I never really found a packing list that I liked for the kind of trip that we took over the summer -- an extended car camping trip. What made it a little more complicated was that we drove from Texas to Maine, and we needed clothing appropriate for heat and cold.... and LOTS of rain.
Here's what we brought as far as camping supplies. Actually, no .... here's what we USED:
*tent -- large one-room tent (Hobitat 6 man tent from REI -- but we have camped in a large tent from Target and it was great)
*tarp -- we put the tarp inside the tent. It worked great. It POURED rain
*inflatable mattress for the parents
*pump for the mattress
*Sleeping pads for the kids:
nap mat -- sort of worked -- easy to clean (and there was a peepee accident in the night)
roll-up Thermarest sort of pad from Target -- not great -- never felt very fluffy
egg crate mattress cushion cut in shape of sleeping bag -- terrible -- absorbed moisture -- yuck!
I would recommend legitimate Thermarest cushions -- I have seen friends use these and they blow up really nicely -- or buy 2 queen air mattresses and a tent large enough to fit them both. Have 3 kids sleep sideways on the mattress in their sleeping bag.
*One large Maglite flashlight -- awesome
*2 small flashlights -- less awesome, but good for kid use
*Coleman 2 burner stove -- propane
*Storage container for all the cooking stuff
*silverware rolled up in a 3 zippered jewelry bag
*spatula
*corkscrew, bottle opener
*salt and pepper
*small bottle of oil
*all purpose seasoning mix
*5 plastic plates -- I'm sorry! -- I already had them -- I tried metal plates but they got hot and burned our hands.
*5 stackable cups -- useful for drinking & for eating cereal/soup
*3 sippy cups -- for drinks along the way -- I would probably use water bottles next time b/c the kids are getting too old for this
*waterproof box with matches & lighter
*A small package of fatwood for starting fires in times of desperation
*dish towel
*dish soap
*sponge
*3 camp chairs -- we didn't have room for more
4 sleeping bags -- one of them was really only a sleepover bag -- terrible!
3 small towels (kid size) for bathing
Along the way, we acquired:
*paper napkins from various stores & restaurants
*shredded paper to use in starting fires (we usually shredded the campground map from the last place)
*camp chairs -- my husband insisted we didn't have room for them, then we couldn't take it anymore and bought them along the way
*sticks -- to roast marshmallows :) I just sent the kids to find a straight stick and then we "sterilized" them over the fire. We all survived.
*a blanket -- you'll notice we only brought 4 bags and we are 5 people -- my husband left his sleeping bag behind and then did not want to buy one -- so he bought a blanket and wrapped up like a taco. This was fine for a while, but chilly in Maine.
More lists to come -- clothing & food.
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Family Road Trip
This summer my family and I went on a LOOOONG road trip. We drove from Texas to Maine, camping and staying with friends along the way. Before we left, I searched and searched for people doing similar things, but couldn't seem to find quite the right combination of details.
Here is what we did:
My husband and I have 3 kids, ages 3, 5, and 7. We drove in a minivan (Toyota Sienna). We did not go to any theme parks :) We did go to state parks and national parks. We left June 24th and were back by the end of July. We actually cut the trip a little short at the end because we wanted to get home sooner. Here are the stops we made along the way:
Austin - Lake Ouachita State Park -- 2 nights camping
Natchez Trace State Park -- one night camping (extremely humid!!)
Smokey Mountains National Park -- 3 nights camping
Staunton, VA -- stayed in hotel because it was pouring rain. Visited Frontier Museum, which was amazing!
Highland Falls, NY -- stayed with friend -- 3 nights -- she is a saint
Portland Maine -- stayed with family -- 2 nights
Acadia National Park -- 5 nights -- lots of rain! Maine was amazing and disappointing at the same time. My memories of Maine in the summer involved lots of beach activities, but it was 60 degrees and raining. The grass was green -- everything was green! Texas is suffering a severe drought, so the green-ness was a real treat. But 60 degrees? In July??
Portland Maine -- 4 nights with family.
I really liked the way TO Maine better than the way back. This may be because it was the more planned portion of the trip. It also involved more camping and fewer large cities. We had intended to go to Cape Cod National Seashore, but I was sick and it was pouring rain, so we stayed in Portland a couple extra days.
