Go Camping!

[amanda]

I’ve been an avid camper for years. The outdoors is just a wonderful place and I love exploring new areas via camping. I was so hooked, that 3 years ago I decided to branch out from ye-ole tent to a pop-up camper. The pop-up suited my needs perfectly. It had a stove (one inside and one outside), a sink with running water, a refrigerator, a dining area for four, a couch, and 2 king size beds, and best of all - AC for summertime fun. :) This mode of vacationing is perfect for me and the boys (and hopefully Butterball). It gives us a chance to go different places for a fraction of the cost. However, my family doesn’t like the fact that I go off with the kids by myself. After all, there are crazies everywhere.

As mentioned in the Nothing Thread, I went to Gulf Shores again with the boys and stayed at the Gulf State Park. It’s a wonderful place, very clean and the sites are spaced apart enough to get plenty of privacy. I prefer State Parks over privately owned campgrounds because they are better maintained, cleaner, and more spacious than their counterparts. They only privately owned campground that I stayed in that broke these rules was Fort Wilderness at Disney World. Fort Wilderness is just the most awesome campground that I’ve been to yet.

Campers are a unique breed of folks. Generally they are very well behaved and courteous to their camping neighbors and when I leave my site to go explore, I don’t worry if my stuff will be there when I get back. Is this the norm? Have any of you experienced anything different? What is your take on camping and where are your favorite places to go? Got any funny stories? Please share your experiences and if you are a novice to camping and have questions - please feel free to post them here. :)

[fuzzis]

I love camping. :smt050 In fact, the sugar daddy is getting me new camping equipment for my belated birthday/happy he-won-the-trial pressie. :smt118

I've never stayed at a private campground. Always state, national, and county parks. And while it freaks my MS parents out when I tell them I'm heading off by myself, I've never had a problem or been slightly afraid when I was out camping.

I think I've told my lantern malfunction story before, so I don't want to bore people with it. It was a good one, though.

[amanda]

I had to laugh at our neighbors on this last trip we made. It didn't start out funny because these 10 men showed up at 11:00 at night, just about the time I was getting ready to hit the hay, and proceeded to set up their tents very loudly. However, it became very apparent that they had never set up tents or gone camping before - especially after they left that next morning and the storm showed up - here is the results:

[58ford]

My camping gear all fits in a small backpack. I like roughing it. I don't put down people who use campers etc., it's just not me. Although I have a large tent (a concession to the former wife) I never use it. If it looks like rain I stay home. & a little rain never hurt anybody. I've "camped" all over the country (former biker days), but my favorite part of the the country is the Smokey Mnts. And if you've never camped the Cherokee National Forest Get on your hikin' boots & head out.

[fuzzis]

:smt103

:kekeke::kekeke:

It had been awhile since I'd last been camping when I bought a new tent a couple of years ago. I set it up in the backyard first before heading out into the woods with it. Just so I wouldn't be embarrassed. :-D (and I'm sure I'll be doing that again when the new gear arrives...it's hard enough being a girl by herself without giving the boys something else to laugh at. ;))

[TheBee]

I’ve been an avid camper for years. The outdoors is just a wonderful place and I love exploring new areas via camping. I was so hooked, that 3 years ago I decided to branch out from ye-ole tent to a pop-up camper. The pop-up suited my needs perfectly. It had a stove (one inside and one outside), a sink with running water, a refrigerator, a dining area for four, a couch, and 2 king size beds, and best of all - AC for summertime fun. :) This mode of vacationing is perfect for me and the boys (and hopefully Butterball). It gives us a chance to go different places for a fraction of the cost. However, my family doesn’t like the fact that I go off with the kids by myself. After all, there are crazies everywhere.

As mentioned in the Nothing Thread, I went to Gulf Shores again with the boys and stayed at the Gulf State Park. It’s a wonderful place, very clean and the sites are spaced apart enough to get plenty of privacy. I prefer State Parks over privately owned campgrounds because they are better maintained, cleaner, and more spacious than their counterparts. They only privately owned campground that I stayed in that broke these rules was Fort Wilderness at Disney World. Fort Wilderness is just the most awesome campground that I’ve been to yet.

