Camping

JonnyPistachio

I went once when I was a kid. It was a bad experience.

Me and my wife and a few friends are hitting Bahia Honda this weekend in the Keys.
I have a new tent, my kayak, some bug spray, and my guitar.

I hope pitching the tent is easy as they say.

When was the last time you went camping? Where? Did you forget anything?

afroannnie

It's been a long time since I've been camping...I miss it. I used to go camping all the time with my family when I was younger. Kyle & I meant to do some camping this summer/fall...but we were too busy...

You should make mountain pies. Yummy.
also, if you have a new tent, it's always a good idea to put it up once before you actually go camping...just to make sure you can put it up with ease...all the parts are there..etc. Unless you're just really confident in your tent-pitching skills... :corn:

thefixer9

Every summer my family tries to head down to Oregon where my dad's brother and his family live.
They live next to this camping down that my dad's brother partially runs. It's a beautiful camping place because it's pretty much like a huge ass forest with places where you can have fires...
Some of my favorite childhood memories are there.

mca47

I go a couple times a month.
I prefer to do couple night backpacking trip, but those aren't as easy to fit in my schedule these days.
Northern AZ is beautiful and has some awesome hiking and camping.
I also do some car camping with folks who don't have the gear to backpack. That's fun too. Better food, bigger fires and you can bring beer! :thumbup:

PJ-Physics

Beware the Raccoons. Camped @ Bahia Honda in 2006 with my wife, kids, and in-laws. I prefer to go minimalistic- (The Ranger-way Hooah!!!) but with the fam we brought all of the "comforts of home"- set up a Cabela's kitchen thing and all. The first night a couple dozen raccoons mounted a full out assault on the campsite all night long. They were getting into everything- clawing up the sides of the tent...it was crazy. If I would have had my way we all would have had matching coonskin hats as souvenirs. Have fun, but be ready

mca47

PJ-Physics wrote:

Beware the Raccoons. Camped @ Bahia Honda in 2006 with my wife, kids, and in-laws. I prefer to go minimalistic- (The Ranger-way Hooah!!!) but with the fam we brought all of the "comforts of home"- set up a Cabela's kitchen thing and all. The first night a couple dozen raccoons mounted a full out assault on the campsite all night long. They were getting into everything- clawing up the sides of the tent...it was crazy. If I would have had my way we all would have had matching coonskin hats as souvenirs. Have fun, but be ready

Bear spray is key!

JonnyPistachio

afroannnie wrote:

It's been a long time since I've been camping...I miss it. I used to go camping all the time with my family when I was younger. Kyle & I meant to do some camping this summer/fall...but we were too busy...

You should make mountain pies. Yummy.
also, if you have a new tent, it's always a good idea to put it up once before you actually go camping...just to make sure you can put it up with ease...all the parts are there..etc. Unless you're just really confident in your tent-pitching skills... :corn:

i dont know what mountain pies are, but I am stopping to get a store bought cake because its my buddys birthday too!
I dit put the tent up in the yard a few days ago, and it works, Tent pitching is pretty easy.
but I was surprised to hear my wife suggest we get "seam-sealer." I googles it and apparently its a common necessity. wtf? I get a tent for shelter and it isnt 100% waterproof?? :fp:

JonnyPistachio

PJ-Physics wrote:

Beware the Raccoons. Camped @ Bahia Honda in 2006 with my wife, kids, and in-laws. I prefer to go minimalistic- (The Ranger-way Hooah!!!) but with the fam we brought all of the "comforts of home"- set up a Cabela's kitchen thing and all. The first night a couple dozen raccoons mounted a full out assault on the campsite all night long. They were getting into everything- clawing up the sides of the tent...it was crazy. If I would have had my way we all would have had matching coonskin hats as souvenirs. Have fun, but be ready

Oh man, thanks for that warning! I didnt think of those pesky bastards!

afroannnie

JonnyPistachio wrote:

afroannnie wrote:

It's been a long time since I've been camping...I miss it. I used to go camping all the time with my family when I was younger. Kyle & I meant to do some camping this summer/fall...but we were too busy...

