January 2006 – a frozen creek in California
The holidays are over, along with most of my vacation hours, and it seems like it’s going to be a long time until President’s Day. These are some long monotonous weeks, where it seems like the only thing to do that is outdoor-related, is maintenance on the gear.
Our severely warped aluminum griddle
There’s something about camping and cast iron cookware that just seems right. Maybe it’s the old westerns, with the dutch oven sitting over the fire, or the cowboy frying-up bacon in his skillet over an open fire – cast iron cookware is an icon of the American West and it remains so, today.
The Internet has been a real boon for people trying to find campgrounds with open camping spots available. Online reservation sites, like Reserve America and Recreation.Gov, allow you to find a campground by proximity to a city, town, or popular attraction. Let’s see what we can find around Monterey, California – one of the more popular destinations in Northern California, in the next two weeks.
Uno is one of our regular camping activites
Some of the parents I’ve spoken to about family camping these past few years have expressed some nervousness about how to keep their kids busy and entertained over the course of a weekend in the woods. While we tend to focus on “camping things,” like hiking, campfires and s’mores, it’s important to realize that just because you’re camping it doesn’t mean you can’t do some of the things with your kids that you already do at home.
Collect lint in egg cartons
One of our traditions here in the Scribner household is making our own campfire starters by collecting lint from the clothes dryer in old egg cartons. We have found that this not only makes for a quick and easy way to start campfires at the campsite, but it’s also a good use for both egg cartons and lint!