Toe Jam Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Epic TJ fail. There is no other way to describe this weekend. Went camping with three friends of mine. I've never been before and so I was looking forward to the experience. Unfortunately, I didn't realize they had never been either and so the disasters piled up all weekend and I'm lucky to be alive right now. We chose Claytor Lake State Park as our camping place. I've been down there to swim before and it's a really nice area. We made our reservations last week, arrived on Friday around 7 that evening and proceeded to our campsite. Everything was good up to that point. First off none of us had ever pitched a tent before. Second, they brought a huge tent that unfortunately had NO INSTRUCTIONS! So we spent three hours looking like idiots and barely got the tent up in time for the quiet hours. We were so exhausted by that time we didn't realize that we left one of our coolers sitting outside wide open.:doh: Sometime early Saturday morning, some animal came along to our campsite and started wreaking havoc. We only heard it; none of us went outside to see what it was. Needless to say that when we got up the next morning and went outside, we weren't that shocked to see our food strewn all over the place. Fail. We cleaned the mess up and headed down to the lake for some swimming. That part, at least, went according to plan. I did catch a little sunburn but nothing major. We came back to the campsite around five and decided it was time to get dinner going. I have never started a fire in my life so I was quite surprised to find that I got it right on my first try. That made me feel good... for about ten minutes. Thunder. Drop Drop. Thunder. Then it poured.:mad: It poured down rain and put out our fire. Stupid me tried to start the fire again once the rain was over fifteen minutes later but I should have realized that the ground and base of it was soaking wet. By that point, common sense had left me and so I'm not ashamed to admit I tried something that stupid. We were really ticked at this point and so we drove out of the park and had dinner at Dairy Queen. Came back to the campsite and decided it was time to salvage the night and go to bed. About an hour later, our poorly constructed tent came crashing down on us. We struggled to get out of there before suffocating. Had I not left one of the flaps unzipped, I'm guessing we would likely have died. Our yells woke half the campground and we got reprimanded for that on top of everything else. The camp host helped us put the tent together again (the right way, this time) and we finally got back to sleep. All was great until five this morning when, again, it started to pour down rain and this time it leaked right into the tent. At this point we were done. We packed our crap up and had everything in the car by six this morning. I got home by seven and I swear to you I don't think I'll ever be properly dry again. I'm wondering if this is a really bad sign for me. Aren't these things supposed to be easy for men? How could I screw something up so badly? I would gladly camp again assuming I know what I'm doing but I just feel like a complete idiot due to the fact I couldn't handle a simple task such as camping. The only thing I can salvage from this weekend are the lessons learned and the fact I can start a pretty good fire when I need to. Other than that, this weekend will go down as one of the worst I've ever had.:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurd Cudins Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 If you can drive to a Dairy Queen, is it really camping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 If you can drive to a Dairy Queen' date=' is it really camping?[/quote']It's the only store within five miles of the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Okay. That qualifies as camping under the distance clause in "Camping Rules." And to answer your question,no. This isn't a bad sign. We learn by doing. Don't think,for one second, that you're the first person that this has happened to. Nor will you be the last. And you'll come to learn that this incident,while not a lot of fun,was not a near death experience. And if you decide to go out again,you'll also have learned to keep an eye out for the weather in advance of the trip,(and plan accordingly),and know how to set up the tent better. Among other things. Edit. My 3rd time camping out here,(Flaming Gorge),I woke up the first morning,took one step outside,(barefoot),and found myself firmly planted in about 2 inches of snow. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 so, a 1/64" strip of nylon fell on your head, and you had to get in the car and drive to Dairy Queen. I'm guessing we would likely have died Good Lord. .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 so, a 1/64" strip of nylon fell on your head, and you had to get in the car and drive to dairy queen.Good lord. .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeysc23 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 haha. if you don't get soaking wet and or cold in your first couple times of camping you aren't doing it right. I am an eagle scout but my first time camping my sleeping bag fell in the small stream we were crossing. We set up our tent under a ton of dead tree limbs, and right in a ravine where the rain water would flood down. If you haven't had a night where you questioned why the hell are you out there ... then your doing something wrong BTW if you can drive to Dairy Queen it isn't camping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 My first time camping was similar to yours. That night was a huge and I mean HUGE thunderstorm. It lasted for four hours and it completely soaked everything we had and it leaked through our rent so we had no where to sleep, nothing to eat and pretty much nothing to wear. It was a total **** experience and by far the worst night of my life. Cold, miserable, wet, angry, you name it. To make it all worse, we didn't even have a car because my friend took it to a hotel to sleep with his ex girlfriend :doh::doh::doh: But don't let what happened discourage you. Next time you go you will be a lot more prepared. I've been camping several times after this and it's been a great experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsBry Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I was a Boy Scout so, yeah, I've had bad experiances. Your mistakes can make your weekend miserable, but as long as you learn from your mistakes, you'll get a lot of pleasure out of camping in the future. Preparation is everything. Have apropriate clothes for the weather and extra DRY clothes. Protect your food. Keep it in your car or tie it from a tree. Keep your firewood dry. Know how to construct your shelter. These are the most important things, but I guess you know that now for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jb4348 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 if it makes u feel better when i was 13 and went camping for the 1st time it rained the entire time and i ended up closing a knife on my finger and had to get 7 stitches and it was only a 3 day trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 so, a 1/64" strip of nylon fell on your head, and you had to get in the car and drive to Dairy Queen.Good Lord. .... :rotflmao: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FerndaleSkins Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I remember days like this back when I used to tent camp. Tent camping is alot of fun and I miss it sometimes, but when it rains I sure am glad I now have a travel trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 yeah, well last time I went camping, the camp-ground burned down, so you've got nothing on me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chachie Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 TJ that story has got me grinning away. You're not going to fare well in that post-apocalyptic world you're waiting for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 TJ that story has got me grinning away. You're not going to fare well in that post-apocalyptic world you're waiting for. video games aren't helping him enough, either. http://www.theonion.com/content/video/are_violent_video_games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCollins Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Everyone has a camping story. Once my friend Forrest (that should've spelled trouble right there ) and I took two girls from Nova to Atlantic city via the Cape may ferry. We didn't have a lot money or credit cards and we expected to get a hotel room for $75 a night. It was some 3 day weekend and we had no reservations. All the way up there we saw no vacancy signs. when we got there the only rooms available were $200 a night 3 night minimum. Forrest says "No problem, I have a tent in the trunk". So we drive all the way back to Wildwood NJ. We've done nothing but drive all day. We find a place to set the tent up and it's midnight and everybody is tired and cranky. We'd been cramped in a '66 mustang for 15 hours. We get out to set up this big canvas tent (that he borrowed, no instructions). The girls are holding flash lights while we struggle several times to erect this tent. This doesn't sound so bad but NJ has a huge mosquito problem. Their mosquitos are almost as big as birds, in fact I think the mosquito Is the state bird of NJ :laugh:. We're all slapping the mosquitos and trying to put the tent up for like 45 minutes, I was all ate up. Like TJ's experience, the tent was barley standing and up wrong. We all got in and passed out. One by one we all started slapping mosquitos and were saying "WTF!!!" Forest grabs the flashlight and finds a gaping hole in the tent, has a ****fit and knocks the tent down with us inside with a thousand hungry mosquitos. 20 minutes later it look like we all had leapercy from all the bites, are packed up in the mustang and headed for Nova. got home about 24 hours after we had left. I don't think that any of us spoke to one another for months. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Jam Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 yeah, well last time I went camping, the camp-ground burned down, so you've got nothing on me! What the heck? How did that happen? TJ that story has got me grinning away. You're not going to fare well in that post-apocalyptic world you're waiting for. Oh I think I'll be just fine. I may not know how to survive camping and living in the wild that well but I have assurance that no matter what, things will be just fine. Everyone has a camping story. Once my friend Forrest (that should've spelled trouble right there ) and I took two girls from Nova to Atlantic city via the Cape may ferry. We didn't have a lot money or credit cards and we expected to get a hotel room for $75 a night. It was some 3 day weekend and we had no reservations. All the way up there we saw no vacancy signs. when we got there the only rooms available were $200 a night 3 night minimum. Forrest says "No problem, I have a tent in the trunk". So we drive all the way back to Wildwood NJ. We've done nothing but drive all day.We find a place to set the tent up and it's midnight and everybody is tired and cranky. We'd been cramped in a '66 mustang for 15 hours. We get out to set up this big canvas tent (that he borrowed, no instructions). The girls are holding flash lights while we struggle several times to erect this tent. This doesn't sound so bad but NJ has a huge mosquito problem. Their mosquitos are almost as big as birds, in fact I think the mosquito Is the state bird of NJ :laugh:. We're all slapping the mosquitos and trying to put the tent up for like 45 minutes, I was all ate up. Like TJ's experience, the tent was barley standing and up wrong. We all got in and passed out. One by one we all started slapping mosquitos and were saying "WTF!!!" Forest grabs the flashlight and finds a gaping hole in the tent, has a ****fit and knocks the tent down with us inside with a thousand hungry mosquitos. 20 minutes later it look like we all had leapercy from all the bites, are packed up in the mustang and headed for Nova. got home about 24 hours after we had left. I don't think that any of us spoke to one another for months. :doh: Wow. We had some small mosquitoes out there but the one thing we did right was pack some bug spray. Saved us a bit from that kind of disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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