Plymouth, MA -- one night in Governor Bradford hotel. This hotel is in front of the ocean, and you can easily walk to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. It was nice to be close to the sights. The kids enjoyed seeing the Mayflower, but it's a pretty quick trip, especially with little ones who are too shy to ask the performers questions.
New Jersey -- some horrible hotel close to the ferry landing for the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty cruise. The hotel was truly awful, but the breakfast was amazing. We had great weather. Ellis Island is super interesting. By the time we got to the statue of liberty, we were all tired of walking. Ellis Island has a great cafe with reasonable prices.
Washington, DC -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with a friend and 2 nights in the burbs in a hotel. We took the metro one day and drove into the city two days. On the last day, we couldn't face the traffic/walking/more museums, and we decided to hit the road. Even though we had read lots of advice about taking the metro, we did not save ANY money or time by taking it. We had to buy 4 tickets and pay for parking -- in all our metro experience was about 35 dollars and not really a time-saver. We drove into the zoo one day -- I think parking was 10 dollars. The other day we drove and parked at a meter at the national mall. We had to move the car at one point, but we only spent 4 dollars on parking.
Atlanta, GA -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with family. We didn't see Atlanta at all, but my husbands' family is very nice :)
**car incident along the way** -- we lost the tread off of one of the tires. The only place willing to repair it at 6:30 on Saturday evening was Costco. I brought the kids in, bought some slices of pizza, and the car was ready by the time we were done with Dinner. Love 'em.
Dallas, TX -- after a long night drive, we got into Dallas at 6 am. The kids were well-rested. C and I had not slept AT ALL. But it was worth it to get all the way back to Texas without hours of whining. 2 nights with family.
Austin, TX -- home sweet home. But I'm pretty sure the grass is dead.
Looking back on our trip, here is what I would change:
*fewer hotels. We didn't stay in many, but they were not very enjoyable.
*more camping. This was our favorite part.
*more time in Arkansas. It's SO beautiful. We would probably need to leave earlier in the summer to maximize our camping in the south.
*I would skip Plymouth.
* I would not bother with the metro. (sorry... I know that doesn't sound very green)
*I would not try a day trip to NYC. I was very stressed out about losing one of the kids. My daughter has not recovered from missing the train on the way back -- she seems to have some sort of stress issue about missing trains/buses/rides to the store...... about being left.
*I would not order a lobster roll -- I discovered I don't really like them.
*I would not buy a special cooler that purports to keep ice frozen for 5 days. What a bunch of bologna!
*I would bring a heavier jacket or sweatshirt.
*I would count the sleeping bags before we left -- my husband left his behind :(
*I wouldn't bring a gas lantern. It was a pain. The globe broke. We barely used it. I really like to look at the stars when I'm camping, so as soon as dinner was over, we generally turned whatever light we were using off. The lantern was a waste of precious space.
What was awesome:
*camping in Arkansas.
*bears in the Smokies. My husband saw 5!
*drinking local beer everywhere we went.
*ice cream in Maine
*staying with family and my kids meeting/playing with cousins
*my aunt's cooking
*the farmer's market in Highland Falls, NY
*fireworks at West Point
*the frontier culture museum in Staunton, VA. It's probably worth double what they charge -- we spent the WHOLE day there. (But please don't up the price!)
*not bringing a DVD player for the kids. We listened to books on tape or I read books out loud. We heard a lot of books as a family & it was great :)
*our Garner GPS (aka Map Girl) -- she was a BIG help. I was kind of anti-GPS before this trip, preferring to use my amazing map skills, but Map Girl got us out of trouble a few times and was able to lead us to grocery stores and parks along the way. She also saved us from a MASSIVE Cape Cod traffic jam. She still needed a skilled Assistant Navigator (me) because sometimes she suggested strange routes.
What was fine
*driving -- surprisingly enough, there were only a couple of desperate days. We were able to have a lot of flexibility, bring our camping stuff and stop at grocery stores to get fresh supplies.
