Toss some sleeping bags in the car and head on vacation (on the cheap)!

Normally, I opt for camping in a hotel room… I had enough girl scout camping to last me a lifetime. But when you are married to to guy who likes to camp, fish and shoot at things now and then, you have to cave sometime. I had held out for six years so I figured it was his turn to pick our mini summer vacation. WOOHOO CAMPING! Really, I was thrilled… Can you tell ?! My husbands excitement to go camping (at the last minute of course) really did get our daughter (4) and myself excited, because he was so excited. We packed up the car with sleeping bags, coolers, tent and necessities and we headed out of the heat to the cool pine top mountains. On the way there our daughter sang “We’re going camping, we’re going camping”! This was her 1st camping experience and she was beyond the moon excited. Which made me love the idea just that much more. Really, if you gave a kid the option to play out in the dirt, run through the trees and play in the lake vs. a clean hotel stay – which do you think they would pick ? BINGO – CAMPING! We set up camp with family and friends (10 of us all together ranging from 5 adults to a 14, 9, 4 year old and 7 month old), went river fishing, hung out on the lake, had NO CELL service (which almost sent me into a panic), no showers, and ummm ya I will not even speak of the bathroom situation. We hiked, we talked, we talked, we enjoyed being silent with each other, roasted s’mores, caught our dinner, grilled and chilled. My nephew even talked us into singing some camp songs and playing cards – who says kids can’t learn to play blackjack (with cheerios thank you) – really it brought us all closer as a family, that no stay-cation or vacation could of ever done for us. We weathered the rain, cold nights and wild animals and never fought once! It was peaceful and a lot less expensive than a ‘normal’ vacation. We actually camped at a free camp ground (not many left, but they are out there). Get in touch with you inner nature-girl, save some $ because in this economy that can’t hurt, and hit up some wilderness. You never know what you will find…. you just might find a reconnection with yourself or your family.