Car Camping with Kids | Tiffany & John

TSF Podcast | Tiffany & John Car Camping with Kids

Tiffany: Note: This transcript is auto-generated. Though transcripts are largely accurate, discrepancies and errors may occur. Welcome to the stoke Fam, the podcast designed to help families adventure more and stress less on this show. We give you the confidence and inspiration. You need to find your stove by sharing interviews from real families, doing amazing things. Conversations with brands who make adventures easier and all the things we wish we’d known.

[00:00:19] Come on. Let’s go.

[00:00:26] John: Welcome back. Stoke fam it’s John. And today’s episode is going to be just a conversation of us, uh, talking all about car camping, how to do it with your kids. And we’re going to chat about the things that we do, how we do it, gear. We like the planning, some meal ideas, all of those sorts of things that go into car camping with kids.

[00:00:49] Tiffany: Hopefully it will give you some ideas to get you started if you haven’t been before. And if you have hopefully just some fresh ideas for this season. So. Well, first off, I wanted to just talk about our first trip that I really remember with our kids, just because, you know, I can’t talk about camping with kids without telling the story.

[00:01:07] So yeah, that was essentially what it boiled down to was we, I know we’ve been before that with them, but the first one I really remember Tomer was 19 months old is one of the first times I remember. Yeah. And, uh, he. Was so excited to go camping. And he was right at the stage where we were starting to wonder if he was ready to potty train.

[00:01:29] John: And we were trying to figure too, we did cloth diapers. How is the outdoors going to work with this situation? Oh, 

[00:01:36] Tiffany: I had done outdoor stuff, but yeah, it was also like, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Like a lot of laundry to deal with through the weekend. So anyway, yeah, we were trying to decide if we want him to deal with that or not.

[00:01:45] And, uh, so anyway, we were like, well, I think he might be ready. We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. So of course we had backups. Yeah, of course he had backups, but we basically told him you 

[00:01:55] John: can pee on anything within reason. Yeah. I 

[00:01:58] Tiffany: mean, within reason 

[00:01:58] John: obviously, but anything you see. Yeah. And then it turned into a fun game for him.

[00:02:02] This rock, this tree, this root, this. Yeah. 

[00:02:07] Tiffany: And needless to say the answer was yes, of course. You’re right. And pretty much by the end of the weekend, he was pretty potty trained as far as PE goes. Like, I mean, we still, it took a little bit, but I mean, for the most part he was set, it was awesome because he figured out what it meant to feel like you need to go and then how to control it.

[00:02:27] It was awesome. It was so good. And, um, all I really remember from that trip is that he learned he was potty trained when we came in. And by the end of it, he was covered in marshmallows 

[00:02:38] John: and dirt, dirt, and T on anything. That’s how you go car camping with your kids 

[00:02:44] Tiffany: now would be the best advice to just say, like pee on anything when you go camping.

[00:02:48] But this was a toddler. So like full disclosure, the adults weren’t paying on anything anywhere, just so we’re clear. 

[00:02:53] John: Yeah. Well, we’ll go back to leave it better than you found it. No, trace all those principles that, oh man. Wow. 

[00:03:01] Tiffany: It did work. It did work. And I think it was definitely worth it when he was that 

[00:03:06] John: little.

[00:03:07] So what do I actually need to know if I’m just. 

[00:03:12] Tiffany: Your first traps. Really? Honestly, my thing is just keep it, keep pick somewhere. That’s not too far away. So if all goes down the tubes, you can just pack it up and go home, um, or, and keep it easy somewhere. That’s not going to be too difficult or challenging.

[00:03:26] That’s not going to be too much of a stretch and it’s just going to be fun for everybody. So 

[00:03:29] John: some of ours. Same county. Like we didn’t go far like 

[00:03:33] Tiffany: 30 minutes, 40 minutes away. Yeah. 

[00:03:36] John: And you’d be surprised now if you’re in an urban area, I guess it could be different, but in a lot of places, you know, there’s state parks that are a lot closer than you realize.

[00:03:44] Yeah. Well, 

[00:03:44] Tiffany: even in our, in Oregon, in the greater Portland area, there’s a lot of state parks available for camping easily within less than an hour from the city. So, um, there’s a lot of campgrounds often available, pretty close to home, and it’s a great spot to test the waters because then you’re not like five hours away from home and going, oh shoot, this is terrible.

[00:04:03] Right. 

[00:04:03] John: It’s a totally established place. No worries. All the needs are met 

[00:04:07] Tiffany: the training wheels for your first degree, your first time. Right. And, um, I also think the other big thing is to pick a weekend that has nice weather or a mid-week or whenever you’re going to go, but pick a time that has good weather.

[00:04:21] Because if you go and it’s cold and it’s rainy, if you’ve listened to our first episode, you know, my experience with camping in the rain, it’s not a positive, 

[00:04:28] John: which means all your trips must be sunny and perfect. 

[00:04:30] Tiffany: I mean, I like it that way. If it can happen. I mean, who’s going to blame me though. Like, I mean, who, who wants to go camping in the rain?

[00:04:38] Does anybody ever choose that? He’s like, yes, I would 

[00:04:44] John: tell them more. 

[00:04:45] Tiffany: Um, so anyway, yeah. First trip short and easy, close to the house. Pick good weather, make it something that is going to give you an easy win. Basically. 

[00:04:53] John: If it’s a spot that everybody’s gonna love and you know, everybody’s going to love throwing rocks in the river for hours and hours and hours and hours, then hang out at a spot that’s close to a river with lots of rocks, right?

