Tenting in Style
Devil’s Den State Park – one of the jewels of northwestern Arkansas. And no, I do not live in Arkansas, or work for the Arkansas Tourism Department! It is just a beautiful area to camp.
Our children 
attended summer camp at Camp Ozark, just out of Mt. Ida, Arkansas, most of their school age years. But they weren’t the only ones having a wonderful time camping. Several summers, we were able to drop the kids off at summer camp, and head off into the surrounding region with our family size tent in hand. This particular year, our getaway was an elegant time to return to romance for mom and dad.
Devil’s Den State Park is located in Arkansas’s Ozark Mountains, between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville. Built in the 1930’s as a CCC project, the park is filled with rustic wood and stone structures. The special features that led us to set our sites on this location for our adults-only getaway included the 8-acre lake, mountain biking trails, caves for exploring, and the beautiful creek that runs through the campground.
This particular June, we were lucky to get a campsite right on Lee Creek. Every night, we went to sleep to the sound of the water gently rolling and dancing over the rocky creek bed. Hiking the trail that followed the creek, nature’s gift was an incredible display of early summer wildflowers that cascaded down the rocky slopes, broke slightly for the trail, and continued down to the creek’s edge. And just when we thought we had seen Mother Nature’s surprises, including a healthy rattlesnake sunning himself on the rocky path, we came upon the most unexpected, blue swimming hole we had ever seen.
During the evening, dining was in five-star style! Several weeks before our trip, the dinner menu had been decided. Included were such delicacies as Crawfish Etoufee, Shrimp Scampi, Sour Cream Chicken over Noodles, and Chicken Marsala, all prepared ahead and frozen in sealed, plastic bags that could be dropped in a pot of boiling water and heated to serve. Side dishes were prepared the same. (No pots to clean!) All the dinner elements were frozen, and acted as the ice in our ice chest. With a little additional ice over the course of the camping week, all remained frozen or very cold until ready to serve.
Two place settings of our good china, Kirk Sterling flatware, and Waterford crystal glasses were CAREFULLY(!) packed, along with a 
cloth tablecloth and cloth napkins. Candles and candle holders were a must. A small handful of wildflowers from the surrounding hills graced our table each evening. And all this under the protection of a really substantial screen tent over the transformed, concrete picnic table. Each evening, as we lit the candles and enjoyed our special occasion dinners, fellow campers would walk by, each stopping to take a second look at the dining room set up in the screen tent!
I know what they were thinking. “I don’t want to wash those dishes,” or “I am camping – that looks like a lot of work,” or “those people must not have their kids with them.” And they would all be right. We have never camped in such style again; however, it made for a truly special memory that we wouldn’t trade for the world. Make your camping trip a special occasion, at least once!