If You Really Want to Give Camping a Try...

Michigan State Campgrounds offer a program to try out camping. It costs only $20.00. This is what it includes:

• First Time Camper Informational Welcome Kit
• Park ranger to help you set up camp
• Two Nights of Camping
• Gear provided by Gander Mountain:
• tent ∗
• tarp ∗
• flashlight ∗
• lantern ∗
• stove ∗
• (4) hot dog /marshmallow cookers ∗
• (2) fishing poles ∗
•  
• ∗ These items are lent to you by Gander Mountain. They must be returned.

Here is the website. I hope you will give camping a try. 

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10365-234646--,00.html
 

 If you are one of my classmates from O.U. and come to Algonac State Campground let me know and I can set you up with campfire wood and give you some pointers.

Over the years...

Sorry to have kept anyone wondering about what happened between me and this guy Don. Yes, this is the same guy I have been married to for 19 years and we have 2 boys ages 14 and 11. Over the years together we have gone camping at least twice a year. Don would sometimes plan a trip to go somewhere without really knowing where we were going to stay. He would pack up the tent and we would drive to our destination then look for a place to stay. I must have been around 20 when we decided to drive down to the Florida Keys. We were going to camp at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and do some snorkeling. We must of drove 28 hours straight and when we arrived it was in the middle of the night. I do not remember why but we could not get in the park until it opened in the morning. So, we pulled out the sleeping bags and slept in the bed of the truck. I remember waking up alone and getting wet from the light rain that had begun to fall during the night. Don had managed to sneak into the truck where he was nice and dry.  We only spent one night camping.The sites were on the beach. But, the beach was filled with super tiny shells that made it very uncomfortable to sleep on. The rest of the trip we spent in a hotel. We had a great time snorkeling and checking out the rest of the keys. I have included a link to Pennekamp if you are interested in checking it out. There are many things to do there. Glass bottom boat tours, an aquarium, scuba and snorkeling,  along with canoeing and kayaking (we have our own canoe and 2 kayaks). I think I will have to show this to Don and see if he wants to take the boys there. But, I will make sure we know where we are staying this time!

http://goflorida.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=goflorida&cdn=travel&tm=15&f=00&su=p1097.10.147.ip_p531.56.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.floridastateparks.org/pennekamp/default.cfm

Falling in Love with Camping and....

Thinking back to the first time I went camping.

I was about 19 years old and had been dating this guy off and on since I was 15. It is important that you should know that when I was 18 he had asked me to marry him and I had said no. My parents had gotten married at 19 and were now divorced and I was afraid of giving in to love only to be left behind one day. Don invited me to go camping with him up at a KOA near the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. I had no clue about camping but said yes. He had all the necessary supplies (tent, sleeping bags, pillows, camp stove, Coleman lantern, and food). Since I was kind of useless he did everything. He set up the tent, cooked, and built us a fire at night. During the day we would go hiking and tubing down the river. At night we would sit by the fire and play cards. I never thought I would have fallen in love with camping and the outdoors as much as I did. Not to sound corny but I suddenly realized how much I loved this guy and I was willing to give some serious thought to having a future with him. 

I Love Camping and Everything That Goes With It!

To start off this blog I would like to say that it will be mostly a personal journal about camping trips with my family. I will include the fun things we do when on our trips along with recipes that I have used when camping. Hopefully anyone that follows my blog will find something of interest, whether it be a place or an idea, that they can pursue in their life. In order to help you understand how I came to love camping I will start out by reminiscing about my first camping trip before I was married.