Second camping trip and need two sites

[scott37300]

Well after our big trip to yellowstone this year which was woman and her kids first time camping went so well she decided we were going camping again. And after she told her family how much fun it was her sister and brother in law and kids are coming along. We are just going to a campground for three days this weekend, the state parks we wanted to go to were full and will two parties we just reserved this place. It is in Bailey's Harbor, WI. It's in door county which is really nice part of the state, it's the "thumb" of wisconsin right on lake michigan.

This trip should be pretty easy compared to yellowstone. If we need something the grocery store is probably within a couple miles. And it's only a two hour drive. The only part that scares me is that he sister and brother in law are not anywhere close to the camping or handyman type which should make for some interesting stories. After reading all the posts on here I recomended she get the coleman instant tent. I'm sure it will go fine but might be some interesting parts.

After buying the camping necessities last trip since we didn't have anything I went shopping today and got some more things to add to the camping supplies. Bought a nice thick cast skillet made by lodge logic. Also another double pudgie pie maker, we only had one to make dinner for 5 people on our last trip. Bought some of the toast racks to use on the stove. For out next trip I want to get a nice dutch oven.

So it should be a pretty nice weekend. And woman already is planning another camping trip the first part of september. She saw a nice campsite down by wisconsin dells called devils lake state park.

[renodesertfox]

Sounds like everyone is really getting into the camping spirit! September in Wisconsin seems like a nice cool camping experience! The weather might chill before the end of the month...keep a weather eye out and you'll always have fun!

[richardvg03]

I love that my chick loves camping also!

[Smokey Mtn. Camper]

My wife is addicted to camping as well as my 2 daughters. Its great to hear about other families that are also enjoying the camping experience.

Scott, you are doing it the right way. When we started out camping we didnt have Jack squat but we always bought one piece of gear before each camp. Now, we have been camping together for 13 years so you can imagine the gear we have accumulated. I made a concerted effort to "reduce" the amount of gear we take when this years camping season started. That was a big waste of time. The "one that is be obeyed" has a "need" for everything we take so I fought the good fight only to lose out in the end. :( We look like a pack of redneck gypsies headed down the road to our next adventure. :eek:

Keep taking your family camping and you will develop a very nice bond with them. People that can camp together without killing each other can live together. Camping in September is always difficult for us. However, we do camp in October and November and that is usually a great time. No bugs...cold nights...beautiful colors in the trees. We will be in Cades Cove the 14th-16th of October celebrating my daughters birthday. She will be 10 and she picked what we would be doing to celebrate. She even scouted out the perfect camp site and it is now reserved for her birthday. Last year we did the same thing but the weather was pretty tough. Rain...high winds...then lots of snow but we made memories that will last our entire life.

Good luck and keep those kids camping.

[scott37300]

We had a pretty good weekend. We got really lucky with the weather, was supposed to have thunder storms all friday and all saturday and sunday morning=our whole trip! Turns out that it rained a little friday morning and then cleared up and had a small storm sunday morning around 4 am. So we couldn't have asked for better weather.

We went to Bailey's Harbor in Door county WI. Door county is a really nice area along lake michigan. Went to Whitefish Dunes Beach which is a state park for the day. It was really nice, crystal clear water and blue just like the carribeans water.

I was a little more lax on the packing this time since we were only going 2 hours away and there are some stores around. Ended up forgeting some things, making a checlist on the computer to use from now on! Woman's sister and brother forgot quit a few things since it was there first time. But we made do and had enough to make some good food and enjoy a relaxing weekend.

The other family really enjoyed their first camping trip. Their coleman instant tent was pretty nice for setting up and taking down but it also had some down sides. When it rained they had to close all the windows because they don't have a rain fly and they said it was really hot in there with no ventilation.

We used our tripod for the first time and I'm not a big fan of this thing! It's really hard to flip the meat without it spining all over and wanting to tip. Lost a few chicken drumsticks and a peice of corn on the cob. Then the brother in law was cooking 4 ribeyes for the adults and he was flipping the meat and the tripod rolled over and dropped the steaks! We dug them out and were able to wash them off and salvage 25 bucks of meat. Does anyone have any advice on a good tripod(if they make better ones) or tips on cooking on these things to keep them more steady?

The cast iron skillet I bought was amazing. I'm going to buy another one so we can cook two things at once on the stove. I also bought a nice pudgie pie iron from gander mountain, a double one that worked really nice. You can really tell the difference between the cheap ones from walmart and the nice thick cast ones from gander mountain, and the price is only a couple bucks more. So I will buy another one of those also so we can make 4 sandwiches at one time, lot faster to feed a family of 5. Was a little rough only being able to make one pie at a time on our last trip.

