Good Morning Campers,

On my way to work this morning I was stunned!

The leaves are changing!

You’re probably thinking that I’m losing my mind considering it’s the end of October and since it’s the end of October that means the leaves are supposed to change color.

I know all that, I just mean that I can’t believe it’s the end of October already and feel like I have missed the entire Fall already.

Every since I was a kid my family has had a tradition of going camping in the fall up into the Poconos or the Delaware Water Gap area. We would spend the weekend basically walking all the trails to enjoy the change of seasons. We would stop for some hot apple cider and have roasted marshmellows on the campfire to keep us warm.

Once I grew up and got married I kept this tradition going with my kids,or least have tried to. Unfortunately this year it doesn’t look like we are going to be able to go. Between all the sports, activities and school commitments and the fact that by this time of year most of the leaves are dead up in that area I guess it isn’t going to happen.

I do think we will take a Saturday afternoon (hopefully this one coming up) and take a drive up north and hopefully get to enjoy at least a day trip to walk the trails and enjoy the beauty.

If you are reading this, plan a trip up to the Poconos, the Delaware Water Gap or the Kittatinny mountains and check out the foliage. Even if you only go for a couple of hours and drive around, it’s worth every minute and every cent of gas!

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric

Good Morning All,

Let’s get back to our discussion on what to bring with you and why.

Yesterday we talked about various items that you will need and I didn’t get finished.

Screen Tent – Alot of people disagree on the necessity of this item. Do you really need to drag another 30 to 40 lb. tent in your already cramped car? I don’t know for sure. I can only tell you how I feel and why I do, from there you can make up your own mind. Anytime my family is going camping I make sure to bring ours with us, the only time I don’t is if it is just my older son and I. When it’s just the two of us we will either “tough it out” or we will eat in the screened in porch of our tent.

For the family I like to bring it for a couple of reasons: 1) if we get rained on it gives us another location to place our stuff that will keep it dry since we put the picnic table inside of the screen tent. 2) There are times of year and campgrounds that are notorious for significant flying critter population. That doesn’t necessarily bother me all that much but it does bother my wife and children. The screen tent and a can of bug spray are the easiest ways I know of to keep those bugs away from us and our food. When I set up the tent and at least once a day I will take the bug spray and spray the tent as well as spray a line on the ground around the base of the tent. On the inside we usually have some sort of bug candle or citronella candle going as well. This combination of things seems to keep about 95% of the bugs away.

Extra Tarp – Now some people I know that don’t like the screen tent will instead just bring an extra 20′ X 40′ tarp that they will use as a raincover over their picnic table/eating area. Again this is a personal choice. I also bring an extra tarp but I use it as an extra covering for our tent if the weatherman is calling for rain for a large part of the time we will be out there. This will afford you some extra protection from that rain. Most well made tents will keep out about 90 to 95% of the rain on their own but if you get absolutely pounded or if you are in for some long term rain then the extra protection is definitely worth it.

Hand Brush & Dust Pan – These are an absolute necessity for a couple of reasons.
1. If you have kids they will always find a way to have a significant amount of dirt/critters/grass/leaves collected in the folds/creases of their clothing. Whenever we are going into the tent area I take a couple of seconds and the hand brush and basically brush them down. Do this once or twice and you will be amazed at the amount of stuff you will save from entering your tent.
2. When you are packing up to head home, if you take a couple of minutes to sweep down the inside of the tent you could very well keep from having to setup the tent at home and hose it down. Now if it has rained at all or if there is a significant amount of dew on your tent then you must set it up at home, hose it down and let it completely dry before you stow it away for your next trip.
3. When you are breaking camp and you have the tent knocked down and are ready to start rolling it up, having a hand brush handy will be very useful. There is always an accumulation of dew under a tent that will attract all sorts of dirt and sand. If you have the brush you can brush about 90% of that dirt off the tent as you are rolling it up. If the outside/underside of the tent is damp from dew accumulation you will need to set the tent up in your backyard once you get home and hose it down and let it dry completely before you put it away.

Plastic Bins – When it comes to bringing all this stuff in my opinion the best way to carry it all is to get yourself a couple of big plastic tubs with lids. You can get these at your local Wal-Mart or Target for a couple of bucks each. I have 4 that I usually carry with me. 2 of them are about 2 feet deep by 3 feet long by 2 feet wide. The other 2 are 6 inches deep by 3 feet long by 2 feet wide.