Campers are a unique breed of folks. Generally they are very well behaved and courteous to their camping neighbors and when I leave my site to go explore, I don’t worry if my stuff will be there when I get back. Is this the norm? Have any of you experienced anything different? What is your take on camping and where are your favorite places to go? Got any funny stories? Please share your experiences and if you are a novice to camping and have questions - please feel free to post them here. :)

I love camping, and haven't gone too often. Looking forward to trying out some Southern campsites. Any recommendations? I don't have any funny stories, but I wish I'd had a video camera when the Beloved and I put up our tent for the first time. Take 2 fairly well educated, intelligent people, put them in the woods and give them a simple Wal-Mart tent to put up. How long do you think it should take?
Answer: If you're Bee and her Beloved, 2 hours. I'm not kidding.
We're so awesome it hurts. :smt023

[58ford]

I was at a Dead show in Deer Creek Indiana, they had a camping area set aside for the Dead Heads. All these twenty something Yuppy Hippies whit the fibreglas pole & nylon tents. A storm blew up in the night & everybody hit the concession stand for shelter. we watched all the candy colored dome tents flying around the camp ground. It was crazy.

[TheBee]

:smt103

:kekeke::kekeke:

It had been awhile since I'd last been camping when I bought a new tent a couple of years ago. I set it up in the backyard first before heading out into the woods with it. Just so I wouldn't be embarrassed. :-D (and I'm sure I'll be doing that again when the new gear arrives...it's hard enough being a girl by herself without giving the boys something else to laugh at. ;))

We really should have tried it out before we got to the campsite, but thought it couldn't be that hard to figure out...famous last words...

[58ford]

I love camping, and haven't gone too often. Looking forward to trying out some Southern campsites. Any recommendations? I don't have any funny stories, but I wish I'd had a video camera when the Beloved and I put up our tent for the first time. Take 2 fairly well educated, intelligent people, put them in the woods and give them a simple Wal-Mart tent to put up. How long do you think it should take?
Answer: If you're Bee and her Beloved, 2 hours. I'm not kidding.
We're so awesome it hurts. :smt023
There is a campground in ocean Springs that is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Nice little campground on the water with a nice nature trail where you might see alligators, or other coastal wildlife. Beware, keep your food safe, the raccoons there are numerous & have no fear of humans.
3500 Park Rd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

(228) 875-0821

[TheBee]

There is a campground in ocean Springs that is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Nice little campground on the water with a nice nature trail where you might see alligators, or other coastal wildlife. Beware, keep your food safe, the raccoons there are numerous & have no fear of humans.
3500 Park Rd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

(228) 875-0821

Sounds lovely, Ford! Thanks for the suggestion! How far is it from H-Burg?

[58ford]

Sounds lovely, Ford! Thanks for the suggestion! How far is it from H-Burg?
Take 49 S. about 80 mi. Hang a left on I 10 & start looking for addresses.
Or Google Map it.

[58ford]

It's a strange & little known campground. You have to drive through a residential neighborhood to get to it. I find it a nice place to relax, but close enough to civilization that you can grab a burger & a beer if you want.

[TheBee]

It's a strange & little known campground. You have to drive through a residential neighborhood to get to it. I find it a nice place to relax, but close enough to civilization that you can grab a burger & a beer if you want.

I like strange and little known, so it sounds great. :) I've heard October is a good time for camping in Mississippi?

[Fish-Bait]

I went campin' down on the Chicasawhay bout' 10 years ago. It was a bachelor party trip. We also were settin' trot-lines and limb lines and stuff. We were also drinkin' alot of beer....alot.That night after the second runnin' of the lines I was skinnin' a few for the fryer and there was an awesome thunderstorm North of us. Now bein' ole Fish-Bait, I have learned a thing or two in my lifetime. One of those things was havin' to swim after the boat one day for about 5 minutes on the Pascagoula River (when you pull up to the sandbar and get out to take a leak, throw your anchor on the bank, you will thank me one day for that tidbit). Now I threw out my anchor after the last run. The other 3 boats didn't.....and you guessed it. the river rose about 6 inches in a couple of hours, just enough to remove the boats from the sand bar. Needless to say it was as funny to me as anything....I tried to tell em'....but, noooooo they were older and smarter too! We recovered to vessells the next mornin'. I told all of em' they had to pay me a recovery fee of a case of beer and a rib-eye. That was a good trip though. It wasn't too hot, wasn't too cold, not many skeeters and a helluva' lot of laughs! We caught a bunch of fish too.

