For the past 11 years I’ve been blogging I’ve been committed to writing a new post at least once a month, but since coronavirus hit America and we’ve been pretty much locked down since early March I haven’t had time at all to post anything longer than a few sentences. Parenting, homeschooling, wiping down groceries, keeping our bodies and minds sane, etc, etc etc have taken precedent and it’s been overwhelming and exhausting. That’s not to say that I haven’t been writing or making art, because I really have, and a lot of it.
I’ve been writing a bunch of Poems In a Pandemic (and even won an award for them!) and also embarked on this challenge the Getty Museum started when their galleries had to close in March due to coronavirus and the lockdown. Find an artwork in their collection, remake it with three items you find around your house, and post it to share. I’ve done around 15 of them, like this one. Original on top titled Civilian Defence, Edward Weston, American, 1942, gelatin silver print.
Summer hit and after everything we love to do got cancelled, like summer camps, athletics, classes and our beloved city pool, we were thrilled when our state’s campgrounds re-opened. We are devoted to the outdoors in our family and find such solace in nature. It’s also a way we enjoy the plethora of wild public lands in Idaho and teach our kids a bit about exploring, being brave, sleeping under the stars and finding joy in being away from home, technology, and the city. It’s also a wonderful way to explore the earth and learn more about her creatures as well as provides an inexpensive getaway for families (I hesitate to call it a vacation because as parents everywhere know, it’s anything but relaxing traveling with kids, especially setting up a campsite). I’ve posted a lot of photos and videos in my Instagram Stories specifically of our adventures and finds and explorations and I’ve gotten a bunch of requests to share more about how we camp, what our must-haves are, and suggestions for gear to bring or buy. I’m not an expert, but I am experienced and thrifty and am always glad to help others explore the outdoors. Here are ten of my top must-haves for making camping a family success.
1) We love our pop-up tent trailer. This is the thing I get asked the most about. We purchased it used on Craigslist about four years ago for $4,000 after tent camping for years and years. It does take probably as long as a tent to set up, but after doing it so many times we’ve got it down to a science. The nice thing about it is that there are two king-sized pull-out beds on either end and a generous twin-sized bed that makes down from the table/eating area, so all five of us can sleep in it. There is also a gas powered heater if needed and you can fill a tank with water to use the sink as well as use the toilet inside. There’s also a fridge (which is so much better than a cooler) and a stove top (which we rarely use as we still cook outside on our Coleman camp stove and small BBQ). It also has a bunch of compartments for all our non-perishable camp essentials so we don’t have to haul them in and out each time. It’s super light and folds up to a box easy to tow. (Okay, so turns out there are a lot more than just one thing I love about our tent trailer!) We didn’t mind tent camping at all either, so if that’s all you’ve got you can do it! I do highly recommend two things if that’s the case: an inflatable air mattress with a battery powered pump as it makes sleeping on the ground SO MUCH BETTER and putting all your regular camp essentials (dishes, cookware, bug spray, tools, sunscreen, lighters, games, toys, flashlights, batteries, etc) in one or two big Rubbermaid bins with a lid so you can just grab them and go each time.
Warm Lake, Idaho, is one of our kids’ favorites each summer, but campsites go fast.
2) Reservations, reservations, reservations. It used to be when we grew up in Idaho and first moved back 14 years ago that we could just jump in the truck on a moments notice and head to our favorite campground in the woods for the weekend. These days Idaho’s population has boomed and the pandemic has sent a lot of people searching for weekend spots to camp, making our favorites too hard to get into. And by popular I’m talking like reservations at the most popular campgrounds in the state go live on www.recreation.gov six months in advance and if you aren’t literally sitting at your computer at that exact moment you’re screwed. Luckily, there are a bunch of great less popular campgrounds and almost all of them have designated a few spots as first come, first served only. However, this is also difficult if you plan on going on a weekend as they go very quick. Therefore, I advise ALWAYS making a reservation in advance, and I advise camping on off days if you can. Not only are there less people to deal with (I go camping to get away from people not closer to them), but it’s easier to get into hiking trails and good swimming holes and the like. We like going Sundays - Tuesdays, but Wednesdays-Fridays would also be ideal if you can swing it. There are many free camping spots in Idaho but you have to know where to find them, and you have to be bring a LOT of your own water as well as be comfortable going to the bathroom outside, likely where a bunch of other people may have gone to the bathroom previously. Which brings me to my next thing….
