Welcome to the Real Life Adventurers Club



Share your stories and pictures of real life travels and activities


Have a story or pictures from your last vacation you'd like to share? Funny experience on an outdoor trip? Other adventurous activity that you'll like to tell us about? Post it here.

ooh...how fun...well, my sister and i recently had a girls' vacation...we had a nice allowance for each day we were there for spending money and such...each day, however, we were surprised to find ourselves getting free meals...our dinner the first night should have cost 36 dollars...the waittress said the manager covered our meal (no, we didnt complain about anything and the food was fine, he just kept stopping by to chat with us)...we only had to pay the $6 for our drinks...

the next day we split some appetizers and a dessert...we were only charged for one appetizer and our drinks...we were really surprised...

then, the day after that, we did not have to pay for a single drink at the bar...no, we didnt flirt with anyone...we stayed to ourselves but had a good time...

just thought i'd share that since it did happen when we were on our vacation...and we ended up using our unused spending money on a new computer for my sister

s

I wish all my vacations were like that. I would love to have some extra money in my pocket.

Okay, here's a story from a camping trip a few years back:

On one my canoe trips, my crew and I spent one night on a lake that obviously had not been used for a long time based on the condition of the portage into the lake and the campsites on it. There had obviously been a fire there some time ago as well. Because of the fire, the place was loaded blueberries. And I just love wild blueberries but of course I'm not the only one that loves the berries.

Anyways, after setting up camp. I took the shovel and headed back into the woods. Anyone who has been camping in the middle of nowhere will know what the shovel's for. For those who haven't, just think about it.

As I was walking back, I noticed some rather fresh animal dropping that were full of berries (gross, I know but that's what it looked like) which could only belong to one animal, a bear. Just then I heard a loud grunt not far from me and the sound of a very large animal quickly moving in the opposite direction. Needless to say, I did the same thing back toward the campsite.

We did stay at that site that night, since we didn't see any more sign of the bear and it was starting to get late in the evening. But I did take some extra precautions securing the food and set up a little alarm system with the pots just in case. I didn't sleep alot that night either. Every little sound kept waking me up.

@s
Wow, lucky!! I wish that happened to me XD

@Mizzou
Scary! I know what you mean. I once made my way to the outhouse in the middle of the night when camping and that was enough to freak me out because it was pitch black - couldn't see an inch in front of my face x_x;; I will never do that again, even if it means dragging one of my half-asleep friends with me!

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Last year, I went camping with a bunch of friends. For me, it was my first time camping but for some of my friends, they had at least some camping experience so I thought it would be ok as long as they knew what they were doing.

But wow, anything that could have went wrong...went wrong!!

A while after we arrived, everything went smoothly. We set up our tents and then took a nap (we were up almost all night and the drive was 3-4 hrs long), and then in the evening, we had a good meal from the barbeque and some of my friends began to drink (kids, don't do this!)

One of my friends started to feel sick so she sat outside a little. When she felt her stomach calm down a little, she went into one of our tents (the big one where four of us would be sleeping) to lay down for a bit. All of a sudden, she felt sick again and threw up all over half our things in the tent! We cleaned out the mess but those of us sleeping in that tent were reluctant to use the things she had thrown up on >_>

As a result, we had to make do with the unsoiled stuff; therefore, the four of us crammed into half the tent, sharing two sleeping bags, 1.5 pillows, and two thin blankets. So not only was it very uncomfortable, we were also freezing ><

In the morning, one of our other friends who was in another tent came to wake us up (around 9:30-ish). All we hear is, "Guys, get up. It's raining so we have to set up the tarps before everything gets soaked." So here we are, tired, hungry, wet, and freezing cold, trying to set up our two measley tarps. The problem was that the trees surrounding our campsite were far apart and we didn't have enough rope! We ended up pulling off the string from our firewood bags to compensate. And because one end of our tarp was sagging, we found a big log, used our axe to chop it to the right length, and used it to prop up the saggy tarp XD




A little later, we realize we're nearly out of firewood and it won't last long. So here we are, wet and cold and running out of firewood! But, you know, no problem - we said to ourselves it's ok, we'll just drive into town and buy some more. So a few of us get into the van to go get some...but the van's battery died =_=; So we had to split up and ask our surrounding campers if anyone had any jumper cables. Luckily, someone did and he was kind enough to bring his truck over to help jump start our van.

