August 16, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

Campfire Cooking, Fire Wood, and Magical Hikes in Maine

Acres of Wildlife Campground sits near the small town of Steeple Falls, ME and is a three-mile drive on a dirt road (well maintained) just to get to the campground. (A couple of times during that drive, which takes forever creeping along at 20 mph, I felt like there should be a sign saying “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter”. It just seems to go on forever, and you wonder if you’ll ever get there. There are encouraging signs though, which was kind of fun. “Don’t Give Up, You’re Almost There”, and things like that. – Lee) Once you get there the place is huge, with its’ own stocked pond, a small lake with plenty of kayaks, rowboats, paddleboats, paddleboards and canoes for rent, and large wooded areas. There are numerous cottages to rent, a lake beach… they even have a pretty nice RC car track. There’s an incredibly well stocked camp store, the best I have seen with a massive hardware store style selection of pieces parts for RV’s and campers. They also have a small restaurant with a bar and fresh-baked bread and pies for sale. The bread was $2.99 and absolutely delicious. We picked the Sunflower campsite which was on the outer edge of the campground away from the water and the more densely packed campgrounds, but Site 63 (electric and water only) on the water would have worked for us and we also liked 48 and 49 which offered full water views and E/W/S services. Tons of activities throughout the day and night, the place was really hopping. On the negative side, definitely insufficient bathrooms for that volume of people and the one I went in although clean had no soap. Trash cans are also few and far between. Also, the campers weren’t as friendly as we have seen in other places. As Lee says more stares than smiles. (Lots and lots of hostile stares, as opposed to the friendly smile and waves we see at other places. – Lee)

They also misrepresented their access to Sebago Lake. It’s inferred that it is a short hike away with easy access which is not the case. Overall I give it 2 out of 5 pine cones.

So let me be honest here; I struggled this week with the cooking. I don’t know if it was poor preparation or just trying to plan for a full week versus a weekend, but I had several mini disaster meals this week and overall felt more harried with cooking than in the past. The good news is we solved our wood problem. We have purchased Kiln Dried wood at Tree Hugger Farms in New Hampshire which burns long and hot, (much like myself. – Lee) and are supplementing with local “Abundle” wood we find on the roadside. The kiln dried wood is hardwood, and not easily split into smaller pieces, and isn’t great to get the fire started so we use local wood to get it going and then the kiln dried pieces to last longer when we are just sitting around the campfire. I worried that we would be questioned about it, but we have a certificate from where we bought it and it’s clear from looking at it that it’s “clean” wood (ie. no bark and 100% insect free). We like to supplement with local wood because in most places its slightly cheaper than kiln dried and it’s fun to treasure hunt for the cheapest wood while your out and about running errands. If you see a sign like below, you’ve found some good stuff.

(Abundle wood is an abundant species found in areas with campgrounds. It’s pronounced “abb-un-dell”, I guess, as you can see on the sign. It is not to be confused with a similar, but completely different species, Perbundle. So when you’re out looking for wood for your campfire, make sure you get the Abundle, or in a pinch, Perbundle. It burns well, and is pretty cheap. You can usually find it for between $2-$4 for each small, easy to carry package. -Lee)

So now that the wood problem was solved, onto the cooking problems. Part of the problem is spices. You try to pick recipes with relatively few ingredients but it’s tough and I never seem to have spices like cumin on hand. Finally we put all our spices in a plastic shoe box container (which I love because it’s out-of-the-way unless I am cooking) and I broke down and bought some spices that keep popping up in recipes that I never have. We also worked out the logistics. i was trying to manage the campfire cooking and the inside cooking at the same time which was driving me crazy and frankly a setup for failure because you truly cannot be in two places at once. i know crazy, huh, but I’m a slow learner. I prepared the sauces and food for cooking on the fire in advance, Lee cooked those items, while I finished up with setting the table and cooking the interior items. Voila!! Worked great and we had a wonderful meal of Honey Chipotle barbecued chicken (with hand- made sauce), lemon pepper potatoes with sour cream sauce, and lemony green beans. Lee declared it a winner and I was waaaay less stressed. See below for the recipes.

It’s my birthday today and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it! We are going to try a 2 mile”magical hike” to Sebago Lake from the campground. First time really getting out in the woods, so hope we don’t get lost 🙂 And Lee bought me a great birthday present, a beautiful spinning balloon to hang on the camper. Life is really really good.

As a way to kick off my being 47 we decided to try a “magical hike”. We started calling them magical hikes because Lee would talk about them and I (remembering the downside of hiking) once said , “Yes honey it would be magical.” There was a teeny bit of sarcasm in that statement. So we starting referring to the magical hikes we would take, but instead have spent a lot of time just bumming around the campsite. Since I wanted to start the new birth year in a positive way we decided to walk the 2 miles to Sebago Lake. I don’t mind walking, as long as I end up somewhere, just not crazy about walking for the sake of walking. Same reason I liked soccer and not track in school. There needs to be an end game. We were warned that the trail was not clearly marked, but what they didn’t say is not marked at all. Lee used apple Maps and GPS though so we felt reasonably confident we could get there. Hard to miss that big of a body of water.

When we set off I had a bottle of water, Carmex, and my camera. I pre-sprayed with bug spray and decided against carrying the bottle with me. BIG mistake. The trail is also a ATV/Snowmobile trail and the ruts had led to a lot of standing water which attracted…you guessed it…mosquitoes. We were swarmed lol…Lee more so than me apparently he is tastier. (This is what I’ve been told, I see no reason why people would lie to me. – Lee) The trail was relatively flat at first, but it was rough with many stones and roots on it. I am sure this makes for exciting ATV’ing… not so much with the walking. And unfortunately we saw almost no signs of wildlife. We did get very excited when we found a print in the mud. It looked like a cat which led me to hey there are predators in Maine and you have no weapon of any kind. This feeling was not lessened when Lee spotted a chipmunk carcass pretty near the trail. So again thinking big cat, and thinking well they are mainly nocturnal, and looking around for a big stick to carry.

All of the conversation was wasted however because when we got back to the campground and looked up the print it turned out it was a dog 🙂 (A giant ravenous man and chipmunk eating dog, don’t be fooled. A distant relative of the equally dangerous camper-eating rock. – Lee) Overall the walk really wasn’t that magical. It was buggy and rough on the feet and the only interesting thing we saw was a ginormous rock. It was amazingly big but other than that not magical.

