My Glamping Adventure at Country Thunder Wisconsin
Those who know me well know that I am all about making memories with my family and friends. When my daughter and my best friend presented the idea of glamping at Country Thunder music festival in Twin lakes Wisconsin, I said sure! My love for country music and making memories together with my girls sounded like a recipe for success.
Part of me was scared to death about the camping aspect, but I have always wanted to go “glamping” — glamour camping for those of you that have never heard this term. The outstanding four day lineup including Sam Hunt, Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan was also quite motivating. A furnished tent with air conditioning, refrigerator, table, chairs and ottomans convinced us to sign up for not one, but two tents which would hold 8 people. This did not come without a price, but we were all excited about our adventure. Both of my girls were on board as well as my friend and her daughter, so our next step was to convince three other people how much fun this experience would be. This did not take long and then the planning and silly text exchanges began!
GETTING READY
I am a list maker and all about being prepared. I scoured the camping aisle at Target several times and came home with items I really never thought I would ever buy. As we all know, it is always hard to just walk into Target and get a few things, but the Coleman stove that I purchased was definitely a huge hit! We planned our meals and the food we would need, as well as things to keep us entertained during the day.
DAY OF
The plan was to take two SUV’s packed with all of our needs and the eight of us. We borrowed two hitches to attach to the back of our cars, but only one would work, so it became clear rather quickly that a third car would be needed. It was also clear that we had way too much stuff! We did not want to be lacking anything, so everything got shoved in the cars and off we went. What was supposed to be a 4½ hour drive turned into a 6 hour drive due to the downtown Chicago traffic. Although morale was a bit low at that time, we got through it and finally arrived.
Driving on to the property through the general camping area did produce a few tears from me and some major apprehension! I was overcome with a huge sense of “what were we thinking?!” I did give everyone a good laugh, but pushed through and it was the last tear shed during the trip. We got to our glamping site and unloaded, and of course decorated our area and got settled in. Our full bar was a must and a huge hit! Laughter and fun rang through and I actually slept great each night and looked forward to the next day’s fun.
MUST HAVES
Lanterns
Coleman stove and pan
Tailgate grill
Butane canisters and several Bic mega-lighters
Grilling utensils
Aluminum pans and foil
Yeti coolers (they keep things cold for several days)
Bug Spray
Lots of paper towels
Garbage bags
Small collapsible table
Rain ponchos
Collapsible ballpark chairs
Pop up canopy tent
Sunscreen and bug spray
Wet Ones skin wipes
Sweatshirts
Old towels
A shower caddy that you can hang
Shower flip-flops
Back up battery chargers for your phone
Lights to decorate tent
Paper goods and solo cups
Your favorite alcohol and mixers
Case of waters
Waterproof speaker
