Camping

This Saturday, July 24th, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is coordinating the City of Water Day events at Governor's Island. From Red Hook to Spuyten Duyvil and beyond, the waterfront is an integral part of NYC history - all 578 miles of it. City of Water Day is a festival on Governors Island that brings together everything fun and exciting about the water surrounding our city. According to Metro NY, this event was the second-most attended day on the island last year.

There's no place better to be on a hot day than in or on the water, and a day on GI is always fun, so go check it out! Click here for complete event info.

As for me, I'll be at Drupal Camp 8 in downtown Brooklyn.

The annual Great American Backyard Campout happens June 27th. Have fun!

The National Parks Conservation Association is lobbying to stop a bill that would permit visitors to national parks to carry firearms even when not hunting in a designated area. This is such a bad idea I don't even know where to begin! The parks staff can barely handle the problems they've already got, thanks to underfunding.

You can find out more and send an email to your representatives here:
NPCA Action Center.

I recently decided to unsub from the Sierra Club's general newsletter, and in doing so found their Daily Ray of Hope, which is just a simple nature photo and inspirational quotation by email each day, so I signed up for that. Readers can submit photos via Flickr group, so I decided to sign on to Flickr and contribute a few of my best shots.

And they used this one!

I took it on Scoobymaniac's very first camping experience, at Promised Land State Park in the Poconos, on Labor Day weekend in 2002.

Other interesting events that weekend: I lost my wallet, and despite having (I thought) thoroughly searched for it at the time, I found it in my duffel bag when packing for another trip several years later!

We decided early last week to go away for the weekend, and reserved Cabin 16 at World's End State Park (love that name!) in the Poconos area of northeastern PA. We left Saturday early afternoon, and it's about a 4-hour drive, so we arrived about 6:30 after stopping at a Super Walmart for groceries - not a great selection, nor great prices.

The cabin had a notebook for campers to write their experiences, and this is what Legomaniac wrote:

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We spent the weekend at the annual Gathering of the Vibes music festival, returning to its former location of Seaside Park in beautiful downtown Bridgeport. It was our first time there, and our first festival at the seashore.

The annual "Great American Backyard Campout" is Saturday, June 23rd. Probably not coincidentally, NYC's Cub Scouts will be camping on the Brooklyn Cyclones' outfield at Keyspan Park in Coney Island.

Here's the website for the Great American Backyard Campout if you want more information.

This past Memorial Day weekend we camped out at the Strange Creek music festival in Greenfield, Mass. Great site, great weather, we all had a good time, and the kids had a blast!

Everyone tried out the "Orbitron" (see one like it here, lower right photo), except Jambandfan, who had cervical spine surgery in mid-April. It is really cool and fun!

Before Packing:

Directions
cabin reservation info
check weather forecast

Essential Gear

Lighter/matches/fire starters (non-chemical)
Flashlight (good quality)
Extra batteries for all battery-powered equipment
Sleeping bag/bedroll per person (unless linens provided)
Mess kit per person (bowl/plate, cup/mug, fork, knife, spoon) (if not provided)
Biodegradable soap & scrub pad for pots
Water bottles (Nalgene or sport water bottles)

Recommended/Optional Gear

Extra plastic bags for garbage disposal and leftover storage
Headlamp flashlights

All gear lists are intended to be comprehensive, you won't necessarily need evey item.

Before Packing

Check & print travel directions
Confirm site reservation info
Check local weather forecast
TICKETS
Rental car/hotel info (if using)