[00:05:04] Tiffany: It’s totally. And, uh, I think the other thing too, when it’s your first camping trip yes. You see, you may see people doing disperse, camping trips, or being way out in the woods or 

[00:05:15] John: backpacking. Like I wanted to think that the first trip should always be, I had these great ideals in mind and boy was I wrong, but, 

[00:05:23] Tiffany: but when you have kids, if you start at an established campground, things are just going to be a little easier.

[00:05:28] Cause there is going to be a bathroom because if you have a kid who decides he can’t poop in the woods, That’s going to be a rough weekend. And or if you don’t, aren’t sure what to do about water or anything like that. It just makes things easier. It takes down the like difficulty level a little bit to just make it easy.

[00:05:47] Yes. 

[00:05:47] John: It’s a lot easier. And especially if you’re in an area where maybe you have wildlife that you have to worry about, if you have to, uh, you know, you’re concerned about making sure you have. Every evening or however that works. If you’re at an established campground, you’re going to have those things taken 

[00:06:03] Tiffany: care of.

[00:06:04] Yeah. Or even more importantly than the shower having potable water. So that was actually something that when we first started camping with the kids that I was the most worried about, especially when they were little and we needed more water, like for things. Right. You, it seems like when they’re really tiny, you go through a lot more water for bottles, for bathing.

[00:06:18] Like I dunno, like they just needed more. I needed to have that access to feel comfortable. Totally. And so having that potable water was a big deal. When they were that age, otherwise you’re going to. Carry in all of your water or have a way to filter it. And, um, so just making sure that those are available, cause even sometimes established camp sites can still be primitive.

[00:06:38] And so you may not have all those amenities. So that’s definitely something to, um, pay attention to when you’re booking your sites to make sure that you know, what’s available at the camp. Yes, 

[00:06:48] John: no, the pad size, like how big is the spot for the tent? Yep. 

[00:06:52] Tiffany: Yeah. Cause there’s been a few times where we actually have a pretty, pretty big tent right now.

[00:06:56] It’s nice and comfy and cozy.

[00:07:01] John: especially 

[00:07:02] Tiffany: family of four when you’re taking a dog and you, it just is easier because otherwise the dogs on top of one of us, it’s just better. Yeah. It’s just better. It gives you room for your stuff. So if you have the space and can get a 10th, it’s a little bit bigger. However many people you have, it’s also a little nicer, cause you have more gear storage, but for car camping.

[00:07:19] Yeah. 

[00:07:20] John: How much space does this take up and how big is 

[00:07:23] Tiffany: that pattern? Yes, but sometimes the pads will be as small as like eight by eight or 10 by 10. And if you have a 10th, it’s bigger than ours. I think ours is a little over 10 by two. So sometimes you, it just won’t fit. So you just need to be aware of what size that 10 pad is.

[00:07:38] So you have a space to put your 

[00:07:39] John: time. Absolutely know your footprint, because most importantly you should leave. No, you like that segue. 

[00:07:47] Tiffany: It might’ve been, but that’s okay. The point still remains. Absolutely. Um, the idea too is obviously to, when you go camping, to make sure that you have the things you need to take care of yourself and your family.

[00:07:58] So knowing what that campground has available is helpful, but then also. What you may need to take in order to do that. So whether you need to bring your own trash bags, cause there’s not trash disposal there, or whether you need to bring certain toiletries because there’s only a pit toilet or a full shower, just knowing what you have available so that you can be responsible and take care of your stuff and your trash and your impact on the campground.

[00:08:20] Sure, 

[00:08:20] John: absolutely. It’s one of those things that we keep, uh, kind of explaining to the kids, right. I think they’re starting to see it now as they, as we go certain places, or if we stop, uh, you know, at different rest areas or whatnot, they notice, uh, trash and things like that a whole lot more, uh, in these sorts of places, even just this weekend when we’re down at the river.

[00:08:43] Yeah. They were noticing trash and, you know, we picked it up and packed it out. Like they’re, they’re watching for 

[00:08:48] Tiffany: those things. I was surprised this weekend. There was actually not very much though. I think it was like a single water bottle for the most part, which was great because that means people are actually doing that and picking up after themselves, which is awesome.

[00:08:57] But we’ve been places that are definitely not that way. So yeah. And in fact, interestingly, a couple of years ago, you bring that up about the kids starting to realize it. And they are, because a couple of years ago we went camping at an established campground and it was one where we were next to a lake where they drain it during the winter and the water level was down.

[00:09:13] And when we were walking on the empty, um, lake bed, there were lots of pieces of trash that had ended up there. And our youngest was like, um, we can’t leave this, grabbed a trash bag and started shoving stuff in like they are learning, which is. Nice. 

[00:09:28] John: They found a bunch of stuff. They even found like a sweatshirt that had been left and there was all sorts of stuff.

[00:09:33] Uh, and then come to find out, after we went to ask like the, uh, the ranger Hayward, you know, do you have a lost and found, can we return this sweatshirt was then when she told us about the junior ranger program and that he had just earned like a merit badge for picking up trash around the campground and he didn’t even have a clue.

[00:09:48] And so then she’s giving them stickers and workbooks and stuff. He was, he was ecstatic. He was like, man, I thought I was just. Cleaning things up and he ended up with a whole activity pack and it actually kept him pretty entertained around the campground for the rest of the trip. 

