We did our second annual "family float" and campout on the Buffalo River in Arkansas this past weekend, and despite the blazing temps, the 6 mile trip out of
BRO was a success. We joined our good friends the Turners and the Rhoads, my sister Lane and her boyfriend Derek, and two other families, the Lindstroms from here in town and the Barones, who were visiting the Turners from sunny (but apparently cooler) San Diego. In all we were a party of 20, with a gaggle of kids. The Barone's poor little 1 1/2 year old Chloe cried about half of the float, bugged by her lifejacket and the heat and not being able to get comfortable. Occasional tears aside, the kids enjoyed swimming in the river and playing just as much as they did last year, and this year, there was no torrential rainstorm.
The Buffalo is known for its beautiful bluffs. I like this photo of the whole gang gathered in front of one that you could canoe right up under, as Lane and Derek are below. They brought along Chuck the pug and Cricket the yorkie.
We camped 2 nights this year, and I will say that tent camping in July, at least in this party of the country, is kuh-ray-zee. I ordered the
Coleman Instant Tent for Ryan's birthday in May, and it really does live up to the name. It just pops up and comes down so easily. We invested in some battery-powered fans, including a
Coleman ceiling fan, and they did help, but wow, it was hot. To further exacerbate matters, our air mattress bed wasn't inflating enough, ending up in a waterbed effect when we laid down and if I turned on my side my shoulder dug into the bottom of the tent. I woke up after the first fitful night feeling like I had been in a car accident, my neck so stiff and body so sore and battered. On night two, Ryan figured out the bed inflated better if he just blew it up and we slept better, probably just so exhausted from being on the river all day.
I'm not the best of campers, but my boys sure are. I think we'd like to make another trip to this same campground this fall with our friends, when the temperatures are cooler.
We did our second annual "family float" and campout on the Buffalo River in Arkansas this past weekend, and despite the blazing temps, the 6 mile trip out of BRO was a success. We joined our good friends the Turners and the Rhoads, my sister Lane and her boyfriend Derek, and two other families, the Lindstroms from here in town and the Barones, who were visiting the Turners from sunny (but apparently cooler) San Diego. In all we were a party of 20, with a gaggle of kids. The Barone's poor little 1 1/2 year old Chloe cried about half of the float, bugged by her lifejacket and the heat and not being able to get comfortable. Occasional tears aside, the kids enjoyed swimming in the river and playing just as much as they did last year, and this year, there was no torrential rainstorm. 
The Buffalo is known for its beautiful bluffs. I like this photo of the whole gang gathered in front of one that you could canoe right up under, as Lane and Derek are below. They brought along Chuck the pug and Cricket the yorkie.
We camped 2 nights this year, and I will say that tent camping in July, at least in this party of the country, is kuh-ray-zee. I ordered the Coleman Instant Tent for Ryan's birthday in May, and it really does live up to the name. It just pops up and comes down so easily. We invested in some battery-powered fans, including a Coleman ceiling fan, and they did help, but wow, it was hot. To further exacerbate matters, our air mattress bed wasn't inflating enough, ending up in a waterbed effect when we laid down and if I turned on my side my shoulder dug into the bottom of the tent. I woke up after the first fitful night feeling like I had been in a car accident, my neck so stiff and body so sore and battered. On night two, Ryan figured out the bed inflated better if he just blew it up and we slept better, probably just so exhausted from being on the river all day.
I'm not the best of campers, but my boys sure are. I think we'd like to make another trip to this same campground this fall with our friends, when the temperatures are cooler. 
3 comments:
hayley - where did you find that saying? it is me to an absolute T!!!camping is one activity that i honestly cannot tolerate...i just can't do it.
mary
Hi Mary! Glad to see you back to blogging. My sister gave me the little pack of emery boards with the "I love not camping" saying, knowing it was very me. I think it's from Francesca's Collections, the boutique company she works for. I've seen this same line several places though...
thanks, hayley:)
mary
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