If you pack the carefully you will be amazed at how much stuff you can get into these containers. I pack them with anything and everything that I need for camping that does not have it’s own container. Bowls, plates, utensils, napkins, cooking utensils, skillets, pots, hand brush, etc…

The other benefit is that you will be able to pretty much pull them out of your vehicle, set them down next to your camping kitchen and leave them there until you head home. Make sure that when you are not actually digging through it for something that you leave the lid on and secured this way animals and rain won’t be able to get into them.

The downside is that packing a vehicle with them can at times be pretty interesting as they are not very flexible in shape or composition so you can’t shove them into a corner. But with a little planning you can make it work.

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric

Good Morning All,

So we have already talked about alot of your camping gear, now it’s time to talk about general site gear. This is literally ally the “stuff” that you have to bring with you when you go camping. Alot of it you could do without but you usually bring it because it makes life a little more convenient. I am going to list them as they come to me so don’t think this is in any particular order.

1. Lanterns – This is pretty much a must have for very obvious reasons, you need some light at night. As you will see flashlights are also on this list and some people feel that you can take one or the other and they may be right. Personally I prefer to have both for very different uses. A good quality lantern can be used to light up an entire area of your campsite. Flashlights are great for late night trips to the bathroom or the campground gathering area for Bingo.

Now some people prefer battery operated lanterns and some prefer “gas” powered. When I say gas I mean propane, lamp oil, white gas, etc… I was always a propane kind of guy until recently. My kids have gotten to the point where you don’t have to “child-proof” the area always and so I have recently begun leaving the lantern on the picnic table or camping kitchen instead of permanently mounting it to a tree at the six foot level. Don’t worry I always used zip ties to hold it in place, not a nail pounded into the tree.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that I think I am going to put away the propane for awhile and get a battery operated lamp because of how hot the propane lanterns can get. Just for awhile. I trust my kids but sometimes they are so focused on whatever they are doing they don’t always remember to only grab the handle.

2. Flashlights – As mentioned above this is a must have on my camping trips. We always bring at least two (one for each kid) and we always put fresh batteries in them prior to heading out from the house.

3. Camping Kitchen – This item may not be so important to those of you that have trailers and/or RV’s but to tent campers this is a life saver. Basically it’s an aluminum table that has a countertop and sometimes shelves below it and a hanging rack on the back. I have seen very basic ones as I just described, I have also seen very advanced ones (In Cabellas Master Catalog for 2005) canvas gear bags hanging off the side with a builtin sink and a spice rack.

A camping kitchen is a very condensed “kitchen equipment rack” and it works very well to keep alot of your cooking equipment all centralized and easily accessible. In my opnion they are very much worth the $50 – $100.

4. Cooking Equipment & Utensils – This is one area that I never skimp on. I take 2 to 3 skillets, 3 to 4 pots and our 12 quart Dutch Oven. I went to the dollar store a couple of years ago and spent about $20 on utensils. I basically duplicated most of our utensils from home. I have a plastic container with a lid that has all of these utensils in it and in one place. This way when we are packing to go on a trip I can just grab this tub and not have to worry about scavenging through our kitchen looking for the right pair of tongs. You will alos need some bowls to prepare and serve your food in. As well as a couple of plastic serving plates. If you can find one of those sets of plastic bowls where all the bowls and there lids fit inside of the largest one that is best. You are only going to need the space for the largest bowl when you pack.

5. Spices – I’m not a “bland” food kind of guy so I must have a minimum of garlic, onion, salt, pepper, Essence of Emeril and oregano with me whenever I cook. At a flea market a couple of years ago I found a shaker that had four sections to it and in each section was a different spice. I didn’t buy it but took the idea and made my own. I found a similar container at a local kitchen shop and filled it with the spices I like (as mentioned above). Small and compact and easy to use.

I will continue this more later…

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric

Good Morning folks,

In recent days I have recieve lots of requests for information regarding the winterization and storage of RV’s and trailers.

So I decided to start looking into it. I personally don’t have a whole lot of knowledge in this area since most of my camping experience over the years has been in a tent.

