Tent camping is a great way to get closer to nature away from the distraction of televisions, computers and the comforts of home.
Remembering these simple four things will help make your tent camping experience more fun than frustrating.
1.
Before going out make sure you have all the equipment you will need and know how to use it.
My husband and I planned to go on our first camping trip together.
However, we did not have any equipment so we borrowed a tent and a knapsack supposedly filled with cooking equipment.
We had our own portable grill given to us as a wedding present.
All we needed to add was food.
Off my husband and I, our teenage foster daughter, and two dogs went in our little old jeep stuffed with borrowed equipment and tent and a box of canned food.
We finally found a campsite that had an open space and tried to put up the tent.
It was old, round and very heavy.
I was inside holding up the tent while my husband tried to find the center pole.
Eventually he figured out there was no center pole.
With ropes hanging down from the top of the tent he concluded we needed to tie the tent to an overhead tree branch.
However, there were no overhead tree branches.
Perhaps if the side ropes were tied tautly to the stakes the tent might sag a bit in the middle but would be good enough for one night.
That theory did not work, the tent collapsed, the dogs got away from our foster daughter when they charged after some type of animal, barking loudly, which disturbed everybody else in the camp who were all sleeping.
The manager came over and kicked us out of the campground.
2.
Arrive at the campground early enough to set up your tent and have supper.
See last paragraph in point 1 to understand the importance of point 2.
3.
It is best to reserve a campground site, especially for the first night.
See last paragraph in point 1 to understand the importance of point 3.
4.
Before you leave home make a check list of all the things you need to have an enjoyable tent camping experience and make sure you have packed all of them into your vehicle.
Often it is the little things in life that can trip you up.
After spending an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in our little jeep, we were the first ones to arrive at a campground down the road from the first site.
We got to choose a place under a tree, and set up our tent tying the top strings to a sturdy tree bough.
Doing it right made all the difference.
Next step, making breakfast though it could have been the previous night missed dinner.
We decided on having canned spaghetti.
But where was the can opener? Not in the equipment knapsack.
Fortunately my husband had a knife and kept stabbing the can until he managed to make an opening big enough to get most of the food out.
Thankfully I had brought a large can of spaghetti along so he did not have to open any more cans.
We put the contents in a pan to heat over the fire in our portable grill.
Why was there no fire? Where was the charcoal to start the fire? Cold canned spaghetti is not all that bad when you are really hungry and the only other thing to eat is hard, dry dog food pellets.
Our foster daughter and I decided we had enough camping so after breakfast we headed for home.
Even unpleasant experiences can have a positive lesson.
In this case the Boy Scout motto sums it up perfectly; Be Prepared.
Remembering these simple four things will help make your tent camping experience more fun than frustrating.
1.
Before going out make sure you have all the equipment you will need and know how to use it.
My husband and I planned to go on our first camping trip together.
However, we did not have any equipment so we borrowed a tent and a knapsack supposedly filled with cooking equipment.
We had our own portable grill given to us as a wedding present.
All we needed to add was food.
Off my husband and I, our teenage foster daughter, and two dogs went in our little old jeep stuffed with borrowed equipment and tent and a box of canned food.
We finally found a campsite that had an open space and tried to put up the tent.
It was old, round and very heavy.
I was inside holding up the tent while my husband tried to find the center pole.
Eventually he figured out there was no center pole.
With ropes hanging down from the top of the tent he concluded we needed to tie the tent to an overhead tree branch.
However, there were no overhead tree branches.
Perhaps if the side ropes were tied tautly to the stakes the tent might sag a bit in the middle but would be good enough for one night.
That theory did not work, the tent collapsed, the dogs got away from our foster daughter when they charged after some type of animal, barking loudly, which disturbed everybody else in the camp who were all sleeping.
The manager came over and kicked us out of the campground.
2.
Arrive at the campground early enough to set up your tent and have supper.
See last paragraph in point 1 to understand the importance of point 2.
3.
It is best to reserve a campground site, especially for the first night.
See last paragraph in point 1 to understand the importance of point 3.
4.
Before you leave home make a check list of all the things you need to have an enjoyable tent camping experience and make sure you have packed all of them into your vehicle.
Often it is the little things in life that can trip you up.
After spending an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in our little jeep, we were the first ones to arrive at a campground down the road from the first site.
We got to choose a place under a tree, and set up our tent tying the top strings to a sturdy tree bough.
Doing it right made all the difference.
Next step, making breakfast though it could have been the previous night missed dinner.
We decided on having canned spaghetti.
But where was the can opener? Not in the equipment knapsack.
Fortunately my husband had a knife and kept stabbing the can until he managed to make an opening big enough to get most of the food out.
Thankfully I had brought a large can of spaghetti along so he did not have to open any more cans.
We put the contents in a pan to heat over the fire in our portable grill.
Why was there no fire? Where was the charcoal to start the fire? Cold canned spaghetti is not all that bad when you are really hungry and the only other thing to eat is hard, dry dog food pellets.
Our foster daughter and I decided we had enough camping so after breakfast we headed for home.
Even unpleasant experiences can have a positive lesson.
In this case the Boy Scout motto sums it up perfectly; Be Prepared.
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