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August 29, 2005
The Camp Spot News
Issue #8
My-Favorite-Camping-Store.com

Editor: Maria at Camp Spot

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This is a 100% opt-in newsletter. See the bottom of this e-mail to be removed from the mailing list. This letter is never sent unsolicited.

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Table of Contents

1. Welcome from Camp Spot

2. Camp Spot Updates

3. August Editorial

4. Camping Tip of the Month

5. Camping Recipe

6. Have Your Say, too!

7. Camper Asks A Question

8. Gear Review

9. Camper Shares a Story

10. Camping Joke

11. Reader Survey -What do YOU think?

12. Go Ahead - Tell a Friend!

13. Contact Information

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Welcome from Camp Spot!

Hi it's nice to see you again!

The number of our newsletter subscribers is still increasing. We have 250 subscribers now! So, to those of you who have subscribed since the last issue, here's a warm welcome!

If you like "The Camp Spot News," please do your friends and me a big favor and "pay it forward". If a friend DID forward this to you and if you like what you read, Get your FREE subscription today.

To all subscribers:
Thank you so much for reading, participating in, and contributing to the Camp Spot website and this newsletter. Thanks for all your encouragement and ideas.

Sincerely,
The Editor
Maria at Camp Spot

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Camp Spot Updates

The site continues to grow, adding new pages, updating older ones.

New images have been added to quite a few pages, thanks to the wonderful folks at Istockphoto.com. Many of the camp songs have a new picture at the top of the page. Keep your eyes peeled for more pictures to come!

More at Camp Spot:

Stop in at the Camping Forums and mingle with other campers.

If you haven't seen our Camp Spot RSS feed yet, don't delay! Now you can keep track of what's going on here, right down to the very day of a site update! You can subscribe using the buttons on our home page.

Huh? What's RSS? If you're still in the dark about RSS, be sure to visit our online RSS help. What is RSS?

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August Editorial

by Maria at Camp Spot

Wow, things have really been moving along this last month. The newsletter is a little late this time. I'm barely making it into the month of August. Sorry about that...

Last week we headed off on a trip to pick up two four-wheelers from Tulsa, OK. Then we traveled down to a doctor's appointment in Tuscon, AZ. Then back home to Utah. Loooong trip, I'll tell you! We clocked almost 3000 miles in 4 days! Boy was I glad to be back home again.

We took along our handy little Weber Baby Q grill and tailgated for most of our meals. That was great. (Better than Wendy's any day!) Steaks for dinner one night. And for breakfast we whipped up bacon and eggs.

Most of the traveling was done at night. It's actually easier to drive at night, I decided. Less traffic to contend with, the only minus, I guess, is that you don't get to see the scenery.

We were blessed with an uneventful trip. No accidents, flat tires, or encounters with the law. There was plenty of road construction to slow us up, though.

It took me a few days to recover from that long trip. I felt like I had a hangover when we got back!

Well, it's time for me to get back to work now! So our newsletter is finally getting out.

Dennis and Debbie submitted some great tips for our last newsletter. Well, they've sent in more tips! They've helped me fill up most of the sections here. So, let's enjoy the guest editors this time around. Keep reading to see their tips, recipe, and story.

I invite you to share your favorite camping experiences with us! You can join in, too! Share Your Story

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Camping Tip of the Month

Here are some camping tips sent in by two experienced campers,
Dennis and Debbie.

-We camp out for the thrill of discovery and take along reference books such as insect, wildflower, astronomy, animal tracks, trees, birds, and geology identification guides. They don't take up a lot of space and when we find something new it's just too cool!

-While we drive to our camp spot we take rest breaks and keep our lawn chairs, fold-up table, picnic basket,ice chest,stove,and coffee pot near the back so we can "tailgate" just about anywhere! We've done it at rest areas, convenience store parking lots, you name it. One word of advice though, avoid dusty roads!

-Love that camp spot! A good car camping trip for us usually involves a week and at least a couple of whole days of road time. The gas stations are sometimes a ways apart and we take along a roll of paper towels and a bottle of windex under the driver's seat. Sure helps us enjoy the scenery more when all the dead bugs are gone!

Do you have a camping tip to share? Now's the time...
Let's see it in the next issue!

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Summer Savings at Overstock.com Save up to 80% on
essential camping gear.

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Camping Recipe

A favorite campfire breakfast recipe of ours isn't very health concious but we live once?

In a cast iron skillet, fry up a pound of bacon, after it's cooked, leave it and the grease in the pan and add diced potatoes, onion, bell pepper and a clove of garlic.

Cover it and cook until the taters are soft, stirring ocasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heavenly!

Do you have a camping recipe to share? It's now or never...
Let's see it in the next issue!

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Have Your Say, too!

Would You Like To Contribute Your Camping Experiences?

You may just see your name in the next newsletter! It's up to you...

I find that articles that are written by campers have something *extra* that non-campers can't always 'capture'.

