Ready, Set, Go!

You can't wait...the kids are already bored on summer break, the dates are set, the campground is reserved...you are counting the days until VACATION!  

But getting there is half the fun, right?  In our next few blogs we are going to focus on preparing for that camping vacation.  Not too many people actually enjoy preparation, but a good prep setup can save you a ton of stress and heartache, not to mention money, when you get to your destination.

I pride myself on being very prepared – I keep an emergency backpack in my truck with just about anything we might need while we are away from the house – either at the grocery store or on a road trip, and I keep a well-stocked pantry for all kinds of emergencies.  I believe in the old Scout motto:  “Be prepared.”  But I really dropped the ball on our last adventure, as you will soon see! 

As with any vacation, there’s always something that will be forgotten – with us last time it was pants.  And coolers.  How on earth could we forget pants – and coolers – for Heaven’s sake?  Unfortunately it’s pretty easy when you’re stressed and in a rush! 

This last trip our camping group consisted of Superman and I, our 5 kids, 2 kids from another family, and the dog.  Prepping was tough as Superman was coming off a stressful new part of his job, I was swamped with work, and one of our kids was actually going to be leaving us during this camp trip to go over to his Boy Scout camp for a week, so we had to have all his gear prepped for that trip inside of our trip.  But we did pretty well with packing most everything and figured we could sort it all out when we got there.  We had talked about purchasing our food at a grocery store a few miles from camp when we arrived as there was no space in our vehicles for food – with so much scout gear and 2 extra kids, we were loaded to the max for our 4-day adventure in the woods.

When we got there (after the traffic jams, no air conditioning in my vehicle, and 95-degree temps) we were exhausted.  Superman and the boys set about to prepping the gear and after some set-up drama I took the girls to the grocery store for those immediate food necessities.  It wasn’t until the checkout register that I realized I had cold food in the cart and no cooler to put it in.  Stupid, huh?!  Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees, folks…so I bought a foam cooler.

That night I discovered that this camp in the woods was a mosquito breeding ground, and I had this nagging feeling that I forgot to remind everyone about nighttime gear to combat the little buggers – pants.  Fortunately, everyone remembered but ME!   It was late and I was tired – I put pants on my mental list to find the next day.

Needless to say, there were quite a few more shopping trips for that 4-day adventure.  I had to buy a bigger cooler (a real one and not a foam one), a pair of pants (in a grocery store, no less), and various kitchen items to help with cooking…all of that stress and a ton of money could have been saved had I taken a little more time on my prep setup! 

We are currently in the countdown phase for our next adventure, camping at a state park on one of the Great Lakes.  We are all so excited!   I’d like to hear from some of you out there – what are your best prep ideas and things you have learned over the years of camping with your family?  I invite you to post your comments – we’ll put together a list of tried and true tips for getting organized! 

Thanks for stopping in!