Here is what we did:
My husband and I have 3 kids, ages 3, 5, and 7. We drove in a minivan (Toyota Sienna). We did not go to any theme parks :) We did go to state parks and national parks. We left June 24th and were back by the end of July. We actually cut the trip a little short at the end because we wanted to get home sooner. Here are the stops we made along the way:
Austin - Lake Ouachita State Park -- 2 nights camping
Natchez Trace State Park -- one night camping (extremely humid!!)
Smokey Mountains National Park -- 3 nights camping
Staunton, VA -- stayed in hotel because it was pouring rain. Visited Frontier Museum, which was amazing!
Highland Falls, NY -- stayed with friend -- 3 nights -- she is a saint
Portland Maine -- stayed with family -- 2 nights
Acadia National Park -- 5 nights -- lots of rain! Maine was amazing and disappointing at the same time. My memories of Maine in the summer involved lots of beach activities, but it was 60 degrees and raining. The grass was green -- everything was green! Texas is suffering a severe drought, so the green-ness was a real treat. But 60 degrees? In July??
Portland Maine -- 4 nights with family.
I really liked the way TO Maine better than the way back. This may be because it was the more planned portion of the trip. It also involved more camping and fewer large cities. We had intended to go to Cape Cod National Seashore, but I was sick and it was pouring rain, so we stayed in Portland a couple extra days.
Plymouth, MA -- one night in Governor Bradford hotel. This hotel is in front of the ocean, and you can easily walk to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. It was nice to be close to the sights. The kids enjoyed seeing the Mayflower, but it's a pretty quick trip, especially with little ones who are too shy to ask the performers questions.
New Jersey -- some horrible hotel close to the ferry landing for the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty cruise. The hotel was truly awful, but the breakfast was amazing. We had great weather. Ellis Island is super interesting. By the time we got to the statue of liberty, we were all tired of walking. Ellis Island has a great cafe with reasonable prices.
Washington, DC -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with a friend and 2 nights in the burbs in a hotel. We took the metro one day and drove into the city two days. On the last day, we couldn't face the traffic/walking/more museums, and we decided to hit the road. Even though we had read lots of advice about taking the metro, we did not save ANY money or time by taking it. We had to buy 4 tickets and pay for parking -- in all our metro experience was about 35 dollars and not really a time-saver. We drove into the zoo one day -- I think parking was 10 dollars. The other day we drove and parked at a meter at the national mall. We had to move the car at one point, but we only spent 4 dollars on parking.
Atlanta, GA -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with family. We didn't see Atlanta at all, but my husbands' family is very nice :)
**car incident along the way** -- we lost the tread off of one of the tires. The only place willing to repair it at 6:30 on Saturday evening was Costco. I brought the kids in, bought some slices of pizza, and the car was ready by the time we were done with Dinner. Love 'em.
Dallas, TX -- after a long night drive, we got into Dallas at 6 am. The kids were well-rested. C and I had not slept AT ALL. But it was worth it to get all the way back to Texas without hours of whining. 2 nights with family.
Austin, TX -- home sweet home. But I'm pretty sure the grass is dead.
Looking back on our trip, here is what I would change:
*fewer hotels. We didn't stay in many, but they were not very enjoyable.
*more camping. This was our favorite part.
*more time in Arkansas. It's SO beautiful. We would probably need to leave earlier in the summer to maximize our camping in the south.
*I would skip Plymouth.
* I would not bother with the metro. (sorry... I know that doesn't sound very green)
*I would not try a day trip to NYC. I was very stressed out about losing one of the kids. My daughter has not recovered from missing the train on the way back -- she seems to have some sort of stress issue about missing trains/buses/rides to the store...... about being left.
*I would not order a lobster roll -- I discovered I don't really like them.
*I would not buy a special cooler that purports to keep ice frozen for 5 days. What a bunch of bologna!
*I would bring a heavier jacket or sweatshirt.
*I would count the sleeping bags before we left -- my husband left his behind :(
*I wouldn't bring a gas lantern. It was a pain. The globe broke. We barely used it. I really like to look at the stars when I'm camping, so as soon as dinner was over, we generally turned whatever light we were using off. The lantern was a waste of precious space.
What was awesome:
*camping in Arkansas.
*bears in the Smokies. My husband saw 5!
*drinking local beer everywhere we went.
