Camping

June 21
We have been noticing camping gear for the past month or so as we have been gathering what we will need for the trip. We had a tent that was a couple of decades old. It got used when we lived in Portland , but not so much when we lived in Fairbanks. We used it a couple of times here and the last time we discovered it leaked when it rained really hard. Fortunately, it was set up in the backyard for us to sleep in during the hot summer nights, so instead of getting wet we could just go into the house! But we figured we would need a new one before heading out, so a couple of weeks ago, after looking at sale ads, we went and got one. It was a bit smaller than the old one--very basic and simple. But as always seems to be the case, once we started looking for tents, we saw them everywhere. Today they were all over the weekly ads. And we continue to be amazed at the kinds of tents they have! We had noticed before a shower/changing room tent. Also, a cottage tent. It had rooms and everything. Today there was a lodge tent, which is apparently somewhat bigger than the cottage. And they had a tent with closets! This seems like quite a concept. Closets in a tent! I can see that have a space to put your stuff that is out of the way might be a good thing, but it seems kind of amusing to think of it as a closet! Anyway, I have chuckled at the idea that you could go out for a camping trip and spend quite a bit of time setting up something like a whole little village. You could have your cottage and your lodge, which may or may not come with closets--the ad didn’t really say. You could set up your shower/changing room tent. Then there are the portable toilets and I suppose you would need to have some kind of tent like structure for that, unless you wanted to use one of the existing “rooms” in your lodge or cottage. Maybe one of the closets could serve as a bathroom. And you’d want one of the portable kitchens they have as well, though probably that would have to be outside. I am exhausted just thinking about it. I can see the utility of this stuff if you are going someplace and staying there for a fairly long period of time. But for a night or two, or even a few, it seems like a lot to go through. I knew that RVs were getting larger and fancier, but I honestly had no idea that the same thing was happening with tents. It’s a far cry from what it used to be. I wonder how it will all evolve.