[threekidspa]

Camping is one of our favorite pastimes too. One experience we've had here reinforces your comment about private campgrounds. Last summer we made our first venture out since moving here, and for some reason we went to a place on Okatoma creek, not far from Seminary. Big mistake. Turns out the owners were hosting a Karaoke thing that night. As usual, the later it got, the drunker they got, and the worse it all sounded. All the ones that could hold a tune left fairly early, leaving all the drunks behind. Last time I looked at my watch was around 2:30 am. At least they were happy drunks, and not causing any trouble...well, other than us not being able to sleep... :) My kids still talk about that trip, so at least it made an impression!

[TheBee]

Camping is one of our favorite pastimes too. One experience we've had here reinforces your comment about private campgrounds. Last summer we made our first venture out since moving here, and for some reason we went to a place on Okatoma creek, not far from Seminary. Big mistake. Turns out the owners were hosting a Karaoke thing that night. As usual, the later it got, the drunker they got, and the worse it all sounded. All the ones that could hold a tune left fairly early, leaving all the drunks behind. Last time I looked at my watch was around 2:30 am. At least they were happy drunks, and not causing any trouble...well, other than us not being able to sleep... :) My kids still talk about that trip, so at least it made an impression!

I'm not sure I understand why folks would go camping if they really wanted to just drink and do Karaoke...but I suppose if they were having fun, that's all that matters...

[Fish-Bait]

We went down to the Mimosa over Memorial day. It's over by the Columbia water park. They had all their stuff (golf cart and bicycle races, and scavenger hunt) during the daytime. It was quite pleasant at night. I got the impression that the fella' that owned it don't mind if you have a good time, but piss off your neighbor or he'll deal with ya'. It's right on the river too. I took the boat and cruised around a little and me and the youngun' caught us a couple cats over where they call it the chicken run or somethin' another.

[Fish-Bait]

Dang it Amandah, you got me wantin' to go buy a frikken' camper now......uhgggghh. I'll get cha' back.:p

[58ford]

If you want to take a great camping trip try Cades cove in SC.
The Smokey Mnts. National park is some of the best scenery in the country.

[fuzzis]

If you want to take a great camping trip try Cades cove in SC.
The Smokey Mnts. National park is some of the best scenery in the country.

A year ago I did some great camping in South Carolina. Did some canoing through swamps too. Got lost hiking in the woods. Good times.

I like the Land Between the Lakes/Pennyrile area of Kentucky. Will head back up there in October for some really, really pretty fall color.

[amanda]

I'm going to the Smokies with the kiddies next year, 58Ford. I love the Smokies but have never gone up there with the camper. I've gone to all the campgrounds close to here - Pat Harrison Waterway has nice campgrounds. Flint Creek Waterpark being one of my favs for local adventures.

When I took the kids down to Disney, we broke the trip into 2 days. We stayed at O'leno State Park. It was beautiful. I woke to hear my kids whispering between themselves. The oldest was promting his younger brother to go inside and "get some more". I heard my youngest sneak into the camper and start rummaging through the bread. I waited until he went back outside before carefully unzipping the canvas to peak outside. Lo-and-behold there were 6 deer on the site and both my children were HAND FEEDING them the bread. :) I jumped up, running the deer off, and let them know that they couldn't do such things because the animals were wild. As I'm telling them this, I turn to find the momma deer looking at me like "why did you do that - the bread was good". So I sent the youngest back into the camper for the rest of the loaf. :) Good times.

[amanda]

My camping gear all fits in a small backpack. I like roughing it. I don't put down people who use campers etc., it's just not me. Although I have a large tent (a concession to the former wife) I never use it. If it looks like rain I stay home. & a little rain never hurt anybody. I've "camped" all over the country (former biker days), but my favorite part of the the country is the Smokey Mnts. And if you've never camped the Cherokee National Forest Get on your hikin' boots & head out.

