camping first time help me

[troche]

hi i have bunch of questions 1. thinking of feb tent camping is it to cold
2. what should I bring obviously my tent sleeping bags etc.. but what else
i have myDW and 7 yr old DS what to cook on I need lots of info to convice the family I am convinced but family needs more convincing. help please

 

[Rhonda]

Hi! Welcome to the DIS!

We have tent-camped every February for the last 15 or so years. It gets cool in the evenings - so bring lots of blankets. Those heaters made for tents work nice too. Make sure you use the kind that turns itself off if it tips over.

I highly recommend bringing a screen tent too. You can buy a cheap one at Walmart for around $50 or so. We set ours up over the picnic table. It keeps the rain and bugs and birds out!

I also recommend bringing air mattresses. Sleeping on the ground without one is miserable! You can get them at Walmart too. Don't forget your pillows too!

You will have electricity at your site - so you can use an electric frying pan, coffee maker, crockpot, etc, etc. We make use of all of them! The frying pan is great for breakfasts and we use the crockpot for chili or chicken or roasts. Start it up in the morning, and when you get home from the parks, you have dinner waiting!

You've come to the right place to get answers! I'm so excited for you! You will love FW!!!

 

[musicfan]

Never been there in Febuary, so I can't speak to that! But we have a kind of unorthodox approach to eating while camping.

One year, we tent camped all the way down the east coast visiting relatives, then ended up at Ft. W. We started out with a cooler, like normal people, but about a week into it I was very tired of the mess -- melted icecubes with soggy food floating around -- ick! -- and the worry about whether the ice would melt before we could replenish it and ruin half our food. So we went to a grocery store and bought LOTS of canned stuff -- veggies, Chinese food, soup, fruit, hash, stew -- you just can't believe how much canned stuff there is out there if you look around. And from that point on we ate out of cans! No more worrying if animals were getting into the cooler. We also had non-refrigerated stuff like bread (which we used to sop up the canned stuff), poptarts, doughnuts, oatmeal swirlers, cookies and other snacks, and peanut butter -- all of which we stored in the car to keep it away from the animals. I DID keep ice in the cooler with the soft drinks, but it never turned into a mess and it didn't matter if the ice melted. Warm soda never killed anyone.

Believe it or not, everyone was happy with this -- myself, my DH and DS (then age 10). Now, whenever we go camping, we do it without refrigeration.

 

[Gilligan&Ginger]

Tent camping is an art- it takes some practice to get it right so that you are comfortable. We tent camped for many years prior to our last two RV selections. Here's some tips:
- We used plastic box containers (large ones) that we bought cheaply at WalMart/Target for camp-site organization and storage. Damp blankets are no fun. After we got up, it just took seconds to fold the blankets and drop them in the rubber-maid storage box, pop on the lid, and save ourselves from damp blankets, or having someone walk on the bed with shoes on during the day. We also used these boxes to store dry food goods to keep them pest free. We used them to store the clothes too, as they stack much more easily than suitcases. We had one that held our small grill and charcoal (keeping the dirty charcoal dust from our vehicle.). You'll pay $4-5 per large plastic box on sale at a discount store.
- During our upcoming Disney trip, I'm pre-making "packet meals" in foil packets to drop on the grill daily. There are many varieties. You can find these recipes on www.reynoldskitchens.com
- An air mattress will save your back, and make it seem like you are not sleeping on the sand.
- A piece of indoor-outdoor carpeting in-between the entrance of the tent and your picnic table will stop shoes from dragging dirt into your sleeping quarters.
- A screen tent is a great suggestion (made by everyone else also).
- A plastic mesh type basket or bucket is helpful to carry your soap/shampoo/toothpaste/toothbursh and other toiletries to the showerhouse with ease.
- Don't forget a length of rope for a clothesline to dry towels and swimsuits.
- Use the laundary facilities once. Packing dirty clothes home is a smelly experience.
- Yard Guard sprayed at dusk lasts quite a long time. Moth ball crystals sprinkled outside the perimeter of the tent keeps out all kinds of bugs/varmints. (Make sure it's 12 inches from the tent or so.)
We love camping. There is no other way to spend as much quality time with your children. Have a great time.