All I do when my wife and I decide that we are done until spring is take everything out in the backyard set it all up, sweep it all out, hose it all down and let it dry. Once the tent, poles, stakes, caming kitchen, tarps, screen tents, sleeping bags, stoves and all other supplies are clean and dry I just roll it all up and store it back in the basement for a couple of months.

Now when it comes to your RV’s and trailers everything I do for my tents and stuff is only the beginning. In the coming days and weeks I will be talking to several different people in the RV & trailer world and get their opinions on the must do and nice to do type of things and will let you all know as I come across them.

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric

I just got this email newsletter from Camping World and thought you all might get a kick out of it, it’s general camping related not specifically related to New Jersey Camping.

The Latest News from Camping World

Technically Speaking

Traveling with Satellite TV
By Mark J. Polk

Are we there yet? Does this question sound familiar? If you have children and you travel I’m sure you’ve heard it more than once. It’s not quite as bad when you’re traveling in an RV, but with children you still get asked this question. We’ve tried several different ways to keep the boys entertained while getting from point A to point B, but after they have seen all the movies and played all the games they start asking if we’re there yet, again.

After doing some research I was convinced that I found a solution to this problem, an in- motion satellite system. I explained to my wife that this would keep the kids entertained and she could keep up with the shows that she likes to watch when we’re traveling in the RV. I didn’t mention that it would be just in time for football season too!

So the decision was made and now we just needed to figure out which in-motion system to get. I wanted a highly reliable system that was low profile and compatible with DIRECTV. What I found was the Winegard Roadtrip LP-1000 in-motion satellite system. It is one of the most advanced and lowest profile satellite antennas available. It can be used with DIRECTV and DISH Network satellite providers. The Roadtrip LP-1000 uses global positioning system (GPS) and digital video broadcasting (DVB) technology. The GPS is used to determine the present location of the RV antenna and the DVB verifies that the antenna located the correct satellite. The DVB circuitry and GPS technology provides the fastest and most reliable signal acquisition available.

I decided to do the installation myself. It wasn’t difficult to install; the hardest part was getting it on the roof. If you’re leery about drilling through the roof of your RV, routing the coax and wiring, or connecting to the 12 volt system of your RV you may want to let a Camping World store near you install it.

If you do install it yourself carefully plan the entire installation before you start. Make sure the satellite antenna is properly located on the roof, with enough distance from other items, and verify that there will be enough coax and wiring to reach where you want it to go inside the RV. There are a couple of specialty tools you will need like coax stripping and crimping tools and make sure you follow the installation instructions precisely. Always keep safety in mind and be careful whenever you are working on the roof of your RV. You can go here to view the Installation Manual.

With the Roadtrip LP-1000 there are no hand cranks to deal with or trying to position the antenna to pick up a signal. Actually, there is no user input required at all. You just turn on a switch and it is fully automatic. My wife, who is not very technical, was shocked to discover that even she could make the satellite system work. The Roadtrip antenna is capable of advanced on-road television tracking. It has a continuous 360 degree rotation to keep it locked on the satellite and it works great when you’re stationary too.

Once the installation was completed it was time to try it out. We loaded up the RV and headed out for a weekend excursion. The kids thought it was really “tight” (I guess “tight” is the word they’re using for “cool” now days). With hundreds of television channels available there won’t be anymore nights spent rotating the TV antenna searching for one decent channel to watch. There was no more asking if we were there yet, but there was a lot of, hey it’s my turn to watch what I want. That Sunday afternoon I was relaxing, watching a football game and thinking it doesn’t get any better than this. Then my wife came over to me and said “I thought you said I would be able to keep up with the shows I like to watch.” I looked at her and said “I thought you liked football.”

Happy Camping! Mark J. Polk

Mark Polk is the owner of RV Education 101. He also hosts the RV Savvy segments for RVTV, which airs on the Outdoor Channel. RV Education 101 is a North Carolina-based company that produces professional training videos, DVDs and e-books on how to use and maintain your RV so all of your RV experiences are safe, fun and stress-free.
Mark’s videos and DVDs are now available at any Camping World Supercenters and at CampingWorld.com. Click here for VHS videos or here for DVDs.