It would have all been worth it though for a great view of the lake. I was expecting the forest to end at a secluded spot where we could do a little smooching and dip our feet in the water. Instead we came out on a road and looked right at tons of cottages all of which had signs saying do not trespass. In order to get the picture below I had to ask permission and walk to the water’s edge which was a big disappointment.

(Allow me to elaborate. It’s a 2.5 mile hike, along a poorly maintained trail, which is really just an ATV/Snowmobile trail. Lots of jutting rocks and roots, some pretty steep climbs and drops, and huge sections that were full of standing water. I wouldn’t cal it a technical hike, but for a 45 and 47-year-old, who smoke and are slightly heavier than would be ideal, it ain’t no stroll. And millions of aggressive biting flies. I think they are the Maine relatives of the roving rock gangs found in New Hampshire. The hike was not pleasant, and at the end, it dumps into a neighborhood, and then to a street. Across the street are private houses on the lake, with no public access. So if you want to go to the lake, find another way. – Lee)

We did walk down to the local convenient store/bait shop and buy some bug spray for the walk back. Well Lee got bug spray (Deep Woods Off) and I bought a PIC electronic device to hang on my shirt that emits a high pitch noise to chase off mosquitoes. They both made the walk back much better, but I think mine actually worked better. (It’s true, the spray worked, but made my lips numb, and I hallucinated a little bit. And when you sweat, and it runs into your eyes, you go blind a little. It also stops working after about 15 minutes of sweating, so I had to keep spraying it all over me. I would have bathed in it if there was enough in the can. I would like the outdoors a lot more if it weren’t for the animals, the sun, the bugs, and the walking. – Lee) The best thing about the hike (which ended up being 5 miles round trip) was that it burned 1,000 calories!!! Overall not the best but I am willing to try again, we just need to do better planning next time. (I’m so thin I’m practically invisible. A stiff breeze would blow me off my feet, so I can’t really afford to lose that many calories in one magical hike. When we got back I had to immediately lie down and take a very snory nap to recuperate. – Lee)

Lessons Learned

Buy kiln dried wood but supplement with local Abundle or Perbundle wood
When cooking a campfire dinner don’t try to do it alone. Enlist your hubby for help and avoid making yourself crazy
Use granulated bouillon for all those recipes that require chicken broth to avoid buying cans and wasting excess
Break down and buy spices and then store them in a clear plastic container that can be easily accessed
Magical Hikes require bug spray and some planning or they aren’t so magical. (Alternatively, just watch TV-Lee)
Balloon wind catchers are the best birthday presents ever!!!

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August 15, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Camping with Friends

Some friends of ours from Columbus, Ohio (our original hometown) were on a two-week camping trip through New England and we met up with them. The couple have two daughters aged 12 and 8 and camping with kids is fun but a totally different experience. We ended up meeting them in Acadia, Maine at the KOA Bar Harbor Oceanside campsite. Just through good luck we ended up getting to the campsite within minutes of each other, which was great, and we all proceeded to set up. They are in an ultra-lite, which I thought was very nice but took them very little time to set up, mainly I think because they were in the camping mode already, plus we had a new mattress topper for the bed (down alternative because feathers make me sneeze and VERY comfortable) which I had to wrestle into place. I don’t really notice the lack of space on either side of the mattress until I have to make the bed and wrestling the mattress topper into place was a challenge to say the least. At one point I was kneeling on the mattress and trying to lift it at the same time to slip the cover sheet under.. pretty comical I am sure. Anyway, my point is that apparently I have gotten pretty darn used to my setup routine because trying to quicken the pace, to hang out with friends sooner was stressing me out 🙂 All self-imposed but it’s funny how quickly we can become used to a routine.

The campsite is different from any we have been to before, wide open with RV’s as close to each other as you can possibly put them. Our spot faces a little spot of the ocean bay, though, and is on a corner which is pretty great. They have some great sites right on the water if you don’t need sewer hookup, but really the whole point is to use the campground as a jumping off point for going to Acadia National Park, so it’s not designed to spend tons of time there. My major disappointment was the lack of the sound of waves crashing, because it is a bay it’s pretty sheltered, but the kids enjoyed walking down to the shore and picking up shells and they saw some crabs. The bathrooms were very clean, the family uses the campground showers instead of the tiny one in the camper which they have turned into an additional storage area. Pretty ingenious 🙂 and unfortunately the showers routinely had no hot water. There were several complaints from both cabin users and campers. It wasn’t an issue for us though and I have to say we had a great site 105 which has a great view of a little sliver of ocean. There were some other wonderful sites on the water, but I guess they book up really quick and lots of sites where folks are seriously on top of each other with no view whatsoever. The view from our site is below which was great.

The people who run the campground were nice if a bit harried. It was incredibly busy and because of the tight fits on the campground, every camper is escorted and helped to pull into the correct spot. Lots of French Canadians at the site, and folks were incredibly polite. Lots and lots of big dogs, we saw a couple beautiful huskies. Overall I liked it. Don’t kid yourself, though, this is not ocean side camping like you are picturing in your mind, but for what it is (a place to use to visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park) it is a fair value. The shower issue and extreme closeness of sites requires a downgrade though and I rate it at 3 out of 5 pine cones.

One of the best parts of camping with friends is getting to sit around the campfire with them. The 12-year-old and I spent a very entertaining hour trying to create the perfect toasted marshmallow (she managed to pull it off; I was close but not quite) and we all chatted into the evening. For the first time I had to worry about when the quiet hours were, which was funny. We never make any noise when it’s just the two of us. This time we got to sit at the fun campsite!!

The next day Lee and I went to Acadia Park which although crowded was really fun. This is a great place if you like biking as there are 42 miles of carriage paths which were changed into bike paths. We also saw lots of little kids hiking with their parents as there are hundreds of miles of hiking trails. Since we weren’t really into doing either, we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain (which is free) and took some great pictures of the ocean.

Next we took the park loop road ($20 for a 7 day pass) and stopped at various scenic sites along the way. Did you know that seniors 64 and older can purchase a lifetime National park pass for $10 that gains entry into all National Parks in the country?? Say what you want about our government but there are some things they do right. My favorite part of the loop was when we stopped at Thunder Hole and got down on the rocks and watched the ocean come crashing in on the rocks. It was great, and you could get as close to the water as you wanted. All and all a lovely day.

We also visited Bar Harbor which was pretty touristy but fun as the harbor was fogged in and seeing all the boats amid the fog certainly added to the experience. A great family style steak dinner at night and more time around the campfire capped off the experience. Great time hanging out with friends and we are now e packing up and headed to inland Maine and they are branching off to Cape Cod.

