June 19, 2006

Nothing Some Rope and Stakes Won't Fix

I have been thinking for quite some time now that I need to add a table to my collection of camping gear. It needs to be small enough to fit in my trunk (without folding the rear seats), and that effectively eliminates most portable outdoor tables. Coleman has a table that folds in half, but an uncomfortable percentage of negative reviews scared me away--I don't want something too flimsy.

I finally found something today that I think will work. It's plastic on top and has aluminum legs. The legs have crossbars at the bottoms to give the table more stability. So even though it is lightweight, I should be able to stake it into the ground to keep it from blowing away or whatever. We tend to get one muthah of a thunderstorm at least one night when I go camping, so having a table--even a heavier one than what I found--blow over/away is a legitimate problem.

Yay, camping! I have a total one-track mind lately. Look forward to more fascinating entries in the week and a half to come. Then look forward to none, probably, when I'm actually camping.

Posted by Jenelle at June 19, 2006 10:18 PM | TrackBack
Comments

You could get a Honda CR-V. The bottom of the rear storage compartment is a small picnic table. It even has a hole in the middle for an umbrella.

That, believe it or not, was one of the huuuge deciding factors when I bought mine. That, and the fact it was cheaper, had more storage space, and better safety ratings then the other vehicle I was considering.

Posted by: Victor at June 20, 2006 06:38 AM

Table? Are we camping here, or spending a night at the Ritz?

Posted by: shank at June 20, 2006 09:05 AM

I'm voting Ritz. Room service is a basic necesity, as are the luxuriously thick robes.

Posted by: Paul at June 20, 2006 12:14 PM

Shank, what we are NOT doing here is lying out in the woods in a sleeping bag and just a sleeping bag. There is a cabin, and across the street from it is a campgrounds. Where there are firepits and an outhouse and a picnic table and even a gazebo (it's new, I'm not sure I actually care for the gazebo). There is a swingset. Down what used to be an ATV trail, there is now a pole barn and beyond that is a house where an aunt and uncle reside half the year. Those buildings are new, too. And the campgrounds have electricity hookups for campers. Also new. It's camping, but it's not exactly roughing it. If I wanted to, I could shower in a shower. Instead I bathe in the lake. That's about as rough as it gets.

So a table for eating at or playing cards isn't so out of place.

Posted by: Jenelle at June 20, 2006 07:04 PM

So why the need for a 'camping' table that has to be portable and foldable? Just get some table from a junk sale or something for the cabin. I'm thoroughly confused. You're staying in the cabin and you want a portable table for playing cards outside?

Posted by: shank at June 21, 2006 07:27 AM

I am staying in a tent in the campgrounds. I don't consider that "roughing it" so sorry for the confusion.

Posted by: Jenelle at June 21, 2006 10:47 AM

I'm a high maintenance commenter.

Posted by: shank at June 21, 2006 12:04 PM

Ooooooh, I see. You're *girl*-scout camping, not *boy*-scout camping.

Posted by: Ted at June 21, 2006 03:48 PM