You should make mountain pies. Yummy.
also, if you have a new tent, it's always a good idea to put it up once before you actually go camping...just to make sure you can put it up with ease...all the parts are there..etc. Unless you're just really confident in your tent-pitching skills... :corn:

i dont know what mountain pies are, but I am stopping to get a store bought cake because its my buddys birthday too!
I dit put the tent up in the yard a few days ago, and it works, Tent pitching is pretty easy.
but I was surprised to hear my wife suggest we get "seam-sealer." I googles it and apparently its a common necessity. wtf? I get a tent for shelter and it isnt 100% waterproof?? :fp:

These are mountain pies...

You can put whatever you want in there...you can make grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza pies, or even apple pies. Just take two pieces of bread plus whatever yum yums, close it up and throw it in the fire

Black Diamond

JP.. Where is a good place to go camping down here... was an annual think up north..

FrankieG

Been camping probably more than 100 nights in my entire life, I'm a big fan. We would go for week long roadrips and camp every night. Visited many state parks to stay at for the weekend. Camped in North NJ every summer for 6 or 7 years. Camped on the beach in Wildwood for 7 or 8 years.

You are gonna want a flashlight that clips onto the brim of a baseball cap. They sell em for like $10. Very helpful for doing everything at night.

JonnyPistachio

afroannnie wrote:

These are mountain pies...

You can put whatever you want in there...you can make grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza pies, or even apple pies. Just take two pieces of bread plus whatever yum yums, close it up and throw it in the fire

That looks perfect for camping! I hope I can be prepared for eating out of a cooler. Maybe I can catch a big enough snapper. :think:

JonnyPistachio

Black Diamond wrote:

JP.. Where is a good place to go camping down here... was an annual think up north..

I never go camping, so im not sure...but ive heard good things about this Bahia Honda because snorkeling off the beaches is good apparently...maybe Pj-Physics can confirm? I'll report back after the weekend!

I also hear that anastasia park in St.Augustine is good, but ive never been there... http://www.floridastateparks.org/anastasia/)
I think i've never been camping because the spots book up 6 months in advance...and also its usually pretty damn hot down here.

FrankieG wrote:

You are gonna want a flashlight that clips onto the brim of a baseball cap. They sell em for like $10. Very helpful for doing everything at night.

another good idea! Thanks FrankieG.

polaris_x

Black Diamond wrote:

JP.. Where is a good place to go camping down here... was an annual think up north..

if you're talking florida ... i would suggest:

* the keys (where JP is going)
* ocala national forest has some nice camping
* also, i'm not sure but if you are close to the border ... i suggest a short trip to cumberland island in georgia ... you can check out armadillos and wild horses ...

JonnyPistachio

polaris_x wrote:

Black Diamond wrote:

JP.. Where is a good place to go camping down here... was an annual think up north..

if you're talking florida ... i would suggest:

* the keys (where JP is going)
* ocala national forest has some nice camping
* also, i'm not sure but if you are close to the border ... i suggest a short trip to cumberland island in georgia ... you can check out armadillos and wild horses ...

Cool Polaris, Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Ocala national forest. There are a lot of awesome natural springs up there in central florida. I never went camping there, but I did a lot of tubing and hiking.

gimmesometruth27

JonnyPistachio wrote:

I went once when I was a kid. It was a bad experience.

Me and my wife and a few friends are hitting Bahia Honda this weekend in the Keys.
I have a new tent, my kayak, some bug spray, and my guitar.

I hope pitching the tent is easy as they say.

When was the last time you went camping? Where? Did you forget anything?

i last camped at PJ20. was a great experience. drank a ton of beer and jameson, barely ate, slept when i passed out, woke up when those around us started making noise. etc etc...

don't forget the essentials, like say, an acoustic guitar for a fireside performance.

and huh huh huh.. you said pitching a tent....

