Tent Camping in the No. Georgia Mountains

There is nothing like camping in the north Georgia mountains in the fall (in a tent)!  The views are spectacular, the weather exceptional and the company grand!  This is only our second time camping in the mountains and it did not disappoint.  All the way home the kids were planning our trip for next year!

Apparently the bear were very active during our stay.  So, at the entrance to the park there was the sign pictured below.  It was imperative that food not be left around.  Now, I will be honest, had we been in the camper I would not have given it a second thought.  But, because our home for 5 days and 4 nights was a tent, the sign below gave me a reason or two to be a little concerned.  Especially, when the potty is a half a block away and very dark in the middle of the night!  

I will admit, that one particular night I thought I heard a bear creeping around our camp site.  I laid awake for quite some time before I finally woke hubby up.  He humored me and listened for a little bit.  Then asked me if I wanted him to go check it out.  Which I promptly said yes.  Of course, he came back and there was nothing outside but trees, other campers and stars.  Come to find out, Boop was rolling around on a Walmart bag which sounds EXACTLY like rustling leaves.  Who knew??  I love my hubby for humoring me in that way!!

Our plan was to get on the road by 4AM so we could be at Vogel State Park by 10:30ish.  Georgia state parks are first come, first serve and we had four families that we ideally wanted to get sites all together for.  Thankfully we have friends, who were able to get on the road early, early, early and they were able to get us four great sites all together.   

Sweet girls.

One of many creeks by our campsites and throughout the park.

The clan.  We spent the first day just checking it all out and getting set up.

We don't do well getting pictures taken.  Just a bunch of squirrels!  Always moving.  But, great picture anyway!

One of the things the kids did the whole long weekend was walk across the many creeks on the rocks.  A few children fell in.  Many children had wet shoes and socks.  Some just took the shoes and socks off.

The park and all the girls.

Nature Girl and her good friend.  Beautiful place.  Beautiful girls.

A warning.  Many, many more pictures to come!  My camera sure got its workout this last month.

This was our home for 5 days and 4 nights.  We had never tent camped before.  But, because we knew the roads up to the park were crazy curvy and steep, we decided to do the tent thing.  We were really excited.  But, it took a little bit different packing and planning strategy.  We were use to throwing everything into two cars and the camper.  With the tent and the six of us in the van, we had to downsize considerably.  We had to think everything through.  Did we really need it?  Were we really going to use it?  We had a car topper and a rack on the back.  You could barely see the kids in the back seat when we were done packing!

The tent was supposedly an 8 man tent.  But, by the time we got our clothes and sleeping bags inside the tent, it just barely fit us.  The third night we got smart and put our clothes bags in the car.  Along with all the food.

The biggest drawback for me was having to use the restroom in the middle of the night.  We have night time pee-ers.  :)  Including myself.  So every night but one, we had to make a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Kinda creepy!  There were so many pluses though.  I loved hearing nature at night.  We went to bed kind of early and we read almost every night just to settle everyone down.  We had to spend every waking moment outside.  It seemed less hectic because there was less stuff.  It was cozy and warm (we had a heater and lots of little lights.)  The temperature got down to about 38 but we were totally prepared.

Well, that was day one.  Just hanging out.  Checking out the area and eating a fabulous camping food.  More pictures and more stories to come . . .