Author Topic: Camping!  (Read 5007 times)

Offline Morgbug

  • Old
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 16232
  • mmm. pemmican.
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2009, 02:03 PM »
So how many of you guys take firewood from home with you when you go camping?
Minivans: a sign of the apocalypse.

Offline Nicklab

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 13779
  • I saw we fight!
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #16 on: May 19, 2009, 03:09 PM »
Screw that.  Try hiking and canoeing for a week through lake and mountain country for a week.  To me, that's camping.  You can only bring the clothes on your back and one change of clothes.  Every other cubic inch of space is devoted to sleeping bags, cooking gear, freeze dried food, tents and other camp supplies.  The fun part is usually canoeing across a sizable lake.  But then portaging from one lake to the other...it's even more fun!  Because you get to walk the same distance 3 times!  Once to carry your pack.  Then walk back to the canoe.  And then portage the canoe.  Oh...and then there's the "bear bag".  You know, the bag you have to hang up in the air about 10 - 15 feet high with your food and toiletries to keep it all from scavenging "critters".  The ones who are really big and could eat...you.

I've done the driving up to a campsite thing.  It's nice, but it's basically just sleeping outside.  If it really starts pouring most people get out of their tents and sleep in their cars.
"Call up a Hammerhead Corvette.  I have an idea."

Feedback

Offline JesseVader08

  • Retired Staff Member
  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10862
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #17 on: May 19, 2009, 05:30 PM »
So how many of you guys take firewood from home with you when you go camping?

We've usually got too much stuff packed to have room for wood, and I don't have any at home anyway (someday I'll have a wood fireplace like we did as a kid).

Screw that.  Try hiking and canoeing for a week through lake and mountain country for a week...

Not gonna happen anytime soon with a 7 year old and 2 year old.

Offline I Am Sith

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 2208
  • 1/6 the Sith I used to be...
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2009, 11:44 PM »
It wasn't actually camping, but my wife and I rented a cabin last week in the Great Smoky Mountains and invited my parents and my in-laws to join us and the kids.  It was absolutely beautiful there.  The scenery was phenomenal and we had an awesome time hiking.  But the part that I don't think any of us were prepared for were the black bears that roam around.

On the third day we were there, a relatively young bear managed to walk around the property the cabin was on and then inspected our vehicles before moving on.  He must have come back while we were sleeping, because the next morning we awoke to find my parent's car was broken into and there were paw prints all over the inside of their car.  They forgot to lock their car the night before and a bear got in the driver's side door and took a look around the car before finding a bag of Jolly Ranchers.  He helped himself to the entire bag before trying to get into both my minivan and my in-law's car.  Thankfully we had both locked our doors.

The next afternoon, we are assuming the same bear decided to come back for seconds during the evening hours.  He roamed right onto the deck of the cabin and walked around while we were all sitting inside.  He had a look around and when he realized that there wasn't anything to eat up on the deck, he went down to the cars again and tried getting into them all.  Thankfully this time they were all locked.  The impressive part was that he went to every door and tried to open every one before moving on.  He was definitely 'smarter than the average bear!'

We just arrived home an hour or so ago, so I haven't had a chance to download pictures.  Once I do, I'll definitely post the ones of him walking around on the deck and trying to get into the cars.
The 60mm Sith Lord - All the hate and anger you've come to expect, now in a new conveniently sized package!

Offline Famine

  • Noderator
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5050
  • Who watches The Famine?
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #19 on: June 1, 2009, 02:02 AM »
I've done a lot of camping in the past two years. 3 days in minus 17 degree weather, last winter, 0 degree weather this winter too. Did some camping in a ghost town in Tahawus NY thats being rezoned as a historical landmark (fell into the Hudson river and almost died there, it was great) and have done many stints into the Adirondacks for weekend trips. I just came from a very soft "camping" trip to my friends cabin this weekend, to do some landscaping and property cleanup.

I find it very therapeutic being out in the woods for any amount of time!

Kevin
The picture kept, will remind me...

Offline name

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1570
  • I ate your llama!
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #20 on: June 3, 2009, 03:56 PM »
So how many of you guys take firewood from home with you when you go camping?

http://www.stopthebeetle.info/promise.html
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.

Offline Morgbug

  • Old
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 16232
  • mmm. pemmican.
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #21 on: June 3, 2009, 05:18 PM »
So how many of you guys take firewood from home with you when you go camping?

http://www.stopthebeetle.info/promise.html

Clever fellow. 
Minivans: a sign of the apocalypse.

Offline I Am Sith

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 2208
  • 1/6 the Sith I used to be...
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #22 on: June 8, 2009, 10:01 PM »
We just arrived home an hour or so ago, so I haven't had a chance to download pictures.  Once I do, I'll definitely post the ones of him walking around on the deck and trying to get into the cars.

I've been waiting for my wife to burn her pictures to a CD so I could share them here, but if I continue to wait it will be next Memorial Day before I get them.  In the mean time, thought I'd share a few with you...

In the backyard of the cabin:


Walking around my parent's car the day before the break-in:


Evidence of the attempted break-in of our van:
The 60mm Sith Lord - All the hate and anger you've come to expect, now in a new conveniently sized package!

Offline iFett

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11402
  • wabbit hunter
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #23 on: June 8, 2009, 10:14 PM »
That's pretty scary - I am Sith.  Haven't visited the cabin in awhile, but my golden lab makes the same mess though around all of our car/truck door handles on a daily basis.
Learn new skills at home that some consider to be.....unnatural.  Easy repayment terms.  555-PLPTN

Offline Famine

  • Noderator
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5050
  • Who watches The Famine?
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #24 on: June 12, 2009, 01:41 PM »
I'm headed out for a 3 day soft camping trip at Thompsons Lake, NY. Should be a fun time even with the impending threat of rain. This will be the softest camping trip I've been on since I was likely 13 or 14, so I'm surprisingly ok with the fact that I'm living out of a cooler for food all weekend.

Cheers!

Kevin
The picture kept, will remind me...

Offline Keonobi

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 4412
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #25 on: June 12, 2009, 04:34 PM »
Good luck Kevin.  A couple years ago I was at one of the parking areas in Thatcher park and watched a thunderstorm over Rotterdam/Schenectady.  Very cool because you are at the same height as the clouds.
I am not the Stig

Offline name

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1570
  • I ate your llama!
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #26 on: July 16, 2009, 12:49 PM »
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.

Offline JesseVader08

  • Retired Staff Member
  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10862
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #27 on: July 17, 2009, 02:58 AM »
Where can I order one?

Offline Scott

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 18701
  • Get Some
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender
Re: Camping!
« Reply #28 on: July 17, 2009, 10:29 AM »
My wife has been bugging me up the ying yang to buy a pop up camper the last few months.  I am a little reluctant due to the economy and how much we'd actually use it.  Before the boys we would go tenting at least 4-5 times a year.  Back in Y2K we took a 2 week trip out west and camped/1 star hoteled it for almost the entire way.  So, we compromised and went tenting a few weekends ago, it was fun and the boys had fun but we stayed at a campground with a waterpark and 3 playgrounds.  I'd rather go to the woods and stay in nature and fish and hike kind of deal.  I think they are too young for that yet

Guess who won the battle of the pop up camper?



We just got it last week.  It is nice and it rained on Sunday...we stayed dry. :)

Offline CHEWIE

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 14630
    • View Profile
Re: Camping!
« Reply #29 on: July 18, 2009, 11:52 PM »
Getting ready for my third camping trip this summer in a couple weeks... never thought I'd be doing this so many times in one year.  Fortunately you don't see too many bears in my neck of the woods... lots of coolers full of beer though.   ;)