I live in a rural area near the Ellisville Harbor State Park, and a road runs right by the salt marsh. At low tide the mudbanks butt up to the road and a few years ago I took this photo. At the time I knew almost nothing about ducks, and noticed the strange looking mallards in the mud. My philosophy is always shoot first and ask questions later, so I shot and went home to check the references. I didn't even know Green-winged Teal existed. At that distance my Canon Powershot S5IS with a 12X zoom can handle it, although I don't get that nice feather detail. Some day I'll get better equipment, but not right now. Claire

Lisa - like I've already posted on Jenn's thread, I too, am concerned about all those 16oz disposable L/P tanks filling landfills. So where-ever possible have replaced the disposables with a regular 20# re-fillable tank (also use a little re-fillable 5# tank). Still have a couple of the disposables tanks in reserve stand-by just in case I run out of propane. Dish washing: a lot of C/G's, like those run by the Army Corps of Engineers, some state parks and have even seen them at a couple of K.O.A.'s, - have dish washing stations - usually located close to the restroom/shower areas, where there is a large community sink (even with hot water), and you can take your dishes & pots & pans, scrub them clean and tote them back to your campsite. Now, when I'm in an area where no such facilities are provided, I do like Jen ... help some of the close by vegetation with the dish & rinse water. AND, I only use 100% pure soap for dishes, like Ivory bar soap. Fish cleaning: campgrounds that are located close to fishing areas, quite often will provide fish cleaning stations (just like the dish washing stations), and have special trash cans just for the entrails from the fish cleaning. In the case where I'm in more remote areas and no such facilities are provided, here I take the fish cleanings and dig a nice hole close to some nice tree and bury the stuff; a real nice treat for the tree! Canoe anchor: there was an older house that was being demolished in town and I got three or four of the old timey window weights that were used in house construction years ago. These are cast iron weights and since the weight is a tad too heavy for what I like, had a local welding shop cut the weight in two making the weight just right for what I do with my canoe. Here I connect a foot long piece of chain to the window weight and then tie the anchor rope to the chain. Just right for holding the canoe in ponds, small lakes and such; and for the rivers that are moving right along, perfect for dragging and slowing the canoe down as I fly cast my way along. Dale

Welcome, Indoorgirl! Gee, out west, mice scare me. Everywhere we are warned of hantavirus (sp?) I like mice, actually. Rats, no way... little field mice are never too much a problem for me. I usually sleep in the bed of the truck or inside the truck. Candy, don't stop giving food offerings! I ran into a guy years ago who said your camp will not be bothered by rodents if you make an "offering" to the forest by hiking a little ways off and giving a gorp deposit for the critters. I thought, how eccentric. But, I adopted it as a camping ritual... p.s. you could always make that anonymous "offering" near the campsite of those "NOISY" folks down the way... he he...

What do you want to review? Tents? Camps? Gear? What kind of tent camping...Backpacking, primitive, family? I like this board: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/32.cfm It's actually on an RV site, but they also have a few tent camping forums that seem to be pretty active. mozy