A Total Camping Experience by Dori Harrell.
On our last camping trip, the sweet-tangy scent of the teriyaki chicken and shrimp shish kabobs on my husband’s Baby Q tempted a fellow camper driving by in a pickup. He poked his head out the window and asked, “Can we buy some of those?”
Another time, my innovative husband, Doug, surprised us and set steak and lobster on the picnic table. For our active family, camping means the best meals, the most fun and unsurpassed relaxation.
We roast bratwurst and kielbasa over the fire—for dessert. For treats, we bake pies with fresh-picked huckleberries and scrounge every last square inch of campground for morel mushrooms, which we pan fry to a crisp, golden brown. We cut and stack firewood six feet high, fish all day, river surf, hike miles and miles, play new games, tell silly jokes and nap in a hammock.
The first time our family of six packed up and headed for the mountains, we brought a tent, hot dogs, hamburgers, each other and little else.
We sat on the ground. The kids hunted for sticks to roast chicken weenies over our meager fire—no roasting forks, newspapers or kindling. Sympathetic campers in neighboring sites loaned us firewood. Conversations dwindled by mid-morning.
We picked a spot with no shade and toasted our bodies. The nearest river was a five-mile hike, and once there, we discovered poking fish eggs (or any bait) onto a hook led to a hefty fine.
We ran out of paper plates, food, water and Band-Aids after three days and were forced to depart four days early for the homestead, which was fine, because our rain-soaked tent wouldn’t have survived another night anyway. Anxiety replaced relaxation and Dad, Mom and kids wondered why anybody thought camping a worthwhile event.
But our family didn’t give up (we couldn’t afford to vacation anywhere but a campground), and over the last 10 years, we’ve developed a system to ensure a fun and relaxing time for the entire family. It’s more work up front, but well worth the effort. Here are our top 10 tips for an unforgettable campsite—whether for a weekend or an extended vacation, for tents or RVs (not intended for backpacking):
1. Plan meals in advance. Rather than just grab hot dogs on the run, make a menu. For one breakfast, cook French toast, eggs and bacon (turkey bacon for those watching their weight), biscuits and gravy for another (great sausage gravy recipe below). For dinner, shish kabobs one night, marinated flank steak with baked potatoes and sour cream dressing the next, and don’t forget the ever-popular barbecue spareribs (if your husband is anything like mine, make sure he gets his own rack of ribs). Because we consume a large breakfast and supper, our family forgoes lunch and sets out snacks for the afternoon. Write a checklist of ingredients and supplies needed (vegetable spray, barbecue, griddle, pie tins, biscuit pan). Decide early on who cooks what. For example, Dad barbecues, the boys fry bacon over an open fire, Grandpa breads and pan fries the fresh-caught trout filets (also over an open fire), Grandma bakes pies and the girls prepare salads. And mom? Well, uh, let’s see, she—well, see how well this advance planning works?
2. Learn some new games before you leave and teach the rest of the family while camping. The new challenges will consume kids and teens and occupy them for hours. Pack travel games for the ride up, such as electronic Outburst and Catch Phrase, in which the driver can answer questions without losing focus on the road. Also, an electronic joke machine saved just for the campfires helps end evenings on a happy note. Games we recommend: Mexican Train Wreck (a Domino game available at many toy stores and online); and Nerts (a card game)
3. Choose a location guaranteed to supply shade and wilderness entertainment. No trees? No water? No trails? Forget it. Keep looking. Important note: Two trees stationed close enough to rig up a hammock are a must. Several spots within an hour of the Yakima Valley offer gorgeous sites by rivers. Campgrounds we suggest: Kaner Flat, up Chinook Pass and off the Little Naches River Road; Soda Springs, also up Chinook Pass, but off the Bumping River Road; and La Wis Wis, off Highway 12 near White Pass.
4. Stock up on fishing supplies and bring a state fishing regulation guide. This may seem a given, but I’m amazed at how many campers run out of lures, line and bait, and fish with illegal equipment. Nothing kills a great camping experience like a citation from the game warden and watching him walk away with all your fish.
5. Wear in hiking boots before packing them. From personal experience, I can tell you blisters on the heels nine miles up a mountain mean relief won’t come for nine more miles and several hours limping back down the trail. Wear them in each year. Just because you broke in your $200 boots last summer does not mean you’ll skip blisters this year.
6. Choose your site and check the weather forecast before you hit the road. We’ve canceled trips and rearranged schedules at the last second because of burn bans, expected downpours or constant fog, and we’ve almost always been rewarded with sun-drenched encounters accompanied by evening campfires. There’s nothing worse than stepping out of the tent or camper into a 12-inch deep puddle or sitting around a fire pit without any flames. Check the weather online before you head out.
7. Invite friends. Last summer, we were just getting to know a couple from our church, Bruce and Melissa Peart, and we invited them to go camping with us for a weekend. We fed them steak, ribs, teriyaki chicken and cheddar bratwurst. We hunted for new fishing holes and hiked familiar trails. Conversation flowed and our friendship flourished. They agreed to two more camping weekends, and our friendship was cemented. This year, we asked the Pearts and several others to join us for a week in the Wallowa mountains in eastern Oregon. The Pearts’ excellent ratings of the previous trips encouraged the others to commit.
8. When you’re able, haul some big toys and tools. It took years before we could afford and accumulate elements such as bicycles, motorbikes, air pistols and a chainsaw. But now we don’t leave even for a weekend without them. We acquired many of these items just as our four kids turned into teenagers, and we’ve never once heard, “Do I have to go camping again? That’s all we ever do.” Instead, our children write poems about our camping trips for school assignments.
9. Record your memories. Trips become a blur after years, so fill up journals with anecdotes and take lots of pictures (we’re totally digital and recommend digital cameras and digital video cameras). If you don’t snap photos, who’s going to believe you barbecued shish kabobs, body surfed the rapids, or hooked a 22-inch brown trout while fishing flat on your back on a rock surrounded by a fast-flowing river?
10. Chainsaw, chainsaw, chainsaw. Camping without a fire is like driving on flat tires: you wouldn’t even try it. Most campsites permit the felling of dead trees. Stockpile enough firewood for a couple of days at a time, and if you have any to spare, send the kids to sell some to other campers.
As a final note, everyone participates in cleanup. We divvy up chores before pulling into the driveway. The girls wash the 25 loads of laundry. The boys empty the fridge and shake out the rugs. Dad scrubs the RV floors and windows. Mom, she, uh, she—see what advance planning does?
Gravy sausage recipe:
Brown one pound pork sausage (we prefer Jimmy Dean). Add three tablespoons flour, three cups milk and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Heat on medium until hot. Scoop gravy onto hot biscuits. Serves four to six.
is a sling-type carrier that adjusts easily and is very portable. It comes with an instructional DVD that I recommend you watch because I see people wearing them wrong all the time and it is so much more comfortable to wear it right. I didn’t care for the Snugli or Baby Bjorn very much because it was hard to nurse a newborn in those carriers, and because they can only be worn in one position. If you use these carriers from the beginning your strength will grow as the baby grows and you shouldn’t feel much muscle strain or soreness. If you are starting to use these carriers with an older baby you just want to ease into it, increasing the duration steadily to avoid muscle trauma. I use mine around the house, for hands-free housecleaning and to protect my tiny babies from my toddlers.