Camping

Parks Offer Camping For Everyone

June 23, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

There is a wide assortment of different types of parks that you can enjoy. State parks offer the widest range of activities. In many cases, they also offer you the opportunity to camp on their grounds. By choosing to stay right at the park, you will have almost instant access to their offerings. This means that you are able to hike the trails when you want. You will also by able to enjoy fishing if the state park that you camp at has such an activity.

Many state parks offer a variety of different camping options that are tailored to your comfort level. Tent camping allows you to really experience camping as it was when the activity was first becoming popular. Many people enjoy getting back to nature and camping in the wilderness in a tent. There are many state parks offer communal bath houses so that you can bathe and brush your teeth. Many also offer small stores in which you can purchase needed items.

If tent camping is not for you, you can choose to camp in a cabin. Cabin camping allows you to enjoy the creature comforts of home in a rustic atmosphere. Most cabins have beds or cots of some sort to sleep on and a small living space. Some even feature kitchens and bathrooms so that you can enjoy the ultimate in privacy while you are camping with your family or friends. By camping at a park, you will also be able to enjoy other amenities such as swimming.

Filed Under: General, Parks Tagged With: Camping, Park, State park

Camping Without the RV

January 30, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

I always marveled why so many people go and buy these expensive RV’s to do something as primitive as camping. Sort of takes the intention of “man and nature” out of the equation. I mean don’t get me wrong, RV’s are fun and have food, storage, bathroom facilities, cooking area and all the comforts of home just about. It kind of loses its luster however when little “Jimmy” can hook up his PS3 and dad is watching the ball game at any given time while someone takes over the driving duties.

I found that renting or time-sharing a cabin space is a nice alternative to RV-styled camping. Now, of course the car or truck will be packed to the hilt more or less but it all depends if you are time-sharing with friends or you own it yourself and how often you go. Obviously, if you own it or time-share with close friends, the cabin would more than likely be fully stocked every time you go, omitting the need for a packed vehicle.

All the comforts of home are at most cabins with electricity (usually run by generators), running water or at least a well to get water from and some sort of bathroom facilities. I don’t mean the outhouse types with the crescent moon carved on the door either! Either way, you’re in the middle of the woods in a remote area and have the option to do things outside, at night with campfires or go inside in case of inclement weather. I will say the sleeping arrangements in cabins are much better than an RV to be honest. If you have a family of 5 or 6, you’d need an RV the size of the space shuttle to accommodate. There’s pros and cons on both sides but you may want to look at which one would be best suited for your family.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Camping, Space Shuttle

What’s for Dinner?

January 19, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

To make any camping trip fun and less time consuming doing chores and preparation is to go ahead and get everything ready a week in advance. The utensils part is easy if you can remember everything from forks, knives, spoons and how many people you are accommodating. Even if you have a fully-stocked RV, it doesn’t hurt to save yourself some preparation time. The easiest way to get meals prepared is to set them up in foil. Hamburger, steak, fish and chicken can be properly seasoned, marinated to perfection before you get them on the grill (of course, the longer things marinate, the better they taste anyway!). If you want to add a little flare to the foil pouches, add some vegetables like potatoes, onions, carrots, baby cobs of corn.

If you’re looking for other things to try out, there’s always the kielbasa, potato and cabbage route or as it’s affectionately known as, “bubble and squeak”. Making biscuits ahead of time or picking some up at your local store or restaurant is another idea. Biscuits can be frozen for a little bit before you want to take them out and use them and are great. If you make a stew in an iron pot and have gravy left over, the biscuits would then come in handy. Breakfast is easy to prepare as well since pancakes come in shaker bottles now once you add water and eggs are easy to carry and quick to cook up. Link sausages, scrapple, ham slices or chunks or corned-beef hash are some favorites from the campfire. Once you get a system going and get used to what everyone enjoys, each trip just gets easier and easier to prepare.

The smell of the campfire and how food tastes off of it is enough to make you want to come back and enjoy the quiet surroundings and be with those loved ones and spending some quality time together outside of civilization.

Filed Under: Parks Tagged With: Biscuit, Camping, Potato

Now You’re Cooking with Fire (Part 2)

January 18, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

To get the most out of your camping experience, using a little imagination goes a long way. Before you are ready to plan your next camping excursion, there’s a few things to keep in mind that are needed like long wooden matches, a spray bottle of water (also an extra bottle with your favorite chicken marinade), one of those long lighters for grills or candles, skewers, flashlights, candles, oil, cooking spray and all the long forks, knives and spoons, preferably the long metal ones with the wooden or polyurethane handles. Last, but not least, hot pads or oven mitts and always have some sort of extinguisher.

