Two Cent Tuesday!

I am dubbing today "Two Cent Tuesday" to throw in my two cents about products, destinations, foods, services, and whatever else I think you might like to know about.

Seeing as I just went camping over the weekend in Meramec State Park in Missouri, I figured that would be a great place to start.  The campground was nice and had showers and flush toilets.  It was right on the Meramec river, which runs along scenic bluffs. It is also home to Fisher cave which you can explore as well. Unfortunately we were there a week before it opened for the season but you can see pictures and info here.  There is abundant wildlife in the campground.  We saw 10 deer and were visited by a raccoon several times while we sat at the campfire.  We also heard numerous bird species that were new to us, coyotes in the distance, and a couple different kinds of frogs.  We didn't have enough time to explore everything we wanted and if I get the chance to go back I would like to take a canoe down the river.

I also want to tell you about the tent I took and have been using the past couple years now.  Its the Arete 2.  The 2 is for "2 person tent" but unless you like that person a whole lot, i would consider this a 1 person tent + gear. Its meant to be small and lightweight because its a backpacking tent and it works wonderfully for that.  It packs down small and is lightweight.  Its a 4-season tent and I've used it several times in the colder months.  With few windows, its specialty is to keep out the cold drafts and stay dry, which it does exceedingly well. The downfall to that is in the summer it can get stuffy because of the little ventilation.  Overall I love this little tent and the quality is excellent. For complete specs on the new model, you can check it out here at REI.