Creating Family Connections One RV Adventure at a Time
Happy first day of autumn! We are happy campers here at The Touring Camper because fall is our whole family’s favorite time of year. It’s also such a wonderful time of year to go camping. The temperatures are cooler, campgrounds tend to be less crowded, and those pesky mosquitoes are (mostly) gone. We are gearing up for our fall camping trip next month to Assateague State Park in Maryland–home
As we gear up for our next camping trip, I have been working my way down the rather long “to-do-before-we-go” list and had to smile when I heard Jarrett start running the vacuum cleaner. You see, I have this crazy thing that I must do before every camping (or regular road) trip: I clean my house. Over the years, Jarrett has always found this rather comical that in
So there is no way around it: This post is going to be a bit long. 🙂 But that’s because there’s just so much to experience in the Outer Banks. We spent a week there–we needed a month. Even though Jarrett absolutely hates the sand–unfortunately for him, he married a beach-loving girl–our trip to the Outer Banks proved to him that a trip to the coast
Two weeks ago I came across an article that was making its rounds on Facebook. In it the author addressed the question people often ask her, How do you afford to travel? It’s a question we’ve also been asked from time to time, especially given the modest salaries that accompany our careers as an educator and journalist. For us, and the others who were so kind to offer
Our adventure out West last year took us to a number of national parks—Yellowstone, Devil’s Tower, the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Although our visits varied—hiking here, a ranger program there, and kiddos working to complete Junior Ranger badges—there was one thing we did at every national park: We stamped our NPS passports. If you don’t already have your own passport to the national parks,
The National Park Service is turning 100 in 2016, and to celebrate, on 16 days in 2016 national park sites that normally charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone. Last summer when we went out West, we racked up about $60 in park fees, so visiting on a fee-free day is quite a savings! (If you plan to visit a number of national parks in a
Last April I had a guest post appear on MoneySavingMom.com featuring ideas to save money while camping–or glamping as I often call it. 🙂 I outlined five ways our family saves money on our camping and touring adventures. My No. 2 tip–coordinate your touring activities ahead of time–has saved us a lot of money in the past by doing the following: Use the Visitor’s Center During our 2014 trip to Charleston,
One of the things I hear frequently is, “My _________ doesn’t want to go camping. How did Jarrett convince you to try it out?” They know I did not come from a camping family. As a kid we stayed in hotels or rented beach houses for our vacations. My dad and brother went on scouting camping trips, but their stories of sly skunks and creaky cots were enough to turn
A National Geographic article inspired our camping trip to Ohio’s Amish Country this month, but we had big plans to soak up more than just the beautiful autumn colors. And whether you are planning to camp or not, a weekend in Amish Country has lots to offer the whole family. We had a few ideas of places we wanted to visit while staying in Holmes County, but
For many families making their rounds of the Utah 5 National Parks, a visit to Bryce Canyon is a highly anticipated stop. With its sweeping vistas and spectacular hikes, Bryce offers something for everyone. But with most of the camping options concentrated immediately around Bryce, families that want to escape the crowds and explore Bryce…
For many families planning a trip to the Utah region, their itineraries often center on hitting the high points of iconic stops like Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Arches. Several lesser-known parks are also worth the stop, though, and for families looking for ways to escape the crowds, Cedar Breaks National Monument should be on…