Hey, Ford, I've got a backpack and all the gear needed for jaunts. Right after my divorce I told my family that I was going to take a week while my ex had the kids to hike the Appalachian trail in Tennessee. My mother immediately informed me that the only jaunt I would be taking on my own would be to an "institution". :) Haven't gone yet - but would love to get a group together to undertake the adventure. Any takers? :)

[Ande']

Yeah we seriously rough it when we camp. I'm talking all the air conditioning you can stand (inside and out---thank you porta cool), satellite tv, microwave dinners......We almost couldn't stand the poor conditions we were staying in and decided to pack it in 7 days later.

[wilebill]

I used to be a serious canoe camper. I've canoed and camped on just about every river in south and central MS. I've camped out across from Dunn's Falls in March before the state bought it, and took a shower in the falls the next morning. Cold as hell. Spent one New Year's on a creek in Marion County canoeing and deer hunting in the rain.

There's some great rivers to canoe in the south, though. I like the ones that nobody else goes down so you don't have to worry about loonies. The Bouie is one of the best rivers to canoe, as is the upper Leaf. Both have lots of good sand bars to camp on, although I always preferred to camp in the woods, not directly on the sand bar.

The Bouie has a really cool soil formations on it, if they're still there. Kinda NW of Eastabuchie are what looks like mushrooms coming out of a dry riverbed that only sees water when the river gets up. Just past that is a big pool where a creek runs into it. If you go up the creek a little ways you'll come up on a waterfall about 10' high that's really cool to swim in and slide down. We've camped at that spot and spent a lot of the day swimming around and sliding down the falls.

The snakiest river to canoe on: the Big Black north of Jackson. There's more snakes there than on a plane. I've also done a lot of squirrel hunting around there, and the snakes don't hibernate around that part of the world.

Something else that I loved to do was to squirrel hunt and canoe in the fall. That's the best. It's cool and you can just glide down the creek and the squirrels never hear you coming. Of course, it has to be a smallish creek so the tree limbs hang over the water, and you don't really kill a whole lot like that, but it's still great.

You can pack a lot of stuff in an 18' canoe. I've got a 12 man tent that we'd take and a very large ice chest, enough food to feed an army, chairs, Coleman stove and lantern, tarps, air mattresses, water jugs, etc., and it would all fit in there. If you really want to get away from civilization, canoe camping is the way to do it, but you'd better be a good canoer, too. Never turned over with a canoe full of gear. :smt023

[Butterball]

I used to be a serious canoe camper. I've canoed and camped on just about every river in south and central MS. I've camped out across from Dunn's Falls in March before the state bought it, and took a shower in the falls the next morning. Cold as hell. Spent one New Year's on a creek in Marion County canoeing and deer hunting in the rain.

There's some great rivers to canoe in the south, though. I like the ones that nobody else goes down so you don't have to worry about loonies. The Bouie is one of the best rivers to canoe, as is the upper Leaf. Both have lots of good sand bars to camp on, although I always preferred to camp in the woods, not directly on the sand bar.

The Bouie has a really cool soil formations on it, if they're still there. Kinda NW of Eastabuchie are what looks like mushrooms coming out of a dry riverbed that only sees water when the river gets up. Just past that is a big pool where a creek runs into it. If you go up the creek a little ways you'll come up on a waterfall about 10' high that's really cool to swim in and slide down. We've camped at that spot and spent a lot of the day swimming around and sliding down the falls.

The snakiest river to canoe on: the Big Black north of Jackson. There's more snakes there than on a plane. I've also done a lot of squirrel hunting around there, and the snakes don't hibernate around that part of the world.

Something else that I loved to do was to squirrel hunt and canoe in the fall. That's the best. It's cool and you can just glide down the creek and the squirrels never hear you coming. Of course, it has to be a smallish creek so the tree limbs hang over the water, and you don't really kill a whole lot like that, but it's still great.

