The Post Where I Rationalize Our Wimping Out On Tents
First of all, I was a Girl Scout for years. When my husband and I were married I told him I was done with the "dig the latrine and lash your own toilet seat" thing.
Second, our first camping trip with the boys included tornadoes going over on Friday, then Saturday night. On Friday my husband drove into Stillwater with the boys to get a better rain fly while I bailed out the tent. Then next night when the sirens went off, I dug a quick trench to channel more water away from the tent. Success! (Later people asked why we didn't give up and go home. It never entered our minds!)
Third, the camping trip finally occurred where I hit the wall. We had two nights of constant rain and wind. The fly slammed onto the tent all night, two nights straight. I issued the "I've had it with camping" decree. That's when my husband dug around and found the deal on the pop-up.
Fourth, I love cheesy lights. The awning on our pop-up looks unbelievably tacky when I'm done with it. A friend even gave us a pink flamingo tube light decoration to stand in front of it. She said it couldn't make our site look any worse! Yes, my husband and our sons are saints - or they're just numb to it!
Wow, it's November-with-a-vengeance starting this week and you made me all nostalgic for camping! Maybe I'll dig out a string of fruit lights and hang them across the window in my study!
We are considering one of these for next summer also.
That wouldn't be true camping though. We want a camper but we are still going to rough it a little. 