JonnyPistachio

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

I went once when I was a kid. It was a bad experience.

Me and my wife and a few friends are hitting Bahia Honda this weekend in the Keys.
I have a new tent, my kayak, some bug spray, and my guitar.

I hope pitching the tent is easy as they say.

When was the last time you went camping? Where? Did you forget anything?

i last camped at PJ20. was a great experience. drank a ton of beer and jameson, barely ate, slept when i passed out, woke up when those around us started making noise. etc etc...

don't forget the essentials, like say, an acoustic guitar for a fireside performance.

and huh huh huh.. you said pitching a tent....

Yeah buddy, I am worried about two things -- Im not drinking anymore. How the hell will I sleep?
and also, im not smoking anything...how the hell will I sleep?

The guitar is priority! I shouldve bought that damned banjo when I had the chance.

gimmesometruth27

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Yeah buddy, I am worried about two things -- Im not drinking anymore. How the hell will I sleep?
and also, im not smoking anything...how the hell will I sleep?

The guitar is priority! I shouldve bought that damned banjo when I had the chance.

i dunno man, i guess maybe eat some turkey or something...

i don't know how you are gonna do it without drinking. to me, camping sober is kinda like fishing sober. it can't be done... :fp:

i would take a beater guitar because if it rains or is muddy you can get the guitar all janked up. plus, if you run out of firewood, you can always use the guitar in a pinch..

Jason P

afroannnie wrote:

also, if you have a new tent, it's always a good idea to put it up once before you actually go camping...just to make sure you can put it up with ease...all the parts are there..etc. Unless you're just really confident in your tent-pitching skills... :corn:

I once bought a tent that was the same brand and model as my previous tent so I didn't bother doing a mock pitch ... turns out they did a funky change to the poles that was very complex to figure out ... which I discovered while a rain squall was just starting.

Ended up breaking a pole in the process ... thankfully REI has an awesome return policy.

JonnyPistachio

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Yeah buddy, I am worried about two things -- Im not drinking anymore. How the hell will I sleep?
and also, im not smoking anything...how the hell will I sleep?

The guitar is priority! I shouldve bought that damned banjo when I had the chance.

i dunno man, i guess maybe eat some turkey or something...

i don't know how you are gonna do it without drinking. to me, camping sober is kinda like fishing sober. it can't be done... :fp:

i would take a beater guitar because if it rains or is muddy you can get the guitar all janked up. plus, if you run out of firewood, you can always use the guitar in a pinch..

Yeah I hear ya... it wont be easy. the good thing is, there are a lot of activities to wear me down and make me tired...mainly kayaking. I'm planning to do a few miles.
Another problem -- my beater guitar was stolen. Now I only have ONE acoustic. :fp:

LloydXmas

Took the kids camping a couple years ago near foxboro. The pats were doing their open training camp that weekend and was able to see them practice and do drills. Other than that, it was the worst weekend ever. Hot as hell and there was a huge thunderstorm the second night.

We went to a KOA a few weeks later but stayed in an air conditioned "cabin". That was more our speed.

PJ_Soul

It's been a few years for me, but I used to camp a LOT (it pretty much stopped when all my friends had babies). I never forget anything because I have everything I'd ever need (an excellent assortment of gear accumulated over many years) packed into those big tupperware storage containers with the handles. If I want to go camping, I can just grab the containers plus my sleeping bag, air mattress, and tent, and know that I have absolutely everything I could ever need on a camping trip minus the food and the booze. But warning: If you do this, remember to replace all the batteries you have packed or inside any battery powered equipment on a regular basis. I learned that the hard way a couple months ago when I was looking for my battery powered air pump (or was it my LED lantern during a power outage?) - I discovered that all the batteries throughout my gear had started leaking because they had expired. It ruined some shit. :(

he.who.forgets

afroannnie wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

afroannnie wrote:

It's been a long time since I've been camping...I miss it. I used to go camping all the time with my family when I was younger. Kyle & I meant to do some camping this summer/fall...but we were too busy...

