simplicity

In a world of RV camping, it is easy to forget the joy of tent camping, thinks I.

Our tent is a pretty roomy, about 120 square feet of floor. There is room to stand up and move around. Room for two cots and two chairs, plus gear and the porta potty.

We have slept in the tent in downpour rains and been dry and comfortable. It has decent ventilation, for most of the time, though if it is very warm we got somewhere else!. We have slept in this tent during wind storms that threatened to flatten the whole thing, but it stood up to it all.

In the morning it is often quite cool. It gets light at 5:30 or so but the sun does not come up until around 8. I want Miriam to sleep as much as possible, so when I get up I try to be quiet and not wake her.

Usually I heat some water and make a big cup of tea and then if it is cold outside, I sneak back into the tent, read and write and sip my tea.

We have stuffed out tent, cots, sleeping bags and pillows, a small kitchen and cooler (plus a lot of other gear) into the trunk and back seat of our little Cavalier. It is pretty nice going camping at 30 mpg!

But, tents are a bit time consuming to set up so when we tent camp I like to stay a couple of days, at least.

This last trip was a tent trip, though we took the pickup, and got 19 mpg. But the next trip will be just us and our little car.

Maybe next weekend.