Our daughter took her first steps at a campsite deep in the Appalachian Mountains shortly after her first birthday. She was standing on the rug outside the door of our family tent when she took two steps and quickly wobbled to a stop.
Perhaps that’s why she loves to hike and camp even today, some 27 years later.
My wife and I both grew up in the country. I camped with my family and as a Boy Scout, and eventually honed my skills as a hunter and angler. She grew up by a remote pristine spring-fed river and also did a stint in the Army. During our early married years, we used family camping as an inexpensive way to spend quality time outdoors with our children. Both grew up to love being outside, and now each share that love with their own spouse and children.
Everything about camping appeals to me. I like cooking and eating in the outdoors. I prefer to be around the water and most of our outdoor adventures have been near rivers or lakes. I can sit for hours and stare into a campfire. I like sleeping in the cool fresh air. I like the smell of the lantern burning, the look of my old enameled coffee pot steaming over the fire, and the night sounds as they envelope the day’s activities and flush the stress away.
In the Midwest, where we live, we’ve traditionally tried to work in the first camping outing of the year as early as late March or early April. Of course, sometimes we’ve purchased groceries and gathered the supply boxes near the workshop door, but by the time Friday rolled around rain showers pushed through the area and washed away those plans.
Any outing, even for a day, usually includes packing along a cast iron skillet, coffee pot, foldable fire grate and often a Dutch oven. (Be watching this website for an upcoming series of stories about Dutch over and cast iron cooking. It’s something I’ve done and written about for other publications and websites for decades now.)
Here’s how we go about getting camp set up. First, we set up our tent or position and level the camping trailer. There’s just something about having “home” established before moving on to all the other gear used for cooking, cleanup and such. Next comes the camp chairs. After all, by this time we’re usually ready to take a break and enjoy a refreshing drink.
If it’s a cool day then I’ll grab the kindling and firewood I brought along in the truck, or grab a hatchet or axe (I carry both in my truck all the time, along with a small chainsaw) and head into the brush to gather the necessities to build a fire. We heat with wood at home, and I rely on store bought fire starters to light the wood furnace throughout the winter. I carry a handful of those same fire starters in a Ziplock bag in my camping supplies to quickly start a campfire. If it’s a warm day I’ll skip the fire starting and go right to getting the camp amenities set up.
Now it’s time to unload the food boxes and water jug to the picnic table. The food boxes include a small wooden crate of cast iron cookware and a small plastic tote of utensils. We use one of the five-gallon water jugs with a pour spout on the side. We always bring it full from home. As for the groceries, usually we just transport the items in shopping bags and a cooler if tent camping. Of course, if we’re using a camper it’s already stowed away in the refrigerator and cabinets. I’ll also stack the firewood neatly near the fire pit or cleared area along with the axe and hatchet. And I’ll fuel up and hang the lantern nearby to have it ready for evening.
The entire process takes only about 30 minutes and we’re ready to relax and enjoy our “home away from home” for the next few days.
Supper meals are usually something grilled on a grate over the fire or a soup or stew in the Dutch oven. Many times we’ve made the soup, chili or stew at home in the days before the trip and then placed it in a gallon-sized freezer bag and frozen it. Just set it out a couple hours before you’re going to be eating and after it begins to thaw you can dump the contents of the bag into the Dutch oven, add a little water and stir occasionally until you have a bubbling meal ready to eat.
Years ago I purchased one of the Coleman camp ovens which folds down for storage and transport. It’s great for setting up and baking some biscuits to go along with the soup or stew. Or we really enjoy making cornbread to eat with our chili. I purchased small baking pans and muffin tins which fit perfectly in the camping oven. We use it to make cornbread muffins.
We almost always fry some potatoes in a skillet as a side dish.
For dessert we’ll often use a package mix and make muffins in the small camp oven. Of if it’s cool enough to have a campfire, I’ll often make a dump cake in the Dutch oven. It’s super simple … you only need a Dutch oven, a stick of butter, a can or two of pie filling, and a box cake mix.
See how to make a simple and quick Dutch oven dump cake here!
Or consider making a batch of cinnamon rolls. Find out how here!
The calm after supper is usually spent sitting around and tending the campfire, or in our case playing music. We’re a musical family, so a guitar is almost always packed along on our camping trips or weekend cabin trips.
When our kids were younger they enjoyed exploring the immediate area with flashlights, or playing “flashlight tag,” or catching fireflies and putting them in a clear jar. I’d like to say no fireflies were ever injured in this activity, but we all know that’s not how firefly catching usually goes. But we tried to encourage safe catching, and released all the captives before bedtime.
As I mentioned at the start, and you likely already know, one of the best parts of camping is breakfast. At a minimum that means hot coffee, thick sliced bacon or sausage patties or links, eggs and orange juice or a cold glass of milk. On the best day it means sausage gravy and biscuits. If there’s any leftover fried potatoes from the night before that’s a welcomed addition as well.
One of our easiest and most requested camp breakfasts is the One Pan Camp Breakfast. Not only is it delicious, but you only dirty up one skillet.
Find how to make the One Skillet Camp Breakfast here!
The great thing about camping this way is it requires no electricity. You can have a great time in a campground at a non-electric of “basic” site, or even better yet enjoy countless camping days on your own piece of unimproved land. And if you buy a property and eventually park a camper or build a small cabin then all you’ll need to pack is the groceries and beverages.
The beauty of camping is that most gear you’ll use will not only last a lifetime, but can be handed down through generations. I’ve had the same Dutch ovens for decades. My camp axe and one of my backpacks were birthday gifts the year I turned 12 years old. I was in the Boy Scouts at the time and slowly amassing camping gear. My daughter has a backpacking tent I bought while in my early twenties, a decade before she was born. I haven’t bought a piece of camping equipment in many years, but I’m very well outfitted here in my late fifties.
As a matter of full disclosure, my wife and I really cut back on our basic camping once our kids were grown and moved away. By then we had purchased a series of small campers and enjoyed sleeping up off the ground. And now, for the past decade or so, most of our outings have been in a hotel room or on a cruise ship.
That said, we still enjoy picnicking and day outings that involve preparing meals outdoors. I like to fish and she enjoys sitting in the front of the boat sunning while reading a book or napping. Those trips sometimes result in cooking a catch over an open fire. We also own a farm which has a small off-grid cabin away from the main farmhouse. We do not live at the farm, but regularly spend a night or weekend in the cabin. It’s heated with wood or propane, and cooking is done over an antique cast iron two-burner propane cooker. And all cooking is done in cast iron … it’s a camp rule.
While I can’t see myself sleeping on the ground or a thin sleeping pad these days, I can see some primitive camping in our near future. Over the past few years we’ve been blessed with four grandchildren. The older of the pack is now doing occasional sleepovers at grammy and pawpaw’s house. It’s just a matter of time before they’ll need to learn the joys of camping. And we grandparents have more time and patience to spend on such activities than they’re hardworking parents.
I see some smores and camp breakfasts in my future.
Check out your own camping spot here:
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