Summer Camping/Glamping

Since I was a little girl I've always loved camping I have camped in tents, I have gone to camps where we slept in cabins, and I have slept in Yurts as well. A few years ago, I shared with you our Labor Day camping trip that has been a family tradition over the years. We go every Labor Day weekend but this year we also decided to go on an impromptu camping trip in June right after my birthday and right before I started summer quarter.

I love camping; whether it's in a tent, a yurt, or a cabin. I always find ways to make the trip more enjoyable for my family and me. Once we are at a campsite I enjoy hiking and swimming, boating, fishing and just enjoying the outdoors. We also hike without going camping.

I wanted to take this moment to not only share with you our trips from over the summer but also provide a little information on preparing for your own camping trip and just share with you some of the items that I like to pack for my family and I, and share with you how I began to build our camping box when we decided to make camping a regular part of our lives. I decided to split this post into 2 parts; the second part will help you prepare for your own trip. This post will be kind of long but hopefully you will find it interesting. 

In June, the forecast said that we were going to have a hot weekend and I knew that summer quarter was going to be crunch time and I had just finished spring quarter so I decided to go on to the Washington Parks website and just so happen to find one reservation for a small cabin. What I love about the cabins and Yurts at the Washington Parks campsites is that even though they do have beds and electricity they don't have running water, kitchens or bathrooms inside. The reason I like this is because it's still somewhat gives me a feel of actual outdoor camping more so in the yurt because the material that it's made from is like a canvas. However, there are bathroom facilities and water faucets on site. All the cooking is still done outside the only thing we do inside is sleep. 

The campsite was located at Twin Harbors about two hours from where we live and right on the ocean, my favorite place ever; I absolutely love being on the beach. So of course, you know this was absolutely perfect for me. During this trip, another family of campers let us know that there was a festival going on in Westport, so we went down to the festival and it just so happened to be a Pirate Days festival, it was so much fun. We also went over to one of the local hotels where they have a racetrack and we did some go-karting. The only issues I had were my allergies were in full effect and the mosquitoes. There were so many mosquitoes it was ridiculous and they really did a number on all of us; my son's head had so many lumps on it from being bit up it looked deformed, it was crazy. Don't let me get started on the citronella candle and the bug sprays that just did absolutely nothing and it was too hot to really wear a lot of clothing so we just dealt with it.

 

That trip opened my eyes a little bit to a few things since our last camping trip, I purchased a new vehicle. My last vehicle had a rack on top so we were able to store some of our items on top of the vehicle. However, the new vehicle does not have a rack on top as a matter of fact it actually has a moonroof and even though the other vehicle had a sunroof my new vehicle has one that goes across the entire roof of the vehicle. So, putting a rack on top would not necessarily be as feasible. On our way up to Twin Harbors everyone was a little crowded because we had stuff packed everywhere. So before going on our Labor Day trip I wanted to make sure I had something that I could use to make the trip more enjoyable by providing more space. Before the trip I knew this was going to be a problem because we had the same issue before I started utilizing the rack on top of my old vehicle so I was looking up trailers and pricing them  however while we were at Twin Harbors there was another family camping next to us and one of the trucks had a utility carrier on the back. At the time, I did not know what it was called so I searched on the internet until I found it and kept the name in the back of my head. So, when it was time to start preparing for our Labor day trip I went on Amazon and began to research utility carriers until I found what I would consider to be the best one. I decided to go with the Pro Series 63153 Rambler Hitch Cargo Carrier. There are other ones that are a lot less expensive but I really feel like I got the best one for us. I also ordered a StowAway Hitch Tightener, Anti-Rattle Stabilizer to prevent the Cargo Carrier from shaking. I purchased a Reese Towpower Dual Bent Pin Receiver Lock from Walmart so no one could steal the Cargo Carrier, along with a 36 in. x 60 in. Cargo Net from Harbor Freight Tools to keep everything secured during our travels. However, I did not purchase a light kit because we weren't going to be traveling at night; initially I had purchased some reflectors but they were too small so I returned them. I will however purchase a light kit later, just to have in the future. I absolutely loved our Cargo Carrier it honestly is probably my second favorite purchase for camping right behind my camping kitchen which I will share with you shortly. It gave us so much more room in the car just by being able to remove the bigger items out of the back, allowing more room for some of our other stuff. It was very easy to put together and very easy to attach and remove from the truck.

So, speaking of my most favorite purchase for camping, I would have to say it goes to my Bass Pro Shops Deluxe Camp Kitchen. The camping kitchen has really made camping even more fun for me because it provides me with the space to prepare my meals and it gives me a place to store everything while I'm on a camping trip so I'm not running back to my box to find everything and it allows me a surface to wash the dishes that we use so I'm not washing on top of a rock and running back and forth to wash our dishes. I was able to use the camping kitchen for both of our trips this summer. I wanted one last year before our Labor Day trip and they were sold out so I made it a point to order one at the beginning of the year so that they would have a lot in stock and I'm glad I did order it when I did because I had it for our June camping trip. I bought a bicycle lock for it so I could secure it to something and not have to worry about someone walking off with it whenever we decided to leave the campsite.

This year's Labor Day weekend trip was a lot of fun even though just a few days before we left my son broke the bottom of his tibia at football practice. I think it was good for him to go on this trip and got him out of his room which is where he had pretty much been all week and it got him Outdoors which he loves, it really lifted his spirits.

While on the trip he did not get to explore the campsite as much as usual but he still had a good time and of course we left the campsite many times and explored as a family. We also discovered a little area for swimming which after all of these years at this particular campsite we had never noticed before. I am definitely going to make sure we utilize this area every single time we go to this campsite. While we were there my son was able to bring out his new fishing pole even though there weren't really any fish worth catching; they were entirely too small but it was still a fun experience for him. We brought a family member along to keep him company and he was able to catch some frogs that were in the area and we all just had a really good time. On our second night, my daughter and her boyfriend drove up and joined us. It had been a couple of years since she had joined us on a camping trip since usually during this time of year she is away at school. Now that she has decided to complete her education here she will be able to join us again. There is a wood snd charcoal burn ban in our state so I had to drive to Walmart and purchase a new tabletop propane grill. I actually needed to replace the one that I have at home so I didn't mind so much. It felt a little different not being able to cook marshmallows over the campfire but we still enjoyed ourselves.

See the next post to get you started on what to take on your own camping trip.

And it is what it is!