[00:10:01] Tiffany: Actually, we should have thought about that because we know those things exist.

[00:10:03] We were just so busy enjoying the place that we didn’t even really think about it, but that’s another great tip that you bring out. But I wasn’t even planning on talking about today, but a lot of campgrounds do, if you go to an established site, we’ll have programs like that available for kids, whether it’s like a booklet for them, if like an activity in a scavenger hunt or whether it’s actually organized program.

[00:10:20] Probably not so much this year, but other years would be probably very 

[00:10:23] John: different, uh, at the ranger station. And, and like with the camp hosts, because they may do kind of walk through his talks about, you know, what sort of wildlife you may see or different features of the campground sorts of things like that, that you may not have picked up on.

[00:10:38] You may be having fun, exploring the trails and things around the campground, but you may not know everything there is to know about that unique. 

[00:10:45] Tiffany: Yeah, totally. And they definitely will. And sometimes too, if you’re thinking about doing hiking or other activities, while you’re there, they’ll be able to guide you to trails.

[00:10:51] That’ll be friendly for your age group. So if you’re like, Hey, I have a toddler, but we really would like to do a hike. They can be like, Hey, this is a really easy one or two mile hike versus you’re like, Hey, we would really like to get some, a good workout. And we have teams. They’re going to be able to guide you to what 

[00:11:06] John: proper terrain, proper trail.

[00:11:07] Absolutely. 

[00:11:08] Tiffany: Yeah. Yep. So beyond knowing what to look for before you get to your camp, And kind of knowing what to have in mind when you go, there’s some things that you’re going to need. Right. But we can boil that back down to the basics. Right. So what 

[00:11:23] John: do we actually 

[00:11:24] Tiffany: need? I mean, I need lots of things, but no, for real though, when we go camping, we really don’t need much.

[00:11:32] And every time I overpack and end up bringing back stuff and I’m like, why did I even pack this and waste my time, filling up the car and space and energy packing it. Hmm. But I overpack everywhere. So that’s a problem I’m working on. Interesting. Yeah. Anyway, um, you have to really boil it down to the basics.

[00:11:47] What do you need to sleep? What do you need to eat? Um, and what do you need to wear, right. Like how and how to be safe. So those are really the core things that you can boil it down to and kind of go from there. Just keep it simple. 

[00:11:59] John: Cool. So let’s break that down and start with your favorite and the top item on your list.

[00:12:05] Tiffany: Well, if I were going to say like warmth, but yeah, sleep sleep’s appropriate too. I like lots of things. Um, so sleep. Yeah, for sure. So you’re going to want to have obviously like a tent or something to show some sort of shelter and attempt is easy, especially with a family where you can put everybody in the same, same space our kids have lately decided they’d be like sleeping in their hammocks.

[00:12:25] So that’s also an option. Um, but if you have little ones, probably I wouldn’t be doing that. Honestly. Truth be told I was a little nervous. The first time they did it, even though they were. Like grade school, age, it 

[00:12:36] John: was a growing experience for everybody. What was that noise? Yeah, their hammock wrestling back and forth, back to sleep.

[00:12:44] Tiffany: It was good for them and I guess it was okay for me. So 

[00:12:48] John: now you’re inside the tent. You’re nice and safe. What do you need inside that tent? 

[00:12:51] Tiffany: Sleeping bag, moving back. And then I really like, we have found that when we’re tent camping, that having a cut hand, a mattress pad is like ideal. It’s cheating, 

[00:13:02] John: but it’s really comfortable, much more comfortable than I grew up backpacking and yeah.

[00:13:08] I will still backpack and go out and sleep on the thin pads to save weight and see some amazing places. But what day 

[00:13:16] Tiffany: is your back going to feel better? I mean, just real truth. Like it’s so much, so much nicer, more comfortable, and also do like a blow-up air mattress. I have friends who have done that. And actually I think we did that when I was pregnant, because I was like, I am not sleeping on the ground right now.

[00:13:31] John: And there’s plenty of space for it. You can be as, as bougie and clampy as you want to 

[00:13:35] Tiffany: be when you’re crying, boils down to what you already have also too, because if you already have the air mattress at home, but you don’t have a camping pad, we’ll take what you have and go right outside. Um, and also like, what do you need to be comfortable?

[00:13:47] Do you have any emergency situations? Are you pregnant? If you’re pregnant, do whatever you gotta be to come to be comfortable out there. Cause otherwise you’re just gonna be miserable. And so it was everybody else. 

[00:13:56] John: This is true, 

[00:14:00] Tiffany: but, um, yeah, so having something comfortable to sleep and we usually, when we’re car camping, we, I have tried the camping pillows.

[00:14:07] They suck if you’re going backpacking, that’s one thing, but they are for me, like if you’re going, I’m always been a pillow person though. But if you’re going car camping and you have room, take your pillow, you’re going to be more. Take your pillow. And if your kid has, if your kid is little, especially in, and they have a special thing, they sleep with them every night.

[00:14:27] Take that too. It will make things a lot easier. Like if they’re used to sleeping with a noise machine, figure out some way to have like an app on your phone as they fall asleep. And if they are used to having our kids have what we call the silky, it was like a little tiny blanket. And if they have some kind of comfort item like that, take it with them, it will help them have something from home that is comforting when they’re falling.

