your girlfriend, I have a sneaking suspicion she will be happy wherever you go and whatever you do as long as you FOCUS ON HER. And all the challenges that are rising may simply be a test to that objective. ;)

I too am glad I ditched the ex girlfriends. Too much headache.

Yeah, she is great! I text her and said you know its going to rain all weekend and they closed the canoe trips. She replied I don't care as long as I'm with you and had kissy emoji. I have laid in pools of water, snow and rain storms and been muddy and dirty for a week at a time. Just worried she wont like it.
 
Oh and as far as the coffee goes there is 2 cases of starbucks cold coffee in the cooler. :) So far we have about 6 totes packed, 3 tents, 3 cast iron items, several rolls of paper towels and toilet paper, milk, OJ, pancake mix, sausage, eggs, cheese, bread, hamburgers, buns, hot dogs, brats, 2 cases of 40pc bottled water, air bed, tarps, fishing gear. If she likes, we will be doing backpack in primitive camping soon and another trip to our best state park and horse back riding in the forest.
 
So far we have about 6 totes packed, 3 tents, 3 cast iron items, several rolls of paper towels and toilet paper, milk, OJ, pancake mix, sausage, eggs, cheese, bread, hamburgers, buns, hot dogs, brats, 2 cases of 40pc bottled water, air bed, tarps, fishing gear. If she likes, we will be doing backpack in primitive camping soon and another trip to our best state park and horse back riding in the forest.
Oh my, you are packed for an expedition! :eek:

Don't forget rain gear so you can pursue any activity regardless of rain. ;)

Fun fun fun.
 
Oh my, you are packed for an expedition! :eek:

Don't forget rain gear so you can pursue any activity regardless of rain. ;)

Fun fun fun.
Like I said before she has never been camping before. lol. If it were me it would be 1-2 totes and lots of hotdogs and canned food.
 
Lotta rough road between,

Oh and as far as the coffee goes there is 2 cases of starbucks cold coffee in the cooler. :) So far we have about 6 totes packed, 3 tents, 3 cast iron items, several rolls of paper towels and toilet paper, milk, OJ, pancake mix, sausage, eggs, cheese, bread, hamburgers, buns, hot dogs, brats, 2 cases of 40pc bottled water, air bed, tarps, fishing gear.

and,

we will be doing backpack in primitive camping soon.

80 bottles of water to drink......for two..... for one weekend?

....plus the 2 cases of Starbucks?

.....and milk? Just white, or chocolate too?

That'sa coupla full garbage bags of trash in and of itself(without beer and whiskey empties) from just liquid refreshment , and you're roughing it?

You killin' me here man!:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Lotta rough road between,



and,



80 bottles of water to drink......for two..... for one weekend?

....plus the 2 cases of Starbucks?

.....and milk? Just white, or chocolate too?

That'sa coupla full garbage bags of trash in and of itself(without beer and whiskey empties) from just liquid refreshment , and you're roughing it?

You killin' me here man!:rofl::rofl::rofl:
Oh I got stories. Not roughing it. It’s very primitive but they come by twice day picking up trash.
 
Rained really bad last night starting at 8pm-5am today. My tarp setup helped keep us dry.
 

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Oh I got stories. Not roughing it. It’s very primitive but they come by twice day picking up trash.


From my experience, having a level gravel tent pad, a provided fire ring and twice a day trash pick-up is not in any way, "primitive" camping. Kinda where I was going with my two quotes. There's a new term that millennials use called "Glamping". Seems to be the new norm and exactly where you and your girlfriend are at. Nuttin' wrong with it, just a long way from "Primitive". "Primitive" means you bring back all your garbage. "Primitive" means you "pop a squat" instead of using the campground bathrooms. "Primitive" means making the water you find, suffice by some proven means so you don't end up having to "pop a squat" every five minutes.

I'm not saying you and the little woman will never get there. I was just saying you have a long way to go. Maybe, the experience you had this weekend is just the first step on that journey. If not and you never get away from "Glamping", who cares as long as you enjoy it.
 
There's a new term that millennials use called "Glamping".
But to me, having so much luxury would take fun out of camping - https://www.sunset.com/travel/outdoor-adventure/glamping-tents#stout-bell-tent

For me, the ultimate goal of "camping" is to be immersed in nature's splendor. One of my fondest memories is to have the star lit night sky with milkyway visible as your tent watching the light show of dazzling shooting stars. To picture yourself and girlfriend as stowaway on a chunk of rock we call Earth screaming through space at incredible velocity puts our fragile lives in perspectives to grand scale of the universe and one beautiful life.

But don't show my wife "glamping" tents or she will set one up on our acreage for her to take her afternoon naps. :eek::p (I do plan to build her a cute tree house for her naps)

1-stout-bell-tent-glamping-0517.jpg
 
Okay, here is the entire story.

Thursday: I head to her house to take her tent down, bag it up, grab totes of food and supplies and get to loading my truck. I arrive and her mom is there and says the "tent came un-staked and blew across the back yard". Rain is moving in and I don't want to put a wet tent back into the bag. I am thinking this tent is trashed due to being thrown across the back yard. Her mom set the tent back up and put a paint bucket in the center to hold it down. I begin taking it down and GF (girl friend) arrives and begins helping. We laid the tent in the garage to dry and ready for Friday's journey.

