Monday, March 11, 2013

Camping...

We LOVE to camp! We have only been able to go a couple of times a year in the past, but would really like to increase the opportunities to really 'unplug'! We are hardcore tent campers EEK! No really it is NOT that scary honestly... we are pretty posh... with air mattresses and all!
We have been using the same tent for at least the last 10 years... finally today we purchased a new one! We are so excited.
After camping at Thanksgiving we had planned on camping over spring break, but as we attempted to reserve space it became apparent that it was going to be a very busy camping week! We decided we would stay home. However, last week as everyone at school was discussing their plans a couple of ladies were talking about their camping trip they were taking together. As I shared my 'tips' with them I got increasingly sad I was not going to get to enjoy the beautiful week coming up - CAMPING! FINALLY I found 4 nights at Garner State Park...
(Here are some pics from our trip in November)
(lunch at this table was LOVELY)
(the weather was not super warm, but warm enough to enjoy the clear, cool & crisp water)


(kayaking was lovely... with views to die for & the water was super clear as you can see in this second pic)



(the trees are ENORMOUS!!!)

(beautiful!)
We are meeting up with some dear friends of ours... we will definitely enjoy our time!

Okay... let's first look at our old tent... (yes a TENT overview or review or whatever... sounds exciting eh?!)

(camping trip spring 2011... yes i realize this is blurry lol)



In our old tent we could fit 2 queen sized mattresses into each of the outer rooms... however you could obviously not stand in those areas so they were just little indentations for the beds! We could stand up completely in the VERY center of the main room.
Do not get me wrong - this tent served us VERY well for the past 10+ years! In 2007 we even camped in this exact tent at Fort Wilderness Disney World Resort... Jerm, myself, Abs and Iz AND our dear friends we will be spending this week with - Rich, Crys, J & S... ALL 8 of us in this tent and it was definitely doable - given the children were quite young at the time!

Today we got a NEW tent!
We did lots and lots and lots of researching. I am a big analyzer... I like to research and research and research before I buy! Almost every tent has poor reviews lol. I am not sure what people expect a tent to do, but EVERYONE complains. It is TENT people! If there is torrential rain you will get wet. I promise there is NOT a tent out there that is RAIN PROOF! Rain + Camping = ADVENTURE lol :) Today we visited Target, Gander Mountain, Academy Sports & Bass Pro.

There is a new line of tents labeled 'instant tents'... we watched a LOT of youtube videos and it honestly can be put up in just about 1-3 minutes... they tout one and it is doable... HOWEVER these tents were not available at any of the stores we visited... 
Honestly Jerm does NOT mind the extra 10 minutes the other types of tents will take to set up. I will post more details about our new tent in another post after I can take pics of the important details we appreciate AND any negatives we find on our first camping trip! For now... here are 2 web images of our new tent.