[00:14:48] So, um, and then beyond that, I think like moving on to like food and cooking, it really just boils down to what you want to eat for the weekend. And are you going to need to cook it? And if so, what are you gonna cook it 

[00:14:59] John: with? Because you can go, you can range. I mean, that, that spectrum, it’s funny because I’ve watched videos where, you know, people have talked about how do you get started camping?

[00:15:09] What do you do? And I watched one, I was cracking up because the guy brought hot dogs and charcoal. Then he had hot dogs and water. 

[00:15:18] Tiffany: Wow. I mean, I guess technically you’ve got, you had 

[00:15:22] John: everything you 

[00:15:23] Tiffany: need, but I wouldn’t eat hot dogs all weekend, but that’s okay. That’s not me 

[00:15:28] John: because then you can go all the way up to, you know, crazy camp cookery and gourmet things.

[00:15:34] Tiffany: And yeah. Although I am sitting here thinking that maybe this guy is genius and maybe I should just eat hot dogs all weekend because then I don’t have to do it. 

[00:15:42] John: I think for us, our version of hotdogs would probably be rice and beans and salsa. Yeah. Cause that sounds, that is one that is always a winner.

[00:15:54] Yeah. I know that sounds ultra basic and maybe not the most tasty thing, but we’ll talk about that in a couple of minutes. Just hang tight with us. Let’s get to clothing. Like what type of weather or proper clothing do I need 

[00:16:07] Tiffany: to worry about? Right. Are you staying at a beach campground in the middle of July, then you probably need a lot different clothing than if you’re staying at a mountain campground in October, right?

[00:16:16] Pick your pack, pick the clothing that you need for the weather that you’re going for, and probably be prepared just in case things change. 

[00:16:22] John: So, and also you kind of need to be prepared for, I guess, your shoulder, whether you could call it, if you know, it’s nice and sunny. Uh, and you’re used to being outside in the summertime, remember you’re going to be outside at night too.

[00:16:34] So what does that Logan to feel like and how is your body going to handle that? Because most of the time, even on summer camping trips, it’s. A necessity to have a puffy or some sort of, you know, hoodie type, uh, warmer coat 

[00:16:50] Tiffany: based layer to sleep in or something like that. Because if you, even if it’s only 60 at night, most people keep their houses around seventies.

[00:16:58] So that’s a 10 degree difference than what you’re used to. So just planning accordingly, especially if you’re like bringing your air mattress and your regular bedding versus a bag that’s rated for. Four 30 degrees or whatever. So just knowing, paying attention to what the weather is going to be like and planning accordingly with your clothing and your sleeping items so that you are comfortable around the clock, not just during the daytime, 

[00:17:20] John: any other special considerations for outerwear that I need to think about pants.

[00:17:25] Tiffany: Shoes. I would definitely say that. Ooh, good question. Actually flip-flops if you’re planning on using camp shower, Bring a pair of flip flops. Just think of it like a locker room, bring some flip flops. 

[00:17:40] John: It’s nice to have around camp too. We always have like an around camp shoe. Um, and again, this is a little bit extra, I guess, but I mean, you could be super basic and go with just a, a hiking boot or a hiker shoe since that’s essentially what everybody wears anymore, less than boots.

[00:17:57] Um, but it doesn’t take a whole lot. 

[00:18:00] Tiffany: To toss in a pair of flip flops or sandals of some sort. It’s just nice to get your feet out of a boot or a shoe shoe sometimes. Um, and 

[00:18:07] John: especially if you just need to slip it on and run to the bathroom and then slip it back off. 

[00:18:10] Tiffany: Yep. Or in the middle of the night, when you have to go back and take a kid, it’s just easier to have something to say by the, by the tent door.

[00:18:16] For sure. And also I think the other thing is that I don’t think we’ve mentioned yet is always take a rain jacket, especially if you live in the Pacific Northwest. Like we do, because even when it says it’s going to be sunny, sometimes it’s a flat-out lie and it’s going to actually run. There’s pretty much 

[00:18:30] John: always a chance of showers 

[00:18:31] Tiffany: pretty much.

[00:18:32] So I always take a rain jacket and actually sometimes even actually often I will have the kids even toss in their rain pants, because then if it rains, they can still play, play, and it’s no big deal cause their clothes aren’t going to get wet and they’re not going to get cold. 

[00:18:46] John: And that’s actually a really cheap option.

[00:18:49] Surprised, uh, having rain pants and a rain like true rain gear, raincoat rain pants, and the boys will go non-stop, uh, more than I really expected 

[00:18:59] Tiffany: them to by just having that waterproof layer, because it keeps their clothes from, it keeps them from getting wet. So they stay a lot warmer. They stay dry 

[00:19:05] John: and happy.

[00:19:05] For 

[00:19:05] Tiffany: sure. Yeah. And then I think beyond that, the last thing that we had mentioned in this list was had just having the safety items say having a few safety items, um, which you could go back to like the tennis centrals that you use for high. It’s also a good idea to have those when you’re camping. A lot of them, you already are bringing with you when you’re camping.

[00:19:21] Cause you’re going to have some sort of shelter already. You’re going to bring food. You’re going to have water either available at your campsite or you’re going to bring it. But it’s also a good idea to have like tools. 

[00:19:31] John: Yeah. If you need, uh, like a mallet for putting in, uh, 10 steaks, we found that’s the easiest, uh, having like a rubber mallet or something using a regular hammer is a sure-fire way to bend those flimsy steaks every single on time.