So it was all right for a while after that - it was just raining and still cold (we were all wearing heavy sweaters the entire time) but we were otherwise very upbeat. Then, of course, later in the evening, we get hit with a big thunderstorm! We hide out in the van for a while until it passes but when we get out, all our things are drenched. Even our tents leaked! What little stuff we had intact in our tents were now mostly wet, making us feel even colder at night.

Luckily, we left the next morning so we didn't have to endure anymore. Still, packing up all our stuff was a bit of an adventure because everything was covered in mud and drenched in rainwater.



Here's some of my friends trying to figure out how to pack up our tent without getting drenched and dirty XD

So, yeah, that was the most interesting part of our adventure. After we left the camp grounds, we headed out for a short trip to the beach where two of my friends randomly decided to get their eyebrows pierced ^^ Then we just hung out on the beach in the beautiful weather and then left for home - finally!

@Aeternus, I hope it didn't turn you off camping. It can be very fun, especially if you check the weather beforehand.
My hubby and I had decided on a spur of the moment fishing trip and forgot to check the weather where we were going. It was fine that whole first day but around midnight the clouds arrived with the snow. It was a silent attack that we didn't even know was happening until the weight of the snow collapsed the tent. We spent the rest of the night huddled together in the pickup truck cab. Then went fishing in the morning. Hot cocoa solves a lot of problems.
Maybe next time I'll regale you all with my bear encounters.

@Aeternus: Most of the places I've been camping don't have outhouses, hence the shovel. If there was one, it was the local hangout for the mosquitos. Personally, I hate using outhouses. They usually smell bad and I can't get myself to go into one if I find creepy crawlies in them. Walking in the dark doesn't really bother me, you get used to it after awhile.

@Aeternus and Oracle: I don't know how many times I've been on a camping trip and had to deal with bad weather. When I was working as a guide I had to go out regardless of the weather, you learn to deal with it. I actually got pretty good at making sure I kept my clothes and as many of my things dry as possible. Lots of coffee and hot cocoa works great!

The only time I got hypothermia was in June. I was on a ten day canoe trip and it was cold and rainy the whole time. Every morning your clothes were still damp and cold. After a week of that, it finally got me.

It was alittle scary because we were in the middle of a large lake with a strong headwind when I started to notice it. The last thing we wanted to happen was get turned the wrong way and swamp. I was in the stern (the back) of the canoe and it took what little strength I had left to keep the canoe straight. The person in the bow (the front) had to help me out with it. It was the first time I wasn't able to carry anything over a portage and we grabbed the first campsite after that.

My crew put my tent up for me since I wasn't able to and then I crawled in. After dry clothes and warm food and drinks, I was fine.

Well, next time I'll share a funnier story.

I love hearing all these stories.

One time I went backpaking in the sequoia groves of central California. I had my 1 year old son 'Bug'in a seat we had devised on the top of my backpack. Our first night out we slung our food high up on a tree branch and tied all our cooking gear to the outside as a bear warning. Sure enough he found the food around mid-night. We stayed huddled in the tent, no sense provoking the bear. I just hoped the bear didn't have a thing for breast milk. At day break the Calif. Brown Bear was still there, not 15' from me. I was too scared to get the camera that was hanging on the tree just outside the tent. But he was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, his long fur gleamed and shimmered in the early light. I watched him eat grass and try to ease his gorged tummy (I'm sure the freeze dried food expanded well) for about an hour before he wandered off.

One thing about bears is if they want the food, they can be very determined and they seem to know where the food it. One story I heard once was about a very long portage trail. Can't remember where it is and never been on it myself but I heard stories about it. You never wanted to leave your foodpack by itself at either end of the trail. There was a bear there that got many free meals that way.

I have a story about another animal that will steal your food. This is from when I was alittle kid.

On one of the camping trips that my family went one, my parents got a cake for us since it was my dad's birthday. After we finished the cake, there was one piece left and me being a little kid wanted to know who will get it. My mom told me that we'll save it incase we have an unexpected visitor. My mom put the cake the a tupperware container and put it in the cooler sitting on the picnic table.

The unexpected visitor showed up alright. In the middle of the night, we heard a loud bang. My mom grabed the flashlight and looked outside the tent. A rather fat raccoon had turned the metal latch on the cooler and pushed it off the table. It ignored the rest of the food in the cooler and went straight for the piece of cake. It even managed to open the tupperware.