Lessons Learned

Walkie talkies are a fun way to communicate when you have two vehicles and it’s great for kids
When camping with a group allow plenty of time for folks to do their own thing, but make sure you meet up at night for campfire and adult beverages

Perfect Lemonade

(Taste tested by an 8-year-old and declared pretty good)

5 cups of water, divided
1 cup lemon juice
3 lemons
1 cup sugar or Splenda

1. Combine 4 cups of water and lemon juice

2. Chill 30 minutes

3. Peel lemons leaving inner white pith on fruit (reserve lemons for another use)

4. Cut lemon rinds into strips

5. Combine rind, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan

6. Stir over medium heat until sugar melts

7. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes; stir frequently

8. Let cool

9. Mix with lemon juice/water mixture and chill 2 hours before serving

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August 4, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Time at a “Back In” Campsite

Finally we have a chance to stay at Oxbow Campground in Hillsborough NH which was my absolutely favorite from our two-day trek visiting all the local campsites. Also to add some excitement we were going to try backing into a campsite. Thus far it’s been all pull through’s, which has been great in most cases, but in this campground we wanted a site up in the corner and we needed to back in. One good thing, is because the site is on a corner Lee was able to pull straight up the road and then back straight in. This made things much less stressful. Plus we had our handy walkie-talkies and wow, was that helpful. The alternative would be us yelling back and forth to each other, I am sure to the amusement of the neighbors which is really not my style and frankly could devolve into something less pleasant quickly. By using the walkie-talkies we could talk in a calm voice which I think helped considerably.

First we both got out of the truck and walked the site and agreed upon where we wanted to be. This was important because we both got a say on exactly where we would be, the main conversation being around the length of power and sewer hose and how close we wanted to be towards the fire pit. Fantastic fire pit by the way, surrounded on three sides by stone, really nice. Anyway, after we decided it was simply a matter of me directing him to that spot. It went pretty well, but once we were in we noticed that the camper wasn’t level. Before unhitching, we went into the camper and there was a definite lean. Lee tried to use a level to see how bad it was and in what direction, but didn’t find it that helpful and instead put his tube of ChapStick on the table and it rolled right off. I definitely felt like I was falling over and after some discussion we decided we didn’t want to feel like that all weekend. We had to move it twice more each time getting closer to the center of the site and farther away from the fire. Unfortunately the fire pit ended up being behind us (although that worked out fine in the end) and we lost a lot of room on the lot. The good thing was because we were on a corner our view was great, so it didn’t matter so much we were in the middle of the site. Lee says the solution is leveling blocks which we don’t own. Kind of surprised we haven’t run into this until now but I suppose sticking to pull through sites has made it a non issue. It worked out ok in the end but definitely a lesson learned.

The campground was really great, everything I remembered. The owner is very nice and very attentive. We saw his presence several times. He even helped our neighbor get his slide out to deploy when he was having issues. It’s a large spacious campground and immaculately groomed. Grass was cut, campsites free of debris and obviously well cared for. Bathrooms were clean and numerous and my favorite part was that it had a little pockets of camping for different styles. There was a nice meadow (wooded on the edges) for those that like that type of camping. another meadow had a fantastic view of the valley. Several pull-throughs close to each with additional parking for guests, the area in the back that was wooded and less campers, pond views, wood views, and even a set of sites by a stream. The campground has a catch and release fishpond, a swimming pond, and a small boat pond with free paddle boats and a canoe. Seriously, aside from a lake or an ocean, this campground has a little bit of everything.

There is also a nice sense of community with seasonals interspersed through the weekender population. We saw several volunteers on golf carts and they provide trash bags and pick up your trash at your site every day before 3pm. There was a lively game of horseshoes that weekend, several groups sitting together at campfires, and several kids of different ages using the playground and swimming areas, but the well-behaved kind 🙂 Lee even got to see a chipmunk which came onto our site in the early morning Saturday and jumped on a log and then scolded him. Lee’s very fond of the chipmunks. My favorite thing was a small petting farm with a horse, donkey, and several chickens. What a great idea and the kids loved it, wandering up to see the animals.

The only down side was no wireless except at the main house and a very small and nearly empty store. Camper’s World is only an hour away and a full grocery store and McDonald’s is within minutes in Hillsborough (which is a very nice New England small town) but I was surprised they didn’t offer more. They do have a large rec center with some very old arcade games… Lee and I played a race car game that we had played when we were kids together, an air hockey table, pool table, and a big screen TV. Despite the wireless issue (we used 4G successfully all weekend) I have to give the campground highest marks definitely 5 pine cones!!

Lessons Learned

First time on a back in site, make sure you can use part of the road to help you maneuver
Corner sites are great for a better view and more separation between campers
Seriously get walkie talkies 🙂
Leveling blocks or leveling pads are a good thing to buy in advance because you never know

Fresh Blueberry Griddle Cakes

An old recipe I found in a cookbook, simple yet so good. The fresh blueberries pop in your mouth.. yummy

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
1/4 Tsp salt
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
Pam

1. Beat egg until light

2. Add salt and milk and stir

3. Mix baking powder with flour

4. Add flour mixture into egg mixture slowly, beating until smooth

5. Add blueberries you’ll be tempted to add more blueberries leave it at 1/2 a cup 🙂

6. Use Pam to grease skillet and heat until you drop water on the pan and it pops

7. Drop one large spoonful on skillet or pan and gently spread out

8. Brown on both sides over medium low heat the cake brown very quickly so watch them closely

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July 20, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Alone

Over the next five weeks, Lee has to work on Saturday nights, so we decided to try camping somewhere close, setting up on Friday and him driving round trip to Keene on Saturday while I hung out alone. I had some reservations. I travel alone all the time and don’t really mind being solo, but I am careful of personal safety when all by myself. Wasn’t sure how I would feel in the camper in the dark woods, but since this whole adventure is partly about stretching our boundaries decided to give it a shot.

