A Camping Dog Run

A couple weeks ago we took the pup on her first camping trip (yes, it’s California so we can camp year-round). She was a little nervous on her first day, but once she figured out what was going on she relaxed and had a great time. In addition to having her with us, she comes with a bunch of stuff to add to our Camping Checklist! One of the best things we did for her was to set up a dog run at the campsite. It’s a simple and easy trick to making camping fun for for all of us.

See that face? That’s the, “Everyone I meet says I’m cute so why don’t you let me run into their campsites, tents and trailers to say hello?” face.
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The Camping Notebook

As we started keeping track of our camping trips through Camping Reviews, I realized that there was a lot of other paper stuff we were carrying around to each camping trip. Paperwork and camping don’t really get along that well (unless it’s a fire starter). To solve this problem, I put together a little binder to keep everything protected and together. Isn’t it cute?

Camping Notebook 2

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Campground Reviews – How to keep track of where we’ve been

screen-capture-3 I think I have a very common problem when it comes to camping (at least I hope it’s common!). Since it is a seasonal activity, when summer rolls around I can never remember where we went the previous year. Plus, remembering what site we stayed at and the ins-and-outs of the campground? Umm… Not a chance!

To solve this problem, we started reviewing our campsites during each trip. It started out as notes in a small notepad, and now has turned into a campground review printable. After each trip, I try to scan the sheet into Evernote (although it doesn’t always happen). Then, when we plan our camping trips in the years to come, all we have to do is search our reviews in Evernote for the campground we want to go to!
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Tent Trailer Hack: Securing Dinette Cushions

Falling Cushions Last summer we used our tent trailer a lot. It was wonderful to get out a camping so much, and since it was our first summer with the trailer it was also nice to figure out little tweaks, or hacks, we wanted to make. Immediately, I knew exactly the first thing I wanted to do. The cushions for our dinette would NOT stay in place! I was constantly having to pick them off the floor (and sometimes us up off the floor too).

Sliding Off Bench

* Action shot of me falling off the bench *

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Preparing for Camping Season

Camping season is here (or almost here)! We took our first trip this past weekend. It was cold. But in the middle of our kitchen remodel we just really needed a break. We camped so much last summer that we had getting packed totally down, it was a sleek, organized process that took minimal time. It was great. And, we’ve forgotten how we did it already.

Closed Trailer

How did we do this again?

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Camping Checklist

I love to camp. However, I think most can agree that the WORST part about camping is the packing. There are so many little things to bring, and I usually end up forgetting something really important. A great example is when I went camping with my two best friends and we were planning to have english muffin pizzas for dinner. Except that I forgot cheese. So we drove (far) to a store, only to get back and realize I forgot sauce. Whoops! Because of this (and many other incidents) I have a camping list that I’ve continued to add and subtract from to try to get to the sweet spot of camping organization.

Tent Trailer!

Our new tent trailer. Yahoo!

Recently, The Boyfriend and I decided that we would further improve the packing process by getting ourselves a little pop-up tent trailer. Really, you don’t need to buy a trailer to simplify packing, well-organized list will work too. Our idea (other than not sleeping on the ground) is that if we can keep the trailer packed with the essentials, we’ll only have to do minimal packing before a trip. Continue reading