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erehweslefox

Sous Chef
Joined
May 20, 2016
Messages
578
Location
Hatfield, PA
So, back from week camping on Chincoteague Island in VA, and a week catching up at work, so I'm catching up on posts here, and also need to refill my freezer and fridge before I get cookin' for serious again.

Let me tell you it was HOT, like 105 degrees every day and mid 90's at night. If we weren't able to hit the ocean once a day to cool down it would have been miserable.

As a result, I did scrap some of my pre-camp plans for campfire cooking. We at a lot of big cool salads in camp, and did do a crab boil one night ('cause we caught us some crabs, 'natch), but it was tough to motivate to do a good cooking fire, just because it was so darn hot. Lets just say I went through only two bundles of wood the whole week, but three bags of ice a day, that kind of a camping trip... Thank god for good coolers and that I was able to pick up some dry ice before I left to keep the 'freezer' cooler cold enough.

Overall though it was a ton of fun, we were lucky in that I took a chance and took us out hiking in the back area of Assateague Island the day they were rounding up the ponies, instead of waiting with the crowd by the coral. We we happened upon a group of folks with camera stuff and hip waders heading out into the salt marsh, so obviously we followed them. (kind of a bad idea because while Beloved Wife had boots on, I was in sandals, so I ended up standing in a swamp for three hours in sandals, I now definitely have Zitka and probably malaria and yellow fever, but the bugs on the island are well fed!). They were professional photographers, who knew exactly where the saltwater cowboys were going to drive the ponies for the roundup, and we got to see it right up close! Literally right in the middle of it, it was awesome. So did we see ponies, heck yes!

So despite the heat (and man it is tough sometimes to sleep in a tent at night in 90+ weather, we were praying for the slightest breeze), we had a smashing good time.

Unfortunate side effect of the heat, though, we ate out more than we should have(and in our defense it *was* soft shell crab season on the island, I mean who among us can resist soft shell crabs? And the restaurants had air conditioning), so this week we are going to be eating a lot of barley and canned vegetables from earlier in the summer, and not much protein. Until payday on Friday and CSA pickup on Saturday, eating out of the pantry... Fridge is bare, and freezer is almost empty, wallets very empty, but it was worth it for the trip!

Anyone else made a summer trip already? We try to do one big camping trip each summer and a smaller weekend each month. Next thing I'd like to plan is a September weekend up in New York state, and a late fall trip to West Virginia... (I tend to enjoy planning the trips almost as much as going on them).

Anyway, be catching up for the next week.

Cheers!

TBS
 
Welcome home, Fox! Of course you have to eat out during soft-shell crab season and A/C! Glad you didn't melt! Your swamp trip sounds fun.

I did a week-long road trip through some old stomping grounds a week and a half ago, but I stayed at a hotel and at family and friend's places, they had A/C.
 
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The horses are beautiful. Glad you had a good time, even though it was HOT!

Shrek and I are planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills in a few weeks. No camping, though. Shrek thinks camping means eating breakfast in a restaurant and a shower everyday. Neither one of us can get up off the ground anymore...
 
What a wonderful trip. Except for the camping part ;) My idea of camping is just like Shrek's. But how great to see the pony swim up close.

We just spent a week up in Michigan visiting my in-laws and making freezer meals for my FIL (my MIL is in a nursing home). It was a nice time, although very busy. The temps were in the 80s but dropped into the 60s at night. So refreshing, since that won't happen in Virginia till late September :LOL:

Thanks for sharing your trip with us :)
 
I'm in Shrek's camp too. Find me the closest Marriot.

I slept in a tent on the ground enough several eons ago. The old bones no longer take it anymore.
 
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The horses are beautiful. Glad you had a good time, even though it was HOT!

Shrek and I are planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills in a few weeks. No camping, though. Shrek thinks camping means eating breakfast in a restaurant and a shower everyday. Neither one of us can get up off the ground anymore...

Oh how well I know that fact! :angel:
 
Next thing I'd like to plan is a September weekend up in New York state, and a late fall trip to West Virginia... (I tend to enjoy planning the trips almost as much as going on them).

Anyway, be catching up for the next week.

Cheers!

TBS

Have you ever made a trip in the Fall to New England? I know most of the Eastern Coast states are beautiful, in the fall. But Vermont offers the visitor a sight that can only be called "God's bowl of Fruit Loops of Color." Absolutely beautiful enough to bring tears to one's eyes. :angel:
 
Have you ever made a trip in the Fall to New England? I know most of the Eastern Coast states are beautiful, in the fall. But Vermont offers the visitor a sight that can only be called "God's bowl of Fruit Loops of Color." Absolutely beautiful enough to bring tears to one's eyes. :angel:

Absolutely! While I live in Pennsylvania now, also no slouch when it comes to fall foliage particularly out here in PA Dutch country, my family is originally from Island Pond Vermont, and I've spent many a fall up there (and a couple winters, my extended family still have a maple syrup farm). You might notice the Vermont habit of putting maple syrup in darn near everything! We are going to go up eventually to Brighton State Park, one of my favorites in the world, so that my Beloved Wife can see IP, but I want to pick our time careful.