[00:19:46] And, you know, just having a, yeah. A knife, a multi-tool, uh, those sorts of things. Uh, you may not realize it, but when it’s in the moment, then you’re really wishing that you had it. It’s really nice 

[00:19:58] Tiffany: to have. Yeah. And if, if we had had a repair kit, the first time I went camping and we got like water inside of our tent, like two inches of it, maybe, I don’t know, it was in the middle of rain.

[00:20:08] We may not have dealt with it, but maybe we would have stayed in there. But if you have a repair kit, you can fix things. Like if there’s a leak on the air mattress or whatever, or if you need to like tie something together and you’ve got cord in your, in your repair kit, you’ve got ways to fix things. If they break while you’re out, 

[00:20:24] John: just take a look in our, uh, description.

[00:20:26] Tiffany I’ll have a link to the tennis essentials and the top things that you really need to be paying attention to. Yeah. 

[00:20:33] Tiffany: And including, you know, cause otherwise too, it’s also going to be like, oh, we didn’t talk about this. I still think this one falls under it. Like. Is even if you’re at an established campground, I think you need to have a headlamp and or flashlights.

[00:20:46] Absolutely. That’s definitely an essential, even at established campground, 

[00:20:50] John: headlamps pretty much are always like for us, headlamps is what we use all the time now. 

[00:20:56] Tiffany: Yeah. 

[00:20:58] John: Yeah, the boys love them. And even from a young age, actually, that was, uh, one of the coolest birthday gifts that I have. One of our, our friends gave, uh, the boys was, they got them a headlamp and we thought, man, that’s, that’s kind of goofy.

[00:21:10] I wouldn’t have thought about that. Yeah, he was, he was, he was young and, and it was a, a little led, um, like stick it anywhere, like bug light or something and he loved it. And then he had the headlamp and yeah. Nonstop. I mean, they boys both weave. Unfortunately they lose them from time to time. And so we’ve gone through more headlamps and I’d like to count, but they are so much better, I think, than a flashlight, it gets dropped, it gets lost.

[00:21:37] It gets, you’re so much more flexible with the 

[00:21:40] Tiffany: headlamp for sure. Um, and I will actually throw in there with the headlamp real fast, having a designated place when they come into this. For them helps cut down on that loss. Yes, that’s what we finally learned. Cause we didn’t have a designated place and that’s inevitably how they got lost in how we replaced them.

[00:21:57] But actually since we say it started saying, okay, when you come in, you put them here. It definitely has helped. It’s actually been knock on wood. I think it’s actually been like two years since we’ve had to replace headlamps. It will probably be this year now because I said it though. Well, 

[00:22:09] John: that’s why I have that secret backup stash as the garage.

[00:22:14] I shopped the summer sales. 

[00:22:15] Tiffany: Nice. Okay. And then the other thing is in summer, of course you want to bring like sunscreen and sun protection. That’s also an essential item during this, during the summer, you know? Okay. You’re here. And then who knows? 

[00:22:30] John: Anything extra. Okay. So say we’ve covered the basics, but say I want to be extra at camp.

[00:22:37] I want to have the most fun at camp. I want to have the most Instagram where the cap, 

[00:22:43] Tiffany: oh my goodness. Well, we could go so big, but let’s not go there. Cause like we could be here for three hours. And if we wanted to talk about that, 

[00:22:48] John: maybe I won’t go that way. Okay. Let’s go. Let’s go with everybody. Just needs to go out and get started.

[00:22:54] So how about entertainment? How about, 

[00:22:57] Tiffany: so we always bring some games. We bring card games usually, cause they’re easy to pack and they’re small. So we have a few card games. And even as simple, when our kids were little, it was just go fish. Right. It was just something super easy, but now we’ve have different games that we play.

[00:23:11] Sometimes we just bring regular card sets and sometimes they’re. Yeah. Carpet games, but they’re small and easy to pack so we can bring a 

[00:23:16] John: few, we have, uh, a game that’s, it’s kind of like Jenga, but it’s like a balancing game that is all metal pieces. And so they just kind of counterbalance on themselves.

[00:23:26] Um, and it’s a fun game for the kids. It’s it’s, it’s a Melissa and Doug game. Oh, okay. That’s great. So it there’s nothing in there. That matters. If it gets dirty, if there’s dirt on it, it’s good to go. You’re not worried about anything like that, 

[00:23:40] Tiffany: but it’s a little different and easy and it’s packable too.

[00:23:42] It goes in like a little tube. So it’s really easy to 

[00:23:44] John: pack. Yes. There’s also, uh, things like bullseye buckets or a lot of people take corn hole. Uh, that’s a Frisbee. Yeah. Um, and then in the evening we have definitely. Probably remember from, I think it was first episode me going on and on. 

[00:24:00] Tiffany: No, it was our episode that we did with Savannah and bow 

[00:24:05] John: glowsticks and kids.

[00:24:06] When you’re camping is a win. 

[00:24:08] Tiffany: Yes. They have a blast and you can spot them from anywhere. Yes. 

[00:24:13] John: Anywhere. And you can spot them wherever they go hiding through the it’s kind of a fun, uh, hide and seek around the campsite. Uh, can you see me? Okay. 

[00:24:24] Tiffany: Yep. Um, the other thing that our kids have in the last couple of years, really, really enjoyed taking his hammocks.

[00:24:29] They apparently double as a swing and something to fall out of. So they’re little, but it’s been really good cause they love to actually curl up and read a book in them or, um, they’ll eat their meals in them. Sometimes they don’t even use their regular camp chairs. So they’re actually really handy. 

