We have been traveling by road since the kids were very little. Heck, T turned 2 weeks old in Montana - we had made the drive from Minnesota to visit with my grandmother, uncle, my sister and her husband. On our many trips, we've discovered things that make the trips more enjoyable for everyone. Here are some of our tips. Stacks of snack bins filled with assorted treats, perfect for a family camping adventure. Snacks and drinks We find it's very important to have snacks and d

Couch end of the Pop-up Over the years, I've thought about purchasing a pop-up camper. My parents had one when I was kids, and though we didn't camp a ton in it, I have fun memories "camping" with it in the backyard. As our children have grown and we now have two dogs, our 5-person tent is now too cramped for everyone. We've used our two 4-person backpacking tents, but during storms, we've had to split up and put one adult in each tent. Marcus can only fit in these tents with

Day 1 - Friday, December 24 We woke up, then got the kids up and ready to go to the airport. Grandma drove us to the airport. We had to check bags and car seats, so we waited in that line and checked everything. We found our gate, and I left Marcus with the kids while I went and got McDonalds for them. I brought the family McDonalds, brought that to the kids. Then I went to get coffee at Caribou and was in like by 8:36 a.m. I got back we ate and had our coffee. The kids were

This trip signaled the beginning of our upstairs remodel. Our kitchen was demolished the day before we left so the contractor could work on it while we were gone. He was going to continue the demolition while we were gone, including taking down walls! It was nice to be gone as much as possible this summer since we didn't have a kitchen at home. In the spring we purchased a new to us 2004 pop-up camper. On this trip, we were trying it out for the second time. Day 1 - June 15

Day 1 - Sunday, August 13 As I mentioned with the itinerary, I was really stressed about this trip. So much was going on and I was not at all ready for this trip. We weren't as packed as we normally are the day before. So we left later than we normally would have, at 10:15 a.m. we were finally on the road. We stopped in Ironwood, MI to visit with a friend. We met her and her husband at Ironwood Historic Depot Park. The kids and the dogs were excited to get outside of the truc

Sounds scary and intense, but it quickly gets our point across without having to elaborate after we explained it the first few times. Most hikes we go on are on trails that are very safe for our children. They can hike a reasonable distance ahead of us on those trails. These trails have wide trails without a steep drop off. If there aren't a lot of other people on these trails, we'll allow our children to run, bounce around, climb on logs, and so on. Those types of hikes are

When I was in my teens and early twenties, most of my camping experiences were backpacking. I was used to packing light. Camping with kids is a whole different ballgame! Kids are messy! They can have blowouts if they are in diapers, or accidents if they are working on potty training. If your kids are like my kids they love to get covered in dirt, probably will bleed at some point, and might get food all over their clothes. Realistically though, it's hard to pack enough clothe

We spend a lot of time choosing the right campsite for our family and the trip we have planned. We take several things into concideration when picking campsites. Are we camping with friends or family? If we are camping with other families, we pick sites close together. We are usually sharing all meals, so this makes meals so much easier. Also, our kids are usually running from one site to the next, and we want to keep them close by. We're finding it's best to have campsites b

Day 7 - Friday, July 21 We all slept in and didn't get up until 7:45 a.m. We decided that though our days in the park were now down to two, we were going to take it a bit easier today. We had a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. It was so good to eat home cooked food again! We cleaned up from breakfast and left camp at 10:15 a.m. I talked with someone who told me that it had rained for 3 hours straight the day before, which explained why our campsite was so soak

Day 1 - Saturday, July 15 We got up early, finished packing and loading up the van. We had packed up most of the van last night. We just needed to add the coolers, kids, and us! We were on the road by 7:30 a.m. with an eta of 2:10 p.m. (without stops). The van (2009 Toyota Sienna) ODO was 182,875. We had a quick stop in Osseo, WI just about 9:00 a.m. We made it into Illinois and stopped at the Belvidere Oasis at 12:25 p.m., refueled, and ate. We were back on the road at 1:17

Getting soaked while camping isn't necessarily fun. Especially, when it's cold and you don't have a good way to dry everything out. We...

Wow, where has the time gone? Things have been busy here. Work has been really busy for me, and our personal life has been busy as well....

Join us on our adventure out to Rocky Mountain National Park, Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in 2020. Day 1 - Sunday, June 14 Departed home at 7:20 a.m. to head to Yankton, SD. We made good time and stopped in Sioux Falls for lunch at Mackenzie River. We arrived in Yankton around 2:15 p.m. We stayed with two of our friends we knew from college. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard with their pool, water table, and sandbox. We had burgers for

While we are camping, we cook most meals at our campsite or at a picnic areas. This saves us a lot of money. It also gives us some...

Our family is all about the sleeping bag and pad sleeping experience. It's so nice to be in a nice cozy sleeping bag when it's slightly...

Join us on our adventure out to Utah to see the Mighty 5. Day 1 - Friday, June 2 We departed at 7:23 a.m. As we were driving away, V said...

Join us on our adventure out west to visit Huntington Beach, CA, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, and San Francisco for the Escape...

Between both of us being in scouts (be prepared) and lifeguards (working at a public beach we dealt with a lot of first aid), and now...

Join us on our adventure out west to visit Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Family & Friends, and Theodore Roosevelt NP. Day 1 - Friday,...

We have several tents for our family that we have purchased or acquired over the years. Depending on where we're going, and who's coming...