The knowledge that comes with experience just can't be beaten. So...

Do you have any insights or experience about anything that's camping-related? Do you think it might make a good article for this ezine? Do you have camping tips, jokes, or recipes to contribute?

If you do - then how about sending one???

If you haven't written before, or are worried that your writing skills aren't good enough, please don't worry about it. I'll edit each article so all you need to do is worry about what YOU want to write about!

We have a place designed especially for special submissions. Go ahead and check it out.

Why wait? See if you can join in.

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A Camper Asks a Question

Has anyone out there tried out one of these new fold-up hammocks? I've seen a magazine article and an advertisement and am interested?

Can you help? Reply here...

Last month we heard this question:

I love being outdoors, my wife doesn't, and I need to figure out how to get her "there" without her being unhappy about it. I am open to suggestions.

Here are some helpful answers to his problem:

-Well.... I was in your situation and got another wife! Sorry! You might try to interest her in being outdoors by showing her some of the many aspects of the natural world such as astronomy, geology, meteorology, biology, botany, archaeology, and so on. Show her how much fun it is to discover simple pleasures such as cooking with fire, listening to the symphony of night sounds, the heightened awareness of where you are and what shares your space, and the excitement of tomorrow's adventure. We humans are the most successfully adapted species to walk the earth and we were NOT made to sit idly in a box! To not use our senses and abilities is tragic!

-Interest her by proxy. My wife hates the outdoors, but recently my friends did a fathers and kids overnight camp and since the kids couldnt stop talking about all the fun for weeks, most wives are curious and are willing to try out a night in the wilderness!

Do you have a camping question that you have always wondered about? Send a question today and see it in our May newsletter.

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Looking for camping gear that is impossible to find in the stores?
Try Ebay! You can always find what you are looking for there. And you're sure to get a steal of a deal.

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Camping Gear Review

Would you like to review your favorite camping gear? Decide for yourself whether you can share your experience with other campers.
Let's see it in the next issue!

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A Camper Shares an Article

Safe Wildlife Observation

by Dennis and Debbie

Last summer, the wife and I drove to Yellowstone Park and stayed several days camped in the lower falls campground. Each day we would drive to different attractions and hang out. Ocasionally traffic would stop and a crowd of people would be out of their vehicles observing buffalo and elk. We joined in but held our distance unlike some uninformed folks!

One afternoon as we headed towards Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons there were parked cars and a crowd of people walking along the roadside moving toward us so we pulled over, got out and followed along thinking it was probably "just another elk or a buffalo".

They were moving quickly and I asked a lady,"What is it?" She pointed and said,"It's a bear!" All the campground signs,the bear-proof trash bins and the warning pamplets ran thru my head and I felt like I was Wiley Coyote holding up a "help me" sign!

Sure enough about 30 feet off the road there was a black bear wearing a radio collar moving thru the brush. I snapped 2 pictures and almost ran over my wife getting away from there. Fortunately that was the only bear we saw and it wasn't interested in any of us! We stayed in our car from there on!

Editor's Note: Wow, that's amazing how naive some people can be around wild animals. You really wonder what they are thinking, anyway. Or maybe they aren't thinking at all? - Maria

I invite you to share your favorite camping experiences with us! You can join in, too! Share Your Story


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SportmansGuide.com has Name Brand Outdoor and Recreational Gear, Clothing Hiking, camping, Hunting and Footwear all at heavily discounted prices.

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Camping Joke

"Knock, knock" "Who's there?"

"Amos."

"Amos who?"

"A mosquito just bit me."

Ok, ok, so it's dry...
Do you have a better camping joke to share? Let's see it in the next issue!


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Reader Survey - What do YOU think?

Are you ready? Here's this month's question:

Who are you? I am a...

Take just a moment to complete this months survey...

Cast your vote and next month we'll see the total results! Your voice counts!

Stay tuned, we'll publish the results in next month's issue.

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In our last issue we asked the question:
What is the most important factor in choosing a campsite or campground?

Here are the results:

Location - 20%
Scenery - 20%
Facilities(Restrooms, Showers) 20%
Electricity - 20%
Other - 20%
Unlittered - 0%
Neighbors - 0%
Cost - 0%

Pretty evenly balanced, huh?

Here are comments from two voters:

Scenery speaks a thousand words but are silent in their beauty. - KY

I just have to have my shower every morning. Yes, I am a lady. - AL

Electricity and water - WI

Level ground for our tent! - OK

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Go Ahead - Tell a Friend!

If you like this newsletter, please forward this on to your friends!

If a friend DID forward this on to you, and if you like what you read, why not subscribe?

Subscribe Now.

It's 100% FREE!

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Contact Information

Comments? Ideas? Feedback?

Let me have it, right between the eyes!

Please reply to this newsletter. I'd love to hear from you.

Contact me here or just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think.

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Stay tuned, the next issue of the Camp Spot News is scheduled for September 2005!

Copyright © 2005 Camp Spot All Rights Reserved