Camping update and pics! (woo hoo...)

Camping was fun - we hit the road at 11 AM and arrived at 1:30 after making a few stops along the way for lunch and to pickup some needed items from Wal-Mart.

Temps were in the high 50s and cooled down at night to 30.  Rained all night a light rain.  In the morning we had the clouds part and the sun shown until about 9 AM and so I headed back to my campsite to take down the tent (I packed up the other gear before breakfast).  Started pouring rain then hail as I took down the tent.  As I got into the van to leave at 9:30 it started to snow.  All in all it was a quick but fun trip with my boys and guys from my church.  This weekend I am going up further north for a Boy Scout District Camporee with my 2 oldest boys.



The tent - my pride (Cabela's Deluxe Alaknak II 12' x 20')



This is me at 275 and a little more than 5 months out at the campout.



My 5 boys - my other pride - From left to right, Tate 11 yrs, Brigham 10 yrs, Tanner 14 yrs, Kobe 8 yrs, and Corwin 5 yrs.

it dont get any better then that
Great pics
Good luck

Wow sounds like you guys really had fun Dan. I remember my boy scout years and my dad was there to camp with us on many of the camping trips. They are amongst my fondest memories of my dad. I know your boys will remember last weekend all their lives. I am taking my family out to camp with me in Wyoming this spring. I didn't take my kids camping when they were smaller because their mother did not like camping. Now as young adults they are ready to give it a try again. I know they will have fun. Keep camping with your boys, those are moments that are priceless.
Nick

Sounds like a great trip... also, that's not a tent, it's a house!

Glad you had a great time.  Who had more fun, you or your boys!  I am sure they will remember these camping trips all their lives.

Jim

Tent??? NOT that thing is a house!

Sounds like you made some fun of it even though the weather did not cooperate.

Maybe this weekend will be better for you!

I see a vent do you have a ****ter in your tent?   How long did it take to put that thing up?

Looks fun.

Kids ran free I am sure they had more fun as I spent my time relaxing and chatting with friends.  My oldest made that fire himself.  I asked him to while I was making dinner in the tent so that the other boys could dry off their shoes (they 'fell' in the creek). 

I love my tent - we had 8 of us in their and 6 of us had cots.  I stoked the stove during the night and it was toasty warm.  To answer the question I can put the tent up myself at a leisurely pace in about an hour.  Took it down in less than 15 mins in the hail storm with help from a friend and my son, Tanner.

Camping with my father was always my favorite activity growing up.  I have missed camping because of my weight for a few years.  I used to camp all the time growing up and then got into Scouting.  I even worked away from home for 3 summers in a row up at a Scout camp.  When I was 17 I went to the National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill, VA - camping has always been a place for fun, relaxing, thinking, and learning.  My grandfather was a Scout master for 30 years and before that a WWII Vet.  He is still alive and many of my cousins are Eagle Scouts, my brother and I got ours the same night.  I fact our Jamboree troop consisted of 36 Scouts from AZ and 7 of them were my cousins, and one cousin was an asst Scoutmaster.  It is in our blood I guess.  My wife took awhile to come around to it, but now she likes to camp on occasion if it isn't cold - hence the stove in the tent :)