Last August, we had a free weekend just before school started. The weather forecast was supposed to be incredible. 70s and low 80s with a slight chance for rain Saturday night. We decided that a camping trip would be perfect so I started calling campgrounds on Thursday afternoon to find us a spot. We really wanted something by a lake, but every place I called or looked into online required a 48 hour notice and we wanted to set up the next day so I couldn't officially book anything because it wasn't far enough in advance. Dumb. Finally, I started calling places that were not by a lake. I found the Kettle Campground in Eureka Springs. Hmmm...camping AND Eureka Springs in one weekend. It sounded like a no brainer. I called the campground and talked to Andrew. Andrew was so sweet and helpful, he reminded me of Kenneth Parcell, the page from 30 Rock with his accent and southern hospitality. I told Andrew that we were interested in a campsite for two tents and proceeded to ask him about parking, restrooms, firewood, and all the necessary camping questions. Suddenly, he asked if we were interested in staying in the teepee. "We have a large teepee that is available this weekend if ya'll are interested." A friggin teepee. Um, yes please. I told Andrew that I would check with my people and give him a call back. "Guys!! They have a teepee and they want to know if we want to stay in it!!! We could still take our tents, but maybe we would not have to set them up, we could just sleep in the teepee and it would be like 1/2 the work of camping." Everyone agreed that we could take our tents and if the teepee was too small or scary, we had the tents. I was thrilled to stay in the teepee. Over the summer we had stayed on a schooner sailboat on Lake Michigan, the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, and the teepee just seemed like the right amount of adventure for a simple, quickly planned weekend away. We loaded up the trailer with all of our camping gear and hit the road around 3:30 on Friday afternoon. As we rolled of out town, we looked back at the trailer and noticed that the lid had blown off of one of our totes. We decided to stop at a gas station and tether/duct tape all of the lids on a little better. The rest of the trip down the winding roads to Eureka Springs was uneventful. We made it the the campsite and had a little photo shoot as the sun went down. We built a fire and cooked hamburgers on an iron skillet. The teepee was pretty much what I expected. It had wood posts that went from the outer edge to the center top. The interior had green indoor/outdoor carpeting on the ground, so it wasn't a dirt floor which was nice. We started setting up our beds. My husband and I like to sleep really well while camping, so if we can avoid sleeping on the hard ground, we try to bring an air mattress. Call it glamping. I don't care, we like to be comfortable. Our two friends had brought their air mattress, which is a tall queen bed. We used to have one like that, but over the years, we have learned that it is quicker and just as comfortable to blow up two twin air mattresses. If one starts to lose air, we can buy a new one at Wal-mart for $7 and we aren't sandwiched into the middle on a deflating balloon. With all three airbeds, the little floor of the teepee was crowded. I decided to put my single mattress in the middle of the teepee, just in case it rained, I didn't want to get wet from the canvas on the sides, which I have had happen on a regular tent before. Friday night, we slept great and got up the next morning to explore Eureka Springs! A photo from our 'photo shoot'. The campground was lovely with tall trees all around. We were on top of a hill so there was a little bit of a view at the edge of the campground.
1 Comment
Mary Sears
3/19/2018 10:28:53 am
This is epic. I love the teepee story.
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Mrs. Mitchell
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