Now, if you’re one of them really crafty people who like to invent things or create things to save you a little time, I always found it necessary to keep all the grill areas from my old grills. It got to the point I had four of them sitting around and came up with the idea to make one huge cooking area by combining all four of them together. There’s two ways you can do this depending on how much space you have. If you have limited space, the four grill areas can be separated and put together by joining them with some heavy gauge wire. The surrounding ends can be mounted on metal tent stakes. Make sure to put two or three to support the middle (skinniest ones you can find so they don’t take up the fire area) due to the weight. This will give you a good three or four foot cooking area. The better way would be to find a heavy steel or iron plate that’s approximately two square feet. You then weld the corners of the grills onto it or drill holes around it and clamp them all down and the legs on all the sides. The result is a bit heavy but sturdy and easy to clean. Have fun experimenting!

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Camping, Candle

Now You’re Cooking with Fire (Part 1)

January 16, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

One of the most adventurous things about camping besides “roughing it”, fishing, trail-hiking and exploring nature is the gathering of the firewood and what food to have. Obviously, if you fish and catch a couple, there’s the added time of filleting them, deboning, and the seasonings for preparation. Also, depending on how well you’re keeping it primitive, will also factor in what stuff to take with you for the cooking.

Camping has gotten a bit more convenient and easy for people over the years with the gadgets and additions they have on the newest RV’s, but there are those out there that would still like to keep things in perspective like the days of the pioneer. They only use their RV mainly for bathroom, storage, travel, and emergency situations that require a generator or a quick getaway to the hospital.

The common, most used item that makes cooking a snap of course is aluminum foil. You can wrap things, cook on it and makes for easy disposal without loading up the garbage area. The fanatics of coffee have the choice of buying the coffee in instant form and add to boiled water or find one of them old 3-piece canteens that require no filter. Various camping stores and even yard sales are a good place to look for items of this nature. Cast iron skillets and pots are exceptional for cooking due to their weight and how they hold the heat for food. If you have a wired heating area about 3 or 4-foot long, you can rewrap your items in foil and place them in a clean skillet and place it off to the side where the heat is not as intense, depending on what it is of course so it doesn’t dry out. Easiest way to clean these items is to fill them halfway with water and let the remnants boil, discard the water, wipe and it’s ready to use again.

Filed Under: Hiking Tagged With: Camping, cook

Fun Things to Do on a Camping Trip with Your Family

December 14, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

One of the least expensive vacations you can do is taking your family camping. Sure, there is a lot of preparation involved, but the money you will save is well worth the effort. Your family will also have a great time together and not be distracted by all of the electronic gadgets and technology back at home. Here are some ideas for fun things to do while you are on a camping vacation:

“Roast Marshmallows Over a Fire ” Smores are really yummy and kids really enjoy roasting marshmallows. This is a classic treat to have while you are camping.

- Go Hiking ” It doesn’t usually cost you any money to take your family hiking on a trail unless you are going with a guide. Kids enjoy exploring and seeing new things, so hiking is a great idea.

” Go Fishing ” Some people really enjoy to fish because of the excitement that comes from getting a catch. If your family is in to fishing, be sure to get a license and bring your gear.

” Cook Meals Over a Fire” Whether you just want to roast a hotdog or go all out with a tin foil dinner, your kids will enjoy cooking dinner over a fire because it is different than what they usually get at home.

” Tell Stories Around a Campfire ” They don’t have to be ghost stories, although those can be fun. Just spend time talking and enjoying each other’s company.

“Star Gazing” When you are in the city, it is really hard to see stars because of all the pollution and smog. When you go camping, you’re usually far enough away from the city to spot actual constellations. This can be fun for kids. You can even bring a telescope for the event.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun with your family on vacation ” just go camping.

Filed Under: Canoeing, Fishing Tagged With: Camping, Family, Fishing, Hiking

Planning and Preparing for a Backpack Hiking Trip

December 2, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

If you go camping all the time, you should change things up a bit by planning a backpack hiking trip. You’ll still be camping but there will be a little more adventure involved because you won’t be staying in the same place for the entire trip. You’ll have to pack your tent up each morning and move onto the next location. You might even be able to hunt or fish along the way for a more unique survival experience.

There is more planning needed for a backpack hiking trip than a typical camping trip, so consider hiring a guide to take you to different places along a trail, especially if you are not familiar with the area or you have never been on a backpacking trip before. This will eliminate some of the worry and help you be able to enjoy yourself more on your adventure.

Before you go on a hiking backpack trip, you should prepare yourself physically. This means you should spend some time in the gym and go on hikes often so that you are in shape enough to finish your backpacking trip. It won’t be very much fun if you find yourself constantly out of breath and needing to rest. You need to know your limitations and make sure your guide knows what you are capable of so that nothing bad happens and your plans don’t have to change.

You should also pack very carefully for a backpacking adventure. You’ll want to make sure you have everything you need, but that you aren’t carrying too much weight and unnecessary items. There are tons of packing lists available on the Internet for you to look over before you pack. Water and food are the most important, so make sure to bring things that you like to eat and that will not go to waste.

You’re going to have a great time on your backpacking trip; just plan and prepare well!

Filed Under: Hiking, Trail Riding Tagged With: Backpack, Camping, Hiking, Outdoors