Camping Fan

Have you ever been to an RV Show?

If not, you should really take a couple of hours on a weekend sometime and check one out.

There are absolutely amazing! If for those “hard-core” campers who don’t consider it camping unless you are in a tent that you can carry on your back during a 15 mile hike.

They literally have anything and everything you could ever want to see/hear/know about camping.

Are you looking for some information on campgrounds local to your area? Go to an RV show. There are usually dozens of campgrounds that are there giving information about what they have to offer.

Accessories? Camping gear? The latest technologies?

You have no idea what you are missing if you haven’t been to one before.

 If you don’t know where/when then check out this site: http://www.gorving.com/customsource/shows.cfm?section=rv_show_search as they list a bunch of shows around the country.

Eric

I know that this doesn’t really have anything to do with camping but since I’m a Phillies fan and since they won the World Series last night I just have to:

YEAH PHilllies!!!!!

Okay so I am making this pilgrimage to Hawk Mountain which will of course need a side trip to Cabella’s on the way home since it’s only about a 10 minute detour from where we are camping.

What do I need to pack?

All of my winter outdoor clothing of course!

I’m not really worried about myself or my older son but it’s my younger son that has me concerned. He has never been winter camping before and I don’t want his first experience to be a negative one because he is cold and/or wet.

So we will be packing lots of thermal underwear, sweatshirts & pants, thin jackets, middle-weight jackets and heavy winter jackets. Multiple pairs of gloves, hats and boots. Unfortunately we don’t have the money right now to replace his 40 degree sleeping bag with a good zero degree one so we will be taking extra blankets for above, below and in his sleeping bag with some really good warm flannel pajamas.

For me it’s basically the same with maybe just one or two less layers as I have an extra layer built in so to speak.

More Tomorrow…

Eric

Well it seems like only yesterday I was planning for my last trip and here it is time to start planning for the November trip!

This will be a scout trip with the oldest kids from the cub scout pack so it should really be interesting.

We are making our bi-annual pilgrimmage to Hawk Mountain, PA and will be staying at the Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation nearby.

I broke and bought a new tent since my younger son and I will be in a tent together and the only working tent I had personally was a little 2 man tent. I want to bring my cot and the cot, gear and my son and I wouldn’t all fit.

More about this upcoming trip and the planning in the next post…

 Eric

Well it came and went too quickly but besides that I don’t have a single complaint about my trip.

It was a little chillier at night than the weekend before but I like that so that wasn’t a bad thing.

We ate like kings!

Roast Pork in a wonderful sauce, Catfish Allay (sp?), chili, shrimp, pasta, steak, etc… it was unbelievable!

Lots of great information and lots of good fellowship made for a wonderful weekend!

Eric

Hello folks,

I know you are out there…I know you are reading this blog…I can see it in my stats report.

Talk to me, tell me what you think.

Do you like camping?

Do you like winter camping?

How do you pack for a trip?

How do you pack for a winter trip?

Do you weather any storm so to speak or do you cancel if there are clouds in the sky?

I am more than willing to keep blathering on about any topic I feel like but I’d much rather get some feedback from you all and find out what it is you want me to talk about.

Eric

Well as of right now, the weather looks like it’s going to hold out (for the most part) just like I hoped it would.

mid-60’s during the day and mid-40’s for the weekend.

I am so psyched about this weekend!

More good training, camping and beautiful weather all rolled into one!

I just don’t know how it could get any better.

Eric

The weather was absolutely perfect!

Mid-70’s and sunny during the day.

Upper 40’s at night!

Not a drop of rain in the sky…heck there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky!

I couldn’t have asked for better weather or more fun and learning.

If there was some way to fix the weather for every single camping trip I ever go on then I would fix it so that it was the same as this past weekend.

The trip lasted from Saturday morning until dinner time on Monday.

Both nights we had campfires and marveled at the sheer volume of stars in the sky. We picked out constellations and had some really lively discussions (we even talked about Taboo topics like politics and religion).

I am hoping for more of the same this coming weekend.

Eric

I just looked at the weather forecast for this weekend at it kind of bummed me out. It’s supposed to be sunny with a high in the low 80’s during the day and a low in the mid-50’s at night.

Sounds perfect right?

Well I was kind of hoping for something a little more chilly to be quite honest.

I like it when it’s in the low 70’s during the day and high 40’s at night when I’m fall camping. I pack for that temp range and I always take lots of firewood and coffee and hot cocoa with me.

There is nothing more fun to me than sitting around a campfire on a chilly October/November night with a hot cup of coffee and some good friends.

I guess I will have to suffer through this indian summer this weekend!

Eric

One thing that is a potential problem for all of us when we go camping is space.

Especially in winter camping.

How do you pack enough clothes in the small amount of space you have to cover every eventuality?

If you are going camping in the Northeast region of the US between November and March, you could very easily encounter: cold, rain, snow, sleet and warm sunshine.

This is another reason the layers are better than bulk. It’s easier to fit 3 varying thickness sweatshirts into a duffle than it is 1 thin sweatshirt and a huge thick down parka.

Underarmor is easier to pack and takes up less space than a thick pair of sweatpants and it keeps you warmer and drier.

Eric