Camping Tips
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Cracker Barrel RV Parking – Our Experience
A lot of people have heard about staying overnight in Walmart parking lots for free, but did you know that you can stay at a Cracker Barrel for free as well?! It’s true. Cracker Barrel RV parking is allowed over night, and we experienced it firsthand. For even more options, check out this list of other places that allow free overnight RV parking as well. As we were gearing up for our 8-hour road trip to the Spring Cove campground at Bass Lake, we thought it would be nice to get on the road a day earlier and break up the drive. Many campgrounds on our journey were already booked…
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Thor 30.2 Ace Motorhome – Our New RV
Prior to purchasing our Thor 30.2 Ace motorhome, my husband and I had been tent campers our whole lives. When I was a child, my family actually bought a motorhome, but it was a punishment for us kids to have to sleep in it. We all had our tents and we loved sleeping in them, so we only slept in the motorhome if it was raining or if we got in trouble. I still genuinely enjoy tent camping. There’s something special about sleeping in a tent. But there’s obviously a ton of prep work, packing and loading that goes along with tent camping. After 11 years of tent camping with…
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How to Make Ice Last Longer in a Cooler
An ice chest is an important camping essential. But when you’re camping, the last thing you want to be doing is making an ice run every day. It’s important that your food stays cold, but there are things you can do to avoid extra ice runs, and many won’t cost you a penny. These simple tips on how to make ice last longer in a cooler will help you to spend less time and money on ice during your camping trips. How to Make Ice Last Longer in a Cooler: Invest in a Good Ice Chest If you feel like you’re going through ice too quickly, it might be due…
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How to Plan a Multi-Family or Group Camping Trip
We just got back from our second-annual group camping trip at Yucaipa Regional Park. This has quickly become one of our favorite traditions, and it has a lot to do with the families who join us on this trip. While there is no large group camping site at this particular campground, it’s easy enough to get lots of individual campsites near each other, making for a fun group camping trip. There’s a lot that goes into planning a group camping trip. If you’re the brave soul volunteering to plan a multi-family or group camping trip, you deserve a high five—and a little help. Here’s a guide to making it fun,…
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Rainy Day Camping Hacks for Families: How to Stay Dry, Happy & Sane
Let’s be real—rain and camping don’t exactly sound like a dream combo, especially when you’ve got little ones in tow. But here’s the good news: with a little prep and the right gear, camping in the rain can still be a fun, cozy, and even memorable family adventure. We’ve done some summertime mountain camping where it’s clear and sunny one minute, and the next minute the clouds are coming in for a torrential downpour. While it’s not usually ideal, it does always add a bit of excitement to the day. Last time we were camping in June Lake, we had about two hours of solid rain that came out of…
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How to Stay Warm in a Tent
When we were tent campers (feels like it was yesterday… oh wait, it pretty much was!), I felt so limited as to where and when we could go camping because I didn’t want to freeze at night. Then one year, we went camping at Meeks Bay in Lake Tahoe at the end of June, and we absolutely froze. After that trip, I was determined to learn how to stay warm in a tent. After a few key purchases, we are now prepared to camp in any kind of weather. Make sure you check out my tips for camping in the rain as well. How to Stay Warm in a Tent:…
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Family Camping Gear Recommendations
If you are just starting off to camping, the list of what you need to get started can be really pricey and overwhelming at first. I always recommend to start off with the basics (check out my blog post Getting Started: Camping Basics), and then you can upgrade your family camping gear over time. Christmas and birthdays are great times to ask for nice camping equipment as gifts. Or you can shop Black Friday deals and Amazon Prime Day deals as well, and just upgrade a little at a time. These recommendations are not for new campers–meaning, don’t feel like you need to start off with cream of the crop…
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How to Successfully Reserve Popular Campgrounds
People always ask me how I get so lucky at getting campsites. The answer is, it’s not all luck. Knowing how to use the national and state park websites for American campgrounds is key. Proper planning and knowing these tricks that can help improve your chances of getting campsites at those hard-to-get places. The government websites like recreation.gov and reservecalifornia.com can be extremely frustrating to deal with. Campsites are often gone within seconds of the booking window opening. Sometimes the website kicks you out and you don’t even get a chance to try. I’ve been through it all. Here are my biggest strategies I use to successfully book popular American…
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Types of Tents for Camping: How to Choose a Family Tent
Call me a nerd, but I love walking campgrounds and checking out everybody’s camping gear. There are so many different tent types out there. And seeing them set up and arranged on a campsite is better than seeing them in pictures on Amazon or in a box at the store. Some people have the fanciest tent arrangements, and others are simply sleeping in a hammock in a tree. I love the variety and getting inspired by people’s camp setups. When it comes to buying a tent, there are many different types of tents you can choose from. Like most things, you’ll need to consider how you are going to use…
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Must-Have Items for Every Camping Adventure
Camping List Checklist: Everything You Need for Your Next Camping Trip Packing for a camping trip always feels a little overwhelming to me. I mean, packing always stinks, but there is so much more stuff involved with camping. I wanted to make this camping list checklist to help make the packing burden easier for you. One thing we’ve done that really helps cut down on some of the packing is use storage tubs for a bunch of our camping gear, so it’s just a matter of grabbing those from the garage and putting them in the back of the truck. We have one tub that’s packed with all the camping…