I’m not actually peeing here but this is the correct pose. (I’m changing out of my wet bikini on the side of the highway while my family is huckleberry picking and a truck drove by so I ducked LOL.)
3) Get comfortable peeing outside. That being said, one of the reasons we love state or national park campgrounds are the vault toilets. They are basically outhouses, but you don’t have to dig a hole and bury your poop or change a tampon under a tree. (We also love that they have water, level spots for trailers, a picnic table and sometimes have electrical hook ups.) Still, sometimes these toilets can be nasty and stinky and we’ve really been trying to avoid public restrooms in coronavirus times anyhow, so peeing outside is a skill I find invaluable as an outdoorswoman. Seriously, I still sometimes splash a lotta pee on my Chacos (just spray some water from your water bottle on it or wade in the creek you’ll be fine) but I’ve got the squat down pat. It’s made my thick thighs strong and my comfort level being anywhere in the wild even more so. I can and will squat on the side of the road even when there ARE bathrooms close by these days. Roadside trick: open up both the front seat and back seat doors and squat in between and no one driving either direction will see you if there are no trees to hide behind nearby.
4) Always bring a big water jug. We have two 5 & 10 gallon Igloo orange water coolers with the spout and bring at least one filled with our backyard hose and bungied in the back of our truck on each trip. In case you need to wash lotsa pee off your Chacos (I kid, but not really), water is essential in camping like in sustaining life. You will drink lots of it and use it for doing dishes as well. Most developed campsites have a water pump with drinkable cold water in it - even if you’re not staying there pull in to fill your big jug up. (Always fill it first at home and I suggest pulling your truck right up in front of it or bringing a wagon to pull it over or two strong people to carry it. We’ve also used my daughter’s skateboard to roll it at camp!)
5) Baby wipes for everything. While water works to clean things, so do baby wipes. As a mama, I’ve used baby wipes for way more than my infants’ butts for the last 17 years. I used them to clean up puke and wipe down dirty Target cart handles and tables at McDonald’s. They are soft and easy on skin, too, so using them to clean yourself (adults and kids alike) as well as the picnic table make them perfect for camping! Bonus: you can burn them in the fire pit at the end of the day!
My family at the summit of a trail above Edna Creek near Atlanta, Idaho. While we all were glad to make it to the top, the meltdowns quickly ensued after this photo. One child was hot, one complained about their shoes, one dumped their entire waterbottle on themself for fun, one fell down and both parents were irritated. Needless to say, it’s sometimes hard to hike trails that are steeper than you thought or longer or you take a wrong turn but making mistakes or finding your way is part of the journey. Taking lots of breaks, some photos, and going as slow as necessary while exploring can help make it more fun. You’ll get through it either way.
6) Don’t bring your best clothes. We all have “camping clothes” and my oldest daughter and I have “camp bikinis,” too, which are older bikinis that we don’t mind getting real dirty from riverbeds and mountain hikes and sitting on big rocks and the back of dusty trucks. (I suggest a dark color like black or navy to lessen staining.) In addition, we all have those old jeans with holes in them and cozy fleece jackets that fire embers have burned tiny spots in and cut off shorts and flannel shirts. Do not bring your favorite pants or tank tops, especially light colored items, as you will absolutely regret it. I also recommend hiking boots or good sneakers and always Chaco sandals or the like. I wear mens Chacos, as you might remember from this post, because they are wider and I like the neutral colors. I wear them in the water, fishing, hiking and everywhere.
