Greetings! I just had to write to share my wonderful adventure on my friend's Campanoe.

    The four of us women set out at about noon on a Saturday morning and headed back home on Sunday about noon. We felt lucky to have even that amount of time away and together considering I moved from Wisconsin to Tampa last fall. So when I said I was going to be in Wisconsin, the rest of the girls quickly planned a mini "Pig Out". The official Pig Out is an annual all woman camping weekend typically at Governor Dodge State Park in September but there's no way we were going to get a Saturday night campsite there on short notice. We reserve the campsites for the official Pig Out a year in advance. Plus tent camping in May in Wisconsin can be a risky plan.

    We have wanted to do a womens Campanoe trip for a year and Kim said now is the time, it will be perfect. Plus, when Patty bought her Campanoe she said she probably won't spend the night on it but has since decided she wants to try it. And yes, typically a river canoe trip is risky in May as well but not with a Campanoe. The stability and tent made it so it didn't really matter that it was supposed to rain and the water was really high and cold.
I have to say it was glorious.

    Terry and Patty did the food, we took Patty's Campanoe and Kim stocked the boat with essentials such as a coffee pot and the porta-potti. I provided the impetus. There was more than ample room in the storage compartments for all our gear and getting the Campanoe in the water was a snap.

    Utilizing the small motor, we were able to head north on the Wisconsin River and found ourselves a nice little sandbar out of the wind on which to beach the Campanoe. We laid out a blanket and enjoyed one of the first sunny spring days of the season and had a delightful lunch. Why do you think it's called the Pig Out?

    Later that afternoon, we headed south on the river to find a spot to camp for the night. We paddled much of the way down and found the Campanoe very easy to maneuver even while lounging on the cots. We stopped on the side of the river and gathered a batch of firewood. Once we figured out to keep all the firewood on the front deck the mess stayed out of the boat and was easily swished off. We found a great spot on an island in the middle of the river with a lovely beach.

    The four of us slid the Campanoe up onto the beach with amazingly little effort. While two of the women set up our campfire, the other two set up the tent on the Campanoe. Boy, was that slick. We were all set for the evening in a very short time. We left one of the side flaps down and put the table on that side so we could access it from outside the boat to prepare another of our scrumptous meals. It gives you kind of a raised tent to work out of - raised tent camping is definitely the way to go, no sand in your food and it's out of the weather. When we were finished with dinner and cleaned up, we just zipped it up and lit the lantern inside the tent to take the chill off.

    All four of us comfortably spent the night on the boat and even had access to the porta-potti during the night. Kim had packed two self-inflating pads for the two that slept in the hulls on the floor and the other two had cots. In fact, I think it's the best night's sleep I've ever had camping. None of us were up before nine. For me that's pure luxury.

    Of course it was cloudy and cool in the morning so we left two tent panels up to block the wind while we prepared breakfast and drank our coffee. We would have been chilly otherwise and we were out of firewood. As we were packing up to head home, some curious canoers stopped by to take a gander at our unique set up. They were quite impressed. It only took a matter of minutes to roll down the sides and lower the top, roll up the cots and stow the sleeping bags.

    We headed home after a wonderful 24 hours that left us as relaxed and rejuvenated as a full scale vacation. I felt like we had done it all - boating, canoeing and camping all rolled into one grand and glorious adventure. Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed ourselves. I'm enclosing some pictures so you can see the smiles on our faces!

Sincerely,
The Campanoein' Piggers