Monday, June 25, 2012

Camping tips

We just went on our first camping trip of the season and Ocoee's first camping ever. Ocoee like a true Alaskan girl took to camping like a pig to mud. She ate dirt, slept in a tent well and received her first mosquito bites.

I have been camping for a long time. In college I spent a few summers working for the girl scouts and living in a platform tent all summer-so I have lots of experience. Here are so tips I have learned.

If you are a girly girl or don't like being dirty, shower before you go. Nothing like a nice blow out to make you feel civilized in the woods. Then braid your hair- cute and out of the way. May five is pigtails braid. You will have to wash again once home since you will smell like smoke. Double lather to get all the smoke out.

Bring face wipes that don't require water. Hubby even loves these.

If you camp a lot like we do have a ziplock of essentials in pantry to toss in quickly. Ours has instant oatmeal packs, emergency packs, instant Starbucks packs, tea bags, and bars.

Same thing goes for emergency kit. Matches, band aids, Chapstick. Etc.

Bring a little luxury. Maybe some cream for coffee and tea, or a nice chocolate bar. Nice bottle of pinot works well too :)

If you are car camping bring nice full size pillows. Worth the extra space. I am going to sew some fleece pillow slips for mine this summer.

Most of our stuff is backpacking camping gear since we used to backpack often. This is still good because it takes up so little room. With a kayak, car seat and 3 dogs, space is a premium. Buy small when you can.

Bring rope to tie dogs up so they are obeying any leash laws at campgrounds but can still roam a bit.

Bring firestarters. It rains and even I it doesn't life is just easier with firestarters.

I buy bug away incense sticks. These and a fire keep most mosquitos away.

Know the good spots. Call and ask which site is best. Maybe has good shade or a bigger space. For us we look for privacy since that is the whole point of camping.

As far as baby goes the only thing we did differently than normal was her peapod was in the tent with us ( we just upgraded from an ultralight 2 person tent to a spacious 3 person). Also we used disposable diapers for camping. Eco friendly ones that don't sit in a landfill for 500 years.

Go. See. Camp.

Cheers
J

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