I‘ve spent the last couple of nights (and days) camping with the family. We went to Johnson County Park down a little ways south of Franklin, IN, on the north side of Camp Atterbury. They have RV and tent camping, with showerhouses available so even the “primitive campers” can have “facilities” and stay clean. :-)
That was us. We set up our tent Thursday afternoon and got busy collecting some firewood from the nearby woods and from vacant campsites. We knew it was going to be scatter rain showers during the day on Thursday, but we didn’t expect the solid rain for five hours during the night.

TIP: Even a rain fly will leak once it’s heavier and is sagging down, touching the top of the tent. When I was a kid, we had a canvas tent and we were constant reminded not to touch the sides of the tent when it was raining because it would pull the water in and start a leak. Apparently the same is true for nylon tents. :-)
Oh, and another tip. If you put a tarp on the ground under your tent, make sure it DOESN’T stick out from the tent anywhere. When the tarp comes out from under the tent, the rain goes down the tent side, onto the tarp, and right under the tent. Then the things on the floor pull the water from underneath. At on point we had some puddles that were over 1/2-inch deep. I was on an inflatable mattress and kept thinking to myself, “Not to be used as a floatation device. Not to be used as a floatation device.”

It dried up on Friday and the afternoon was a beautiful fall day. There are five miles of hiking trails within the park (where we saw racoon tracks and deer sign), plus a lake, some wetlands, and lots of wildlife and waterfowl. Every night and morning we were treated to the flocking (and singing) of literally thousands of blackbirds. And during the night, we could hear the coyotes–sometimes far, sometimes as near as 100 yards or less.

We pre-prepared a couple of meals at home, by taking a slice of beef and putting potatoes and onions around it and wrapping it all in two layers of aluminum foil. The second one was chicken with carrots and celery, using Italian dressing as a sort of marinade. You get your fire going well and put the foil packets in the coals. Delicious!!

All in all, it’s a very nice park. Camping is very cheap compared with other places (tenting is just $8 a night) and it’s not that far away, while still feeling like it’s “out in the boonies.”

We ended the trip with a stop at a local Denny’s for breakfast this morning, where I had an “Ultimate Bowl,” which was diced, fried potatoes in a bowl with a light cream sauce over them, covered with three eggs scrambled with mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, onions, and ham, and sprinkled with shredded cheese. Bacon and sausage were on the side. Mmmmm….

[tags]camping, johnson county park, tents[/tags]