During our Mother/Daughter college visit trip we camped out two of three nights, once at Stockton Lake Missouri and the other at Greers Lake in Arkansas. Bought this tent a few years back on a whim, it was on sale, but this is the first time we actually used it away from home. As long as I have an air mattress I’m fine. Getting too old to sleep right on the ground, back isn’t in the same shape as it was when I was a teenager.
I do have to say, we put up a pretty good tent. First night took about 15 minutes, had to look at the instructions, but the second night only took about 5-10 minutes. It’s not a “pop-up” tent, inserting poles and a fly cover are involved. Just make sure the stakes are in tight to keep it from blowing away in a stiff wind.
The last night of our trip we stayed at Greers Ferry lake at Cove Creek Recreation Area, 45 minutes northeast of Conway Arkansas, in the heart of the Ozarks.
Our tent site was at the very end of this lane, right next to the lake. We had two neighbors in this whole area. The site manager showed us were to find free firewood and thankfully the “NO Burn Ban” had been lifted that morning so we could have a campfire.
The only inconvenience was having to drive to the bathrooms and showers. But both were modern and clean, which is a plus. Not that big of a deal, just have to plan your trips.
Everything tastes better over an open fire. I asked my daughter, “Now, you don’t care if I cook these right on the grate do you?” (some people would insist on tin foil) “No, why would we do it any other way?” That’s my girl, she understands that we just “sanitized” that grill with 1000F fire (ok, it was hot)
Yup, no better way to end an evening, curled up laying next to the fire right by the lake.
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Your post brought back a lot of good memories, thanks
That first picture really appealed to me. I like the rest too. What a beautiful place to camp.
It was beautiful, so you like the tent huh? I could get used to the camping life, but for long term I would need a real mattress and a camper. My back just wouldn’t handle sleeping on the ground for long.
Sounds like a great bonding trip…nice post.
Cool post. Arkansas is the bees knees! Actually, I just designed a poster for Arkansas. Check it out: http://50statesdesignproject.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/45-our-arkansas/
Very nice poster, glad you liked my post. I’m sure Arkansas will be a topic of many more posts to come when my daughter leaves for college. I have a few more in the wings waiting. Thanks for visiting.
We love camping too…I also like the tent…after a recent rainy camp adventure, am thinking of moving up, because there was nowhere to go besides my tiny three-man hiking tent!
I probably would like the tent in the rain, once, but when I started to get wet it would be a different story. Thanks for ready and commenting, hope to see you return.
I really like the shot of the campfire – most places in England don’t allow camp fires, we have to settle for portable stoves. Haven’t been camping for ages, I think I like sleeping in a real bed too much.
The campfire shot is one of my favorites too, I love outdoor cooking, the plus is afterwards you have a warm place to sit and relax. Thanks for all the comments, glad you “sat by the campfire” and stayed a while. I’ve been to England twice, both on business, once for an extended vacation up to Thirsk. In the era of “old” digital cameras 2.8 MG, don’t even know if I can find those anymore.
LOVED this post, Dawn!! Makes me really want to go camping!! And…what better quality time with your daughter than that??
Thanks Tracie, I’m somewhat jealous of the time you get to spend with your girls. They get an awesome experience every summer.
P.S. Don’t you “camp” all summer? LOL
Camp…yeah. We always hope to get some time to really camp – tent, sleeping bags and hot dogs on the grill. 🙂 The time with the kids IS the best – but they may think differently.