Taking a break

I took a break from conference prep the other day to take advantage of the relatively cool weather (it was only 90*) for some rendezvous prep. We bought a new tent and wanted to practice putting it up, plus Eric and the Boys built a bed and we wanted to see how much space we had left with it inside.

Our new tent is marquis style, and we found it much easier to put up than a wall tent. If you’ve never put up a marquis before, this is how you do it.

First, schlep all the pieces out of the garage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spread the roof out on the ground and get it as square as you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, you raise the corners, securing the poles with two ropes and two stakes each. Don’t tighten the ropes too much.

 

 

 

 

 

Arrange the ground cover. (We didn’t when we were practicing.) The center pole goes in next, followed by the rest of the side poles. Ours has three on each side, but the number varies with the size of the tent and the manufacturer. Each of those poles gets one rope and stake.

 

 

 

 

After that, it’s just a matter of putting up the side curtains, which hang from a rope that goes around the inside, under the scallop. The drooping side curtain in the picture was done on purpose, by the way. That’s 18th century air conditioning. Hopefully we won’t need that when we go to Ohio next month!
We do have a fly (the tent name for an awning) that we’ll attach when we get to the rendezvous to give us a shaded outdoor area. It was too hot to mess with it Sunday. We attached it but didn’t stake it up. I didn’t get a picture of the bed, but it does fit with plenty of room to spare, so if we have a rainy day we won’t be packed in like sardines.

Total time to put it up, including carrying everything around the house to the back yard, was about 90 minutes. I think it took about half an hour to take it down, and probably another 20 to 30 minutes to wrap up the ropes and carry everything back to the garage. Since we’ve practiced, we’ll likely be faster next time, and the hardest part will be figuring out how to configure the walls so our doors and stove hole will be positioned correctly.

The other thing we didn’t put up was the shower, which is basically four poles, eight ropes and stakes and a pair of cross beams at the top wrapped in canvas. It’s about two feet by two feet and stands behind the tent. It’s not strictly necessary, but it is nice to have when you’re in camp for a week. I’ll have rendezvous pictures to post closer to October, including (hopefully) plenty of pictures of our vow renewal ceremony (henceforth referred to as The Wedding).

So, this is what I do for fun! Well, this, but in petticoats and stays. What do you think? Too crazy for you?