Back to the Big City!

We ventured off for a couple days to actually make something of our vacation and do some camping.  It was only 2 hours away, but it was pretty secluded, near Rocky Mountain House, and there were warning signs for Bears, so it was pretty rugged.  Not to mention that there were no showers... or flush toilets.. or running water like Cory promised there'd be.  Nope, just really stinky outhouses and a ton of baby wipes and hand sanitizer the last 2 days.  I'm glad to be home!

I figured I would share a couple shots of our set-up, since we really didn't take too many photos.

Here's a quick shot of our kitchen/dining space:

That little awning deal is a lifesaver.  It's perfect for when it's raining, cause at least you have a place to cook, eat or even play some card games.  Especially when there aren't any good trees around for hanging tarps!

Then onto the living room:

Yes, as you can see, we forgot that the only tarp we had was the world's smallest and most expensive tarp.  We bought it last year last minute when it poured all weekend.  Unfortunately for us, we bought it at a Sports Equipment store, right on the main street in Banff.  $$!

you may have noticed the sleeping bag laying on ground next under Cory's feet.  That's Finley's play area.  It's a cheapo nylon sleeping bag we open up and put close enough to a tree to tether her, close enough to the fire that she's warm at night but far enough away that the bag (nor she) gets hit with flying embers.  Plus, her toys and her food and water station is right there.  Our little girl loves it!

Next up is the bedroom.  I didn't get any interior shots, but here's the exterior:

You can't see just how big it is, but it took up the bulk of our site. They market is as an 8 person tent.  But in my opinion, with a double and a single air mattress and two overnight bags.  This perfectly fits two adults and a medium to large dog.  LOL   Who rates these things anyhow?

But the biggest lifesaver of the weekend was the addition of a new storage item for our camping gear.  Regularly, we cram almost all our camping stuff into two large Rubbermaid bins.  Then, anytime you need something, you have to take every single item out as invariably, the item you need is at the bottom!

Not this time, I decided instead to repurpose a plastic drawer unit that was going underused in our guest closet.  Perfect!!

The top drawer held clean-up items:  rags, dish soap, grabage bags, wet wipes, paper towel, toilet paper, etc.
iIddle drawer was for serving pieces.  Plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, table cloths and clips, salt and pepper.

The bottom drawer was for cooking items.  Pots, pan, cooking utensils, aluminum foil, ziploc bags, lighters, etc.

It was so much easier to find things.  Plus, I found that since everything had a place, things actually got put away!!