You can pack a lot of stuff in an 18' canoe. I've got a 12 man tent that we'd take and a very large ice chest, enough food to feed an army, chairs, Coleman stove and lantern, tarps, air mattresses, water jugs, etc., and it would all fit in there. If you really want to get away from civilization, canoe camping is the way to do it, but you'd better be a good canoer, too. Never turned over with a canoe full of gear. :smt023

Ah, yes. Reminiscing. WB, I've spent at least 100 nights on Black Creek (from 20 degrees to 100 degrees back in the day), several on the Okatoma, and many more on the creeks and small rivers around LA (lower Alabama :-D ). My how times have changed, though. The creeks are more crowded and the "laws" don't allow as much freedom (in fun things to take along - you know, like suds) and the landowners are not as fond of folks stopping on their property (even if you don't make a mess - which we never, ever did). Anyway, I never ceased to amaze myself with how much 'stuff' could be loaded into a 17' Grumman and it still float and handle well. Yeah, we never went on 'overnighters' understocked or without as many amenities of home as we could tote :alchoholic:(75# dog included). I whole heartedly agree that canoing is THE way to get away from it all (and people) and I miss it. Guess I'm getting old, or at least lazy. I've got someone in my life now that wants to camp and maybe I can persuade her to get on the water and see the world from a canoe and sandbar. Sounds wonderful to me and we live in a great spot to choose from a lot of different water.

I've been on the Bouie but I'm not familiar with the spot you described. Sounds like just the place I'm looking for. I'll catch up with you for directions.

'PADDLING BEATS SPANKING EVERY TIME'

[amanda]

Ya'll have given me a hankering! I've never canoe/camped before. Never could get anyone in my family willing to give it a go. I've canoed a bunch over the years and even owned my own Grumman. Which I sold after a long period of no use, to my son's Scout Troop. I figured that way I'd get a chance at using it again. :)

LOL! After Butterball read some of this thread, he informed me however that Backpacking was out. Guess I'll just have to wait until my oldest goes on his first Philmont trip and hook up with them for some backpacking adventure. :)

[wilebill]

Ah, yes. Reminiscing. WB, I've spent at least 100 nights on Black Creek (from 20 degrees to 100 degrees back in the day), several on the Okatoma, and many more on the creeks and small rivers around LA (lower Alabama :-D ). My how times have changed, though. The creeks are more crowded and the "laws" don't allow as much freedom (in fun things to take along - you know, like suds) and the landowners are not as fond of folks stopping on their property (even if you don't make a mess - which we never, ever did).
That's why I preferred the lesser traveled rivers, hardly any inexperienced canoers on it, and nobody knows you're there. I never overnighted the Okatoma and only went down it a few times because it's just too crowded.

One funny story about the Bouie, though. Me and a friend were doing a day trip on it several years ago when a thunderstorm popped up. There was no bridge to take shelter under so we saw a slough and pulled up in it. It got bad so we decided to abandon the canoe and climb the bluff to look for shelter. We came up on a field and saw a chicken house/barn on the other side of the field so we took off for it. That's when we heard gunshots - somebody was shooting at us! We found a deck of cards in the barn and set there playing cards for a few hours waiting for the rain to stop.

There's more to the story that I can't tell here, but in retrospect it was sorta funny.

[58ford]

I floated the upper portion of the Bouie with some friends on inflatable pool toys. The Bouie, esp. the portion above American Sand & Gravel is a great float & at least the last time I floated it nearly deserted.

[Fish-Bait]

Ya'll quit talkin' bout the Bouie. I wanna go this weekend. I don't want it to be packed....sssshhhhhhh, you all hush now. Don't get everbody' all riled up. It'll prolly be packed with Mh'burgers now...dang it!:-D

[bpitt]

We camp a lot. When the wife and I got married, we'd make weekend runs up to Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia. All we had was the Jeep and a tent. Needless to say, as newlyweds, neighboring campers often heard 'animal noises' at night. HAH! Good times............now we camp in the 24ft travel trailer with A/C and no air mattress to go flat. We hit the Smokies often, use to go 4 times a year, once per season. Now we go 1 or 2 times a year, but once is always the third week of October, when the leaves are turning colors, nice and cool, and the trout are hungry.