TipiTrek

Mystic Valley

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:55:52 +0000

Mystic Valley offers a variety of overnight experiences, from rustic to comfortable, from cozy cabins to remote campsites, bunkhouses or tepees. Accommodations are simple and because we are a working community and not a luxury resort our guests, visitors and clients are expected to do their own housekeeping. Cabins and tepees will be tidy when you arrive. Beds will be made, however extra sleeping accommodations, such as hide-a-beds or loft mats will be made up by the guest

Meals

We are several miles from towns, restaurants, and shopping. All cabins and most other buildings have kitchens. The school building has a mini kitchen that can be shared. Out door cooking must be done on small BBQ’s or at designated fire pits. Guests are invited to participate in community potlucks. Groups can arrange for meals.

Price

The prices listed by each cabin and tepee are the overnight rate and are double occupancy. Each additional adult is $14. $7. per child up to age 14

Cowboy Cabin This very rustic cabin has electricity, refrigerator a propane cook stove and spring water (cold only) It has no bathroom, there is a flush toilet in separate building near by that is shared with tepee guests. This cabin can be used as a kitchen for campers and tepee guests. It will sleep 2 or more.

Hill House ($85) This is a real house with full kitchen; it has 3 sleeping rooms and 1 bathroom with shower over tub. It has it’s own laundry room with a washer and dryer. There is a wood stove for wintertime heat in the cozy main sitting room. The bedroom has double bed. (There is also a mattress under the bed for extra sleeping) The sunny front room has double bed. Sitting room has a hide- a- bed that will sleep 2. Plus there are two single mattresses that can be moved to any room.
The hot tub is located in the “front yard” of this house. It is open to use by all guests and residents of Mystic Valley but is quite convenient to those staying in this comfortable little house.

Wizard’s Cabin ($85) This charming cabin on “Main Street” Has 2 sleeping rooms connected by a kitchen with refrigerator and propane cook stove. There is a wood-heating stove in sitting room. Shower. Room 1 has a double bed + a single unit. Room 2 is used as sitting and dining area. It has 2 single beds + 3 mats in loft which can be used where they are or brought down to the floor. A sunny deck across the back of this simple cabin over looks the creek. A delightful setting for a bar-b cue and summer evening dining.

Creek Side Cabin #1 ($75) This cabin has no electricity but it has a complete bathroom with shower. The kitchen has a propane cook stove but no refrigerator so bring an ice chest. The tiny bed room with it’s great view of the creek makes this cabin a wonderful getaway for the couple that has had enough of TV, telephones and the noise of city life. A private patio area at creek side completes the romantic getaway feel of this quaint cabin. This cabin is also suitable for families or small groups The main room or living room has2 single beds and a hide a bed couch. We can bring in a roll away or floor mats if requested.

Fern Gully ($92) Our cabin in the woods. This tiny cabin has a bedroom, a living room with a wood stove, a dinning area or extra sitting room, The rustic but complete kitchen has a refrigerator, a, propane cook stove, and a microwave. The big old-fashioned bathtub in the bathroom is wonderful for soaking and relaxing after a massage or a long hike in the woods. This comfortable cabin has a washing machine, which makes it a great choice for longer stays or families with children. A small bedroom with a double bed can separate “mom and dad” from the kids. The living room has a Hide-away couch that makes up into a double bed and a day bed with trundle that sleeps 2.The secluded deck is a wonderful place for a summertime massage or just enjoying the morning. The 2 lounge chairs can be used for extra sleeping and we can bring in roll away or floor mats if requested. (This cabin sustained some winter storm damage and may not be available )

School House This old fashioned one room school building is our pride and joy. It is our multipurpose building. The community events location. It can be used for every thing from classes to dances. It is the location of our vast metaphysical library of books audiotapes and videos. It is a great place to spend a rainy day curled up with a book or watching a video. A wonderful wood stove provides heat and charm to this rainy scenario.