[00:24:46] John: Yes, I think you nailed it there.

[00:24:48] They definitely use their camp chairs, way less than they use the hammocks. Now they have mixer set up all the time. They are constantly looking for where can I set up, uh, you know, two trees. Can I stretch it across your, just the other day, even. On the trail at home, they were setting it up across the little drainage Creek.

[00:25:04] Uh it’s whatever spot they can set it up. They love having them. Um, and you definitely right. They will curl up in there. They’ll read their field guides. They’ll go through and look at all the insects, the bugs, uh, the animals that are in that area. For sure. They love those 

[00:25:18] Tiffany: hammocks. Yup. Yup. Definitely something.

[00:25:20] If you have them to take them, um, or to pick up when you, when you’re ready, that’s a win for kids. So beyond all of the stuff that you need. The other thing that’s important, obviously when you’re camping is how to find your site, where am 

[00:25:35] John: I supposed to go? 

[00:25:36] Tiffany: And honestly, it’s like this question that has, that always is tough because it depends.

[00:25:42] Right. And I’d like to think about, it’s a terrible answer. So we’re going to try to break that down a little bit, because I don’t want to leave you with, like, what do you mean? It depends. I want to actually leave you with something you can actually use. So. When I say it depends. It depends on where 

[00:25:53] John: do you want to go?

[00:25:53] Do you want an established camp site or a camp ground, or do you want to do, which is sometimes our preference more of a dispersed camp established camp site or a camp ground? Or do you want to do, which is sometimes our preference, more of a dispersed campground and out there there’s no 

[00:26:08] Tiffany: services, but today, because we’re talking about, if you’re just getting started, we’re going to talk mostly about established campgrounds.

[00:26:15] Um, so some of our favorite apps to use our recreation.gov is a great spot. Um, it’s a great one to start if you’re looking for federal lands. So things like forests or national parks, that’s what you’re going to find on that site. 

[00:26:31] John: You got to book those 

[00:26:32] Tiffany: early. Yeah. Um, for the most part, yes. Occasionally you’ll get lucky and somebody will cancel, but don’t plan on it.

[00:26:37] John: Like most likely, yeah. Months in advance, people are already planning their vacations. Keep an eye 

[00:26:43] Tiffany: out on it. Especially if you’re looking at a national park. Definitely. You have some flexibility depending on where you live, but, um, national parks for sure. Book up fast. And another one that’s great is reserve America.

[00:26:55] And that one is great for finding state parks and private camp. What do you mean by private campgrounds? So ones that might be owned by individuals or individual companies, not that are government owned. Okay. So they’d actually has both, but there’s a lot of state parks on reserve America. So those are, um, that was another nice handy.

[00:27:12] One, one that is really, really great. And I really like is the dirt because it kind of pulls listings from a lot of those places. You still have to book off site, but it pulls listings from a lot of those other places and has user reviews. And lots of filters to kind of sort through for things that you’re looking for, like amenities and like what kind of site you’re looking for, whether it’s an RV or a 10th, or all of those kinds of things, you’ll find a 

[00:27:36] John: lot more unique 

[00:27:36] Tiffany: places there.

[00:27:38] Ah, yeah, you can. And um, they also, I just really like it. They also have reviews, which is really handy because you can know like, was this campground actually what you were looking for or, or not. So that’s actually super helpful. Definitely. Um, and then if the, if you purchase their. Membership, you also can get discounts on gears and campground stays.

[00:27:58] So that’s handy as 

[00:27:59] John: well. Oh, there you go. Now. Is one that we have used for a while we love, and it works really well. And it is the road trippers 

[00:28:08] Tiffany: app. Yeah. And obviously from the name, you probably guess it’s not exclusively for camping, but you can also spot your campgrounds on it. And what I really like about it is that if you’re doing it like a camping road trip, you can plan your road trip and find your campgrounds along your route, which is really handy.

[00:28:26] So that. 

[00:28:28] John: So what if I don’t want to necessarily spend a lot of money? What if I just want to find like a free spot? 

[00:28:38] Tiffany: If you want an established campground, that may be a little more challenging, but one of the best sites to find that information on is campaign diem. We actually, it’s an app and a site and you can sort by free only, which is really cool.

[00:28:52] And sometimes they might just be like a pull off where it’s just like, if you have an RV and yourself container that you can pop it, sometimes it’s actually campsites. So you kind of have to dig a little bit that one’s not going to be like. Quite as easy to use as some of the others. Cause you’re gonna have to do a little more work to find those free sites that are for a tent, but it’s really handy to help you, um, navigate and find those the other site.

[00:29:13] Um, that’s helpful for finding free sites that are sometimes semis established is, um, BLM. They have a variety, sometimes they’re established and sometimes it’s just dispersed. So you can look on both of those spots for free sites. Oh, and one more free campsites. So free campsites is very similar to Campania.

[00:29:32] I kind of think it’s a little more clunky and not as intuitive to use, but it has a lot of great information and sometimes very different sites. So if I’m looking in particular for dispersed or free sites, those I will look at all of them to kind of see what’s out there. 

[00:29:47] John: Great. Those are awesome tips for finding those free ones.

[00:29:50] Should you want that? This next one? Uh, is. I guess it’s may be probably a little bit more popular. Maybe has been heard of hip camp. 

[00:29:59] Tiffany: Yeah. What I love about this one is that you can find the coolest sites. So we, yeah. You could probably find that. Actually. I know you can find that. Cause I have seen that site on there and when we were leaving Yellowstone, we ended up taking a different exit out.