*ice cream in Maine
*staying with family and my kids meeting/playing with cousins
*my aunt's cooking
*the farmer's market in Highland Falls, NY
*fireworks at West Point
*the frontier culture museum in Staunton, VA. It's probably worth double what they charge -- we spent the WHOLE day there. (But please don't up the price!)
*not bringing a DVD player for the kids. We listened to books on tape or I read books out loud. We heard a lot of books as a family & it was great :)
*our Garner GPS (aka Map Girl) -- she was a BIG help. I was kind of anti-GPS before this trip, preferring to use my amazing map skills, but Map Girl got us out of trouble a few times and was able to lead us to grocery stores and parks along the way. She also saved us from a MASSIVE Cape Cod traffic jam. She still needed a skilled Assistant Navigator (me) because sometimes she suggested strange routes.
What was fine
*driving -- surprisingly enough, there were only a couple of desperate days. We were able to have a lot of flexibility, bring our camping stuff and stop at grocery stores to get fresh supplies.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Vacationing with Kids
We have 3 children -- currently aged 6, 4 and 2. This summer, they'll all turn 1 year older :)
I LOVE to go on vacation. It's basically the only thing that I'm really willing to spend money on. I'm not really a luxury vacation kind of person, but I have to get away several times a year, or I go crazy. That's why I have a job with lots of vacation built in :)
Before I had children, I used to rent out my apartment every summer, take my giant summer pay check and go to South America for the summer. Things become more complicated with kids, especially when there are 3 of 'em.
Four years ago, we took the two oldest (at the time almost 3 and almost 1 -- I can't believe we did this, looking back) to Spain. We had a great time, but we spent a LOT of money... and this is before the Euro was where it is now. We also realized that because of the fact that we were traveling with kids, we couldn't really do the things that we used to do when we traveled on our own. That's frustrating at times, but can also be good because the nice thing about kids is....
You're "allowed" to do things with kids that you might not normally do as an adult.
For example:
After our trip to Spain, C and I decided that we needed to focus more on vacationing close to home. It's less expensive (and also creates fewer emissions b/c of no flying!) and is just more realistic for us. When we took the kids to Spain, we spent almost all of our time at the playground or at the beach. When we went to the Prado, my kids kept trying to touch the paintings. They also had a super short attention span. We had a great time eating at bakeries in the mornings. We had fun meeting other families (guess where? beach and playground). To me, it didn't really make sense to travel so far to go to places that we have close to home. (Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Spain... and I know that the beaches and playgrounds are different... but still...)
This weekend, we went to one of the many Texas State Parks. I LOVE the state parks, but had not really spent any time in them until I had kids. Then I decided that they needed a dose of nature and we needed a cheap vacation. We spent 3 nights and 2 days for a total cost of 30 dollars in lodging, 10 dollars in popsicles, and 15 dollars in floats (plus groceries we brought from home). Totally worth it.
Ah... but is it a green vacation?
Yes and no.
Yes:
outdoor, off the grid (no electricity)
give kids and parents appreciation of nature
much better than flying somewhere
picked up some cans and bottles thrown around and brought them home to recycle
State park recycles aluminum :)
Saved shower water & heating of water by bathing in river for 3 days
Saved washing lots of clothes by wearing almost nothing but a bathing suit for 3 days
No:
drove there (I just can't escape this problem it seems... Texas is too darned big)
bought giant plastic sea horse float (I'm sorry! But I swear I'll use it again! And I have a patch kit in case it gets a flat!)
massive use of sunscreen ( but this is really unavoidable in the summertime in Texas unless we stay inside all the time. Of course not the perfectly green kind...)
I LOVE to go on vacation. It's basically the only thing that I'm really willing to spend money on. I'm not really a luxury vacation kind of person, but I have to get away several times a year, or I go crazy. That's why I have a job with lots of vacation built in :)
Before I had children, I used to rent out my apartment every summer, take my giant summer pay check and go to South America for the summer. Things become more complicated with kids, especially when there are 3 of 'em.
Four years ago, we took the two oldest (at the time almost 3 and almost 1 -- I can't believe we did this, looking back) to Spain. We had a great time, but we spent a LOT of money... and this is before the Euro was where it is now. We also realized that because of the fact that we were traveling with kids, we couldn't really do the things that we used to do when we traveled on our own. That's frustrating at times, but can also be good because the nice thing about kids is....