Since shining a flashlight at the animal didn't seem to scare it, my mom grabbed a shoe and threw at it. The shoe nailed it right in the side, but the raccoon only paused long enough to glance at it and continued eating the cake. Once it was finished eating, it wandered off.

About ten minutes later, we heard some yelling and loud noises from a campsite further down. Obviously, the raccoon was making it's rounds.

lol
That happened to me while camping last year.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone rummaging through our cooler. I heard the ice swishing around and thought someone we were camping with was getting a late night drink. Turns out it was a raccoon getting himself a midnight snack. Those nimble little hands are impressive.

I got another story...I just seem to be full of them. This is another bear story and it's one of my grandfather's but I find it kinda funny.

As I've mentioned in other threads, my grandfather worked as a canoe guide in northern Minnesota and Ontario (this was back in the 1940s). One time while he was on the canoe base, he and the other staff member were outside doing work. While they were working, their dinner which was a big pot of chili was cooking in the kitchen.

A bear got a whiff of it and broke into the kitchen and ate the chili. Some of the staff members caught the bear in the act and it ran off.

Unfortunately, in cases where a bear is willing to break into building, it is necessary to get rid of the bear. Otherwise it can become a serious problem and may potentially hurt someone. So they had to go to town to get a gun and a licence to kill the bear. Along with the gun, they picked up a deck of cards. High card got the gun, low card got the flashlight.

They spend the next few night waiting outside to see if the bear showed up again. Sure enough, it did and they managed to shot and kill. They ended up skinning it and one of them took the bear skin.

My grandfather has a picture of himself next to the bear after they killed it that he still carries in his wallet. That happened back when he was in his early 20s and he is now in his early 80s.

Well, that's my story for now. Anyone else want to share a few before I think of another one. Like I said I'm just full of them.

I was camping in Yosemite park renown for rogue bears. Hubby an I had been eating oreos and we got to worrying about eating in the tent. So he put them back in the car and we drifted off to the deep sleep of the wilderness. About 3am we awoke to a very load bang and a growling angry bear. The rangers had quietly set a bear trap right next to our tent and caught the bear. We didn't get anymore sleep that night.

PS. Did you know bears smell pretty bad???

Then there's the time my bearskin rug bit me...

I don't know which is worse. Having a bear caught in a trap next to the tent or the fact that the rangers put the trap next to the tent.

So what's the story about the bearskin rug?

Not much, My brother found it in someones trash and brought it home. I used it in my livingroom for 20 years it managed to bite me and numerous guests over the years. In the dark it is very easy to misplace your foot in its mouth. When you step down the bottom teeth get you and when you jump up the top ones get you. So I guess in the long run the bear did get the last laugh.

I never got the point of having a bear skin rug and that's one of the reasons why.

Ohh, those dastardly raccoons >_< They keep getting into our garbage and, of course, spreading it everywhere and in the warm summer humidity, it ends up SMELLING. Ugh. It's not so bad in the winter when the cold air doesn't make it smell so much.

But yeah, we've had to resort to buying these tight elastic bungee-like rope things to keep our garbage container closed and upright against the railing on the landing outside our house to keep the little buggers from a snack of garbage. Still, it doesn't stop them from trying >_>

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Heh, no, it didn't turn me off camping at all. I'd do it again any day. In fact, when I look back at it, I laugh because it was just so odd how everything went wrong while we were there. At least now I know how to be prepared XD

My friends are going camping again this year but I'm missing out because I have to work *cries*

I had the same problem with raccoons and the trash at my old place. Had to do the same thing with the bungee cords and make sure I got up early enought on trash day to get it out by the curb. If I took it out the night before, that raccoons would likely get it.

I have a few more stories to share but I think I'll have to wait til another day to tell them. It's been a long day and the brain's not working too well.

My dad had trouble keeping the racoons out of his dogfood barrel. He used the bungie cords and the racoon got itself trapped inside. He was so scared when we let him go. But that was the last time it happened.

i wish i can share the story about my vacation but s_tyong said he already posted it somewhere

Do share! I don't see why you can't repost it here or at least find a link to it so we can read it.

Post it Lrcy!! That was his story and it was posted in DL's. We're the only ones who heard about his great vacation How did you like it????