Just the Facts

Since this is the first post I'm making to this blog, I thought I'd start with some of the facts.  I LOVE to camp!  I love to travel but I especially love to load up my trailer and take off for a weekend.  A new and exciting destination or a tried and true standby, either way is fine.  I find staying home day after day very boring.  I guess that’s one of the reasons I enjoy camping so much, we are not independently wealthy, I’m a stay at home mother and my husband works.  If I’m to take to the road as much as I like too, I better find affordable ways to do it!  We live in Northern Illinois; a two hour drive will take us to Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana or Southern Illinois.  There are so many places to explore and so many outdoor activities available to us in this region.

I also love to be outside and I’m always drawn to water.  I love to hike, kayak, SUP and bike all day and by night; sit around a campfire with an ice cold beer.  My oldest child is a high school athlete who prevents me from being out and about as much as I’d like, but I’ve learned to go with the flow.  Sometimes we camp within an hour of home so that I can drive him back and forth for camps and practices.  We spend a lot of time camping over the summer months and my husband commutes to work from the campground.  Really, what’s the difference?  Commute from home or commute from a campground?  Obviously, my husband also happens to be a really good sport about most everything and is almost always up for an adventure!

Now that my kids are older, camping has changed, but that’s yet another benefit.  Camping is adaptable, as your family gets older; you change the locations and activities to adapt.  We often take extra kids and we seek out locations with activities appealing to teenagers or older kids.  This year some of our camping trips will include rock climbing and riding ATV’s.  Those are new camping experiences and obviously not for a young family.  So far, that seems interesting enough that even the TEENAGER has not yet started to complain about going. 

As I’m typing this, there is a snow storm sweeping through the Midwest.  We really do need this snow for our lakes and rivers that I love so much, but I am ready for spring!  Camping season will not come fast enough in the Midwest!