Making Camping A Sweet Experience

My family went camping for our summer vacation.  We took the usual items: pillows, clothing, towels, sleeping bags, tent and cooking gear.  This year we decided to make camping a bit more comfortable.

In order to camp in comfort we added a few more items to our list.  The first was a screened tent to enclose our picnic table (provided by the campgrounds).  That made our eating experience much nicer without the buzzing of bugs.  The second was the essentials of camping: bug spray, sunscreen and first aid kit.  I cut my finger twice, my husband cut his hand and my grandson scraped his foot.  The bugs still bit since we did not realize they were fleas and not mosquitoes. 

We had electricity at our site so the air mattress was wonderful; next time I’d add a mattress pad.  The other thing we used electricity for was a fan.  It was hot and humid so the fan made all the difference between miserable at night and comfortable.  We slept in the screened tent one night due to the heat.

 Color campfire crystals make the campfire more exciting.  The sparkles that change color once sprinkled on the fire is a like a box of crayon fairies dancing in the fire.  To enjoy your fire, folding canvas chairs with arms that each have a cup holder make the experience more enjoyable.  With each cup holder on the armrests you can have your drink and telephone safely stored. 

After enjoying the campfire a walk to the showers to remove the campfire smell before bed is very satisfying.  Just as in college, flip flops and a shower container makes the task much easier.  The container, mine was a small bucket, held a flashlight, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, night clothes and tea tree shampoo body wash combination (another defense against bugs). 

It seemed we were either always eating or thinking about eating.  We took two coolers if they had with wheels  that would have been even better.  One cooler was for cold food and one for dry food.  We needed the cooler for dry goods to keep the mice away.  Who knew we would have a family of mice (maybe a colony) joining us on our camping trip?

I included a small rug for our tent this year.  Placed outside our door, we were able to take our shoes (slip-ons or velcro shoes) off before going into the tent keeping the inside of the tent much cleaner.  I am a firm believer in velcro or slip-on shoes for camping.  If you have to go in and out of the tent you are not likely to remove your shoes every time if you have to untie and tie your shoes. 

Lastly is a camera.  If your phone has a good camera then you are set.  A camera captures the fun experiences like the bedtime stories with your grandson and even the not so fun experiences like picking up duct tape not realizing you captured a mouse in the duct tape.  You’ll have that one photgraph that reminds you of the glow of the campfire which immediately brings you back to enjoying everyone’s company wishing you were back at the campground.   

 If you have special equipment that you take camping to make camp life easier please let us know.  We are always interested in comfort.