[00:30:14] But I had had one that we were going to stay at. That was um, uh, a ranch. Oh yeah, that’s right. Yeah. We ended up taking a different route out just because of time. And we took the south entrance instead of the west entrance, but there was a really cool ranch, not too far outside of Yellowstone that we were going to camp out with hip camp on our way out.

[00:30:30] And it was just, it looks awesome. So what I love about hip camp is that there’s a lot of really unique stays and stuff you won’t find. 

[00:30:37] John: Yeah. You may be able to find a spot on somebody’s farm, where you can stay. Um, that’s why I brought up 

[00:30:42] the 

[00:30:42] Tiffany: Lama options too. If you’re not ready for it, setting up your own tent, you can find already setup glamping options on hip camp.

[00:30:48] Good to 

[00:30:49] John: go. 

[00:30:50] Tiffany: Yeah. Um, and then there are others that we often use and like events, uh, events and maps that is Gaia GPS. And I Overlander, but those are really a little bit, 

[00:31:02] John: it’s like disperse sites. Like if you want to get out, which is 

[00:31:05] Tiffany: what we do technical to use, they’re not as user-friendly for just like go on and search for a site.

[00:31:10] You have to kind of do 

[00:31:11] John: some math. You have to understand how the maps work, what all the topographical marks mean, et cetera, et cetera. When you’re 

[00:31:17] Tiffany: ready to take in, those are great ones to check out. So with a lot of those apps, we actually do have some affiliate links that I will put in the show notes.

[00:31:26] Most of them have a discount and that’s why I will put them in there for you, including, um, I think we have one for, for sure. The, for Roadtrippers I believe hip camp has one. And actually, I know hip camp has one and I think we may have one as well for the dirt. So check the show notes, because that way you can get the biggest bang for your buck.

[00:31:48] We will get a little bit of a kickback if you purchase through them, but that just helps us bring you more podcasts. Exactly. And, um, in particular, actually for Roadtrippers all you have to do, if you don’t want to click the link and go find it, you can just use code stoke fam that one’s an easy S T 

[00:32:00] John: S T O K E F a N.

[00:32:04] Tiffany: Yeah, all caps and it will get you five bucks off for the upgraded subscription. If you need that, you may not need it for just finding your campsites, but it’ll get you five bucks off if you want it. 

[00:32:13] John: So I’m getting hungry. 

[00:32:16] Tiffany: So am I actually full disclosure? We are recording this literally right before dinner.

[00:32:19] So. We are getting hungry, but we might as well talk about 

[00:32:22] John: food. Yes. I need some meal ideas. 

[00:32:25] Tiffany: Yeah. So you can do anything from obviously keeping it super simple with all hot dogs. Like we don’t do here, or you could go simple, but with a little variety and you could do things like granola bars or sandwiches or oatmeal packets or.

[00:32:41] Fruit like just sandwiches, fruit and veggies. Like it could be super simple. Well, just 

[00:32:45] John: a few things that you need to keep in a cooler and you’re good to go. 

[00:32:48] Tiffany: And that maybe requires no cooking or only hot water. Yes. Something super easy. You also could get backpacking food and that’s super easy, but it’s also really expensive.

[00:32:58] So I don’t know that I would do it for car camping, but you could, but 

[00:33:01] John: if you want the ultimate in easy, it’s in a packet, you just need the hot water and you’re good to go. That’s another option. Yep. 

[00:33:08] Tiffany: But if you want to do, um, a little bit more, but maybe not super gourmet style, some of our favorite go-tos are haystacks.

[00:33:17] I’m going to let you explain haystacks because people may not know what that is. 

[00:33:21] John: Stacks are a kind of like a Frito pie. Yeah. Yeah. You can call it a Frito pie slash taco salad. Usually there’s a base of Fritos. Um, sometimes when we’re out in the woods, Put the ingredients inside the bag. Sometimes people do that where they kind of do like chilling a bag it’s similar Fritos is base, uh, beans, sometimes rice, uh, sometimes talking to me, um, usually jeez, lettuce cucumbers, if you have, um, uh, tomatoes, olive 

[00:33:51] Tiffany: salsa, so-so 

[00:33:53] John: however, Ranch.

[00:33:55] I liked to play, catch up on them. Everybody thinks I’m insane when I do that, but it’s all combined. Well, I don’t do the sour cream for the record. So catchments are cream. I guess some people would do that. I don’t know, rambling, nasty. It’s a bunch of stuff. And it looks like a big pile when it’s time.

[00:34:11] Tiffany: Anyway, it’s a haystack. That’s why like, like the haystacks that used to be stacked in the bar. And that’s why the name like it’s, it becomes like this giant pile of food, but 

[00:34:19] John: they grow wow. Cautious. 

[00:34:23] Tiffany: But the reality is it’s a super easy meal and you can make it as simple or as easy as you want. Actually, we’ve had haystacks that have been literally just beans or Fritos, beans, cheese, lettuce, and salsa.

[00:34:33] When we just wanted to keep it Uber symbols. But you can add as many toppings as you want, or as little as your kids will eat, you know, real life. And one of the other things that we really do often is oatmeal. Cause in the mornings, if it’s cool, especially a nice warm breakfast is often. Welcome. Usually 

[00:34:51] John: something warm in the morning tends to kind of help everybody ease into that transition.

