Setting up the Tent!

Big enough  for John to walk in with out cawling!

From this angle it really looks like a Triceritops!

It's breezy and roomy in here!

                                                             John needs a rest!

Summer Adventure On the Road 2011
     There is nothing like camping out in the fresh out doors and sleeping in a tent.  We wanted one that was easy to assemble even a boy scout could do it.  We looked for one that was tall enough so we could enter without crawling and large enough to fit a queen size blow-up mattress.  We needed one with lots of zip open windows and a storm cover if it rains.
     With this in mind we checked the internet and found a lovely blue tent by Field and Streem sold through Dicks Sporting Goods.  So when the box arrived, we were excited to get it open and set it right up, just like Christmas morning.  We tore away the the box and laid everything out and checked the parts. We were amazed to see how much came out of the little bundle, and wordered how we were going to get everything in it when we reassembled it in the little bag.  For fun we put a stop watch on us to see how low it would take.  That's before we started reading the directions. It was a trial trying to configure the lay out comparative to the pictures in the paper sewed to the holding bag. We were glad they were sewed in because the wind started to blow, and we didn't want to lose the direction if they blew away in the wind. With everything flapping around we had to secure the base with steaks.  The flimsy ones worked ok on on spongy Florida lawn but we knew we would have to get some double duty bigger gones for where we were going.  Next we put together the telescoping rods and threaded them through.  We could see that one boy scout could not do this alone.  We secured these rods to the hooks on each side and that seemed like nifty engineering as the tent started to take shape looking like a Triceratops.  Then we pulled the tension strings and secured them to the ground. By now the wind was blowing and the love bugs swarming.  We decided to dive in and zip up the front door.
       Boy, was it cool inside after we unzipped the windows and looked up at the mesh ceiling. The wind was blowing through and the love bugs buzzing all around outside.  Everything was holding together inspite of the wind, and with our stronger pegs, we were sure the tent would hold even in the Hood River winds. So we decided to get our camera out and take some pictures for you to see.
       It took us about an hour to assemble the Triceratops and half and hour to disassemble it flat.  The tough part was getting amorous lovebugs out and crunching everything into a tiny package to place it all back into the little bag. That took more than one boy scout to do as well, and after several tries we got it down to size.  I can't say we got all those love bugs out though, I guess they liked a cozy place too!