One day, out of the blue, my husband said to me “Let’s go camping”. Hmmm, I thought, who is this person who thinks I might like camping? Well, to be fair, we’d only been married a couple of months (and we only knew each other for 3 weeks before we eloped) so I guess it was reasonable that he didn’t know that I had never been camping in my life. Now, when I think back to that time, I wonder how someone could live to be 35 years old without never having experienced the joy of camping! How dull my life had been before I met this wonderful man.  We had no camping equipment of any kind so we went out and bought a tent, we borrowed a cooler and an air mattress, someone gave us second-hand sleeping bags, and we shoved all of that into our little Honda Civic and off we went on our first adventure together. My life has never been the same since! Here we are, twenty-four years later, and I can’t imagine going a whole month without going camping, even if only for overnight. Now we have so much camping equipment that we had to buy a truck to hold it all. My husband and I have become avid wilderness campers and have explored a large part of our beautiful province of British Columbia. We have encountered many wild animals including black bears, cougars, coyotes and porcupines but our scariest experience was with a big, old angry bull. We hadn’t realized the night before that we were pitching our tent in the middle of his summer grazing meadow! Whew, that was the fastest packing up we ever did! We’ve been lucky enough to have had the pleasure of camping in many different areas. I can’t decide which I like the best; camping beside a serene mountain lake, a magnificent waterfall, a peacefully meandering creek or even enjoying a dry camp in a picturesque alpine meadow. It’s all heaven to me. Waking up at dawn, unzipping the tent and breathing in the magnificent scents and scenes of nature – life doesn’t get any better than that. I’m so glad that those many years ago my husband said to me “Let’s go camping”.

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Okay, Mother Nature. We admit defeat. Torrential rains and gale force winds have put a damper on our much anticipated two-week camping trip. Oh well, we’ll just have to improvise! This is the first time we’ve given in to the weather but – all is not lost. Sometimes you’ve just gotta go for it!

After a great deal of discussion, my husband and I decided to set up camp in our dining room. We moved the dining room furniture into the living room (in front of the TV so we wouldn’t be tempted to watch anything during our “holiday”) and pitched the tent. We had to use one of our smaller tents because of the tight fit but it was perfect nonetheless. While listening to a “waves-crashing-on-the-shore-and-birds-twittering” CD on the portable radio, we set our camp chairs up in front of the fireplace and started our “camp fire” with store-bought wood. I know, I know, it’s against true camping rules to buy wood but this was an emergency situation! We did our breakfast toast over the fire but decided to cook our meals on the barbeque out back. (We live in a townhouse and I think that the strata council frowns on cooking meat in the fireplace.)

My husband and I both found this whole experience a little challenging at first. Unplugging the TV and the computers, ignoring the phone and not picking up the mail felt weird. After a couple of days, though, it felt just fine. And I have to admit, a big plus to camping in-house is that, if you have to get up in the night, the bathroom is just down the hall! Actually, we really enjoyed being unplugged for a few days. It was good to catch up with our reading and reconnect with each other. For us, it was almost as good as if we were really outdoors camping. For our dog, because we don’t have a lake for her to swim in or chipmunks for her to case in our house – not so much! Anyway, when all was said and done, I figure that this in-house camping was the next best thing to the real deal.

However, I have to confess that we have now put getting a camper on the top of our wish list! One day…

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      Can you imagine? Five friends, a Durango and 9500 miles! What a road trip! These kids are embarking on this monster trip with a mission to inspire people to “Live Out Loud”. Check them out at www.thedurangodrifters.yolasite.com. I was thinking about what tent I would choose if I were them and I believe I found the perfect one. It’s the 1 Axis + 3 Zulu 13 person combo family camping tent. What a cool big tent. It is comprised of a center tent and three attachable pods. The dementions are 24’ long, 10’ wide and 9’ tall (talk about a tall tent!) and provides ample space for storage and sharing a meal. Heck, it’s even big enough to dance in. It’s also a great area for lounging around discussing the fabulous adventures of the day and planning tomorrow’s exciting escapades. I know that these kids are best friends but I think that the value of having three separate pod tents will become increasingly evident as the need for privacy grows during the long trip. Picture this – after a long day on the road you finally get to the Park, find a perfect spot, set up the tent(s), start a campfire and have a delicious meal and then, when the mosquitoes come out in force, you take refuge in the bug free zone of the center tent. Now’s the time to wind down, take turns telling stories and sharing your dreams of a perfect future. Then, crawling into your snuggly sleeping bag and laying quietly listening to the peaceful night sounds… ahhhh … it doesn’t get any better than this! I love this tent combo. I’ve just put the 1 Axis + 3 Zulu 13 person combo family camping tent on my personal wish list. How about you? Check out the details here.

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   Isn’t it great when you find a perfect solution to an unexpected dilemma? My solution was the REI Adventure Dog Tent. Let me explain my dilemma. 

