Camping tips and travel reviews from a family of four!
It’s still February, but we’ve been planning our 2021 camping season for several months now! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic still gripping our area, as well as just scheduling conflicts (kids and their activities, amIright?!), we’re somewhat limited geographically in terms of how far we can travel this year.
Continue reading “Where are You Camping in 2021?”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many of our travel plans this season (along with everyone else!), we’ve been taking the opportunity to explore some campgrounds close to home that we’ve never visited before.
This summer, we added Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground in Swannanoa, N.C., just a few minutes east of Asheville. This hidden gem of a campground in the western mountains of North Carolina provided a much needed long weekend getaway and respite from summer’s heat and humidity!
Continue reading “Camp Site Review: Mama Gertie’s Hideaway Campground near Asheville, NC”
The spread of the novel coronavirus across the United States and the world is like a bad movie that no one wanted to watch. And yet, here we are, adjusting to our new normals: schools closed, no gatherings more than 10 people, social distancing from others of at least six feet, restaurants, parks and other attractions shuttered until further notice.
Here in South Carolina, our governor has not enacted a statewide shelter-in-place order due to COVID-19…yet. Time will tell if that rule will take place. Until then, we are being responsible about working and schooling from home, limiting our trips to the store, and cleaning everything like our lives depend on it (which, unfortunately, it does).
While we wait to see if some of our spring and summer camping trips will be postponed or cancelled altogether, we’re doing things now to keep our “camping spirit” alive. Here’s a few things we’re doing now – and you can do, too – as we wait (sometimes patiently, sometimes not so much, if we’re being honest here) to see if we can hit the road in our camper this season:
Continue reading “Has your camping trip been delayed due to COVID-19?”
One of the best things about camping can be that you’re surrounded by lots of other people who enjoy spending time exploring the great outdoors like you. But depending on what type of campsite or RV resort you’re staying, sometimes you can feel like you’re parked right on top of your next door neighbor.
Given how close RVs can be parked together in some places, it helps to know some basic house rules when it comes to being a good neighbor in a campground.
Continue reading “How to be a Good Camping Neighbor”
This post is a little belated, but we’re excited to announce we recently traded in our sweet Bessie (a Coachmen Apex Nano 193 bhs) to the new Grey Wolf 26 DBH travel trailer (name TBD – we’re taking suggestions in the comments section below!).
Continue reading “GREY WOLF 26 DBH Travel Trailer Review (with pictures!)”
Truth telling time: I did not grow up camping. Nor did my husband. Sure we each went on the occasional camp outs with our respective families when we were growing up, and I spent most summers attending summer camps in the mountains of North Carolina, where you’d camp out at least once.
Many years into our marriage, and well after we had kids, my husband and I realized how much we liked hiking together. Again, we’d both had some limited experience hiking as kids (with families, with camp), so when our kids got old enough when we could start trekking up hills again, we went for it. We’re lucky we live in the foothills of the North Carolina mountains, so a great hike is just a short drive away.
But camping was a totally new ball game for us. So why did we decide to take the plunge? We started off tent camping with friends, and found we really enjoyed it – the campfires, the s’mores, being outside, listening to music, being away from our electronic devices. But then the rain came. Continue reading “We’re all new campers here (so come on in!)”
When we first started camping in our travel trailer, I scoured Pinterest for all kinds of packing lists to help us get started on our journeys. I’m a planner – always have been and probably always will be – and I wanted to make sure we were completely, 100% prepared for any eventuality.
So I created a packing list for those of us who like to camp for long weekends, who don’t need to pack everything and the kitchen sink. (Some of these items you might even leave in your travel trailer for your next trip). This list would also work well for tent camping, too.
I included this list as a FREE printable below so you can print it out and check it off the next time you’re planning your weekend get away!
Weekend Trip RV & Travel Trailer Camping Packing List
Kitchen
Paper towels
Plates
Utensils
Spatula
Dish soap/hand soap
Cooking spray
Potholder
Tongs
Coffee maker
Aluminum Foil
Outdoor
Camp chairs
Speaker (for tunes)
Campfire starters
S’mores sticks
Firewood
Lighter
Bug spray
Flashlight
Linens
Bath towels/wash cloths
Hand towel
Beach towels (seasonal)
Bedding
Sheets/blankets
Sleeping bags
Pillows
Other
First Aid Kit/Medicines
Deck of cards, games
Rain jackets
Auxillary cord for speaker
Fishing equipment
Hiking boots/sneakers
Small tool box
Rope
Bungee cords
Sunscreen/Hats
Phone chargers
Batteries
Duct tape
Pocket knife
Books
Pack a bag with your clothes and toiletries, and fill your cooler with your food and beverages for the weekend and off you go! I hope you enjoy this pared down weekend packing list for RV, travel trailer and tent camping.
Download the FREE RV Weekend Camping Packing List here!
Or Pin this packing list on Pinterest so you can save it for another time!
We just returned home from our Spring Break trip to Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort, on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
This was our first time at the resort, and I can say without reservation, it currently holds the top-ranked places we’ve glamped so far. Continue reading “Camp Site Review: Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort”
Why do all travel trailers seem to come with the most hideous curtains? It seems like this would’ve been an area of decor improvement over the years, but alas, it seems the factory interior decor of most travel trailers is stuck in the 1970s.
I wanted to update our curtains and make the camper interior feel a little more “21st century,” but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the project. Pinterest, to the rescue! Just type in “travel trailer curtains” or “RV curtains” and you’ll find all kinds of DIY curtain blog posts to help inspire you.
I read through a few different sites, and was able to come up with my own variation of DIY ‘almost’ no-sew travel trailer curtains. (I’ll explain the ‘almost’ at the end of this post – you very well might be able to get away without sewing these curtains at all). Continue reading “DIY Almost No-Sew Curtains for RV or Travel Trailer”
Since we got our first travel trailer camper earlier this year, we’ve been able to escape on about seven weekend and/or week-long excursions so far. We’ve learned a little bit more with each trip, and it dawned on us after this last one to Lake Jocassee in South Carolina that we have a few, what I like to call, “first world camper problems.”
And they’re not even problems, they’re just things we’ve learned along the way, things we didn’t even know to ask when we were standing on the RV dealership lot with the salesman. Things we’re making notes of for when we get our next camper (down the road, of course). Continue reading “First world camper problems”
Happy camping!