My family and I went tent camping in Northern Wisconsin for five days; you heard me right, 5 WHOLE DAYS!!!! I hope to blog about this experience on my Wednesday Travel Posts starting in a few weeks. I was very limited in the amount of clothes I could pack, yet, I still wanted to wear clean fresh clothes every day because I know how dirty I can get camping in the woods. I also had to pack for a couple of "city days". Even though we were sleeping under the stars every night, we would be traveling to other places in the area during the day.
I started packing by picking five outfits that all included shorts, then I added layers: a thick sweatshirt for wearing around the campfire at night, a thin sweatshirt, and one rain coat. I also brought along 6 pairs of shoes: hiking sandals, water shoes, flip flops for the camp shower, and two dressier pair of sandals to wear to town.
Here are my outfits. I'm starting with Day Two because Day One was just driving to the state park and setting up our campsite, so no photographs were taken. I don't even remember what I was wearing!
Day Two: Thin short sleeve long tee shirt, boyfriend distressed shorts, water shoes, and a baseball cap.
My shoes are special hiking shoes designed for hiking trails that are wet or muddy, walking on rocks or crossing streams. I've had them for a few years, and use them every time I know we will be hiking any trail that involves water. They are wonderful. They can get soaking wet, and still dry out nicely. They also have a nice grip so that I don't slip and fall when crossing slippery rocks.
Even though we were tent camping, we still had access to a shower every night. I never did my hair because I knew I'd always have a cap on for sun and bug protection. The only make up I usually had on was a tinted moisturizer (for sunscreen), a little blush, and a lip balm.
The first day of our trip was the nicest and warmest day. And I think it was the only day it didn't rain. But thankfully, most of the rain was at night, so we were able to still enjoy our trip. Because the weather was so nice this day, I didn't need to worry about layers for cooling or warmth, and I just wore the tee shirt. It wasn't like that for the rest of week!
If you recognize this top, it's because I wore it last fall HERE and HERE.
I think I embarrassed my son by wearing a baseball cap most days, cause it's not normal for me to wear one. But I find baseball caps are the perfect hiking caps because the wide long brim shields my eyes and face from the sun, and it fits tight to my head so that the wind never blows it off. Most of my other hats always blow off my head from the wind, and the last thing I wanted to do was chase a hat down a waterfall!
Day Three: Linen shorts, sports bra, tank top, sheer sleeveless blouse, hiking sandals, and a baseball cap.
The weather was cooler in the morning, so I started the hike wearing a sleeveless sheer white shirt. I would have loved to have been able to wear this shirt all day as I don't feel comfortable wearing tanks in public, but as the temps heated up, the clothes came off! Because the tank is so thin and light weight it went directly into my back pack no problem.
Day Four: Lightweight sweatshirt, shorts, hiking sandals, tank top, hiking sandals, head band.
On day four, we drove to Michigan, and it was a cooler, dreary, off and on rainy day. It was the perfect day to wear my new lightweight hooded sweatshirt that I picked up in Vail, Colorado on my last vacation. Because it was thin, I didn't get too hot hiking in it, yet it helped protect me from the rain and mosquitoes.
I didn't wear a hat this day because there wasn't much for sun, but I did wear a headband to help hold my hair back.
I had my sweatshirt on for most of the day, but there were times I did get a little warm, and then I just tied it around my waist.
Well by Day Five we were all getting tired of hiking in the woods looking at water falls and we decided to have a city day. The town of Bayfield is located right on the largest of the great lakes, Lake Superior, so the temperatures fluctuated constantly while we there. If the wind was blowing right off the lake, we were freezing, but if the sun came out strong, we were hot. It was actually very frustrating and I was constantly putting my jacket on and taking it off.
I can't say enough about this hoodie that I picked up at a gift shop in Vail. I usually hate to wear sweatshirts because they are so thick and bulky, especially around the stomach area, and I feel so unattractive when I wear them. But like I said before, this sweatshirt is a thinner material (yet it's still warm), and I love the length. It doesn't bulk up around the stomach area like the traditional sweatshirt does. I hope to get a lot more use out of this hoodie this fall/winter, and wear it not just for camping trips.
Here is the sheer floral top I wore under my sweatshirt. The last time I wore this top was with a pair of tan shorts. You can see that look HERE.
And finally, a going home outfit.
Day Six: Black dress shorts, short sleeve top and camisole, black sandals.
On this day, we had to clean up our campsite, head back home (about a three hour drive), go out to lunch and stretch our legs a bit in a cute town, and then stop at the animal shelter on our way home to pick up our new kitty Jackson...so I had to look somewhat presentable!
I decided to wear sweats while cleaning up the camp site, and not change into nicer clothes till we were ready to leave. That kept my new clothes from getting dirty, and I had something nice to wear strutting about town.
Have a Great Day! Amy
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