Grab Your Family and GO!

Tents...check.
Sleeping bags...check.
Grill...check.
marshmallow-pokers...check.
graham crackers...check.
hersheys chocolate bars...check.
cooler...check.


We're headed up to our favorite place in Colorado--Rocky Mountain National Park--later this morning. Mr Wonderful's idea of a vacation is sleeping in the dirt. Sleeping under the stars is not cliche to him, my Montana mountain man. Sleeping in a tent is "cheating". The only thing that could make this trip even better would be if it rained at night too...he likes to sleep with the sounds of raindrops hitting the tent. He's the first one up in the morning. He gets the campfire going. He gets the water boiling for hot chocolate. He starts the griddle and gets the bacon and eggs going as we all start to pour out of the sleeping bags and tents, with bed heads covered in tooks. (sp?) Mornings are the best when you're camping. We poke around until we're good and ready to close up the food in the car, zip the tents and then grab the fishing poles and hit the trails, rivers, and lakes for the day.

I didn't grow up camping. Ever. When I was 15 my folks moved from Charlotte, NC to Denver, CO (because the Broncos won the Super Bowl and my dad was obsessed with them. no kidding.)
anyway, my folks bought a tent so we camped all the way across the country in order to save money. Back then, we kids thought of it as a great adventure. We had a small car with 7 people in it. It was a Dodge Coronet. My youngest brother, Keir, rode across country lying in the backwind sheild dashboard. The rest of us thought he had the best seat, b/c at least he could lay down, while we were sitting shoulder to shoulder. (seatbelt laws didn't exist).

Anyway, when we got to Colorado, we camped out at Cherry Creek Reservoir for the maximum days you could--21--which was just enough time because my dad had found employment in that time, and we moved into a home.
We never camped again.

My first husband didn't like the outdoors at all, so it wasn't until I met Mr. W that I got to experience true camping. And I really like it.

The kids love it...LOVE it!-- the tents, the sleeping bags, the cooking outside, the eveing stars and flashlights (!), running all over all day long with each other! What a nice change for all of us to be together with no distractions.
Even your teenagers will love it!

So, go camping this summer. It's worth the investment in a tent and bags and get a little Coleman grill, some flashlights (AND BATTERIES!) a cooler, and you're set! Or borrow it all if you can! You'll be so glad you did!

If you haven't been before, it's a great investment for family time. And unlike a trip to Disneyland, you can go and come back in a weekend--with the economy the way it is--short trips can make alot of memories over a whole summer than one big expensive trip. Just a thought. For RMNP, it's only $20.00 a night. That's less than a trip to McDonald's for our whole family!

So come on! you can make reservations for YOUR National Park online...simple, simple!

Right here: http://www.recreation.gov/.

America's Best Idea - The National Parks - Gets even better this summer with several fee-free weekends. All 391 National Park Service sites across the country will offer free admission on June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009. Many park partners including tour operators and vendors will offer additional discounts and special promotions on those dates.