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Hiker/Backpacker over here :) Mostly do solo trips, I'll bring along my dog some of the time. I've been hiking around Lake Tahoe section by section these last two years. I've completed 110 miles, only 60 left to go. I enjoy packing light which of course enables me to enjoy backpacking more. Current record is 17.4 miles in one day. Aspiring to do the Appalachian Trail in 2020. Would also love to build out a van for living and traveling the states to hike.
I have fond memories of camping in the Aidirondack Mountains as a child. My parents would take us after the summer school break was over so it would be quieter at the camp grounds. I always missed the start of school.
I’ve only ever camped in tents and some since my husband has limited vacation and I was home summers I began taking the kids camping on my own. We had a favorite spot at Keuka Lake for years. The last few my sister and I throw a tent up at our sailing club. Not wilderness camping but the views are spectacular. The best part being we always know we will not have “neighbors “ a few feet away.
I do enjoy cooking on a camp stove and even learned how to make great coffee in those little percolating pots. We’ve got the mountain pie maker and yes we still bring the Jiffy Pop Al! Do you remember the commercials for that? :p
It’s a great experience for kids. One of my favorite memories was just a few years ago when it was just me and my college age daughter. It was raining so hard we were stuck in the tent playing Boggle and the rain was so loud hitting the tent we had to yell the words at each other. We stayed perfectly dry too. There was a small river running right by our tent from the storm but I had set the tent up correctly and just high enough out of the way. Everyone else around us had bailed out in the middle of the night. It was eerily quite the next morning.
Here are some pics from our last overnight at the sailing club. More glamping than camping.
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I have a 1988 Coleman Sequoia pop up that I bought new. Every summer we went somewhere with it until the kids were in college. Now we use it sparingly. I pulled it to so many National Parks from Acadia, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon. The last 2 week trip we took with it was to Banff N.P. In Canada. We stopped at Glacier on the way back. My kids are 36, 32 and 30. My middle daughter won't let me sell it......to many memories in it! I tell people that the only thing they will remember me for was that I made them go to so many National Parks! But you know what, now they travel the world! My middle one just spent 3 weeks in Scotland and Ireland. Last year she was in China. In 2008 they all took my wfe and I to Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia! They wouldn't trade those trips for anything! Best investment my wife and I ever made was that camper.
Kirby we have a tiny 1996 Clipper popup we bought used 2 years ago. We had always tent camped before that. I do love that popup though. We have some great trips so far and I really enjoy having all my gear for a trip pretty much packed up and ready to go. Setting it and closing it down is a breeze. I went a little crazy over board with stuff I don't use on it much like a solar battery system and I added a second propane tank. My kids really enjoyed tenting it, but they are very happy with the popup too. Gives is the ability to sit around the campfire or if its raining be comfortable in the camper. Best of both worlds!
al
Now that I can resize pics... thought I'd share our setup from this past summer. Most summers we do a 24 hour drive over several days to escape the heat and see family and friends. An affordable way to spend the better part of a week on Cape Cod...
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Seems like we've reached the age with the van when there's always something to spend money on (this summer it was the AC compressor and the exhaust system, still to be fixed), but don't think we'll ever be able to part with her now... 2002 Eurovan MV Weekender...
Bill,Nice campsite! I like the coleman stove set up there with the coffee press.
Three questions for you.
What can you tell me about the table the stove is on? Is that one of the roll up ones?
The screen house... who makes.it? Ive been looking for one with rain flys like that one looks to have! I have had a eurika for years and years thats a great screen house but no rain flys...it finally died this summer with a snapped pole which I fixed with JB Weld but I think its time to retire it.
What campground? Cape cod is not far from me ...a few hours I go there often.
al
Hey Al! Yeah, it was a nice home base this summer--was great to be in one place for several days to really settle in. We camp sometimes when we travel, but discovered that often it isn't worth it to break out the gear for one day only to move on the next. So it was great to fully set up and relax.
My older model Coleman dual fuel had a leak and I found out that there isn't a way to just replace a graphite seal and would have had to buy a whole new valve assembly ($50+), so we spurged for a new and larger one. Most people were hauling large propane tanks, but I'm used to the white gas and like it. My wife found the stainless coffee press after we tried packing a glass one once...