You should make mountain pies. Yummy.
also, if you have a new tent, it's always a good idea to put it up once before you actually go camping...just to make sure you can put it up with ease...all the parts are there..etc. Unless you're just really confident in your tent-pitching skills... :corn:

i dont know what mountain pies are, but I am stopping to get a store bought cake because its my buddys birthday too!
I dit put the tent up in the yard a few days ago, and it works, Tent pitching is pretty easy.
but I was surprised to hear my wife suggest we get "seam-sealer." I googles it and apparently its a common necessity. wtf? I get a tent for shelter and it isnt 100% waterproof?? :fp:

These are mountain pies...

You can put whatever you want in there...you can make grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza pies, or even apple pies. Just take two pieces of bread plus whatever yum yums, close it up and throw it in the fire

THE BEST!!!! I've been eating these since I can remember.

RKCNDY

mca47 wrote:

I go a couple times a month.
I prefer to do couple night backpacking trip, but those aren't as easy to fit in my schedule these days.
Northern AZ is beautiful and has some awesome hiking and camping.
I also do some car camping with folks who don't have the gear to backpack. That's fun too. Better food, bigger fires and you can bring beer! :thumbup:

wait...germophobe mca goes camping?!!?!? :shock:

I've camped a LOT. boat camping included. In the sweltering hot sun, and in the freezing cold snow.

Last time I went camping was last year...went to Oktoberfest in Leavenworth. It was probably 38* outside at night.

We bought one of those truck tents:



didn't open the box until we got to the campsite :roll:
so when we were setting up, the guys working the campground were really impressed with it, kept asking us questions about it and forgot to charge us.

We sold the truck camper earlier this year, and don't have a regular tent anymore so I don't see us camping in the near future. (which is okay with me, I don't really enjoy tent camping all that much)

even flow - question mark

Camping rocks. I try to get out once a year for a week.

Best place I've been: https://www.google.ca/search?q=forillon ... 72&bih=371

Of course you forget things, it wouldn't been camping if you didn't!

JonnyPistachio

For some of you who asked...The Bahia Honda campsite seemed great.
Unfortunately, we had some issues getting going friday and didnt arrive until it was dark. I tried like hell to get there two hours before sundown, but it just didnt happen.

The site was very cool. We had a spot between two distant parallel bridges, looking out where the Atlantic ocean meets Florida Bay (Gulf of Mexico).

the view was great. There werent many trees around the actual site, bu there were some forest areas nearby. The bathrooms were a bit of a walk from our site though.

Just as I was finishing up pitching my tent it started pouring rain. Then some crazy winds started whipping through. My tent almost came down a few times in the night! I slept a total of 30 minutes I think... but when we woke, my friends all wanted to leave because we all got so little sleep and the winds and rain were supposed to continue through the night again.

There were some cool places to hike and explore. The next Key is Big Pine, where the famed Key Deer live. The snorkeling might have been great if the ocean wasnt so rough... water was murky...Its unusual for such rough seas in the Keys (maybe not this time of year though).

polaris_x

some good snorkeling in looe key if you go back ... swam with a reef shark and a sea turtle there ...

JonnyPistachio

polaris_x wrote:

some good snorkeling in looe key if you go back ... swam with a reef shark and a sea turtle there ...

I meant to look up Looe Key again. I went there once maybe 15 years ago and it was really one of the best i've seen snorkeling. Thanks for that reminder Polaris!

My other favorite is near the seven mile bridge, but its quite a boat ride out -- Sombrero lighthouse. Amazing snorkeling and diving!

lukin2006

even flow - question mark wrote:

Camping rocks. I try to get out once a year for a week.

Best place I've been: https://www.google.ca/search?q=forillon ... 72&bih=371

Of course you forget things, it wouldn't been camping if you didn't!

Thanks for this ... I want to check this national park out. It looks spectacular.