Friday beginning: I leave work late and head home to grab 2 totes and some other supplies and head out the door to go help her get her gear together. I arrive and her mother has her entire garage cleaned out and sitting in the driveway. GF wants to have a yard sale, so her mom decided while we were gone she would help. I am thinking all the totes and all 3 tents are going to be unorganized now. GF arrives and goes into panic mode and her mom says everything is packed and ready to go. We go inside and GF is trying to find tennis shoes, soaps, put food in cooler and totes and I am panicking we are going to get there late. Its already 6pm with 2hrs to the campsite. I begin packing my truck bed and she says lets take my van because I don't want to put a ton of miles on your truck and in the van we have more room and shelter from the rain if need be. I then unpack my truck and into her van and realize I don't have my fishing gear. I left it on my front porch. We get half way down the road, so I can leave my truck at home and get fishing gear and she says "I need to go back I forgot something". I head home and I am sitting there waiting and call her to find out she got to talking to her mom and took a shower. She picks me up and we head to Walmart for more food, waterproof spray, ax because mine disappeared and more tarps. She is driving like a maniac to get there because 11pm is cutoff for check in. We arrive at the campground and get checked in around 945/10pm and begin trying to find the campsite. We find our site and its actually larger than they claimed.

Friday end: We pull into the site and the place is packed all around us. We find out there is a 25-100 mile foot race through the state forest and people from all over the country are there for it. Neighbors are about 75yards away with woods between us, porta jon right across the road for her, brand new metal and poly picnic tables, fire ring, etc. We get the tents out of the van and she says mine or yours? I said I don't know if yours will fit in the tent space and she says your partial to your tent I understand. I felt bad and said we will make yours work! Her tent just fit the site before falling over the hillside. I started a fire and headed to the shower house because she wanted to do the cooking on the fire and I got lost for 45min. The main road hits a point where it branches into about 6 different roads and I decided I wanted to walk to the showers and got all turned around. I find the showers with the help of a campground worker and heading back to camp I make a wrong turn and get lost again. I called GF and had her flash the flashlight and found her 200yards away. She is sitting there with an itty bitty fire trying to cook 6 brats on a hotdog fork. I got the fire going really good and we hung out and went to bed about 1am. The campground has several guys on golf carts riding around and making everyone quiet down by 11pm. It ticked a few of the neighbors off, so one decided he was going to shoot a mortar shell at 1am and again at 230am. At 3am everyone in our area knew the neighbor's name was Dan and just how "good" Dan was. It rained a little bit and we finally fell asleep on our queen size 18'' high air bed.

Saturday Morning: We woke up about 630am and began prepping a fire for cooking breakfast and she wanted to make blueberry pancakes. Man is that hard to do on cast iron with a fire! Most of them were burned but I ate them anyways. Egg's, toast, pancakes, sausage all on the fire. We hung out and tarped off the tent and tried to go canoeing, but it was closed due to high and fast water. We did some sight seeing around the forest that included climbing an 80ft fire tower, gorge overlook, river, 3-5mile hike through the woods and down to the river. We found a backpacking campsite and she said she wants to do that one next time. I said not with all that stuff you brought! lol. We went to a local bait shop for bait and ice and the first thing she did was go to the coffee pot! :rofl:. I said I thought you could go without it? She says "hey, its here so why not"? We headed to the marina the bait guy said to go too and the waves were too bad to fish, so we headed to the back of the lake and hiked down to fish. 3hrs of fishing we ended up with nothing but lost tackle. Lots of boats coming in close to us, so we left. We checked out the dam and the spillway from the dam into the river.

Saturday night: It began drizzling about 8pm and we started cooking burgers and beans on the fire. We had nice canopy from the woods, so fire wasn't an issue in the rain. In fact, it thunder stormed all night and the fire was roaring at 2am. I was trying to tarp off the tent and now its raining really hard. I break out rain gear for her and I and she decides she wants to roast marshmallows. I said, handle those and I will finish the tarp, put the wood away and then ill eat. She kept trying to feed me and I kind of snapped at her. :uhoh::( I was just trying to get the tarp up, so our stuff didn't get wet. We fell asleep about 11pm to thunderstorms and back awake at midnight-3am to a car alarm going off above us.

Sunday morning: I woke up at 6am and tried getting out of bed without waking her and she woke up. I said we have to be checked out by noon, so I'm going to start burning some of this wood off and cleaning up. She wanted to help but I told her sleep in. I peaked in the tent and she is laying there with a sheet, comforter and sleeping bag on top of her sound asleep. The car alarm goes off again and the neighbor asked the guy why his alarm kept going off all night. The guy laughs and says his kid kept hitting the panic button because she thought it was funny. The neighbor says well its really annoying at 3am. I got everything but the tent taken down by 9am and she was still asleep. I checked the radar because it was getting dark and 10am a huge cell was coming over us. Last thing I wanted to do was put a wet tent away. I woke her up and she began cooking while I folded tarps and organized the van. I asked her to clean the inside of the tent up while I cooked because I was all muddy from the tarps. I ended up burning the pancakes, burned the eggs and the bacon caught on fire. We hit the road by 11am and played mini golf for an hour. I asked her what she thought and she replied I like it, give it a 10 and want to go for a week at a time. :thumbup:

We both had a nice time together and got through some rough stuff without arguing. We also liked the campground and will be back soon.
 
So before you forget, make a checklist in Google Keep or something. Make a checklist of things you needed for the trip, what was nice to have, etc. And what you wished you had.

When you pack next time there will be a nice list so you don't forget anything when you are leaving. Trust me on this.

The nice thing about Google keep is the checklist is permanent and can be added to and reset for future trips

Oh and the secret to cooking is cook over coals, not fire.
 
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