You're "allowed" to do things with kids that you might not normally do as an adult.
For example:
- inhale marshmallows straight out of the package if there's a burn ban and you can't make a fire.
- float down the river on a giant sea horse raft.
- Dance in a circle, twirling a girl on each arm.
- Play mommy cat and baby cat.
- Lay under the stars, trying to figure out what that moving star is... (aliens?)
- Swim "in place" in a river current, with a cheering crowd
After our trip to Spain, C and I decided that we needed to focus more on vacationing close to home. It's less expensive (and also creates fewer emissions b/c of no flying!) and is just more realistic for us. When we took the kids to Spain, we spent almost all of our time at the playground or at the beach. When we went to the Prado, my kids kept trying to touch the paintings. They also had a super short attention span. We had a great time eating at bakeries in the mornings. We had fun meeting other families (guess where? beach and playground). To me, it didn't really make sense to travel so far to go to places that we have close to home. (Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Spain... and I know that the beaches and playgrounds are different... but still...)
This weekend, we went to one of the many Texas State Parks. I LOVE the state parks, but had not really spent any time in them until I had kids. Then I decided that they needed a dose of nature and we needed a cheap vacation. We spent 3 nights and 2 days for a total cost of 30 dollars in lodging, 10 dollars in popsicles, and 15 dollars in floats (plus groceries we brought from home). Totally worth it.
Ah... but is it a green vacation?
Yes and no.
Yes:
outdoor, off the grid (no electricity)
give kids and parents appreciation of nature
much better than flying somewhere
picked up some cans and bottles thrown around and brought them home to recycle
State park recycles aluminum :)
Saved shower water & heating of water by bathing in river for 3 days
Saved washing lots of clothes by wearing almost nothing but a bathing suit for 3 days
No:
drove there (I just can't escape this problem it seems... Texas is too darned big)
bought giant plastic sea horse float (I'm sorry! But I swear I'll use it again! And I have a patch kit in case it gets a flat!)
massive use of sunscreen ( but this is really unavoidable in the summertime in Texas unless we stay inside all the time. Of course not the perfectly green kind...)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Who needs toys?
After lashing out against toys and stickers, I had a wonderful toy-free weekend. We took the kids camping, and once again, I was amazed at what kids really like to play with.
Not ONCE did they ask for their toys. They played with sticks, they built "beds" out of pine needles, they went on hikes, they made friends at the playground. We laid on sleeping bags and looked at the stars. We talked about the moon. We sang every song that anyone knew the words to. It was wonderful.
At home I try to be a fairly relaxed person, but I still feel like I am zooming from one thing to another. With all the distractions at home, even when we are all in the house, we can go a long time without actually talking to each other. So it's nice to get away from everything... to get out into nature a little bit ... to look for animals, and just slow down in general. My kids have learned a lot from camping (sometimes they've learned the hard way -- like, don't run around cactus at night) and I find myself learning too as I explain things to them. For now, we are doing car camping because we bring a lot of stuff with us and can't really hike very far with the kids. When they get older, I'd like to try some primitive camping because I think that it might be even more fun -- and the kids are always amazed when we pass primitive campers on the trail.
Not ONCE did they ask for their toys. They played with sticks, they built "beds" out of pine needles, they went on hikes, they made friends at the playground. We laid on sleeping bags and looked at the stars. We talked about the moon. We sang every song that anyone knew the words to. It was wonderful.
At home I try to be a fairly relaxed person, but I still feel like I am zooming from one thing to another. With all the distractions at home, even when we are all in the house, we can go a long time without actually talking to each other. So it's nice to get away from everything... to get out into nature a little bit ... to look for animals, and just slow down in general. My kids have learned a lot from camping (sometimes they've learned the hard way -- like, don't run around cactus at night) and I find myself learning too as I explain things to them. For now, we are doing car camping because we bring a lot of stuff with us and can't really hike very far with the kids. When they get older, I'd like to try some primitive camping because I think that it might be even more fun -- and the kids are always amazed when we pass primitive campers on the trail.
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