Hey everyone!  Today's topic is about camping in your backyard.  Yes, your backyard.  I know a lot of you haven't slept in the backyard since you were a kid.  But it can be fun and a good time to try out new equipment and work out all of the bugs that camping can bring.  This weekend had fantastic weather with highs in the 70's on Saturday and 80's on Sunday. The stay-at-home order is still in effect, and the state and national parks are closed for camping.  I've been itching to get out and do some camping and exploring, so I got in my truck and drove to the exotic place of my backyard.  Not too far so I saved on gas! LOL  I started to do some work on my teardrop camper (install a new battery), and I had to wire a separate light to my truck camper and go through the things that I really need in my camper and the things I don't. Then it was time to set up camp.  A hammock is my preferred way to sleep when I'm camping.  It's so comfortable, and I don't have to get on the ground to go to bed.  I'm getting older, and getting into a tent after a long day of hiking is harder to do than when I was younger.  So I got my car-camping hammock.  I have many hammocks. The one for backpacking that I made has a built-in, zippered bug net.  My other hammocks have bug nets that just drape over for protection from those pesky flying pests in the summer time.  For rain and sun protection, I placed a tarp over my hammock.  Again, I have many tarps:  two that can be used for summer use and two for winter with doors attached to keep out the wind and rain.  The one that I decided to use for my car camping is one of my winter tarps.  I can fold the doors out of the way to let the breeze blow through in the summer time, and if I need some privacy or to protection from the weather, I can use the doors.  I've got camp all set up!  Now the fun stuff starts.

My wife and I had planned to have a fire in our little fire pit, so I had to get some wood together and get our grill together for the first grill of the warm weather.  So now that all of the camp chores and setup are done, it's time for the fun stuff.  Well, there is nothing better than taking it easy in a hammock in the summertime under a shade tree with a slight breeze blowing.  You talk about good sleep!  It's awesome!  I had just dozed off when something startled me, a tap on my shoulder from underneath my hammock.  Forrest!  He wanted some attention and wanted to get in with me.  So I picked him up and got him in the hammock, and we both took a nap until some squirrels started chasing each other in the tree above us.  Of course Forrest freaked out and I let him out of the hammock.  Later, we grilled some burgers on the grill and they were great!  I don't know what it is about burgers on the grill that make them so good, but the grill does really make them taste great!  After cleanup, it was time to start the fire.  To tell you the truth, I'm not really good at doing fires, and when I go camping I rarely start a fire if I have to do it myself.  There is just a lot of work to do with fire wood collection, starting the fire, and feeding the fire through the night.  But this night it was my turn to tend to the fire. Starting the fire is the hard part.  I got some small twigs and stuff and tried to start the fire with some crunched-up paper, but no luck.  I remembered my Boy Scout training and got some cotton balls and some Vaseline and soaked the cotton balls in it.  I lit the balls and they burned for about 10 minutes, plenty of time to get the fire started.  Then it was just feeding the fire.  It turned out great and we had a good time sitting around the camp fire.  Finally it was bed time.  I haven't slept in the truck camper since I built it.  So tonight was the night.  Forrest and I went to bed in the back of the truck.  And it went okay.  I would have been more comfortable in my hammock, but I did get some sleep.  We woke up early like always and had breakfast.  

We had a good time camping out in the backyard.  The weather was great and a fun time was had by all.  So get out in nature and have some fun!  Keep shooting!