Good Morning all.

I received an email last night from somebody who was interested in knowing how I go about determining the camping destination each time I go for a trip. As I was replying to his e-mail I realized that if this person had that question, maybe some of you had the same question. So here is the process I go thru when choosing a destination:

There are several factors involved in choosing the destination:

1. Time of year – This comes into play because I don’t like to camp in a landlocked area in the dead heat of summer and I don’t like to camp in the mountains or near the shore in spring/fall/winter. I am not very heat tolerant so if it’s July/August I want to do whatever I can to ensure some sort of breeze or cooler temperatures in the evening. I can handle the heat/humidity during the day but when it’s time to sleep I don’t want to be uncomfortable. Same thing in the cooler season but for my kids, I want to choose a location that will not be extreme temperature wise overnight, so the mountains and the immediate shore area are out.

2. Type of camping desired – The Cub Scouts like to call it “Soft Camping vs. Hard Camping.” Do I want to camp in our trailer so I can show up at the site and within 30 to 45 minutes be sitting back and enjoying a cold beverage with the campsite up and ready. Or, do I want to bring in our tent and go thru the work involved in Setting it up, staking it down, securing the extra rain prevention tarp above it…etc… I don’t have a preference one way or the other, they just require different types/quantities of work and sometimes I am not interested in one of the other.

3. People travelling with – As most of you that have been camping before know, choose you site-mates carefully. I personally don’t like camping with anybody that has never been camping before or only been once or twice. I am not saying that we don’t go camping with those people, just that I don’t like it. Inevitably when we do go camping with “newbies” I end up setting up their tent, cooking their food and in general being a tour guide/babysitter for the trip. That is completey OKAY as long as I know it in advance and I am prepared for it. I say prepared because it means I have to bring more gear since the “newbies” always forget something pretty critical. In the past I have had to supply site-mates with pillows, blankets, clothes, food, grills, tents, first aid and just about anything else you can imagine. So when I choose a destination the choice is based on who I am going with and if they are experienced enough to bring their own gear. If not, then I pick a private campgrond that has more facilities/amenities and at least a minimal camp store.

4. Attractions desired – Do you feel like just hanging around the campground and doing whatever they have available there or do you want to venture out to the beach, amusement park, local watering hole, museums, art, history, etc… In New Jersey especially, you can setup a campsite and literally be less then 30 minutes from a variety of things to do and places to see. We have a particular family we go camping with regularly and when we camp with them we know in advance that we are going to be up pretty early and out of the site by 8am not to return until 8 or 9pm. We will hit every museum, history artifact, beach attraction, swimming hole or ski slope within about 60 miles of the site. This is an absolutel blast once in a while, there are other times/site-mates when we don’t leave the campground until an hour after checkout.

5. Length of Stay – Over the years my wife and I have developed a list of New Jersey Camping facilities that we will not stay at for more then a long weekend. It’s not becuase the campgrounds are dirty or unsafe or anything like that. It has more to do with the fact that some places only have activities/amenities on the weekends and we like to get our kids involved in things pretty much daily. That is also why we hardly ever stay at a New Jersey State Park longer then a weekend. There is not always something to do and if we are going as a family we want some help occupying our children’s time occasionaly, Mom & Dad need a break sometimes.

Well that’s pretty much how we choose where we are going to camp each and every time.

I hope it helps!

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric

Well it was an absolutely awesome weekend!

The weather was absolutely beautiful with sunny and mid-70′s during the day and low 50′s at night. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The only downside was that since we haven’t had any significant rain in the last month or two meant that we couldn’t have a campfire of any kind. That took a little of the fun away during the evenings. Oh Well!

Pine Tree is truly an awesome example of all the good in New Jersey Camping. Unfortunately (or fortunately – depending), you can’t just call them up and pitch a tent. The facility is srictly for the scouts.

We did BB’s, Archery, Canoing, Flag Etiquette, Cooking, Ham Radios, Crafts and a ton more. We had a night time hike to check out all the nocturnal creatures in the area as well as the beautiful clear sky full of stars. The kids cooked their own meals (with adult supervision of course) and all in all it was a great trip.

Now to start planning the winter trip for the kids and maybe even try to sneak one in for just the family in early November.

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric