"Why don't we leave the top off Dad?" Was the question I go from my youngest one evening last summer as we were setting up our tent at the Oregon Inlet Campground. I realized that he was right, there was no rain forecast so no reason for the rainfly. The result was a night spent under a canopy of stars.
The first weekend in June we headed to Cape Hatteras to photography the Milky Way and spend some time on the beach. We setup our tent at the Cape Point Campground in Buxton and of course since there was no rain expected left the rainfly off. The result was a couple of nights of blissful sleep with the stars overhead, fireflies flashing about and the gentle sound of the surf not far away.
I have friends who camp that can't believe I haven't gotten a travel trailer by now so I can enjoy the comforts of home. There have of course been trips when I would have been quite happy to have had a camper. A very cold night spent at Davidson River near Brevard and a windy night at Oregon Inlet Campground that drove us to sleeping in the truck spring readily to mind.
There is however something about the simplicity of throwing your gear in the back of the truck, pulling up at a campsite and pitching a tent. Sleeping in the night air under the sky with only some nylon and mesh panels to hold the mosquitos at bay is magical. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly "roughing it". We bring a 26" queen size air mattress, pillow from home, battery powered fans and the tent is large enough for me to standup and walk around in but it lacks those comforts provided by a camper.
I'll keep tent camping, at least for the time being and keep enduring the ridicule of those who travel with air conditioning, indoor plumbing and a big screen TV. Check out the video below to see how our last night went. This timelapse was started at midnight and runs until just before 5am.
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