Hopefully hubby and I will get to do some RV Camping soon, we usually go depending on the weather~in March or April the first trip and try to go atleast once or twice a month. Both our children are married and they love camping aslo so we always try to make it family outtings when possible, our daughter owns a RV also and our son loves roughing it in a tent...I used to love tent camping but am older and wiser LOL older anyway and RV is the only way to go!

What are you planning in the next few months for fun activity?

we're hoping to do a camping trip sometime soon as well. My kids have never been camping so I think they'd enjoy it. I've only been once, and it wasn't really a "true" camping trip, as we didn't have to "rough" it for anything....we'll probably head over to Mineral Wells to the state park there, or head up to Arkansas near his parents and go to Devil's Den. I think it would be a great way for us to do some family bonding

I'd like to try RV camping, and I believe we can get some great rates through the base on rentals as well as being able to hook up at a variety of base locations if we roadtrip, like we hope to do later this year and head up towards DC. If we rent, do you have any recommendations? We'd have 3 kids so we need a fair amount of room.

Jenn
You can have just as much fun RV Camping as roughing it actually. We own our camper so that makes it easier for us to up and go whenever we chose.

As far as the best rental~~~
You need a good size truck to pull the camper the bigger the truck the better the camper size you can rent/own. They have some very small campers that are used just for sleeping and then cooking, etc all outside. Then you can get a 26" standard size that will sleep 6 comfortably with everything they are loaded. Then from there you can get campers with a slide out to make them more more roomerier~for this you would need a good sized truck to pull the extra weight.

Ours is a pull-type camper {uses a ball/bumper hitch} and is 26' it sleeps 6 and is loaded, personally I wouldn't want anything smaller for us {hubby & I} it is perfect for 2 people the way it is designed.

When we take the 2 grandgirls we let out the sofa into a full size bed and the table and benches make into a full size bed, and we sleep on a queen size bed. My daughter has a 5th wheel camper and they love it it looks like luxury on wheels they are so roomy and homey! Most 5th wheels have slideouts for more room when set up. For these you need a hitch in the bed of the truck for hookup. Hubby thinks these would be easier to pull and manuver but they are high up off the ground and that means lots of steps for me to climb, even kinside once your inside there can be step up to the bathroom and/or bedroom. so at this point we are happy with the pull type.

Good luck with your camping and let me know if you get to go and hear all about your trip.

Ah, the days of camping. Sweet memories. I use to tent camp all the time when I was younger, it was fun. Now with all the aches and pains that come from an uncomfortable night's sleep, I could not do it.
But I would love to go RVing. Of course we do not own an RV and would have to rent one, and I am sure they are costly. But that sounds like fun, I could use some time away from it all. (Every fall we take a week and go up north to rent a cabin, and we both just work on hobbies, I take my sewing machine and quilt all week, It is heaven, But that is fall time, and right now I don't want to miss spring and summer when it finally gets here,)
But, we live in a very wooded area, so even sitting on our deck in the summer is like camping. God's country.
But hey, Deb, thanks for bringing to life camping memories, it is just what I needed, since I sit here still waiting for our 10 inches of snow and solid ice on the ground to melt away. That is WI for ya.
I am thinking fresh green grass.

Hi Debo we love to camp we had a trailor and loved it but we couldnt get close to the water like we can with a tent. I love to cook with a dutch oven and on the campfire. We have cots with the pads so it will be nicer for my DH he has a bad back and the pads are the memory foam. We are going again in April to camp verde for a few days. My DH wants a dutch oven cake and cornbread and stew sounds like I will be cooking most of the time. Hope you have lots of fun we always do.

Debo-
DH and I also have a camper...26/28 foot...depends on where you measure, and all dealers measure different!
Ours has a front bedroom/rear kitchen. We also have a slide out sofa.
We love it and go camping every chance we get. I even make him take it out and we set it up so I can camp when he has to work weekends.
We have just started getting into the dutch oven cooking. We have several recipes that are favorites. Some were just a little made up! One we call "Dump Stew" if that gives any indication what all it in it...
I made room in 1 of the cupboards for my sewing machine, and I usually take it with us. Gives me something to do if he has to work and is gone. You can't believe that amount of sewing I can get done in a day with no internet access!
We tell the kids that it eats 6, but only sleeps 2! They are welcome to come camping, but they better bring their tents! And they do, we have so much fun when all the kids come. We will take the canoe, and we won't see that for the better part of the weekend unless we threaten them!
Our camping season is still over a month away. Maybe the later part of April or middle of May if the weather doesn't start to straighten up!
Now you have me itching to get out there...
Jami
PS- Maybe spring won't be so far away...I saw my first Robin today!

