Am i the only one?

[Ozzie]

...there's nothing that matches the experience of a bear sniffing the tent for food...and your dog is snoring and wife is on the rag...

That was the last time in a tent for us...

Now air conditioning, surround sound, etc. is the way to go. These bones don't like sleeping on the ground anymore.

 

[JiFaire]

ROFL... yeah, I've had to stop at a few places that didn't look like campgrounds... and we've driven away from more than a few campgrounds that advertised well but looked like the last hellhole on earth...

Have parked in Highway Rest-stops, Walmarts, Camping World stores, Cabella's... and more than one hotel parking lot. Most places don't mind if you ask and don't make a mess, and there are a lot of towns with very limited camping facilities.. especially if you don't get in off the road before 4pm.

We've been caught many times when we decided to drive another few hours and then couldn't find anyplace to camp...

 

[BigO-L3]

you must be somewhat young....as you get older sleeping on the ground sucks more and more. I tent camped for years during deer season. It'd be so cold that everything in the tent would freeze during the night. If it rained then everything got damp and muddy. We used to have to sit around the fire at night and drink enough beer so you'd fall right to sleep when you got in the tent.
These days I go to bed laughing and hoping that my generator and heater running doesn't keep the tent campers awake.

You are exactly right. I did a LOT of tent camping when I was younger. Starting in the BSA, then continuing on many hunting trips, and simply tent camping for the fun of it. But with age, comes laziness/softness):h Although I did spend the night in a tent this past turkey season, (at 61) I DID have a large air mattress At this point and time, I much prefer an A/C Heated camper with a full bath and king size bed.

 

[0rion]

You are exactly right. I did a LOT of tent camping when I was younger. Starting in the BSA, then continuing on many hunting trips, and simply tent camping for the fun of it. But with age, comes laziness/softness):h Although I did spend the night in a tent this past turkey season, (at 61) I DID have a large air mattress At this point and time, I much prefer an A/C Heated camper with a full bath and king size bed.

that's another thing.....back when I was tent camping I'm not even sure air mattress' had been been invented yet. At least they weren't common. That would make it much more bearable to stay in a tent. When I was doing it the cold hard ground just sucks the life out of you and makes you wake up cold and sore as hell. The air mattress we have here at the house for an emergency extra bed is more comfortable than my own bed I think.
The technology in general behind camping has improved quite a bit. I went this 4th of July and camped ( in my camper) on a river with about 40 good friends. Couple of those guys were staying in tents. I watched one guy set up a 2 room tent by himself and another set up a big dome tent by himself ( I was guarding the beer cooler). Both were done in just a few minutes. My old cabin tent would take an hour with 2 people and that was with a lot of cussing. It would take me longer to seperate all the poles than it did for those guys to put their whole tents up.

 

[jrsavoie]

A friend and I used to tent it while we were in school on weekends. We would head to some of his or my parents land on our dirt bikes and camp for the weekend. All we took was matches bootleg beer and hotdogs. One time we camped in a creek bed, soft grass. We woke up with 2" of water running through the tent and pouring rain. That was a cold ride home at 3AM.):h

That all sounds very familiar.
Had a couple incidents of tenting in the wrong spot.
One night we had a good 6-8" in the tent. Picked it all up in the pouring rain and moved to higher ground.
The other time was just a slight depression - about an inch in the tent. I didn't know anything as I was atop of an air mattress. The same air mattres that the other 2 campers called me a sissy butt for bringing while we set up the tent. My stuff was wet but I was high and dry.
The next day they drove 20 miles and bought themselves air mattresses.

 

[jrsavoie]

that's another thing.....back when I was tent camping I'm not even sure air mattress' had been been invented yet. At least they weren't common. That would make it much more bearable to stay in a tent. When I was doing it the cold hard ground just sucks the life out of you and makes you wake up cold and sore as hell. The air mattress we have here at the house for an emergency extra bed is more comfortable than my own bed I think.
The technology in general behind camping has improved quite a bit. I went this 4th of July and camped ( in my camper) on a river with about 40 good friends. Couple of those guys were staying in tents. I watched one guy set up a 2 room tent by himself and another set up a big dome tent by himself ( I was guarding the beer cooler). Both were done in just a few minutes. My old cabin tent would take an hour with 2 people and that was with a lot of cussing. It would take me longer to seperate all the poles than it did for those guys to put their whole tents up.

X2

 

[jrsavoie]

Wow, that is some beautiful country, always wanted to go there. If I ever run away that's where I'm going.
Around here you'd be hard pressed to find a place to camp rough, everything is someone elses private property. I would really love to try my hand at survivalist type camping, I'm a hunter and a fisherman, and I love the outdoors. I wasn't a Boy Scout but I learned a couple things in the Marines. I like to think I could survive awhile if I had to. Hey, if Les Stroud isn't dead yet, there's hope for all of us!
I will admit to enjoying the other kind of camping. Our bunkhouse will sleep ten, has heat and AC, cable-ready etc etc. It's even four seasons insulated, which has yet to come in handy. So we don't rough it, but the kids love it, it's relaxing to get away from work and not watch the clock, even if I am hooked up to electricity, sewer and water.
When we started out we camped in a borrowed tent. Moved up to a compact popup which I think was smaller than the tent. On to a 24 foot tt, now we have a 33' bunhouse with a 12' slide. I think the wife wants to keep going, maybe a 35+ foot fiver, but I'd rather get the kids grown up then drop back to a big popup.

You may appreciate that 4 season's insulation more than you know. I din't appreciate it with our old motorhome but when we got a camper later we sure missed it. Summer and wimter. The old motor home had spray foam on the roof walls and underneath. It was like a big foam cooler. With amenities.

Years ago we used to redneck camp in our Suburban. A queen sized air mattress fit perfectly in the back and we had a little window air in a side window. It would freeze you out.
Our friends poked fun but when it was 100 degrees out and we woke up fresh they decided that maybe we were a little better off than they were in their pop-up with no air.