The school can be used for groups needing extra sleeping space. It will sleep up to 15. We can provide a few mats. Bring your own sleeping bags or bedding. School has a toilet but no shower facilities. The “mini” kitchen has a refrigerator, microwave, and some electric appliances.

Tepees The tepee makes it possible to experience on a daily basis what a nomadic culture experienced hundreds of years ago. Living in a Native American Tepee provided a passageway back through time that allows us to actually experience some of the aspects of this unique culture.

Splitting wood, stacking wood, tending fire, warming water, cooking, cleaning, arranging. You begin to realize that you are one with “the Great Spirit that moves all things”.

With a warm fire glowing in the middle of the tepee, dancing patterns emerge on the tepee wall, lending themselves to the relaxing atmosphere. You relax and allow yourself to connect with that inner silence. Relaxed and energized. You are at peace.

26 foot tepee This sturdy and attractive tepee is set up with a double bed mattress and several single mats and is quite nice for a family adventure or group activities. A wonderful setting for ceremonies. It will seat up to 35 and has a fire pit in the center. This spacious teepee can sleep 10-12 comfortably on mats. We recommend that larger groups bring your own sleeping bags. Tepee has some bedding. (For 6?)

Tepee #2 This tepee has no inside fire pit but it is located near the large out side fire circle. It will sleep 6 or more. It is not “furnished” so bring your camping equipment and sleeping bags.

This is a non-smoking Community Mystic Valley is a health and an environmentally conscious community, therefore we request our guests to respect our choice to breathe the fresh clean air of this mountain setting. All cabins, tepees and community areas are non-smoking. Smoking in the forest is a fire hazard. Please limit your smoking to the designated smoking area. The smoking area is by the railroad tracks.

NO SMOKING ANYWHERE WHEN THERE ARE CHILDREN PRESENT.

mvr@mysticvalleyretreat.com

*COURTESY OF: http://www.mysticvalleyretreat.com *

Camp Wildlife

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:48:41 +0000

Each summer the sanctuary offers children ages 8-16 the opportunity to become immersed in wildlife rehabilitation and nature while enjoying all the fun activities offered by ordinary summer camps. Camp sessions last for five days and four nights, but can be attended as a day camp if desired. Campers get to sleep in authentic teepees and participate in hayrides, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, white-water tubing, team-building obstacle courses and much more. Most importantly, they obtain hands-on experience helping to care for needy animals, observing veterinary technicians at work and participating in the release of rehabilitated animals.

Phone:	(706) 276-2980
Fax	(706) 276-2979

Snail Mail:	Ellijay Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary 435 Cougar Lane Ellijay, Georgia 30540

Email:	wildlife@ellijay.com

*COURTESY OF: http://www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org *

Wendy’s Backyard

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:44:44 +0000

Wendy Matthews has a new album which was inspired by time spent living in a teepee on her NSW coastal retreat.How did you become an Australian citizen?

After leaving Canada to travel, busk and experience life, I met Glenn Shorrock and his wife Jo in London. They asked me to come to Australia and do some backing vocals with the Little River Band and I’ve been here ever since. I became and Australian citizen in 1995, but it wasn’t until I came to this place where the mountain and the forests meet the sea that I felt grounded.

You’ve recently discovered you have a connection to an Abanaki Indian blooodline, how is this significant to you?

It’s a small but significant thing to me. Perhaps that’s why I feel so grounded when I come to stay on the coast in my traditional Sioux Tepee. I’ve always loved the outdoors and camping as a child and being in the bush with my dog Bear (a short haired Border Collie)

What things do you miss when living in your tepee?
Nothing really, tepee living is amazing, this Sioux design is complete with smoke flaps and rain flaps. I’ve got a chiminea inside to keep things warm and the floor is sand and river pebbles covered with carpets. I have a gas stove to cook on and I can sit and look out to the ocean or up at the moon at night. It’s basic but there’s something about eating food outdoors. I never feel uneasy when I’m here, it feels like I belong.

