Country Fried Weekend

We went camping in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of strangers Meric met online. Seriously, that is what we literally did this past holiday weekend and we had a blast!

Meric is a member of a website called Expedition Portal. It is a forum where people can discuss camping, off-roading, trailers, travelling, tents, vehicles, and just about anything especially if it has to do with exploring the outdoors. Every year a group of people on this forum get together and go camping. The group is all from the southeast and they call this camping trip "Country Fried Weekend".

We figured it would be a great weekend to try out our new trailer set up. The camping spot was located in northern GA about 4 hours away from us. It was a nice secluded location. We were given coordinates instead of an address if that gives you any idea. Once we arrived at the location we discovered why they choose to camp at this location. It was in a beautiful valley with plenty of room and tons of off-road trails. The property actually use to be used as a wildlife sanctuary and there were still structures, water features and cages.

Once we arrived we got to see how the set up of our new trailer compared to other camping trips we had been on. We needed to position the trailer which with the open fields and space was a piece of cake. There was a slight incline to the spot we picked which was easily fixed by leveling the trailer. Setting up the roof top tent is very easy and quick. The optional annex which we have took a little longer to set up but was still very quick and easy.

Once we set everything up we went around to meet some of our neighbors. Meric had communicated with a few people from our area before this trip but this was our first opportunity to meet them face to face. Everyone was very friendly and laid back. This is totally my kind of camping trip. The dogs could be loose and nobody cared and Mel could run around with all of the other kids. I like laid back people!

The first day we set up camp, explored the area a bit, hung out by the campfire and enjoyed other people's dutch oven cooking. (We had vegan meatballs with pasta for dinner and black forrest cake for dessert!) Mel made friends very quickly and ran around in the dark with them for a while.

Sleeping for the first time in our rooftop tent was a bit different than a regular tent. Regular tents we usually have our bed in the middle with our bags and dog beds all around the rest of the floor. Even in our large 6 person tent we are a bit crowded. In the rooftop tent there is an annex room on the bottom which has plenty of room for the dog beds and our bags. Then the ladder goes up the the bed. Mel loved climbing the ladder and always insisted on doing it herself. The tent has a thick foam pad for a mattress which we found to be plenty comfortable. The tent is also made of heavy materials(canvas) and not thinner nylon like our regular tent so it helped keep us warmer at night. Also leveling the trailer made our tent level so no sliding down to one side during the night. Overall I am very glad we did the rooftop tent.

After breakfast the next morning we hiked a bit and explored the beautiful area a bit more. In the afternoon Meric hitched a ride with one of the guys and did a little bit of off roading with them. Mel spent the day running around with all her friends.

For dinner we participated in a potluck and enjoyed everyone's company. Then we enjoyed another evening hanging out by the fire with everyone. I love hanging out with friends by the fire, it reminds me of hanging out in Glendale.

The next day was our last camping. We hung out with all our new friends for a bit and slowly packed up our camp site. We went camping with strangers but it never really felt like that. Everyone was so friendly and fun. Definitely a trip we want to do again. Also we loved our new camping set up and have a little bit better idea of some of the modifications we would like to make to it. It was nice to unplug and get away for the weekend. You don't even think about not having electricity or running water when you go camping like this.

I do feel the need to comment on our weather. As you can tell from the pictures of us in t-shirts and flip flops we were is warm weather. Yes we are in GA but this past week has been warm for even us. (Not complaining) If the camping trip had been held one weekend earlier we would have been in below freezing temperatures and the water features would have had ice in them. Seriously. (Again not complaining!)

Special note: I discovered a new recipe that I think I will make again for camping. I made these sausage cheese biscuits the day before our trip. I wrapped them individually in foil and placed them in a ziploc bag. They made great snacks when we arrived hungry to the campsite and didn't have time to make dinner yet. They also were good warmed up for breakfast. Here is a link to the recipe. Enjoy!
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sausage-cheese-biscuits-recipe