The pack kicked off summer (and celebrated Mike's birthday!) in our favorite way: Camping.
The four of us love camping, and we try to do it as often as we can, but this particular trip might have been our best yet. We chose to camp at Point Folly in Bantam, Connecticut for the weekend. There were a lot of perks right off the bat: We could bring the dogs, the campgrounds were only 15 minutes from home and 5 minutes from the nearest coffee shop and grocery store, we could drive up and park at our site, and to top it all off, the entire campground is on a peninsula that stretches out onto the beautiful Bantam Lake, so the views are amazing no matter where you are. Case and point:
So obviously Emelie was in heaven, but what about the dogs?
Gio and Aloy aren't really water dogs, but there was still plenty of fun to be had for them.
There were not enough holes on our campsite, apparently, so Aloy got to work.
When we arrived, the first thing we did was set up their picket line. We had originally ordered one of these from one of our favorite companies, Alpine Outfitters (not a sponsor, but we wouldn't complain if they were!). They make amazing supplies for huskies and other northern breeds, including the harnesses that we had custom made for Gio and Aloy. We were a little late in placing our order, though, so it didn't arrive on time, so Mike ran to the hardware store and ended up making his own version.
If you don't know what a picket line is, allow us to explain: These lines are perfect for people who have multiple dogs that aren't great off-leash (#Huskies). Essentially, they're lines that you stake into the ground and the give the dog just enough space to walk around, but not enough space to cross each other or get tangled up in anything. Having this has been a godsend because we now spend way less time getting up to untangle the dogs from a tree or each other, and more time enjoying our camping trip.
The quick build that Mike did worked great, but we're really excited to receive the Alpine Outfitter's picket line so that we can compare what we did with what the pros do. (Let us know in the comments if you're interested on a specific post just about that!)
Obviously, even though the dogs could move around a little bit, they still needed their exercise. Luckily, this campground has a nice little path that goes around the perimeter, so any time the dogs needed to burn some energy or stretch their legs a little more, we could easily take them for a nice walk multiple times a day, even stopping to play in the water every now and again. While Gio and Aloy aren't big swimmers, they do love to just stand in the water and splash around a bit. They'd probably be happier if it was snow, but sadly for them, we live in an area that experiences all four seasons.
Another great purchase we made this time around and that we absolutely loved was these LED light-up collars from Nite Ize, which we got from REI:
These things are awesome. We were able to easily cut them to size, change their colors so that each dog had their own, and they're rechargeable with a USB cord. These were incredibly helpful, especially because we weren't camping alone. Emelie's brother, sister-in-law, and their dog Guinness joined us on this trip. Guinness is many things... dark and sneaky are two of those things:
As you can see, we were also not lacking in shady areas. This campground is rich with tree cover this time of year (and running water!), so keeping our dogs cool was no problem.
On top of all that, there was no additional fee for bringing pets with us. In our experience this is usually how it goes, but every campground is different, so make sure you double check before booking anything. One thing to note is that you don't need to confirm that your dogs are up to date on their vaccinations. While this makes booking really simple, it's also worth remembering when there are other dogs around. We are generally very trustworthy people and we think we're pretty good at reading a dog's signals, but you never know, so just make sure you're aware of what your and everyone else's dogs are doing and make sure you go to the vet regularly to get your own pet vaccinated!
In all honesty, this campground was kind of perfection. The only real con with this campground is that they don't provide any grilling grates or cooking surfaces, so we had to bring our own, but we made do.
Other than that, it was amazing, inexpensive, and completely dog friendly.
We will absolutely be returning to this campsite more often.
What about you? Have you ever camped at Point Folly? What are some of your favorite campgrounds to take you dogs to?
As always, don't forget to follow us on Instagram to see more pictures of our adventures and first looks at what we're currently doing and where we're going on our stories!
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