Owyhee Reservoir, Oregon
7) Bring your own music. Luckily these days our iPhones are our portable stereo system, too, but just don’t forget to download the music you like onto your device, not just in you iTunes library, as there is no reception in most of the Idaho wilderness. We got a small, waterproof portable speaker for like $30 that we bring and turn on while playing cards at the picnic table or laying by the river or around the campfire at night. (This summer our camp favorite has been Taylor Swift’s surprise album folklore and if you haven’t heard it yet DO IT NOW.) It charges like our phones in our truck charger at night. Just be sure to keep the volume down so only your campsite can hear it, because there is nothing worse than going out to enjoy nature and having to hear your neighbors bumpin’ tunes, no matter how good they are.
Box Canyon, southern Idaho
8) Fill your game box. Since we now have a trailer, we have an entire small compartment/drawer dedicated to fun activities. For us it always includes a regular deck of cards for our favorites, Progressive Rummy & King’s Corner, as well as a few other card games (we love Uno, Skip-Bo, Old Maid, Crazy 8s & Rack-O). We also have some small vintage board games, Yahtzee, and a few others that the kids can play as well. Coloring books, colored pencils, a few Highlights magazines, and some bird, flower and wildlife field guides are in there along with this quirky handmade clay whistle instrument called an Ocarina I got at the Portland Farmers Market like 20 years ago. We’ve got binoculars and balls and a Frisbee and storybooks and a book of scary campfire tales, all picked up at the thrift shop. We don’t play them all every time, but we do grab a handful and put them on the picnic table for down time or when we just need a change of pace. Bonus: We have a small journal and pen in this box that we chronicle every camping trip we’ve been on.
9) Chocolate banana boats are our go-to camp dessert. While smores are always traditional, I hate marshmallows (I know, right?!) and my kids aren’t huge fans either. So we make these simple treats nearly every time and they are rich and easy and we all love them. Take a fresh banana and carefully peel back a thin strip of peel to the bottom. Break a Hershey’s chocolate bar into the small chunks and push 3-4 into the banana lengthwise. Replace the strip of skin and carefully place on the fire grate of the pit (or build a little stand with some rocks before you start a fire if there is no grate). It takes at least 10-15 minutes for the chocolate to melt and the banana to be warmed up and the skin will blacken. Be careful picking it up (we use the kitchen tongs in our dish kit) and put in a bowl to eat. Peel back the loose strip of skin and use a spoon to scoop out bites of your delicious dessert! Here are some real fancy recipes if you want to make a big mess but we always opt for the simple easy recipes while camping. Bonus: you can also toss the whole peel directly into the fire afterward.
10) Don’t forget the hummingbird feeder. We picked up a little plastic hummingbird feeder at our neighbor’s garage sale for 25 cents many years ago and keep it in the trailer at all times. We always put “bird juice” on our food list, which we make on our stove top at home before we go (it’s 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water brought to a boil in a pot and then cooled to room temperature). I pour it into a glass jar and we fill the feeder once at camp and find a nearby tree to hang it in. In Idaho it always brings in several birds to watch and the fights and frolicking that ensue are such fun. Check out this video above of Dr. Brown, the hummingbird whisperer!
There are so many more things I could tell you about camping and recommend (a portable hammock! a headlamp!) but this is already pretty long as far as things people will spend their time reading on social media, so I’ll call it quits here. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you don’t already, as I’d love to ask my fans and friends there what their favorite must-have camp items are in the comments. The most important take away here is this - you don’t have to invest in fancy or expensive gear to enjoy nature. In fact, you don’t have to stay overnight camping at all (although I highly recommend at least two nights if you do because I’m not gonna lie, it’s a lot of work setting up camp with kids and feeding a whole family). Even if it’s a walk around your neighborhood exploring your neighbors’ gardens or a day adventure to a state park you’ve never been to, getting outside and slowing down in nature is one of the most beneficial things for my whole health - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - I’ve ever done.