We are heading to Traverse City shortly after lunch for our first camping trip of the summer. There was grumbling that we hadn’t made it out before now, until I pointed out everything on the calendar. Still, we’ll try to do better next year.

Traverse City is not a place I would choose if camping were our only interest. The state park campground is too large for my taste, without any real activity aside from the beach. But we are going there only as a convenient place to stay during an annual newspaper softball tournament (more on that later).

Because the trip is so short, only two nights, we decided to leave our antique Krown camper sealed and haul out our canvas tent instead. It claims to be a 10-man tent, which meant my husband and I and our gear could fit nicely. If it held just people and sleeping bags, I think six would be about the max.

We will have four, us and our two children. Outside of Scouts, they have been tent camping just once before, when we made the same trek last year in a different tent. They eyed this one, with its circus-striped roof, with some suspicion. We swore it had stood up through even Lake Superior storms and would serve us just fine in 85-degree weather.

The larger adventure will be the new pup’s first camping trip. She can’t go swimming there. She can’t even range much; it’s not a very dog-friendly park, and even has an area where no dogs are allowed (which we will carefully avoid). But with much of the team camping, she’s sure to get plenty of attention.

This post originally appeared on ourMidland.com, the online home of the Midland (MI) Daily News. Republished with permission.