We took a year off and now we’re back! The family was not happy that we did not get out to camp in 2012, but it was necessary for us to focus on other areas. Boy how we missed it!
We have our first trip planned for Memorial Day and I still need to finalize the rest of the summer. The family is EXCITED to get back into the groove of camping!
Our annual (minus 2012) July fourth trip will be in Pittsburgh, PA this year. My best friend since 2nd grade is getting married. And it’s too expensive for a family of six to stay in a hotel for 4 nights and although my sister is in that area, there’s just not enough room.
We plan on hitting up Kennywood on July 4th with the bride and groom! I’ve not been to Kennywood since 1991!
OK…enough about July (I’m so exited)! I just wanted to share that we are on like Donkey Kong for 2013!
We’re not camping now, but we’re still campers. 2012 was a rough year and we decided to take a break. It was hard on the kids. They continually asked “when are we going camping?”
I had to get through some personal craziness and Will was busy getting the finances back on course. We also had our eldest child get his first summer job and that made it very hard to even get away for a night. I felt like a co-owner of my own vehicle!
We are looking forward to new camping adventures in 2013. Since our last season, we learned our eldest daughter had an allergy to bees!
Can you imagine! She’s been camping since she was a year old (she is now 10) and we’ve never had a bee incident. It took an afternoon of sitting in the GARAGE to encounter a crazy bee. Now we travel with the sacrexd Epi-pen. We have these pens everywhere!
We are looking forward to new adventures in 2012! The camper is in winterization mode and the entire family is revving to go.
I was talking to a fellow mommy about my daughter’s upcoming birthday party when the conversation turned to one of my favorite subjects, camping. Fellow-mommy shared they have a seasonal site at a nearby campground. I immediately started my questions. What made you decide to go seasonal? How did you decide on a campground? How often do you drive out to the site?
Fellow-mommy says they had been camping a long time. I think she said nearly 8 years. So here I am in my eleventh year of camping and I have no idea where I would like to be seasonal. I don’t know what it is. I think I may miss out on something. I still like traveling and I want to drive cross-country one day!
While writing this post, Will and I started talking about what would need to happen for us to become seasonal. As in real estate, the first three things you learn about in the business is location, location, location. The question is, does that apply to camping? You can have a great location and bad neighbors. Or you can find great neighbors but it’s a bad location. Right now, I haven’t found a location that feels like home or neighbors that make me forget about the location.
The drive is part of camping.
The price is another factor. With any seasonal location, what do you really get besides the site? Is there amenities exclusive to members? Are there special member-only events? Are day and overnight visitors free? Will the owners get to know me and my family or will I be another expected check in the mail?
Some people decide to become seasonal to avoid packing prep before each trip. I don’t mind the prep work. Our RV has most of it’s own supplies. All that’s left for us to get is sleeping bags for the kids. Yes, we’ve been camping all these years and they do not have sleeping bags. All other necessities are stored in the RV, carpets, cookware, towels, soap, etc.
To ease my perceived frustration around the seasonal versus non-seasonal dilemma, I Googled campgrounds in Western New York and found some places I’ve not looked into. So I have some visiting to do. I guess that means we’re not ready to be seasonal members. What about you?
BlackCampers 