[00:34:56] It’s usually a little bit cooler in the morning, a little colder than you expected. You just climbed out of this nice warm, sleeping bag. Um, but if you don’t want to do anything with water, uh, army, but if you don’t want to do anything with this dove, you can definitely just do some overnight oats. 

[00:35:13] Tiffany: Yeah.

[00:35:14] But we, um, we usually do. The morning we’re packing up. We keep it simple and we usually do something that’s just like the kids could even just pour like cereal. Um, but the rest of the mornings that we’re there, we usually do something warm on the stove. So oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, um, and with eggs, John was the genius a couple of years ago.

[00:35:35] That was like, why. Why are we, why don’t we just try? 

[00:35:40] John: Well, we were always worried about how are we going to transport them and without breaking them, how are we going to take this whole bunch of eggs? Cause all these 

[00:35:46] Tiffany: things eggs and they make like hard containers that you can put them in. 

[00:35:50] John: Just use a blender bottle.

[00:35:51] We crack them at home, put them in the blender bottle and then you take the blender bottle, shake it up, dump them out. Yep. 

[00:35:57] Tiffany: Good to go. Now that said I would not probably do that if you’re going to be out for a really long time, or if you know that your cooler is not going to keep them cool. Don’t blame us.

[00:36:05] If you get something from your eggs, but if you’re going out and you’re just gonna be out a day or two, crack them the night before and totally use them the next day. Yeah. It saved us so much hassle. We don’t worry about it and they’re easy and ready to go for scrambled eggs or whatever. Um, the other dinner meals that we really go to all the time are, um, uh, rice bean salsa mix, but we buy the packets that are like rice and keenwah mix from Costco.

[00:36:29] There what’s the brand yeah. Seeds of change. And then we just use canned beans and we’ll do either black beans or Pinto beans or a tribal in whatever we’re feeling and salsa, and then sometimes chips or avocado or whatever else we want to add. Similar, but slightly different than the haystacks. Not so little healthier.

[00:36:48] But 

[00:36:49] John: oftentimes we will add some because it gets asked for cheese and sour cream and 

[00:36:54] Tiffany: I’ll usually do like baby carrots or something alongside of that. So it’s easy. Um, another one that’s a big hit that the kids really like too is when we do pita pocket pizzas. Say that five times fast. Okay. Sorry. Um, so we’ll just take a pita pocket, cut it in half and put.

[00:37:12] Pizza fixings inside and then wrap it in foil and do it over the phone. 

[00:37:16] John: There’s also the foil packets. We do that oftentimes with like that meat potatoes sort of combination of some sort or social veggies in there, but is oftentimes in the foil packets. 

[00:37:26] Tiffany: Okay. We also do those on the stove and do the same thing where you just keep it simple in like a single pot.

[00:37:30] Like if you don’t want to use the foil, you could do it on a, on a pot with just your meat and veggies and might cook it all up. Um, we’ll do like chicken and broccoli and potato, that kind of stuff. Just keep it super simple. All in one dish. With whatever seasonings you want, usually some garlic and onion, you know, because, 

[00:37:45] John: so we’ve got a lot of options.

[00:37:47] And if you convenient plug sign up for our email list has all sorts of things for you. What do you have for him? Tiffany? 

[00:37:56] Tiffany: We actually have a weekend camping meal plan. That includes. Um, recipes, some of the ones we’ve already mentioned today, a shopping list, and it’s all in our resource library that you get when you sign up for our email list.

[00:38:07] So you can head over and get a copy of that, if you would like to make your first trip just a little bit easier. Um, 

[00:38:14] John: yeah. Okay. Well, I hope that this helped answer, maybe some of the questions that you may have had, if you were thinking about going camping with your kids. Um, and. Trying to figure out, you know, how much do I actually need to get started?

[00:38:27] Is it something that I want to do? Uh, hopefully we kind of got you inspired. Yes. It is something that you want to do. These are the things that you need to get out there and do it. Um, if you have any questions though, please do not hesitate. Reach out and ask. Send us a message over on Instagram. Tiffany’s there oftentimes reply back.

[00:38:46] Um, but we are happy to help. We definitely want to make sure that it is an enjoyable experience and this is something that, uh, you and your family can get out and enjoy for a long 

[00:38:56] Tiffany: time. Yeah. And hopefully, even if you, this, isn’t your first camping trip that you have gotten some new ideas for, you know, food or, or, um, apps that might be handy to help you on your next trip.

[00:39:07] And I will be sure to put the links that we talked about to the app. Steven grab discounts in the show notes, or 

[00:39:13] John: if you’re on the email list, you get those discount updates all the time. 

[00:39:18] Tiffany: I’m so I have some additional posts on camping, including like the full checklist, um, also some camping etiquette and a few other things, and I’ll make sure to put all of those in the show notes as well, so that you, if you want to dig a little bit deeper on this topic, that you have the information that you need easily available.

[00:39:34] So thanks again for joining us today. Stoke fam. We are really excited to be sharing information with you, to help you get out and adventure with your family. And 

[00:39:45] John: if you are enjoying this and you have a spare moment to just click five stars on the ratings bar, that would be awesome. No 

[00:39:53] Tiffany: pressure fresh, but seriously though, it helps us to reach other people and to help everybody get out and enjoy nature with their family.

[00:40:00] So we really appreciate it. Even if you don’t feel like giving us a rating or review, maybe just tell. 

[00:40:05] John: Or even better, you could adventure more stress less, and we’ll 

[00:40:08] Tiffany: see.