Hubby and I go with friends and my sister and her family every year. We go Memorial weekend, and for a week at 4th of July every year and then throw in a few more weekends when we can.

Mare
Tent camping was the way to go in my younger years but now it is simply RV camping for our health and besides we are outdoors and active so it must be good for us right.
Glad I could bring back good memories for you Mare. Sounds like you live in the perfect spot for all year round scenery and memory making. I just love getting away with hubby otherwise he lets other things get in the way of quiet time for me and for himself too! He thinks he always has to be up and going and doing and no rest for the weary~this way he rests and I get hime to myself with the kids and we always have a blast out together this way., it is lots of fun and some work to it but then when is life not work sometime anyway, so we might as well enjoy while we can.

Nana
Yes I totally for got to mention the dutch over~we started using it this past summer and we make up our own recipes also, this brings back some of the old time cooking back to the camping trips, we love it! Anytime I can cook outside and not cooped up in the camper to cook works great for me and my daughter! Keeps the camper odor free too! My daughter has a couple coolers on wheels that she brings since she has kids and we just bring one for soft drinks to kjeep them cool since our refrig is small-med. sized.

Jami
I know what you mean about camper size, our bedroom is in the back end and coming forward is the dining and living room area then the kitchen. It is just perfect for the 2 of us but a slide out would afford more living room space if we had it, it would be so nice but who can complain since we don't stay inside that much, unless we know we are going when the weather is bad and we find things to do by the campfire or stay inside. It is just nice to be away from all the everday things in life once in a while.

Mandy
Memorial weekend opens the season here technically and then it closes around labor day but now that RV camping is so popular we can camp from February until the weather says we have to stop~which would mean winter-rizing the camper to keep lines from freezing. We have been early as March but it's usually April through Septemeber for us, averaging once a month trips sometimes 2 wekends a month.

I have a delicious peach cobbler recipe for camping and easy as mud pie making it.

Peach Cobbler

1 larger 16oz can of sweet canned peaches
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter cut into 1/4" bits on top


Layer each ingredient in order as listed into the dutch oven {{{DO NOT STIR}}} and bake until it is bubbly and golden brown. The juices from the fruit will bubble up into the dry mix and it will moisturize the mix perfectly and the butter will melt over the top and give it the golden brown sweetness! I have made these cobblers for years here at home in the oven baking them about 30 minutes on 350 but on an open fire I wouldn't begin to tell you how long to cook it, I have made so many that I can just tell by the smell and looking at the texture when it is done.

Any sweet canned fruit can be added like a can of blueberry pie filling or cherry pie filling or apples. They are not for anyone watching calorie or carb intake thought let me tell you that! Blackberries are another good substitute!!!

Try baked potatoes on the coals and corn boiled in the oven or roasted on the grill with your favorite steaks or burgers, yummmmmmmmmmmmm yummmmmmm!!! I got to get I am making myself hungry...

Anything in the dutch over can be fun to try so let's hear some good recipes and ideas here...

My family loves camping! I can never get enough camping...

We usually go to lakes so we can take the boat & have the water activities. One of our favorite places has boat-in campsites...takes us a couple boatloads to get everything to camp, but it's great fun!

When I really get an itch for camping, the kids & I will go about 30 miles up the road to another of our fave places, set up camp on Monday morning, DH will join us after work - and commute to/from work all week from camp (what a good sport he is). He stops at home on the way to work to take care of animals, shower, etc. He can also shop for additional supplies while he's "down the mountain."

I LOVE DUTCH OVEN COOKING! I now have 3 of them, and stack them! It's great for cooking multi-course meals...especially dessert!

I also like backpack camping, but haven't done too much of it - yet! More this summer

With the weather turning nicer, I'm already itching for camping!!

I think we may have to start a thread with recipes for campfire cooking in cast iron. I have not done much camping. My grandfather built a summer cottage on a lake in Northern Michigan and my mother was lucky enough to inherit it. It does have electricity but no phone and no indoor plumbing. We sleep in old iron or brass beds. We do have a firepit and we do quite a bit of cooking outside.

Since we have begun having these unbearably hot, humid summers, I do very little cooking inside. DH and I have adapted some of my families campfire recipes for the grill. I have almost a complete set of cast iron and have adapted many of our family favorites. We make meatloaf, au gratin potates, baked macaroni and cheese, hobo stew, lesco, pineapple upsidedown cake and cobblers to name just a few.