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?”
It took us over a year to finally secure a spot at the coveted Anchor Down RV Resort in Dandridge, TN, and we can tell you……it was definitely worth the wait!
This lakeside RV resort has only been open for seven years, but it’s already built up a devoted following. Besides having Douglas Lake and the Smoky Mountains as your backdrop, you’re only a hop, skip and a jump from all of the Eastern Tennessee attractions, such as The Island in Pigeon Forge, Dollywood, Gatlinburg and Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Continue reading “Campground Review: Anchor Down RV Resort”
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”
I’m a bonafide Type-A planner extraordinaire. Always have been, I’m guessing always will be. I love planning out trips, doing research on places to visit and restaurants to go to – it gives me something to look forward to!
But every once in a blue moon, our family finds ourselves with a long weekend with absolutely no plans – one that would be perfect for hitching up the travel trailer and going on a quick camping trip.
It seems that unless you plan your campground visits months and months in advance, there’s “no room at the inn,” so to speak. Which really limits any chance for a spontaneous camping weekend!
Don’t get me wrong, planning ahead often gives me a chance to make sure everything is ready to go – but there’s something to be said about finding that rare last minute camping opportunity.
Where do you go to find last-minute camping trip opportunities? Do you call around to your favorite campgrounds and pray there’s been a cancellation? Do you try your luck at “first come, first serve” campgrounds and hope there’s a spot left for you?
We’d love to hear your tips on how you make spontaneous camping trips work! Maybe – just maybe – we’ll be able to find a unicorn of a weekend where we could sneak away and go camping at the last minute!
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!
It’s the end of February, which means in just a few short weeks, Bessie the Travel Trailer will be out of storage and hitting the road! As you know, most popular campground and RV camp sites fill up very quickly (seriously, some of these places are harder to get in to than FastPasses at DisneyWorld!), so we’ve already mapped out our travels for the first half of the year.
Here’s where we’ve booked some trips so far this year – have you been to any of these?
Continue reading “Let’s get rollin’: 2018 Travel Trailer Camping Trips”
So, we’re not-so-patiently waiting for the arrival of our first travel trailer! We’ve ordered the one we want through a local dealership, and now we’re just waiting on it to come in. (Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here YET?!).
We’ve been given an estimate of January 2017 for our travel trailer to arrive. I fully expect us to be waiting at the dealership with balloons and a cake to help make it feel more welcome when it gets to us!
In the meantime, Gib and I are making wish lists galore of things we want to have in our travel trailer. Obviously, there’s a LOT we need to get, and we’re already plunking down a chunk of change just investing in the trailer alone.
So we’re trying to be smart and not blow our entire vacation budget in one fell swoop by looking for things we know we need for our first trips, and things we can purchase down the road.
Happy camping!