So we just had our annual boys/girls weekend. The husbands and boyfriends all headed to the woods camping – coolers full of beer and sausage, the girls ‘slumber partied’ at one house with a 12+ bottle of wine vat of sangria, leaving the house for only pedicures and a night out of jello shots and dancing. But I digress.

As the husband did his packing we did some reevaluating of the camping gear. What needs replacing, what do we not use, what else might we want to pick up. We love to get out and camp near Portland in the summer – and as farther away vacations are becoming less and less affordable this summer – camping sounds even better. So we were trying to think of ways to do it, or places to go to spice things up a bit and get out more this summer than we have in the past.

Now I’m the first to admit – we are LAZY campers. We camp only where we can pull our car up to the camp site. None of this having to pack your stuff in. No way. We bought a new tent that says it sleeps 12, for 2 of us, and maybe 2 dogs if we bring them along. But last summer we got rained on 4 out of 5 camping trips, and we want to have some space inside our tent in case we have to spend more time there than originally planned. We bring a ginourmous cooler, a camp-stove for the 10 cup drip coffee pot we mus bring! All kinds of stuff that others may say doesn’t belong camping – but hey – we like it that way. We have a battery powered fan/reading light for the tent that is just the best thing ever. And this propane tree that you can attach a torch to on the top and have another hose running out the side to power your grill or whatever else might need fuel. I love the camping gadgets!

In addition to our food and booze – we usually bring some games and will sit around a picnic table playing scrabble or such – and sometimes just relaxing in a chair in the sun reading a trashy magazine is great, and of course we’ll take a nice walk around the area we’re in…but what other things do you do while you’re camping?

We like camping at Lost Lake – the trek around is a nice walk – not a hike. I said we’re lazy remember. The lake is fun to go out on in a little paddle boat or canoe. There are a plethora of good spots along the Clackamas River with easy walks in the woods and many have places where you can jump in the river (although staying in usually isn’t possible – that’s some cold water!) If we have more than a regular weekend, driving down to Crater Lake is awesome. But every time I go to look for a spot, I tend to go back to those areas because I know the facilities are good.

So my questions to you campers are:
1. Where do you go – will you share your favorite spot?
2. What do you do to entertain yourselves while there?
3. What’s your favorite camping gadget?