*COURTESY OF: http://www.wendymatthews.com *

Lake-Saint-Paul

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:39:00 +0000

Come and taste the life of the Amerindians at the village of “Tee-pee” the Village. This activity to you is offered winter thru summer. You will be able to also benefit from therapeutic baths of all kinds.

In the Highones, they offer to you activities connected to the great nature. Slip into the Windigo fall, practise your golf, ride bicycles, plunge in a lake to the fair beaches or leave to the adventure in our forests! The area, with its thousands of lakes and rivers, offers you to live experiments like the boat, the kayak, the rafting, the pleasure boat and fishing.

The Village
158, CH. Pitching
Lake-Saint-Paul
(819) 587-4355

*COURTESY OF: http://www.hautes-laurentides.com *

Tepees And Canoes Leave The World

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:24:13 +0000

Pierre Duguay lives in a modern house on the shore of Lac-Marie-Louise about as far north as the paved roads go from Montreal. But he grows eloquent and nostalgic when he describes the 50 days he spent fasting and living in a tepee.

”It’s magical,” Duguay says. ”You live in harmony with your surroundings. You can hear the wind and animals. It’s the most beautiful habitation you can have.”

Maybe it was the month and a half without food, but Duguay came away from the experience with a vision for spreading the word about the salutary spiritual benefits of tepee living. Ten years ago, he built ”Village de Tee-Pee La Bourgade.” The cluster of 12 tepees stands in a circle inside a wooden stockade. Duguay welcomes visitors who just want to take a look, and also offers overnight stays, which are especially popular with families.

When we told a few Montreal friends that we had booked a night at La Bourgade, their response was cautiously neutral. ”It’s . . . interesting,” one very urbane (and urban) Montrealer said. So we weren’t sure what to expect as we drove 160 miles north from Montreal, crossing the Laurentian Mountains and continuing as the web of roads on the provincial map grew increasingly spare.

”You’ll be in Turquoise Cougar,” Duguay said when he greeted us. Each of the tepees is named for a color and an animal, corresponding to the 12 divisions of the Sioux medicine wheel. Sioux-style tepees arranged in a Sioux medicine wheel was puzzling because the lakes area north of the Laurentians was historically a boundary region shared by Cree nomads and Algonkian village dwellers. When we broached the question, Duguay shrugged. He’s more interested in spiritual than anthropological purity. He used a Sioux model because it was the best documented. As a civil engineer, he was taken with their ingenious tepee design and has taught himself to construct one in a day, using 14 poles.

”The first thing you’ll have to do is open the flaps,” he said. He demonstrated by removing a rope from the bottom of the door flap and walking one of the poles around behind the tepee. When the sticks are crossed behind the cone, the front is open, he explained. He then proceeded to show us which way to swing which poles, depending on the prevailing wind, to open or close the smoke hole at the top of the tepee. ”Flaps 101″ was beginning to feel a little like an introductory sailing lesson.

Duguay’s enthusiasm was infectious, especially when we squatted down to sidle into the tepee and discovered that the interior was remarkably spacious — at least as big as an apartment bedroom, but round. Turquoise Cougar was equipped with a low double bed, a round table resting on a base of deer legs, and four stools and a bedside table cut from thick logs. Stones surrounded a cast-iron fireplace in the center. Since it was a hot day at the end of June, we expressed skepticism that we would be lighting a fire.

Duguay was crestfallen. ”It is very agreeable to see how the fire works,” he said, and launched into an explication of the principles of tepee construction. The outer skin is held on poles about 10 inches from the ground. The floor rises up on the sides to overlap beneath, keeping out rain. Hot air inside the tepee rises through the smoke hole at the top, sucking in cool air from outside. ”It’s a chimney!” he exclaimed. The tepees get so warm that he keeps them open year round. In the winter, they are especially popular with Germans who come to snowmobile Quebec’s northern wilds.

We agreed to consider a fire.