We are going to look into a roof top carrier for the car. We have to stuff everything in our little malibu and then the 5 of us climb in. And the trunk opening is really small so we can't even fit a normal size cooler threw the opening. We looked at the yakama racks last winter because we do a lot of skiing and the kids are starting to ski also so when we take them we can't fold the seats to fit the skis in. They are pretty expensive but we will use it for the skis in the winter and then can get one of the "boxes" on the top of them to hold camping gear. I'm sure the kids will appreciate being able to ride to the campgrounds without a ton of stuff on their laps and no room for their feet! I would love to buy/make a little trailer for the car, your setup sounds awsome. The kitchen idea is really neat.

Each trip is a learning experience and I think we are doing alright, no major things forgotten. I am going to work on getting organized a little better so packing is easier and nothing gets forgotten. One thing I am going to do is to start buying things like can opener, axe, hammer, and lots of other stuff to keep just for camping. This way I will be less likely to forget anything, will have it all in one place and won't have to gather items from all over the house.

Hope every

[Christn2000]

Scott-looks like you guys are really getting into camping. Every time I read someone forgetting something, dropping food, etc I'm reading about all the things that happened to me when I started camping. You know what they say-"What doesn't kill me, makes a good story around the campfire!" Didn't you mention getting a dutch oven? There are websites for camp cooking. The one I like is www.camp-cook.com. They have a plethera of knowledge regarding cooking outdoors with cast iron, ranging from basics to meals you wouldn't have thought possible for cast iron over a campfire. BTW, even after 40 years, I still forget something almost every trip!

[ontariocamper]

Scott..........I kinda gave up on cramming.
We have a 02 caravan..........borrowed a rooftop carrier with LOTS of space (kind of a no name one)...........still not enough room.
Last 2 years we borrowed a 5x7 utility trailer, mainly so we could take the bikes...............still had to stuff and cram some things in the van!!!!!!

Sheesh, maybe I'll just buy a used tractor trailer and convert it.......!!!!

[scott37300]

Yes the girls thankfully have taken a liking to camping, was really worried buying all the stuff and then them not liking it. No dutch oven YET, just bought my first cast skillet for our last trip. I'm going to get another skillet for our next trip. I was going to get a dutch oven but after using the cast skillet was so nice but it would be a lot quicker to cook breakfast with two pans, one for eggs and one for bacon or whatever it is we are making.

I have been spending some time getting better prepared for our next trip. We are going back to door county next weekend for three days. Woman's sister's family really liked camping also so they wanted to go back again. And this time we talked woman's brother and his family into going so there will be 3 families going this time. I have already started getting everything together in hopes to not forget anything this time. Have put together a nice list and should be good to go this time.

I ordered a 12x12 screen porch to have to eat in. Last time we went there were no misquitos thankfully but lots of flies that bite and liked our food. Should be a nice little addition to our camping site. The sister in law also has a fogger that works pretty good, but they forgot that last time we went.

We have started looking into a trailer hitch for 160 bucks and then getting a small trailer to load up. This wouldn't work for skiing but would be ideal for camping. Probably won't do anything till next year but we are checking into our options on how to carry more stuff. I'm starting to think the semi option might not be so bad!!!

[surmisez]

My husband and I combined two households back in 2000 and always meant to have a garage/yard sale and sell off the duplicates. We never got around to doing that.

When we decided to try camping in July, I went "shopping" in the garage. I found every possible kitchen item I needed there. I ended up purchasing three clear plastic bins from Wally World to hold all the stuff and keep it packed just for camping.

Our first trip was pretty easy since I had started gathering stuff for weeks prior to, and I didn't forget anything -- a complete miracle!

Our second trip was even easier since we only needed to pack our clothes.

I would suggest going to garage/yard sales or thrift stores and picking up second hand kitchen items and keeping them packed and ready in nice bins. It's so wonderful not to have to worry about packing and then forgetting things.

Next year we're probably going to invest in a hitch and small trailer so that we don't need to take two cars.

[Bigdog57]

One constant for ALL campers is, the bigger a pack, tote, vehicle, etc you get, you always end up filling it and wanting (NOT necessarily NEEDING) more space! Having camped for years off my motorcycle, I kept things to a workable minimum. Now having the van, and just having got the trailer, I find myself falling prey to "The More Space Gremlin"! :D