Well it has been a LONG time since I have gone camping, I know Norman is looking forwards to going and being out in nature. We going to be heading out to the Torrance Barrens Dark-Sky Preserve. Thus we unpacked the tent today, actually got it out of the box and put it up completely in part to air it out and in part to make sure there was no holes in it or other possible breaks or problems that would affect our ability to camp or stay/sleep in it.
After putting the tent up, which took a little longer than expected. Took a little longer because we couldn’t find the instruction and couldn’t even find anyone on YouTube in regards to the tent itself, ya of the 2k of tent videos from the company the tend is from there is 0 videos that I was able to find in regards to our particular style.
Our tent is an Ozark Trail – Athabasca Falls – 16ft x 9ft 2 Room Family Dome Tent according to the bag it came in, yet a YouTube search brings up 100% nothing can find Cabin Tents that meet the size and are by Ozark Trail, but nothing that comes under the heading of an Athabasca Falls tent under their brand = Fail!
Oh well, we at least know it’s in good condition and that it will suit our needs for our camping trip next week. Part of the reason we’ve chosen to go camping is because we were invited by two friends of mine to go with them, they are already there camping but asked if we’d be interested in going since they knew we are looking for low-cost camping options and well learning that the Torrance Barrens Dark-Sky Preserve, has free camping as they are on crown land and you can camp on crown land if you are a Canadian citizen for up to 21 days.
This means we actually have other options open to us for camping in the future, that I was unaware of since I actually found a camping site for Canada aimed at camp sites on crown land. So it seems we will be looking at other sites to go camping at next year, time allowing for it to happen and all.
One of the interesting things about this particular camping spot is that it is all natural there are no facilities at the site itself – though apparently it does have portapotty’s for those who are hiking and camping to be able to use (but anyone who knows those types knows that they don’t smell great and you need to bring your own TP), so a downside to it in general.
Another thing about this camping location is that it being a preserve and in a dark zone it’s perfect for stargazing which is what the area is actually aimed at and it’s apparently not uncommon to get a good view of the northern lights, so glad that we managed to get out the stargazing binoculars so those will come in handy next week that is for sure.
From what I’ve noticed of the weather it is going to be good so that should add to the time there in making it go well, just have to remember to dig out the ground tarps to put on the ground and find the larger ones that could be used to toss over the tent should there be a storm during the night (though currently the weather network says it should be fine, we all know that can change day to day).