The camping table has been great. Name brand isn't listed on it, and it's more than 10 years old. Been really happy with it, though looks like you don't see this design around much from what a quick search reveals. Not a roll up type so you need some flat space to store it, but it pops up in two seconds. Here's one like it: https://www.gcioutdoor.com/tables-ca...camp-table-25/
Screen house is a Eureka Northern Breeze. Man, I just had to look it up and I can't believe it costs $450! We must have paid some real money for that--it was our one big camping purchase 8-10 years ago if I remember--but I hope we paid a little less! :-) I also wanted it for the rainfly along with the mosquito netting. It honestly can get a bit stuffy, even in the shade, but its awesome if there are lots of bugs or rain. We usually put it over the picnic table and have a good refuge besides the vehicle or tent. We used a 12 volt fan linked to a secondary battery to keep some air moving in their this summer.
Campground is Nickerson State Park out near Orleans, MA. Had a really nice Cape experience without paying over $2k for a weekly rental! Some loops are more highly packed in and populated than others; we reserved a spot on one that had fewer sites and were more than happy. Hope we can do it again. You'll want to book something 6 months in advance, though, as the options will get limited if you wait.
Maybe you can convince the family to do one more trip before your daughter heads off to school!
Thanks for all the info Bill. I have the older smaller dual fuel myself. I do have some propane stoves too but prefer the coleman white fuel stoves and burners. Coleman white gas (naptha) sure has gotten expensive and hard to find. Thankfully crown makes a good substitute for a heck of a lot less than coleman fuel. I have a bunch of coleman dual fuel stoves and lanterns and though its good they can also burn unleaded gas they burn better with white gas I think so thats pretty much what I use unless I run out.
I wondered if that was Nickersons.I have driven around it, spent some time in the woods and by the ponds there. We scouted out sites for a future camping trip but haven't camped there yet. Looks like you had a really nice site.
Thanks for sharing. $450 for the screenhouse is definitively a big ticket purchase! I will have to look into it. I love eurika tents. I still have a 2 man one I bought 20-30 years ago.But they are expensive tents!
Al
Broke out one of my colemans to boil corn. I like to run them from time to time. Keeps the generator from clogging.
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This one runs on white gas aka naptha aka coleman fuel...Its a model 425 F.. Goes back to the 80s so I am guessing its 30 plus years old. Usually they are date stamped.. this one isnt.
Al
Gone Camping this weekend.. We were supposed to head out yesterday but things came up and we couldnt so we are back yard camping.. set up the pop up... cooked breakfast outdoors and today we will spend it outside ...no inside time.. its beautiful fall weather this weekend.
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bacon and eggs campfire .. and a huge private campsite. :)
It ain't fancy and kind of cramped for 2 adults and 2 almost adult teens but we enjoy the time in it.
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al
What a great way to build memories Al even in your backyard. I have so many memories of camping with my grandparents. We would play rummy into the evening hours in their little travel trailer. Can't beat food cooked outside and love sitting around a campfire...pure magic. :D
Pat
I agree Pat! and speaking of food.Just popped on the coals some megaburgers for lunch.. Hand made.
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Yum Al, I remember the days of a rare burger :D
Pat
I must admit, camping is something I love but have never properly done it lol. Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, not many camp around here. My parents and pretty much everyone in my family thinks camping is a waste of time. They'd much rather do a day trip and come back the same day. I've always liked the outdoors and have always liked looking for critters and such and photograph them as well as flowers.
With all that said, I have gone out camping with family and friends but it isn't what you guys describe. All the camp grounds I have ever been to have all been crawling with other campers in areas that are obscenely cramped.
It has always been my dream to go out camping where there is no one, some ACTUAL peace and quiet and not a port-o-potty in sight! Unfortunately, I haven't found a place like that, and even if I would, no one is willing to go with me. My wife does not like the outdoors, and whilst my daughter does, I can tell she really prefers her creature comforts but is willing to do the full camp experience if I really wanted to go with her.
My father in law has an RV and we actually recently used it, about a week or two back. However, there is a reason why we never let my father in law make plans, lol. He booked a place where only RV's park in a huge parking lot. No real grass or even some good ol dirt really to be seen. It was more glamping than anything stuck in an RV which I wouldn't consider camping. The day where we were going to go to the lake, there was a huge fire and the lake was evacuated as the helicopters were getting water to battle the blaze.
Anyways, I love the idea of camping, I just don't feel I've done it up to the standards of what I have wanted lol. I'll live vicariously through all of you in the meantime.
We're fortunate to have decent "out in the woods" camp spots just an hour away. BLM or US Forest Service campgrounds. As I mentioned above, they do have facilities, but the sites are spaced out enough and have trees around and adjacent to lakes, although water levels were terribly low this year. You don't have to go much farther and there are forest service roads that people just drive into and camp, but again, the dry conditions put a ban on campfires in those areas by mid July. Fires were only allowed in the developed sites. Rifle deer hunting season starts next week, so folks will be out in those FS areas with their RV's.