Is there such a thing as spontaneous camping anymore?

family camping

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.

The challenge? Finding a campground that’s not full.

 

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!

Camp Site Review: Misty Mountain Camp Resort, Charlottesville, VA

The Family Glampers

We had a chance to visit Misty Mountain Camp Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia over the summer for a long weekend, and it was such a great time!

Misty Mountain is centrally located to all the area’s sites and attractions: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the University of Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway, hiking, tubing, and not to mention the many wineries and breweries.  Continue reading “Camp Site Review: Misty Mountain Camp Resort, Charlottesville, VA”

Our Travel Trailer Wish List

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This is not the camper we purchased…this picture was taken during one of our travel trailer shopping trips. But oh, how it gets us so excited to think of our own camper coming in soon!

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.

Continue reading “Our Travel Trailer Wish List”

Camp Site Review: Table Rock State Park

The Family Glampers

Happy Wednesday, folks! We don’t know about you, but we’re already in the throes of planning out our camping trips for 2017. (This is in part due to how fast the state park camp sites fill up in North Carolina and South Carolina, and also because we have to submit vacation days off requests, work around school calendars, etc.).

We try to do a ton of research on sites like ReserveAmerica, TripAdvisor and the plain, ole Internet to try to find camp sites that are 1) within driving distance from us in Greenville, S.C., and 2) have good outdoor activities for us – be it hiking, swimming in the lake, kayaking, etc.

We thought we’d start a new series here on The Family Glampers to review the camp sites we visit to provide another resource for YOU as you’re planning your next trip. First up: Table Rock State Park in Pickens, S.C.

Keep on reading!

Camping in the Rain

The Family Glampers

You may wonder what got us started on the journey to become glampers? And I’m here to tell you. Rain. Rain is what started this whole journey.

You see, I LOVE the outdoors. I like camping in the woods, I love exploring new hiking trails, I adore sitting around a campfire with my family.

But I do NOT like camping in the rain. And for the first couple of years we started out camping as a family, it seemed Mother Nature was determined to literally rain on our parade.

Keep on reading!