Each tepee comes with its own canoe. We half expected it to be a birch bark model, or maybe a pine dugout, but it was a modern fiberglass craft, color-keyed in turquoise. We struck out across the small, spring-fed lake like a couple of voyagers, paddling around the mirrored surface. Only a handful of houses on distant shores marred the illusion of utter wilderness. We also spent part of the day hiking the 4 miles of interpretive trails that Duguay has cut, musing over the plaques he has erected to relate the natural history of certain trees and shrubs.

Duguay’s wife, Yolande Forcier, has figured out how to bring just the right touch of luxury to the wilderness. She offers spa and beauty treatments as well as massage in her studio in their house, and was the prime mover behind Les Bains du Lac-Marie-Louise, a gracefully landscaped small complex on the lake shore.

We took advantage of our two-hour exclusive use of the complex (tall wooden gates swing shut to provide Edenic privacy) and followed Duguay’s advice to sit in the sauna awhile, dip into the cold lake, spend some time breathing pine aroma in the tight little steam bath, then stretch out in the therapeutic outdoor whirlpool. Sauna, lake, steam, whirlpool, lake, sauna. . . . Tellingly, Duguay referred to the steam bath, which he constructed inside a fiberglass calf shelter, as the ‘’sweat lodge.” He didn’t mention the cushy lounge chairs on a patio by the lake, but we found them on our own.

Once we were thoroughly de-stressed, it was time for dinner. The heart of the tepee stockade is a large fire pit flanked by a summer kitchen with a refrigerator and a massive propane stove that looks as if it came out of a lumber camp. Picnic tables, brick barbecue grills, and a little herb garden round out the culinary facilities. There’s also a small building with showers and flush toilets.

Although we were far from yuppie takeout in Montreal, we were pleasantly surprised to discover a well-stocked country grocery with gourmet aspirations where we picked up salad makings, herb-marinated pork steaks, and a sugar pie from a village baker. As we grilled over the seasoned split-maple logs that Duguay had provided, a very friendly Lab-shepherd mix named Miss Daisy came to keep us company, at least until she was satisfied that all the scraps were gone.

Nightfall came late — around 10 p.m. — and we were treated to a cavalcade of stars that seemed almost bright enough to light the trails. Given the rustling sounds in the brush outside the stockade, we stayed inside the pales. As we lay in the tepee, studying the stars through the smoke hole, the heat of the day radiated away and the air took on an autumnal snap.

With a sigh, one of us lighted a candle while the other laid and lighted the fire. The tepee warmed quickly, as the smoke (mostly) rose through the chimney-like cone at the top. We drifted off to sleep beneath the slowly turning wheel of constellations. Despite the soot that made us feel we had spent the night in an old-time pool hall, we woke refreshed in the morning, called to wakefulness by loons on the lake.\

*COURTESY OF: Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents *

Teepees Become Popular

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:15:14 +0000

In the Rockies, teepees are fast becoming a must-have amenity. The rugged, cone-shaped shelters are popping up in the yards of mainstream America. The teepees are being used as personal retreats, office spaces and guesthouses, or just an oversized piece of lawn art with a Rocky Mountain backdrop.Today’s teepees still evoke the legacy of the Old West and are constructed in nearly the same way as their 19th century ancestors. Heavy cotton and timber trunks combine to make a teepee anywhere from nine feet to 28 feet in diameter, with specific architectural components. For example, teepees are slanted backwards for proper ventilation.

*COURTESY OF: http://homeandgardentelevision.com *

Home Is Where The Heart Is

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:06:19 +0000

Home is where the heart is. In this case it’s a 15-foot teepee

In the woods of Katelvale, a few hundred yards off Route 108, lives perhaps the nation’s most sociable hermit. For the past two years, Léo, or Grand Chief Léo as he’s known to the kids, has been living alone in a large, self-constructed teepee in a clearing in the forest.The 65-year-old former farmer and social worker gave up most of his earthly possessions years ago and a solid roof over his head as well.“I’m alone in the world,” he says. “I didn’t want to live in an old-age home with my bottles of pills beside my bed and nothing to do all day. That’s not for me. So I came here.”

