Camp sites

[Bigum1969]

Last time I "wilderness" camped (and I use the term "wilderness" loosely), was in Brown County. Nice camping area, but *nothing* to do. That's a tough sell when you're trying to entertain a kid for more than a day.

We camp almost every weekend in July and August with our 4-year old. What we do is make him part of the set up, maintenance and break down of the camp site. He feels like part of the experience.

We also try and take him fishing or do an activity each day.

My son also shares my love of campfires. I always tell people that "I camp to burn". It doesn't matter how hot it is, a bonfire is always on the itinerary.

Last summer and fall when campfire bans were prevalent, we chose campgrounds based on where I could have a fire.

 

[Pami]

That's awesome, Bigum.

I go camping to cook! And I love it best when I go with people who haven't been camping very often. Their idea of a meal is "hot dogs." My idea is ... omelets or pancakes or biscuits & gravy for breakfast, maybe a cold cut sandwich for lunch since we're likely hiking on a trail somewhere, and then quesadillas or hobo dinners or spaghetti for dinner, followed by s'mores and dump cake or cobbler for dessert... and then leftover dump cake for breakfast... tasty!

 

[Bigum1969]

That's awesome, Bigum.

I go camping to cook! And I love it best when I go with people who haven't been camping very often. Their idea of a meal is "hot dogs." My idea is ... omelets or pancakes or biscuits & gravy for breakfast, maybe a cold cut sandwich for lunch since we're likely hiking on a trail somewhere, and then quesadillas or hobo dinners or spaghetti for dinner, followed by s'mores and dump cake or cobbler for dessert... and then leftover dump cake for breakfast... tasty!

I laughed out loud when I read this. I'm pretty sure that I eat much better when I camp than at home!

I discovered the dump cake last summer and have not been the same since. Dump cakes added about 10 pounds to me last year.

Twice last year we had friends out to visit that had no camping experience whatsoever. They were blown away by the whole experience. Great meals, camaraderie, campfires, and of course, high definition tv and air conditioning!

 

[Pami]

I discovered the dump cake last summer and have not been the same since. Dump cakes added about 10 pounds to me last year.

You can make it in an oven, too. I usually set the temp to whatever the cake mix box suggests... I want to say ~350? Of course, you miss out on the smoky charred flavor the dutch oven and hot coals add to it, but at least you can have it year-round.

 

[Bigum1969]

You can make it in an oven, too. I usually set the temp to whatever the cake mix box suggests... I want to say ~350? Of course, you miss out on the smoky charred flavor the dutch oven and hot coals add to it, but at least you can have it year-round.

I've been on a diet since New Year's. If I cooked a dump cake I'd probaby eat the whole thing in one sitting and pass out with a grin on my face!

 

[Pami]

But you'd be happy; that's the important part.

 

[Scutter01]

We like to cook decent food when camping. We do hotdogs and hamburgers sometimes, but I've also been known to make marinated chicken, pork roasts, etc. I really don't have the stove space to cook the way I'd like to, but we try to do more than hot dogs. Although, hotdogs cooked over the fire is fun.

Sometimes I'll bring some corn on the cob or potatoes to roast in the embers.

 

[Ri22o]

You can make it in an oven, too. I usually set the temp to whatever the cake mix box suggests... I want to say ~350? Of course, you miss out on the smoky charred flavor the dutch oven and hot coals add to it, but at least you can have it year-round.

Did I hear someone say Dutch Oven?

 

[Bigum1969]

One of our favorites is potatoes, onions and butter cooked in aluminum foil over an open fire or even my camp stove. Everything seems to taste better when camping!

 

[Scutter01]

One of our favorites is potatoes, onions and butter cooked in aluminum foil over an open fire or even my camp stove. Everything seems to taste better when camping!

A big clove of garlic wrapped in foil with some butter and spices and roasted is also pretty tasty.

 

[Scutter01]

Just got back from weekend camping. Our food highlight was country-style BBQ ribs slow-cooked over the campfire. Sadly, I forgot to pack the afore-mentioned garlic clove.

 

[Bigum1969]

We just returned from camping in Illinois at Rend Lake. The food highlight for us was our usual -- camp potatoes.

Nothing extravagent this trip -- hamburgers, hot dogs and lots of s'mores

 

[singlesix]

Last couple year we been lucky to have access to a private area: small spring fed lake and some nice woods. Catch Bluegills and Bass and fry them up for dinner. Great times. Even my teenagers like it.

 

[obijohn]

camp all over with the boy scouts. dutch ovens are one of my special interests. i even have one in cast aluminum instead of iron i used to "backpack". my pack nowdays won't even hold the DU. my back and knees won't either. hehe.
we've seen in another thread about an ingo hike. how about an ingo camping trip?

 

[Ri22o]

how about an ingo camping trip?

I was just thinking the same thing. I have a new tent I need to break in.

 

[Bigum1969]

camp all over with the boy scouts. dutch ovens are one of my special interests. i even have one in cast aluminum instead of iron i used to "backpack". my pack nowdays won't even hold the DU. my back and knees won't either. hehe.
we've seen in another thread about an ingo hike. how about an ingo camping trip?

I think an INGO camping trip would be awesome. We could have it at one the state parks. Count me in

 

[NEOCON]

We like to camp away from others and organized campgrounds. Harlan county KY (the sate not the jelly) is one of our favorites. You can camp on top of the mountain at bald knob and see for miles and never see another soul. Windrock mountain in N is another. We usually off road, horseback ride and/or geocache when we camp. Not into the trailer park scene for camping I have done it before and actually did it last weekend. When I camping at a place like that it makes me feel like I am in the city, my front yard is more secluded than a lot of the campgrounds. Although the A/C and tv would be nice.

 

[Bigum1969]

We like to camp away from others and organized campgrounds. Harlan county KY (the sate not the jelly) is one of our favorites. You can camp on top of the mountain at bald knob and see for miles and never see another soul. Windrock mountain in N is another. We usually off road, horseback ride and/or geocache when we camp. Not into the trailer park scene for camping I have done it before and actually did it last weekend. When I camping at a place like that it makes me feel like I am in the city, my front yard is more secluded than a lot of the campgrounds. Although the A/C and tv would be nice.

Unfortunately for me, a travel trailer is about as "rough'n it" it as it gets for my wife.

What does geocache mean?

 

[NEOCON]

It is where you take a GPS (Global Positioning System) and go treasure hunting. You can go to Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site and find caches in an area you intend to visit, Lincoln park has about 6 or so in the area. Then download the coordinates into your handheld GPS and go hunting. It is a lot of fun to find them, when you find a cash you sign a log book and take a trinket from the cach and leave one as well. Some are very hard and you may have to search for several times others are great for beginners and kids and easily spotted. It is great practice in using your GPS and teaches kids about orienteering and even map reading. St. Meinerad Abby has several around it some hard some easy, you can spend a day in this area walking and searching.

 

[sbnewsom]

Favorite Indiana Campground would have to be Raccoon Lake in Rockville Indiana. The place is perfect for boating and just hanging out. I was at Brookville lake this past weekend. Stayed at the Mounds campsites. They were really nice. Had everything we could need including toilets, and showers.