It helped that the campground is a very nice one. Tree Farm Campground in Springfield, VT was one of my favorites from the weekend tour we took. I remembered the friendliness of the people and was not disappointed. The young man who runs the campground was an absolute doll, incredibly friendly and helpful. The site (#19) was terrific, a large pull through, well-wooded, with great wooded views. The fire pits are very nice, made of rings of stacked bricks and generous in size and overall exceeded my already high expectations. Wireless is free and works just fine, plus when we asked if we could leave late Sunday he said absolutely and there was no extra charge. They take Good Sam discounts so the site was only $30 a night. It was super hot so we paid the extra $3 a night for AC (well worth the price) but I turned it off on Saturday because it was so much cooler in the woods. Springfield is close by, an old mill town with a decent small downtown area. There is a full grocery store and a McDonald’s within a mile or two of the campground. The only downside was a nearby camp site had a barking dog, but after some initial morning ruckus they seemed to get him settled down. No pool, but there was a neat playground with a mini climbing wall for kids, and all the kids we saw were well-behaved and seemed to be having a good time. It seems like a place where grandparents hang out and have their grandkids out on weekends and all the seasonals seem to know each other and are friendly with one another. Definitely 5 out of 5 pine cones 🙂

Friday night I cooked Grilled Chicken Fettuccine pasta and biscuits. I used two new recipes that required numerous steps and Lee jumped in and helped me towards the end when things got a bit hectic. He loved both of them and I was proud we managed to navigate the small kitchen together on a more complicated dish. The biscuits in particular were tons of fun to make and I felt all fancy with my recipes. I love to cook, not much of a baker, but cooking is fun for me. Unfortunately all those years of managing family dinners on a tight budget kind of sucked the joy out. This is an opportunity to try some more adventurous recipes and I am rediscovering the joy of preparing food. It can get a little stressful though especially when part of the food is cooking outside on the grill/campfire and part is inside.

Lunch on Saturday was good. I made this absolutely yummy new coleslaw recipe that I loved. See below for recipe which I highly recommend. I started a fire and made some hot dogs to go with it and then Lee took off and went to work. I kept the fire going for a while, being extra careful not to inhale too much smoke. ever since I saw that Survivor episode where that guy pitched head first into the fire from smoke inhalation I am pretty cautious about that. And if something happened and I was alone it would obviously be much worse.

One thing I did do was say hi to our neighbors. I had bought some organic dog biscuits on the last trip and used those to meet the people next door. We didn’t exchange life histories or anything, but I wanted to know who they were so if something happened I would be comfortable running over. The side benefit was they had a lot of people over later in the evening, but did a nice job keeping the noise volume down. I have to believe that partly because I was a person to them and not just the trailer next door.

So I was alone and it was weird. I can’t stress enough that I like being alone. After raising three kids (who I love dearly) I have had many years of lots and lots of noise. So the quiet for me is still a bit of a novelty. That being said, being alone at a campground is way different from being alone in a hotel room. For one thing it’s not quiet. There are animal noises and neighbor noises and oddly enough, noises from the camper settling or something. I finally turned the overhead fan on for some white noise which helped some but I found that I was pretty restless and couldn’t settle into one thing. I read awhile, I watched a Deadwood episode on HBO Go. The only time I felt settled was when I was doing chores. That’s when things got interesting. I went to wash the dishes and checked the tanks and saw the grey water was full and the black water was 3/4 full. After a previous adventure with the grey water filling up, I check it pretty frequently now. Even though Lee does the outside chores, I have been paying attention and on occasion have gone out and tested my knowledge. So I felt completely confident when I went to open the tanks. Imagine my surprise when I turned on the black water and stuff starting squirting out the side. I didn’t panic, but I had absolutely no idea what to do. Lee was unavailable via cell phone so I turned the black water off and thought about my options.

Option 1: The dishes could wait and I could probably squeeze by until Lee came home to fix it. Of course that would mean he would be messing with it in the nighttime.

Option 2: I could walk down to the nice kid at the office and ask for his help, but if it was something simple I would feel bad for bothering him

Option 3: I could try to figure it out myself.

I decided on Option 1 and that lasted for a couple of hours. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and with an internal speech that I was a smart woman and could figure this out I went back out to take a look. First problem, no rubber gloves. Lee said he didn’t need them. Well I certainly did, so I settled on an old rag as the best I could do. I looked at the connector and pulled it out then had to twist it pretty hard but I couldn’t see any openings at the bottom. As you may have already guessed, Lee had left the cap on the sewer pipe, but I didn’t understand that at the time, but after fussing with it I thought I could put the hose directly into the drain without the connector I would just have to watch it carefully. Next problem the hose was completely full and had rolled off the plastic lifts it normally sat on. I crawled under the slide out and (with some difficulty) got the hose back on the lift and finally decided to give it a go. I let some grey water out slowly and it worked just fine. Breathing a sigh of relief I went back to the black water, finished that and then the rest of the grey. Overall I was pretty proud of myself and glad that I wouldn’t leave Lee a mess when he came back that evening.

So I went inside and did the dishes. I looked at the clock and it was only 6pm. I still had a lot of time to kill.

The main thing I would have to say I learned about myself from being alone is I need to find something to do. These weekends have been wonderful and relaxing, but if I am going to spend anytime alone, I don’t really have the capacity to sit and do absolutely nothing for hours at a time. When I am traveling and in the hotel room, doing nothing is great, because I have spent a long day working very hard. But a full day of this is too much for me and I definitely need to find a way to fill my time. The good news is for a change I actually have time to fill, which is a very nice problem to have.

Lessons Learned

Say a quick hi to your neighbors
Carry organic dog biscuits in the trailer, it’s a great excuse to introduce yourself
Take the cap off the sewer pipe
Pay attention when your husband connects the sewer up, you never know when you might have to do it

Crunchy Cool Cole Slaw

Ingredients

1 (16oz) package of coleslaw mix
1 large carrot peeled into thin strips
1 crisp apple (julienned)
1/2 medium-sized red onion (chopped)
1/2 cup peanuts (shelled and split)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1-1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp celery salt

In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients.
In a small bowl whisk remaining ingredients
Pour dressing over salad and toss well to coat

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Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.

July 19, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

The Way

The words to our favorite song and anthem: The Way by Fastball

Songwriters: RUSSELL, BRENDA GORDON / SAMUELS, HARMONY DAVID / LAMBERT, AL SHERROD / STREETER, AMBER DENISE / SPARKS, JORDIN

They made up their minds

And they started packing

They left before the sun came up that day

An exit to eternal summer slacking

But where were they going without ever knowing the way?

They drank up the wine

And they got to talking

They now had more important things to say And when the car broke down they started walking

Where were they going without ever knowing the way?

Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold

And it’s always summer, they’ll never get cold

They’ll never get hungry

They’ll never get old and gray

You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere

They wont make it home

But they really don’t care

They wanted the highway

They’re happy there today, today

The children woke up

And they couldn’t find ’em

They left before the sun came up that day They just drove off and left it all behind ’em

But where were they going without ever knowing the way?

Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold

And it’s always summer, they’ll never get cold

They’ll never get hungry

They’ll never get old and gray

You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere

They wont make it home

But they really don’t care

They wanted the highway

They’re happy there today, today

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Search Amazon Here
You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.