Initially, the prospect of visiting a lonely hermit at his hidden retreat in the woods was a cause for minor anxiety. Visions of a filthy, bedraggled recluse with crazed eyes and bad hair came to mind. A man who perhaps wouldn’t take kindly to being disturbed at home while large amounts of inflammable fertilizer and writes explosive letters to people in authority who are talking to him inside his head.

Trepidation started to ease somewhat upon conversations with townspeople in Ste-Catherine-de-Hatley, who all seemed to know exactly where he lived and were happy to show me the way. I took this as a sign he hadn’t shot anyone recently.

The cashier in the depanneur laughed and said Léo had just left the store, then steered me to a patron having lunch who provided detailed instructions to his tent.

“It’s not at all what you think,” he said. “You think he’s crazy now, but you wait, after you meet him, you’ll want to get yourself a tent as well.”

The path to Léo’s homestead is a 400-metre trudge off the highway along a snowy trail through a sparse forest about two kilometres from the centre of town.

His abode is in a large open space in the — a 15-foot-high teepee built from orange army canvas wrapped around a sturdy frame of thin, rough-hewn poles. Piles of firewood lie neatly stacked near the open entrance. A pair of traditional snowshoes stand outside the door.

Hearing the crunch of approaching footsteps, Léo calls out in a jovial voice from within his tent and exits to greet his visitor. As it turns out, Léo is quite accustomed to having visitors.

A thin, healthy-looking man, Léo is actually disarmingly neat and sane, the slightly darkened collar of his red work shirt the only indication of an offbeat lifestyle. Clad in a sweater, work pants, and running shoes, he exudes outdoorsy robustness and vitality.

His hermitage is also neat and cozy, albeit simple.

A night table stands beside his narrow bed, covered in army-issue blankets. A lantern sits on the sole table at one end of the tent, while a wood-burning stove with a pipe leading to a hole cut in the roof of the triangular structure fills the rest of the room.

Simple shelves holding pots and pans, jam, peanut butter, margarine, bread, and coffee line the walls, and a five-gallon bucket that serves as a toilet is hidden in a corner.

With the front flap flung open and six windows cut into the canvas, complete with glass panes and wood frames, the interior is light and airy.

“I had a visit from an Abénaquis Indian a few weeks ago,” Léo says. “He saw my tent and said, ‘500 years we’ve been living in tents, and never did we think of windows.’

“For me, I wanted to live here, but I want to be comfortable too. I’ve always liked nature, being outdoors. I’m busy, I find something new to brighten my life every day. I’m very happy here.”

And unlike the solitary lifestyle of most hermits, Léo has more visits every year than most people see in a lifetime.

Léo’s path to his current way of life was actually several decades in the making.

Originally from the St-Henri district of Montreal, he married and lived in the Laurentians for several years, working as a farmer and labourer, raising seven children who in turn produced twenty grandchildren.

Shortly after his divorce nearly three decades ago, he decided to sell the majority of his worldly possessions and hop on the first bus that came along. He ended up in Sherbrooke.

“I decided I wanted to let go of all the negativity in my life, and strive to only focus on the positive,” he says.

Focusing on the positive meant volunteering his time with the Salesian religious order in Sherbrooke, which used to run the English St. Pat’s High School, and still oversees the Seminaire Salesian school.

Léo helped with handicapped members more than twenty years ago, especially at a camp owned by the Salesians in Ste-Catherine-de-Hatley. For several years he lived in quarters at the retreat, or in sugar shacks and huts during the summer months, until two years ago he decided to move to his current location on land owned by the Salesians as part of their Aux Berges Dominique Savio outdoor camp for young people.

Each year the camp hosts about 175 groups, totaling nearly 6000 children, who come to visit the extensive outdoor facilities on the shores of Lake Magog.

Families, boy scouts, school groups, CEGEP and university students flock for an outdoor experience from spring to fall, and Léo greets most of them. There are benches lined up outside his tent, now covered in snow, that hold up to seventy at a time.

“I give a short show, I tell them about the native Indians and ecology and nature. The young ones love it. The first thing they say when they come into my tent is: ‘What? No T.V.? No electricity? How can you live?” Father Christian Auger of the Salesian order, who looks after the camp, said Léo is not actually an employee of the group, but more of a boarder.

“He wanted to live in the woods, it makes him happy, so we agreed to lend him a piece of land. The children like to meet him to see how he lives, what he does, what he eats. He lives a life without the use of material objects, and we like to show that to the kids.”

Léo’s a ‘natural’, happily showing off strangely shaped wooden objects found on his meanders through the forest, or adorning a garish, feathered hat that he wears for the children. They call him Grand Chief Léo. He gives his presentations in French and English, and cites fourty years experience working as Santa Claus as part of his training.

He prefers not to give his full name. Everybody, he says, knows him as Léo. That’s enough.

In addition to group visits, most of his own children and grandchildren come by regularly. Even his ex-wife and her current husband come a few times a year.

He lives off his old-age pension, which he says covers the majority of his expenses. Every day he hitchhikes into town to get a warm meal from the depanneur.

“About 70 per cent of the drivers who pick me up are ladies. It’s a good way to meet women,” he says with a grin.

Actually, most people in the region know him by now, so it’s easy for him to get lifts on his regular jaunts into Kateveale, Magog, or even Sherbrooke, some twnty-five kilometres distant. At present, he has no ladyfriends.

Although money is not an issue, he’s hoping to find more funds to improve the unlevel wooden floor in his tent, and to smooth the ground outside. He’s worried the children might fall.

He’s a sociable soul, and too busy to be lonely, but there are limits.

“In the morning, for about two hours, that’s my time. I like to drink my coffee and do my crossword puzzles, and be alone. You better not disturb me then.”

Disturbances of the natural variety are welcomed, however. He has heard bears in the vicinity, but says they’re not interested in him. And deer come by frequently to visit and rub their antlers on nearby trees. One buck comes regularly to show off his latest family.

In the winter the tent is heated by the wood-burning stove, which also serves to cook his meals and heat water for coffee and bathing. He buys his firewood, because he doesn’t want to damage the surrounding forest.

He has a five-gallon bag with a spigot which he can hang from a tree, or if it rains, he takes a “natural shower — it’s the best kind…and when it rains, there’s not too much worry of any ladies walking by.”

Plans are in the works to construct an extension to the tent to house a shower and toilet, and he wants to start a garden this spring.

He never heats the tent when he sleeps, relying on thick army blankets to keep him warm. Only when the temperature drops to minus 40 does he light the stove at night, and that’s only happened twice. He stayed up all night in his rocking chair.

“Those nights were a little long.”

Léo reckons he’ll stay at least another five years in his tent, if not longer.

“Why not?” he says. “I feel healthier here than I have in years. I feel like I’m 45, and I’m going on 66.

“Everybody has to find what gives them joy in life, what is it that makes them happy and feel useful. I’ve found my source of happiness.”

*COURTESY OF:

René Bruemmer
Katevale, Quebec *

Smoky Bear Ranch

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:46:34 +0000

Nestled in the forest not far from the lodge, this really isn’t “roughing it”.

This Tipi comes with battery operated lanterns and easy access to picnic table, fire pit, and outhouse. Showers are available in the lodge. Rental sleeping bags with pillows are also available.

The Chief

Large Sioux style canvas Tipi with a liner and door. Can sleep up to 6 persons on 3 futon mattresses.
This marvelous Tipi Lodge from the Flathead Indian Reservation is perfect for the small family. You can see the stars through the open smoke flaps 18 feet above.

“The Chief” Interior

2007 Rates*

Summer Only

The Chief	$60.00 for up to 6
Sleeping Bags	$5.00 per person
Showers	$3.00 each
Breakfast	$15.00 per person

*Plus Tax
50% Deposit required to confirm reservation, balance due upon arrival
Personal Check, Travels Checks, Cash, or Money Orders in US funds
No children under 12 years of age
No pets
Smoking outside only
Call for special promotions and accommodations
Check in between 4 pm and 10 pm / Check-out before 11 am

Cancellation Policy:

30 days prior to arrival
Full refund minus $10/night rebooking fee
minimum fee $35

within 30 days of arrival
forfeiture of deposit

Smoky Bear Ranch, LLC
Scott & Nancy Collard
PO Box 390
West Glacier, MT 59936
(800) 555-3806

* COURTESY OF: http://www.smokybear.com *

Blackfeet Indian Tipi Village

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:40:33 +0000

Our Blackfoot tepee camp is located two miles west of Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, where prairie and Rocky Mountains meet. Stay overnight in one of our canvas teepees, which have a fireplace in the center, and are setup in a traditional Pikuni (Blackfoot) manner. Take the opportunity and experience this traditional Plains Indian’s form of housing.

We provide firewood for your campfire in the teepee and for the big communal fire in the arbor. This tipicamp arbor is wooden wind shelter built in the form of a traditional ceremonial lodge. There and in our Crow’s Nest (Guest’s Lunch and Dining Room) you can meet and socialize with other tipicamp guests or with local artists. Furthermore, a shower house, just up the hill from the tipicamp, is part of the guest’s facilities. Decorated artfully in Blackfeet style, all our guest’s facilities take part in providing you with a unique cultural experience.

Enjoy the comfort of the unique tipi construction designed for the dry warmth while retaining airflow and outdoor acoustics of the natural environment. For example, during the summer months, when it can be hot and dry due to the continental climate in the rain shade of the Rockies, the double tipi walls will keep the inside of the tipi at a very pleasant temperature. You also will be able to hear crickets at night, under star-lit skies. Sometimes you can even hear coyotes howl.

* COURTESY OF: http://www.blackfeetculturecamp.com

Dancing Buffalo Lodge

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:29:05 +0000

f you are searching for truly unique vacation lodging in Texas, come to the Star of Texas bed and breakfast for a tipi holiday. Experience camping in an authentic tepee, where the fire pits warm glow and crackling embers release the stress of the day.

Dancing Buffalo Lodge, a 22′ tepee with a native rock floor, queen size airbed, wooden camp chairs & Native American décor, will give you a chance to experience life as our ancestors did. Wake to the morning sun and sleep with the stars.

We have a heated outdoor, enclosed shower open to the sky. A camp toilet or you may use the public restroom at the Garden deck, and there is outside water. We can provide a bed, linens & towels, or you bring your own. We have coffee maker and some firewood. The Tipi does have electricity with lights.

An outdoor fire ring is close by with a grill and wooden benches for sitting. Gather dead wood for this or cut wood is available for sale.

What to bring: Flashlight, cooler, insect repellent, other camping gear you may want.If the weather is cooler you may want your sleeping bags. All food must be in coolers to keep the varmints away. You will be walking from the parking lot about 150yds to the tipi, so we will provide a cart for your gear. Remember this is a Native American tipi, and you will be camping in an area surrounded by thousands of acres of land, which is the home to all types of Texas wildlife , insects and weather.

Breakfast is your choice of a Continental brought to your tepee or you may come to the Garden Deck to enjoy a full hot breakfast at 9 a.m. If you want a special treat, Don will come build your morning fire and cook up a hearty Dutch oven breakfast for an additional $65.

Check in for the tipi is between 3 p.m. & 9 p.m. The yellow cart will have a map to the tipi in case we are not there to greet you.

Rate: $95 per night you bring bedding & towels $115 we provide bed, linens & towels.

Due to the nature of our property, we are not set up for children, however we will work with you if wanting to come as just one parent and one child for a special time together, please call for this information.

* COURTESY OF: http://star-of-texas.com *