 There we were happily anticipating a two-week camping trip way out in the bush when we got the call for help. My sister was called out of town suddenly and needed us to look after her dog. Now, we always take our dog camping with us and she loves it but my sister’s dog is definitely a city dog. We weren’t sure how he would take to camping so we decided to do an overnight trial camp. Well, he loved running in the woods and swimming in the lake with our dog, so the daytime was great. When night came, however, it was a different story. The poor dog was a wreck by morning after staying awake listening to every little noise all night. I think he felt vulnerable and insecure in our big, tall tent. After talking it over with the vet, we decided to get him his own smaller tent that would comfortably fit inside our large family tent, so that he would feel more secure. The REI Adventure Dog Tent fit the bill perfectly. We didn’t have time for another trial run so off we went (with our fingers crossed) to enjoy our two weeks of outdoors fun. What a wonderful time we had – all four of us! The city dog became a calm, laid back camping enthusiast. Thank heavens for the REI Adventure Dog Tent. Isn’t great when you find a perfect solution to an unexpected dilemma? Check it out.

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 Before you know it, spring will be all over us again. I can already feel the urge to go camping in the pine scented warm air welling up in me. Time to start dusting off my old hiking camping gear. But…oh no…my tent has a rip in it (and it smells gross after a winter in a damp storage locker). Time to look for a new tent! But this time I have a wish list. It has to be quick to erect and be a really spacious tall tent. Tall and spacious enough to comfortably stand and walk around in. Luckily, I’ve found the perfect answer to all my demands! It’s the Eureka Copper Canyon 1312 Tent. This large family tent is the ultimate solution to cramped spaces. You know how horrible it is when your outdoor equipment gear is blocking the entrances and all the sand and dirt gets dragged in all over your new sleeping bags as you’re crawling over the gear because there’s no floor space and there’s no room to stand up in? Thank heavens those days will be over! The tent area is an amazing 156 square feet and the center height is 7’ 3”. Let me tell you a little more about it:

First of all, this 9-pole cabin style tent has a detachable awning that provides shade for the entire tent front. It also has a removable divider curtain that creates 2 rooms if you want some privacy. There are two large D-style doors that offer a private entrance into each of the rooms. Not only that, this 8-man tent has 6 windows and a camping gear loft and 8 storage pockets. Wow, I can hardly wait! Move over Old Man Winter – Spring is fast approaching. The Eureka Copper Canyon 1312 Tent is at hand and all is right with the world! Come see for yourself.

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  A summer tradition for a lot of families is to rent a cottage for a couple of weeks.  With these uncertain financial times it can be difficult to justify the expenditure, however, with a little ingenuity, we have found a great alternative that I think might even surpass the cottage tradition. Take a look at the Sarengo 10 person family camping tent. This large family tent costs only a fraction of what a two-week cottage rental costs and it can be used over and over again. A terrific investment for the family! If you have two or three kids there is ample room to use this camping equipment tent as a cottage alternative (even if they each bring a friend). To quote the manufacturer, here are some of the features of this big tent.

* Large, separate inner tents offers occupants privacy

* Huge living area perfect for storing equipment, eating meals or lounging around

* Solid fabric doors with built in mesh door panels and mesh vents to help promote air flow, reduce condensation build up and keep bugs out!

* Add or remove sleeping rooms depending on how many occupants you have and how much storage space you need

* Leave out one or more inner tents and you have a large, free standing shelter

All that and it’s easy to assemble, too! Another cool feature of this large family tent is that the tent poles are made out of Ubertech shock corded poles which makes them super strong. Also, because it has a totally waterproof, fully sewn in, tub style floor, absolutely no rain or bugs can get in (always a plus in my book!). So, what do you think about starting a new family tradition of tent camping instead of cottaging? For more info and pictures of this big, tall tent, come and have a look.

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Take a look at this fabulous tent. I admit I’m in love! Even though this tent is called a large family tent, and even though there are only two of us, I really covet this tent. I find camping is so much more enjoyable if you don’t feel constricted and the Eros 6 Person Family Camping Tent would provide us with more than enough space to spread out in. It has two pods, which is perfect for us. While we slept in one pod, our dog could sleep on her own bed in the other pod and, because the central living area is so spacious, there would still be plenty of room to store all of our camping equipment. What more could you want? Quality, you say? Well, the way The Camping Equipment Company has designed and built this remarkable Eros 6 Person Family Camping Tent, top quality is certainly what you’ll get. I think you will be very impressed with the top-notch quality and innovative design of this first-rate family sized camping tent. All that and it’s affordable, too. I have to admit though; I did have to look twice when I saw the tent poles. They’re made of PVC pipes! How inventive is that? And strong! Just think, if you ever had to replace one all you would need to do is go to your local hardware store and get the same sized PVC pipe, have it cut to measure and – behold  – a new tent pole. Another thing that I really value about this tent is that it’s easy to set up. So, if you’re in the market for a large family tent, check this one out. You’ll be glad you did.

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