July 14, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

Just Camping

We have spent a considerable amount of our camping time taking in the sites or running errands, so this weekend we decided we would just camp. with the exception of one trip to the farmer’s market (which I will talk about in a bit). Relaxing (for me at least) is not as easy as it sounds, and in my opinion is a skill that for some must be learned. I personally intend on perfecting the skill 🙂

I was working in Albany this week so Lee and I selected one of the campgrounds that we liked from our weekend research trip that was located somewhat in the middle between Keene and Albany. We met on the site, landing within 10 minutes of each other and for me it was a beautiful drive across Vermont farm country on Route 11. Despite the pretty drive it was a bit difficult to just dive right in. I was still in work mode and did not find it that easy to make the adjustment. Thankfully the setup went very well, with me focusing on the inside and Lee on the outside and the weather cooperated with a nice and reasonable temperature. We had gotten our first choice (Site 117) and it was even bigger than I remembered. This lot is fantastically large. We easily fit the truck, camper, and my car on it and could have fit several more cars to spare. It is well wooded which we like and the campsite was quiet and not crowded. I have to say based on the site alone, any other campground would be hard pressed to match it, and we settled in for a pleasant stay.

Since I was out-of-town, Lee selected a couple of recipes from my growing “try it” pile and completed the shopping. I don’t think I mentioned it, but for years I have collected old and unusual cookbooks. Since I travel so much, they have largely been collecting dust, but over the past month while at home, I have been looking at them and cutting out any recipes I thought were interesting. Yes I did feel a twinge for cutting up books, but many of these I have had for 15 plus years and it was the only way for me to make sure the recipes actually got used. The end results is a small plastic coupon holder that is now full of recipes to try, and the results of those experiments are what occasionally show up on these pages. As I mentioned before, I am only experiencing a 50% success rate, but apparently Lee is a better selector than I am because all three of his recipes were good!!!

The next morning we were up bright and early and Lee asked me to try to find a farmer’s market to supplement his meal choices with some fresh veggies. Perkinsville is really in the middle of no where, and the closest one I could find was 45 minutes away, but he quickly found a farmers market that opened at 10am within a 10 minute drive. Lee is the Goggle zen master 🙂 So we jumped in the care and drove to the market. It was basically a large roadside stand, but they had tons of products from local growers. While there we bought the mushrooms for that night’s dinner and I found some homemade dog biscuits for visiting puppies at the sites. We decided to not bring our dog on these trips (she’s a bit of a princess and incredibly high maintenance) but I do enjoy talking to other people and petting their dogs. The organic dog biscuits were just the thing and should be acceptable to any dog owner, even those who have dogs with special dietary issues. In addition they had small chunks of local Vermont cheese… yummy.

After the farmers market we went into town (basically a cross roads and a few stores) and went into the grocery store/deli to pick up some dishwasher soap. It was amazingly well stocked (if small) and had its own little salad bar and hot bar for $5.99 a pound. We both made a salad for lunch and Lee got a couple of yummy ribs that had just been cooked to take back to the campsite. “Foraging” for local food is fun and in this case reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. Next we went across the street to the local feed store to look for a wire grill cleaning brush. I had been using a plastic one and it wasn’t getting the job down, and luckily they had exactly what we needed. In addition, I picked up a great pair of rubber farm boots for $20 and two bags of kiln dried kindling for $4.95 a piece. I love feed stores and have fond memories of visiting them as a child, but had forgotten how much of an eclectic selection they could contain.

Finally we stopped at one more farmer’s market (I couldn’t help myself it had a statue of a goat outside that grabbed my attention) and picked up a little jar of honey, maple cotton candy, eggs, and some egg salad all locally made. It was a nice little trip to see the area and only took an hour or so, and then we were back at the campsite.

Dinner that night was an unqualified success, Beef Satay, Mushrooms, and Roasted potatoes then we watched a movie and went to bed. Oh yes somewhere in the day I took a nice long nap. In my real life I never nap but the fresh air and soothing sounds of the birds made a nap just the thing, so between some solid sleep at night and the nap I feel VERY well rested. Since the campground is so inexpensive $70 for three full days Fri – Sun, we paid for the extra day and will take our time leaving. Stoughton Pond is within walking distance and if it’s warm enough we want to try out our kayaks, which Lee brought in the truck. Overall the trip was very nice and relaxing and definitely showed the value of just camping.

Lessons Learned

When driving to the campsite straight from work allow a little extra time to decompress
Just camping is fun

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July 7, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Holiday – Day 3

Woke up pretty refreshed this morning. We have been trying different things with the bed since the mattress is hurting my back and last night we took the air mattress from the couch and put it under the light, thin mattress that came with the camper. It actually worked pretty well, although being up so high was kind of weird. It’s not the ultimate solution, but worked better than anything we have tried so far. Next time we are going to bring the mattress topper from our home and give that a try. All the good solutions seem to be in the $500 and up range, and since I am nothing if not thrifty, I am trying everything else before making that investment. Lee’s been pretty patient with the whole thing. He, of course, could sleep on a board. (And I have. You should try it, it’s awesome. – Lee)

We decided to go exploring and stopped at the McDonald’s on the way. (Intrepid, aren’t we?- Lee) I love their iced tea, it’s cheap and tastes great, and I took in a half-gallon decanter to ask how much it would cost to fill it. The thought being I could keep it in the camper fridge for a cheap beverage. The manager only charged me $1 stating they had free refills. Say what you want about McDonald’s but they are consistent, and generally the staff understands customer service. Next stop, Big Lots to look for a cheap mattress fix. I worked for Consolidated Stores for 7 years when the kids were young and they are a great company, filling a need for a low-cost alternative for many people. They often carry name brands at really low prices so I thought, why not give it a shot? They had a 3″ egg crate foam pad which was exactly what I thought would solve the problem. I should note here Lee said all along this would not work. The saleslady was very helpful and we got to feel the foam but I quickly saw Lee was right (drat!!) and it was too thin. We bought some other miscellaneous stuff (100 bamboo skewers for $1.50) and headed on our way. Mattress problem not solved but more information in hand.

As we came out of the Big Lots we saw a sign for the Saugerties farmer’s market. One of my ideas is to get local produce at the farmer’s market and try to incorporate it into that night’s meal. It was very nice, although small, with a cool selection, and we bought a few things including a tiny jar of local honey. Someone I work with told me that the natural cure to allergies was to buy local honey. The idea is that because it is made of local nectar it would provide some immunity. I took a teaspoon (it was raw honey and tasted incredibly good) thinking even if it doesn’t work I got a nice treat out of the deal. I have to say it did seem to work. My nose was much clearer although after about 5 hours I had to take another spoonful (no hardship there). Personally I am sold and will try this wherever we visit.

