Camping... (pics)

i386

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We've got the 6 year old nephew for a whole week. After work today we're all loading up in "unca Mike's twuck" and headed up to North Ga. for some camping. We'll be hiking, fishing, observing nature and wildlife, and tubing down the Chattahoochee. Tonight we'll make camp and start a fire with flint and tender. Maybe a little banjo pickin' after that if it's not too late. Tomorrow morning it's pancakes and sausage in the cast iron skillet then off to do activities. He's never seen mountains before, and we've let that part be a surprise. This should be a hoot.:)
 

aspeck

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Sounds like fun! Have a great weekend!
 

JB

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Cool plan, i386. Hope it all works. :)
 

mike64

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Have a great time! Six should be a great age to introduce your nephew to camping. I have a 5-1/2 and a 2-1/2 year old, when the youngest gets a little older I want to start taking them up to Michigan's u.p., where I had some great experiences camping before they were born.
 

i386

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Y'all grab your fishin' pole and come on. At 4:00 unca Mike is hittin' the road!:D
 

i386

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We made it back safe and sound. What a trip...

Friday night we made camp and got some sleep. Saturday morning I cooked breakfast and we took off for our hike. He was doing the Jr. Ranger program. There was a list of nature related activities he had to complete. He hiked, identified plants and insects, fished, picked up trash, learned about native animals and their habitat etc... This took the entire day. The next day he had to take his book to a park ranger. The ranger looked carefully over is work and signed off on it. Then he was awarded a Jr. Ranger patch for his effort. This was a big deal to him (he's 6 years old) coming from a "real park ranger".:) Hard to explain, but I could barely hold back the tears.
Later, back at the camp we had fillet mignon, potatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms. It's started getting a little windy after we finished eating so we cleaned up quickly and put things away in case of rain. Then the thunderstorm came.
We borrowed her mom's 4 man tent for this trip because it was a littly roomier than our 3 man dome tent. Big mistake. This thing leaked like a sieve. We weathered out the storm for about 2 hours, but all our stuff and bedding was soaked. We abanoned ship at about 11:30PM and headed to the hotel. We were already planning to spend our last night there. We went back to camp after breakfast to clean up the aftermath and do a few more thing in the park.
We spent Sunday in the town of Helen shopping, eating, playing putt putt etc... Today we tooking to the top of the highest mountain in the state which is a little over 4700ft. He'd never seen mountains before and he really liked that.

So it was a good trip for all. He learned some good lessons and I think he'll remember this for a long time.
 

triumphrick

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You gotta love it...the tent leaked ? No way..Yes way. I'll bet THAT part will be in his story :D . As we say best laid plans of......Great recovery and I just betcha Unca Mikes gonna be on the spot to do it again...soon! We still enjoy tenting and just pulled up the Bahia Honda sites in the Marathon Key area in Florida. It's a great tent and boat facility with a fabulous night sky. So clear, with lots of satellites and meteorites all night long. Ichin to go:)
 

12vMan

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That sounded like a great time. Looking forward to our next trip out. Stories like that really give me the extra urge I don't need when I'm at work.:D
 

Limited-Time

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Why is it I herd Dueling Banjos, (the theme song from Deliverance):eek::eek: playing in my head when I read the first post? .............................................................What the h'ell you wanna go fool around with that river for?..................................All kidding aside sounds like a blast..................tube'n the hooc'h!!
 

mike64

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Glad to hear you guys had a good time. I liked hearing about your nephew's proud experience getting his Junior Ranger Badge :)

Too bad about the leaky tent though... I never met a tent that didn't leak at least a little. When I used to tent camp more often I would set up a tarp and a couple telescoping metal poles I got at an army supply store held in place with tent lines and stakes. The tarp went over the tent and extended enough to cover the picnic table at the rustic camp site. Cheap and very effective! Stayed high and dry through many heavy rains that way.
 

tashasdaddy

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Unka Mikey, is going to be a hero for a long time. good man.
 

LadyFish

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Mikey, he'll remember this for the rest of his life. Kudos on being a super Uncle. :)
 

tashasdaddy

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looks like he had the time of his life. unk looks pretty happy too.
 

aspeck

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Looks like EVERYONE had a great time ... didn't see a frown in the crowd!
 

WizeOne

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Liked the pics i386. What a great experience for the boy. You could just see him soaking in all the experience.
 
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