Family Camping

[VAC]

IMO, camping vacations were the best family vacations we ever had. It was great bonding time. We haven’t taken a real vacation in several years for various reasons and I miss it.
To me, camping out in the mountains in a national park was so much more relaxing than standing in lines at Disney or Universal.

We had a pop up for 7-8 years, It got tight as our family grew larger Cost to repair the roof made in not worth keeping, so we sold it to someone who was going to use it for hurricaine Katrina relief efforts. Our dreams of buying a trailer have not materialized, but DH did buy the Suburban to pull it with. Maybe next year.

The only disadvantage of a pop up vs. a hard body trailer was that DH refused to take any cold/snow weather trips in it. Plus it’s more work to set up.
It stretched our vacation budget so that we could take trips we couldn’t have otherwise afforded. Campsites, especially state and national parks charge a fraction of what hotels do, not to mention cooking your own food rather than restaurants 3 meals a day.

Edited to add: DH and I have dreamed of spending our retirement travelling the country in an RV

 

[SeekerJen]

It stretched our vacation budget so that we could take trips we couldn’t have otherwise afforded. Campsites, especially state and national parks charge a fraction of what hotels do, not to mention cooking your own food rather than restaurants 3 meals a day.

I was absolutely amazed at how cheap the camping trip was. The campsite was $25/night and I think we only ate at a restaurant for one dinner (it was 95 degrees that day and DH needed A/C). We had a coleman stove and a Weber Jr. and we did some really good meals.

 

[Cristiano]

Did you hear that about all propane cans, or just the small ones? We have our big tanks for the outdoor grilled at least once per summer and that’s no problem.

Only the little green ones as far as I know.

 

[manualman]

The little 1# green ones are not certified for refilling. They are prone to leaking after a refill. I bought liquid fuel ‘white gas’ stove and lantern to avoid monkeying with those tanks.

Alternately, you can buy a small 5# refillable LP tank and adapters to hook the portable stove and lanterns to it.

 

[Cristiano]

What is “white gas”? I have seen it in a few catalogs.

 

[manualman]

White gas, aka Coleman fuel is IIRC naptha, a distilled petroluem product that volatilizes easily and almost totally (no residue).

It was once the almost universal camping fuel, but has been almost displaced by the 1# LP appliances in recent years.

In careful hands, white gas is actually safer because it is not stored under pressure, but you do have to remember two basic safety rules at all times:

1. Never open the tank or refill can anywhere near an open flame.
2. let the appliance cool off for 10 minutes or so before refueling.

White gas costs less per BTU, the stoves usually burn hotter and it is easy to know how much fuel you have left before you light up. That’s why I like it better. But its getting harder to find these days.

 

[Uncle_David]

We purchased a pop-up camper in September and have already used it 6 times. That doesn’t include the weekend nights we slept in it in the backyard The wife and kiddo’s love this camping thing!

 

[Cristiano]

We purchased a pop-up camper in September and have already used it 6 times. That doesn’t include the weekend nights we slept in it in the backyard The wife and kiddo’s love this camping thing!

You just made me drool with envy!!

My problem is that we do not have cars strong enough to tow anything. Both cars are about 12 years old and I am too frugal (cheap according to my family) to buy anything newer and more powerful.

 

[Uncle_David]

You just made me drool with envy!!

My problem is that we do not have cars strong enough to tow anything. Both cars are about 12 years old and I am too frugal (cheap according to my family) to buy anything newer and more powerful.

That’s one of the advantages of a pop-up camper - they are light weight! I have a 1999 Chevy V-6 pickup with 111,000 miles on it. I am “cheap” as well My camper is heavier than most pop-ups @ 3700lbs. There are several models that are much lighter and easily towable by some cars. The bumper on my truck is rated for 5000 lbs so I didn’t even need a tow-package, just the $12 chrome ball-hitch

 

[bluerose]

I just started camping two years ago. First camping trip–Grand Canyon! We bought the tent, sleeping bags and Coleman stove for a family Christmas gift a year earlier. This year, we’re getting air mattresses. My husband’s got degenerative disc disease and just CANNOT sleep on the ground. I’m not complaining! Also, hubby insists, INSISTS, on campgrounds with showers. We stayed at Mather campground at GC (IIRC, the showers were $1.50 for 5 minutes ) and then we went to Buckskin Mountain State Park near Parker, AZ, right on the Colorado River, last October (oh, yes, if you’re camping in Arizona, October’s the best time to go!) and they had clean bathrooms and the showers were free. We love camping! Our next camping trip will be closer to home–the Gila Wilderness near Silver City, NM. We also want to try Abilene State Park near Abilene, TX, and Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park near Estes Park, CO. Anyone else have suggestions?