Traveling and Vacations Tips

Archive for August, 2009

So you want to take your kids camping just like you did as a child with your parents of grandma or grandpa. Opps the camp ground they took you to is now condos on the lake .

Let assume you are new to camping but you have some experience as a child. You will need to become familiar with camping gear. If you have a friend that camps a lot you can go with them to learn the basics.

Ah go with a friend and show him he is smarter then me not a chance. For I would never hear the end of it.

The first thing you will need is some type of shelter for you and the kids.
Then you will need some thing to sleep in a sleeping bag and something to cook with. Pots and pans portable barbecue hey I know how to use that. Already you are on the road to your first camping trip.

What Gear Do I Need?

Most first timers start out with a tent. The first tent should not be to expensive but it should provide good shelter in the wind and rain. With all the models out there spend some time looking them over do not get one that requires a masters degree in engineering to set up. Stay to the basic needs as you get more experience the tent can be given to the kids as you will upgrade to a fancy one.

Remember you are camping on a budget no use in spending thousands of dollars for all the gear only to find the wife , kids, or your self hates camping. The tent should shield you from bugs sun and the rain.

More than 600 easy to do money saving tips in the 10-Minute Tech The Book.

There are bugs our here in the wilderness so be ware. The tent should have a good screen to keep the little varmints out and yet be easy for the kids to open.

The tent will be some place to sleep and store your cloths. If the weather turns bad them the kids can play or read in the tent under supervision. It is nice to sleep under the stars but you will have to get a tent sooner or later.

So choose one that has enough room for you and the family and all the gear you will want to put in the tent while you are out swimming. Your tent should cost between 100 to 200 dollars depending on the style you pick for your family

If you want to sleep in a tent or under the stars up should have some type of padding The ground is not comfortable to sleep on. You will find padded mats made from plastic with air bubbles, vinyl cover stuffed pads and the good old air mattress.

I prefer the air mattress as it also doubles for the family to float around on the lake. If you go with the air mattress remember you will need a pump to blow them up a large foot pump works best.

Sleeping bags

If you are like most people you will be camping in the summer and early fall so do not buy a sleeping bag rated for -20 weather this will just be extra money that could be use for some thing other thing you will want.

The light rectangular sleeping bag will do If you and your spouse want to sleep in the same sleeping bag just zip them together and you will have one large sleeping bag. Do not forget your pillows but if you do roll up your towels they can make not a bad pillow.

Be sure to have at least two ground tarps at least the size of the floor of your tent. Place on down on the ground then set your tent on it. The second one may be used as a shelter above the picnic table.

Campground Cooking

All of use love the smell of food cooking outside whether it is at the camp ground or in the backyard. If you barbecue a lot at home you all ready have the basic now how to camp cook. Most public camp grounds and private camp ground will have a picnic table and a cooking pit at each camp site.

Take a portable grill with you and you will feel right at home. Pick up a gas stove and a set of pots and pans and you are ready to be a camp chef, remember a coffee pot as the nearest coffee shop may be 20 or so miles away.

Depending on you level of cooking skills you will now be able to prepare meats as if you were at home.

When shopping for gear go to the local big box store as they will carry every thing you need. Some will have tents set up if so climb in ask yourself is this roomy and will every one fit in comfortable. along with all the stuff you will take with you.

If the tents are not set up mark out a piece of the floor at home with tape this will be the same size as the floor of the tent call a family meeting and get every body to lay in the tape lines you laid down is it the right size? If not reassess your needs.

That’s it…you are that much closer to have a fun camping trip for all!

Florida camping can be expensive. My wifa Ana and I paid $23 to camp in our conversion van one night. Of course, it was at a beautiful state park on the beach, and in the morning we saw a dolphin swimming near shore.

Florida camping can be inexpensive too. While at the beach, we heard we could camp for free at the isolated campgrounds which dotted the Apalachicola National Forest. Naturally, our frugality sent us into alligator country.

We camped two nights in the dark woods, next to the dark waters of a slow river. There was was an old guy who seemed to be living there, and a young couple with their two-year-old daughter. Lester was from England, Kari from Texas, and Indya was born in Guatamala. They met in India, of course.

No crowds, and the price was right. March nights can be chilly here, so the six of us circled the fire at night, trading stories, and sometimes sneaking down to the water to look for the eyes of alligators. Unfortunately, we saw nothing, but we did hear splashes in the night.

Lake Talquin

The old guy told us that camping was also free at Williams Landing, on Lake Talquin, about twenty minutes west of Tallahassee. We moved up there, looking forward to the hot showers. Lester, Kari, and Indya followed the next day in “The Beast,” which was an old RV that had carried them there from Texas.

For eight days, we continued trading stories around the fire each night. We saw all kinds of wildlife. Packs of armadillos walked through camp, and giant grey herons fished offshore from the van. There were racoons, owls, squirrels, ducks, and turtles. Then there was the “monster.”

I was poking around near a corner of the lake, when I heard the splash. We had already seen two small alligators sunning themselves the day before, but this one had to be a giant. I returned with Ana the next morning, and again heard the splash, but it was under the water before we could see it.

Every morning we visited the monster once the sun was high enough for him to come out and soak up the heat. We caught glimpses, enough to know he was at least ten feet long. Lester and Kari made a “Crocodile Hunter” movie of us stalking it. Soon it no longer panicked, but just slowly lowered itself into the water, as if getting ready to hunt us properly.

After that we stopped trying to get so close to it. The five of us went to view alligators safely after that, from the tour boat at Wakulla Springs. I even got the chance to jump off of the big diving platform there. We eventually said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, but we hope it wasn’t our last time in Florida, camping.