Since Roadside America was such a hit yesterday we decided to try it again, but in the interest of “Get off the interstate Ben Stone” (Doc Hollywood reference – great movie) we took a detour to a nearby historical lighthouse. The lighthouse was a loooong walk down a semi-shaded path, but at the end there was a lighthouse that also serves as a B&B. Pretty neat if a person likes to stay in historical places. Back on our path we passed by a rocket in the front someone’s yard. Wouldn’t go far out of my way to see it but it was very close to the Catamount People’s Museum which I really wanted to see. The Catamount People’s Museum is a very cool sculpture shaped like a giant bobcat made on a vacant lot out of natural materials, right in the middle of town. I thought it was great, although it seems from the literature it’s a constant struggle not to have it torn down by the city. We stopped for a few minutes and took some pictures and then off we went to our next adventure.

I should probably mention here that it sounds like we were “drive by’ing” and to some extent we were. I have perfected this skill (learned from my mom) of getting out, seeing something, and moving on. I will say though that it is important to mix in really spending some time at a place if it’s interesting, but you can pack a lot in a day if you stop, take a picture, and move on. Figuring out when to stay and when to do a quick stop has been a delicate marriage negotiation over the years, but I think in generally we have come to a healthy compromise.

Finally, we wanted to see Woodstock. I am not particularly interested in that piece of history, but it was right there, so we drove through. Woodstock was packed. It’s a funky little town with a lot of new age shops and aging hippies everywhere (no offense to those aging hippies out there… good for you for sticking to your guns). It just wasn’t our scene, so we slowly drove through town and then had lunch at a little Chinese place outside of town. I just wasn’t in the mood to fight the crowds, plus we had decided to do some streamlining in our camper.

We initially over packed the camper. Not surprising, because we didn’t know what we would need and we finally both felt ready to get rid of all the excess. It required some delicate maneuvering for us both to work in the small space, but we covered the dining room table with “extras” to go back home and reorganized the cabinets. I definitely recommend this activity after a few camping trips, because most things now have a permanent home and we freed up a lot of space for anything additional we wanted to add in the future. I like having some open cabinet space just in case and truly there is plenty of it after the rearranging.

One nice thing I wanted to mention about the campground Saugerties KOA is at 4pm on Saturday they have a fire truck rides for the kids (and several Dad’s). It was a nice extra and everyone on board looked like they were having a great time.

Finally it was time for dinner and I wanted to try a new recipe… pizza on the campfire! Honestly I was dubious that it would work out but it looked fun and challenging. The pizza turned out great!!! Lee loved it and said it tasted just like fancy, artisan pizza. This made me pretty happy because I am only having about a 50% success rate on the new recipes I try and I haven’t hit a home run since that first fish dinner we had. Anyway, this recipe tastes great, and is fun to make (kids would love getting to make their own custom pizza) so please see the recipe below and give it a try.

Lessons Learned

Putting the camping mattress on top of the air mattress works
Try Big Lots/Odd Lots before spending full price
1 tsp of local honey helps with allergies and if it doesn’t work it still tastes great
Roadside America is a great app
After a few camping trips reorganize and remove anything you don’t need to free up space
Pizza on the grill tastes yummy

Grilled Pizza

Ingredients

1 roll of Pillsbury Pizza Crust
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Olive oil
Toppings as desired (for a cheaper alternative get just the right amount of pepperoni from the salad bar at the store)

Heat the grill over the fire making sure it is clean of any residue
Open the roll and lay the pizza dough on a flat service
Cut to the desired size
Using an old towel folded and held with tongs well oil the grill with olive oil
Lay pizza dough flat on the grill
Cook for 2-3 minutes until underside is marked and top side is bubbling a little (do not walk away from the grill as this must be closely monitored)
Flip the dough and cook an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side
Remove dough to a cookie sheet
Place pizza sauce on the dough and top as desired. Lightly portion the toppings
Place pizza’s on a griddle covering with foil and ensuring the foil does not touch the cheese
Place back on the fire cooking for 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted (again closely monitor)
Plate and serve

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July 6, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Holiday – Day 2

Apparently I was very tired….I slept in until 10:30 this morning… can’t remember the last time I did that. What was great was Lee shut the door and I slept through him going about his normal morning routine. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible in such a small space, since I am a very light sleeper (many years of child rearing have programmed me)… not that I plan on sleeping that late often, but it’s a nice option to have. When I woke up and got some coffee I was a bit agitated, but Lee was completely relaxed. I don’t mean somewhat relaxed, or sort of relaxed but completely 100% relaxed. Now my husband is a pretty intense guy… not in a bad way but he’s always working on something and I rarely see him just sitting. He was outside on a chair, hair all messy, completely relaxed. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I’ve seen him look like that and it was really nice. He was also very frisky, you know, kissing and stuff, which was also nice. Who knew that camping would lead to kissing and stuff … let’s just leave it at that since my kids will probably read this 🙂

After a nice big breakfast we decided to head out to Kingston. I had poked around a bit on the web and had heard from a couple of people Kingston was nice and we headed down that way expecting a quaint little resort/tourist town. Kingston used to be the capital of New York and sits on an outlet of the Hudson River so we were expecting something like Lake Placid. Unfortunately that is NOT what we found. There are some beautiful old houses but they are really run down and Kingston is definitely a city in decline. Even the waterfront area looked dilapidated and there was nothing worth getting out of the car for. As a matter of fact there were places I wouldn’t want to get out of the car. This was a real bummer as I didn’t really have a plan B, but I pulled up this new app Lee had got me Roadside America and took a look for the nearest weird attraction. As I’ve mentioned before I am a girl who would go out of her way to see the giant ball of string and Lee found a website full of just such attractions. The website is free and the Iphone app was only $2.99. I saw that the giant fork in the road was only 25 minutes away. In regular life I would have skipped it because it was an hour round trip, but Kingston was such a disappointment I wanted to try to see something. This is where Karma comes in. Karma and taking the road less traveled because you never know where it will lead you.

