Happy Campers
Claire says "It's not camping if it's in our backyard, Dad."
SO, we next went to camp in Holly's Dad's backyard (where the sprinklers hit us pretty hard at 5AM (you'd think I'd have learned about this from the same thing that happened camping in Thousand Oaks, right Craig, Adam and Steven?).
Finally, to a Missouri state park - where we had a ball. I'll try to post some pics.
I have a helpful advisor at our local REI store; but there are things they sell there I don't even know the name for (totally cool self inflating pads, etc.).
So, calling all campers: I could use your tips about gear, activities and locations for future camping adventures. Go easy on us at first, please. We're still novices.
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Ya i remember two things sprinklers and punk kids kicking our tent at least you just encountered the sprinklers this time
The "totally cool self inflating pads" I believe you are referring to are Thermarests. As for equipment, Thermarests and our Kelty sleeping bags were purchases that we have been extremely happy with. In fact, used our Thermarests for three days here in Tennessee until our items arrived from Milwaukee. If you are ever heading to camp in Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula - I would suggest Peninsula State Park in Door County, WI, many sites within the Nicolet/Chequamegon National Forest (that too is in Wisconsin) and the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula (good day trips from there - Apostle Islands, Keweenaw Peninsula, various waterfalls). If you are heading on a big vacation to Yellowstone and/or Grand Tetons, Grant Village in Yellowstone and Signal Mountain in the Tetons treated us well. Most all of these places had good showers and sometimes other amenities such as informational talks/walks, even restaurant food was close to most (not all).
Thanks, Kris for the great advice.
I got an REI version of a Thermarest, and I love it. A great design, and it looks like with the right straps I can convert it into a chair, too.
How do you store yours? If I roll it up, will it lose it's ability to spring back into shape?
We'll file the camp site leads - they'd be great as we branch out. I'm amazed at how good the infrastructure is at some of these campsites. One can enjoy nature yet still have some nice basic comforts - and the people seem really friendly. If you encounter save-the-National Parks petitions, let me know; letting them fall apart would be a shame for the country in my view. I'm not sure Teddy Roosevelt would be fully pleased with how we've cared for his (Nat'l Parks) gifts to us.
We do roll ours up in storage and once we get air back into them and set our sleeping bags on them, they straighten out.