Also went to school in Exeter, NH, so logged plenty of NE time. I miss Boston and Portland, two of my favorite cities, though we were up in Portland last summer on our way to Acadia.

Re: Camping, you all are wimps :glare:. We were even fairly deluxe this time, just camping out of the car and all. Normally we backpack, didn't even have to carry or purify our water, hang our food up in a tree to keep it away from the bears, AND the campsite had both flush toilets + showers (with hot water, though it was hot enough we didn't need it)! Practically turn-down service and a mint on our pillow... ;)

Now Big Bend, there was a trip, 40 miles in the desert, AND we had to carry all our water. Plus we were up on a mesa so at night the Wind Ghosts would come out and try to steal our tent!

https://goo.gl/photos/VfYtErMcGW4rce4m6

https://goo.gl/photos/YXTHX3R3GC8sNXUY6

https://goo.gl/photos/CSGJV3qCToMbNbGB7

Now there is some luxury!

TBS
 
I'll admit it, I'm a wimp. When I was sixteen, my family camped across the country from Michigan to New Mexico for my cousin's wedding and then to California, where we spent a single day in San Francisco and a week in the Redwood Forest. It was the most miserable trip of my life. I learned my lesson well.
 
It was the most miserable trip of my life. I learned my lesson well.

:ROFLMAO:

I must admit, our first time out on a 'real' camping trip (we had done a lot of day hiking) was in early January the year we got married. We were living in Oklahoma at the time, and I had just bought us a tent and each of us a good sleeping bag and pad for Xmas. We went out for our first overnight trip to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas in the Ozarks.

Was really concerned that Beloved Wife have a good time, as she had never been camping before, and it is something I love. Well, I carefully watched the weather, and determined it would be about 40 degrees that weekend, a little chill, but our bags were rated to 15, no big trouble.

Unfortunately, I had looked at the weather for Fayeteville, nearest large city, and let's just say, it was a little colder up in the mountains? Thought I was a) a dead man, and b) never going camping again.

Beloved Wife is a trooper, though, even though she woke me up every hour to tell me she couldn't feel her feet, definitely had frostbite and thought she was going to lose them, once we got up in the morning, started a fire, and got hiking she rallied nicely.

She has grown into a great camper, though I will say we have different things we enjoy. I just love being in camp, making fires, cooking, even sleeping in the tent. She, on the other hand, puts up with that if it gets her to see neat cool stuff.

Lets just say our second trip, when it was a little warmer, was met with more enthusiasm, and I also learned, she needs clean thick socks to wear to bed, and a couple handwarmers in the bottom of her bag if it is going to be cold!

TBS
 
During my life I've canoed the Boundary Waters and Quetico (1963 and 64); tent and trailer camped in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado (1960's with my parents and the last 10 years with my wife); backpacked Colorado, Montana and Wyoming (1970's and 80's); done multi day whitewater kayak and raft trips in Colorado, Utah and Idaho (early 1980's).

We just got back Saturday from a 3 day trip at Tunnel Campground up the Laramie River Road, a few miles off the Poudre River in northern Colorado. It was chilly and rainy for three days, and I'm thankful that I no longer have any real interest in tent camping. We currently have a pretty nice Palomino popup camper, but we are planning on trading up to a hard-sided unit. It's getting harder to set up the popup as we get older, and my wife can't manage it at all by herself at this point. But at this stage in life, an actual bed is a necessity. No interest in sleeping on the ground. :huh:

Check the random photo thread for a few wildlife shots from this recent trip.
 
But at this stage in life, an actual bed is a necessity. No interest in sleeping on the ground. :huh:

Yeah, we are going to move to a trailer eventually. That is the plan anyway. A bed does eventually become a necessity. Until then, it is tent all the way!

We did a great hike last year in Picketwire Canyon in SE Colorado near La Junta. Those canyonlands are bad arse, to say the least, one of the more difficult technical hikes we have done, but the dinosaur tracks out there were a payout worth the effort. You know you are in for it when you are hiking into a canyon called Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio or the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory...
 
Trust me, I did plenty of camping trips with the bare necessities while I was growing up. We would only take food for the first day of a two week camping trip, the rest of the time we ate what we foraged or caught. Our tent was a paint tarp and rope strategically placed. To my dismay, when I married Shrek, I found out that not all boys like camping.
 
Fox....I really enjoyed reading about your camping trip, and the pony swim pictures were amazing. Thanks so much for sharing!

I used to go camping with the barest of necessities in a backpack, and had a great time. The last time I went was 30 years ago when I was pregnant with my youngest. The dr. said just do what you're used to doing, so I did. LOL. Since then, it's been camping with an RV, and nowadays, it's just hotel-ing it. :)
 
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Awesome report and photos!
I took my 3 little grandkids camping this last weekend. It was the first time for them camping and it was a very positive experience for them. When they're a bit older I plan on taking them on short backpacking over-nighters.
 
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