We were driving to the fork ( Lee was way more patient with my navigation struggles) when we saw a sign that said Historic home of FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is my favorite president and we had recently watched the movie “Hyde Park on the Hudson” so it suddenly clicked that we were very close to Hyde Park. We made a right and I scrambled on the Ipad to find where we were headed and what was close by. Hyde Park is a beautiful town. Everything I expected Kingston to be, actually. As we were driving to FDR’s house, Lee saw a sign for a Vanderbilt mansion and we decided to turn in. I have visited the Breakers and Marble house in Rhode Island and the Biltmore in NC so I was very excited to see another Vanderbilt house. Because Karma was with us we arrived at 2:45 just in time for the 3pm tour. The tour was fantastic and because this house was donated as a federal park (at the behest of my guy FDR) it only cost $8 for the tour. We finished just in time to drive down to FDR’s house and take a quick look at the grounds and see he and Eleanor’s grave site. The grave in particular meant something to me and held the same gravity of moment that I felt when I visited John F. Kennedy’s grave.

We had gone far off the path but found a wonderful way to spend the day, so we grabbed a quick bite and headed to the fork in the road. I have to say that the fork was the best part of my day. Completely tickled my funny bone and Lee said I was wonderfully weird, probably because I am equally impressed by a mansion,historical grave, and a goofy fork statue. The fork statue pic is below… seriously don’t you love it.

Lessons Learned

Roadside America is a great app
Don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled; you never know what you will find
If you see a giant fork in the road stop and take a picture

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July 6, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

First Holiday – Day 1

We were so excited about camping and visiting local sites that booking the fourth of July kind of got away from us. Even though we knew better I waited until 2 weeks ahead and unfortunately most of our first choices were booked. We have a four-day weekend and wanted to go a bit farther afield, so ended up at the KOA in the Catskills. Even though we hadn’t visited the KOA in advance, the nice thing about KOA is you can have a certain expectation, so we were glad when they had an opening.

Finally we felt like we had a routine so Lee went to the camper the night before our trip to turn on the refrigerator. Unfortunately the marine battery was totally dead. It’s brand new so it was unclear what had drained it, but he unhooked it and brought it back to the house and put it on a charger and we hoped we wouldn’t need to fork out another $100 for a battery. (The culprit is the clock in the stereo/DVD player, and a few other minor things that pull a constant low voltage. After three weeks, it had drained the battery. – Lee) It’s important to me at this point that costs kind of settle somewhat. The whole reason we decided to do this was for inexpensive weekends, but thus far with all the one-time purchases we have spent quite a chunk of money. Luckily when Lee woke up (he’s a VERY early riser) the battery was charged and he was able to take it back to the camper and start the refrigerator. Even though the refrigerator runs off propane it requires an electric spark to get it going, but it all worked out great and the refrigerator was cool by the time we took off.

The next important thing was the grocery store. I had been clipping recipes for a week or so and had some things I wanted to try but didn’t wan’t a huge grocery bill…again with an eye towards inexpensive. I “stole” liberally from what was in the house and came up with a relatively short list of items needed and was absolutely thrilled when we only spent $80. Before you judge, food is expensive in New England and we regularly spend $200 at the grocery store so $80 was a bargain…although I can still remember many years when I fed a family of 5 on $80 so I can’t call it a total victory 🙂

Hooking up the trailer went great. We used walkie- talkies which worked MUCH better thank yelling obscenities back and forth at each other…plus I got to say cool stuff like “Copy that” and hitching up the trailer was a breeze. We also managed to avoid the big killer rocks on the way out. Perkins for the win!!! The campsite is three hours away and for the first time it was mostly freeway driving so we were excited to see how that would go. Not so great, unfortunately. It was very windy so Lee really had to focus on his driving and the gas mileage was terrible. We have a brand new Ford 150 XLT with an Ecoboost engine and we were only getting 6.9 mpg. It took an entire tank of gas (about $125) to get us there which was a bummer. One great thing was we found a Cracker Barrel for lunch. The meal was fantastic and we found a place to park our truck and trailer relatively easily. Cracker Barrels generally have HUGE parking lots. The food was great and thus fortified, we continued on with our journey.

Once we arrived we were pretty disappointed. The sites we could use are more less pretty stacked right on top of each other, with no trees between them, but at least they are staggered which was a bit of a benefit and it was HOT! 95° and about 95% humidity. Setting up went flawlessly but we were both drenched by the time we were done. Luckily the campground has a nice pool and we threw on our swimsuits and walked down. An interesting side note…Lee doesn’t like pools particularly, but he gave it a try and found it really refreshing. (People pee in the pool. ’nuff said. – Lee) Cooled down…with the AC on inside we started a fire and I started to make dinner. I’ve been trying out new recipes and many are duds…you won’t see those in here, but this was fine and it was quick (only 20 minutes) and filling. Sitting outside with our hair messy and full of good food, we were pretty content and definitely relaxed so overall it was a very nice day.

Lessons Learned

Disconnect the marine battery when finished camping so it doesn’t drain down while the trailer is sitting
Walkie-Talkies are a must have for communication
Pulling on the freeway does NOT give you better mpg than 2 lane highways
Cracker Barrel is a great place to stop and have lunch in an oversized vehicle
Don’t forget your bathing suits

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July 1, 2013 by Lee and Tracy

Local (near Keene, New Hampshire) Campsite Research – Day 2

Much better today from a communication standpoint and the weather was beautiful, but it still took overall roughly about an hour per site (8 campgrounds in 8 hours) and we did get lost a couple of times, but not nearly as much. When you get lost, using good old-fashioned street addresses works great btw. We went old school 🙂 The reviews are listed below.

Tree Farm Campground – 53 Skitchewaug Trail, Springfield VT

The campground has decent signage and a super friendly group of folks were hanging out with their dogs when we pulled in. The sites are only $33 a night ($600 for a month) and all of them have Electric/Water/Sewage. A lot of seasonals but also many open sites with lots of space between them . Lee characterized it as “extreme separation” between sites which is great for us. Numerous pull throughs some as double the size of other sites we have seen. We saw no kids at all, which for us was a bonus… not that we don’t like kids but it was cool that this appeared largely adult only. The campground was super quiet, we could hear lots of birds in the trees. We saw several large RV’s or 5 th wheels fitting comfortably on sites and got super excited. Lee said he could see being seasonal here and liked that each site has two mounted metal trash cans on it. We drove around, picked our favorite sites 19, 22, 23, and 17 in order and then booked a weekend. The campsite is cash only and required a deposit but it was only $30 (one nights stay) because we are Good Sam members. Another nice benefit is check in is at noon and if no one else is booked in your site you can stay a little later on Sunday. Perkins Rating: Reserved a site

Caton Place Campground – 2419 East Road, Cavendish VT
Things were going so well so we of course had to get completely lost. Somehow the wrong address was entered (ask Lee my version was just fine) and we ended up on a dirt road where I kid you not some coon dogs saw us and ran after the car for about half a mile. We finally asked a woman for help and her accent was so thick I couldn’t understand the directions. Lee did and they took us under a railroad bridge, over a railroad track, and past numerous ramshackle houses. Finally we got back on the main road and made it to the right location. The signage wasn’t very good to the spot (even after we had the correct address) and there was no full-time person at the office. Doug ran up and helped us, he was very friendly gave us a map and told me to make a circle and then go up to “snob hill”. This was not a good sign to me as that kind of division in a small campground did not bode well. They had a big meadow area and several smaller sites which were wooded and would work well for electric/water only campers. Most of the seasonals were on the hill and they seemed to have all the best sites. There was a pool which people were using and a swimming pond which looked pretty gross. Overall not a friendly vibe. Perkins Rating: Not for Us – Your Mileage May Vary

Crown Point Camping Area – 131 Bishop Camp Rd, Perkinsville VT
The campground was near a very nice reservoir with nearby state park trails. The signage was pretty good and there were several “please excuse our mess” signs as they are trying to improve the campground. Wood was $10 and it was unclear how much you could take but it looked like a lot. There was a big carved eagle in the campground which was nice and it is next to a cemetery. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest but I know it might creep some people out. There were very few full service sites but they were large sites and pull-throughs and Lee felt they were “gigantic”. Site 117 was our favorite although 112 and 114 would also work. Overall it was very quiet although we did hear one barking dog for a little while. The town of Perkinsville is 4 minutes away but there were no stores or restaurants so it would be a bit of a hike if you needed something. Perkins Rating: Worth Trying

Running Bear Campground – 6248 US 5, Weathersfield Vt
The campground had good signage and was close to the main roads. Surrounded by a nice community with local restaurants and a grocery store. We saw beautiful views of hills and when we pulled in the stop sign said “WHOA”, which I liked. They were also Good Sam Club members so I was feeling great. It all went down from there. First an elderly woman parked her car right behind us and blocked us in even though there were tons of parking spaces available. When we drove through the campground we saw the campers were all right on top of each other. Literally about 8-10 feet between them. Honestly I don’t get that why for the same price people would be packed in like sardines. There was a huge meadow area and the back was wooded but it butted up against the interstate and we could clearly hear and see the cars going by. One thing I did like is since many of their sites have no sewer they were pulling a dump tank around with a tractor and people could dump into it. There were many permanents with extra cars which I can see as a benefit if you have family in the area, but it made the overcrowding problem worse. There was a pool and we saw several large groups of people so I can see how it might work for a family gathering of some sort. Perkins Rating: Not for Us – Your Mileage May Vary

Crows Nest Campground – 529 S Main St, Newport Nh
The campground is near a big golf course outside of the small town of Newport which has several local restaurants. The location has a pool and a big meadow field with lots of campers. When we pulled up to the office a sign said “Please wait we will be right back” so we did and only had to wait 5 minutes or so. The campground has a huge play area and a fishing pond. There is a wooded section with several very nice river view sites unfortunately these were water and electric only and a bit on the small side for our camper. The people we saw seemed to be cranky and the lots with sewer in the wooded area are right on top of each other. Perkins Rating: Not for Us – Your Mileage May Vary

North Star Campground – 43 Coon Brook Rd, Newport Nh
This campground had good signage and was relatively easy to find. Unfortunately it only has three rentable full service sites and all of the rest are seasonal. The three sites 22, 21, and 20 (in order of our preference) were spacious and in a wooded area. There were some great sites along the Sugar River but these were unfortunately for a smaller camper and water/electric only. Although the woman at the front desk seemed annoyed to be bothered, we stopped a man who “helped out there” to ask a question and he was very friendly. I also liked that you could get an “armful” of wood for $4. The campsite is only 15 minutes away from Sunappe Mountain which has all kinds of great activities in the summer like zip-lining, excursions, and an aerial challenge course. Because the sites were good and it’s proximity to the mountain. Perkins Rating: Worth Trying

Tippicanoe Campground – 1295 Brook Rd Gothenburg NH
Outside of a nice little town with its own tiny grocery store and very close to Keene. I love the cool name personally and gave it extra style points for the name alone 🙂 It has summer and winter camping on Rand Pond and their were lots of smiling people and a very helpful person at the desk. They are in the process of adding new sites right along the lack so it was a bit challenging but we did see three sites with a lake view that could be rented for a weekend. All of the locations are full hookups and it’s mostly seasonal with some very expensive trailers on the sites. Terrific beach and the pond has sailboats, canoes, and kayaks. There’s also a beach playground and a nice swimming platform. Although the sites are very close to each other, I really wanted to try something with a view, thinking it wouldn’t matter so much how close you were if you were facing the water. Overall it was a very creative use of space and they were trying there best to create many premium sites. We finally picked a site (they weren’t numbered yet so I can’t really help there) when at the last-minute she mentioned they were completely non-smoking. This made us change our mind…not just because we are smokers, (although obviously this was a big part of it), but I could see all the improvement was part of a larger plan to create a seasonal community. That’s not really what we are looking for so we passed. If you are looking for a nice seasonal (around $800 per month) this might be your place though. One thing to keep in mind is I had absolutely no cell phone coverage there…which is another deal breaker for me,. Perkins Rating: Not for Us – Your Mileage May Vary

Woodmore Family Campground – 21 Woodbound Rd Rindge NH
We decided to try one more even though it was getting late and since Rindge is close to Keene and in a very nice area, Woodmore seemed like the perfect stop. The GPS had trouble finding it, there is a S. Woodbound Rd which gets you to Woodbound Rd which the campground is actually on. The campground is in a nice neighborhood and has a nice store. The office was incredibly busy, but they had two polite young women working the counter and they were helpful. There is gate access to enter and the place was packed on a Sunday at 5pm. Lots of kids, lots of campers (both seasonals and not) and unfortunately they were right on top of each other and the trees were thin enough you could see into the neighborhood house from the sites. Huge playground and a pool made it kid friendly and they allowed multiple cars on the sites which didn’t help with the congestion, but I think added to the appeal. It is $5 to visit per person and that fee was strictly enforced. They had more remote sites down near the boat dock but only had electric and water. Those would be great for a pop up or tent camping but unfortunately too crowded for us. One cool thing is you can buy a “bucket” of wood for $7 and they deliver it to your site. Perkins Rating: Not for Us – Your Mileage May Vary

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