Never did I ever think that I would actually be writing a post about going camping. I grew up camping every single summer and remember absolutely loving it. But as an adult, it hasn’t ever really appealed in the least. So much dirt. So many bugs. I like my comfort and 100 step skin care routine. With Covid-19 throwing a huge wrench in our summer travel plans, our daily life, and giving us the need to feel a little bit of an escape, camping suddenly seemed appealing!
This post is going to be a long one, so grab a cup of tea and snuggle up. I am by no means a pro at this, but I sure did learn a lot about what I would and wouldn’t do next time, and what I wish I would have known beforehand.
The biggest thing that was confirmed by the end of our trip is how much work camping is. The amount of effort that goes into a quick camping trip is astronomical and always put me off from doing it. We were one day short from feeling like it was truly worth all the effort. Three or four days would be the perfect trip length for me! Especially when there are showers….
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.
WHERE WE CAMPED
There are a ton of places to camp within just a few hours of NYC or even just an hour. We really wanted to have access to a lake or stream and be in the “real” mountains. We ended up choosing North-South Lake Campground. It had running water, hot showers, and a gorgeous lake that didn’t disappoint. There were lots of hiking trails in the area, a beautiful waterfall you could visit, and it felt really quiet and relaxing. The campground took about two hours to get to from our downtown apartment.
The campground was well maintained and the bathrooms were surprisingly clean! Each site had a fire pit with a grate which made cooking meals much easier. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an actual grill available at each campsite (though there were grills at the lake). I don’t know if this is something that would normally be expected, but cooking every single meal over the fire is HOT and my eyes were streaming from the smoke at one point. It would be something we would look to have on our next venture!
PACKING LIST
I put together a packing list that you can easily check off as you go. These are things we actually brought or had seriously wished we had. I made a few mistakes on a couple things, but now know better! I’ve also linked the exact items we purchased at the bottom of the post. This is just a list of gear, and doesn’t include any food items.
Here are a couple of notes on some fails and wins. We had initially just bought an outlet adapter for our car to use to blow up air mattresses. We made sure it was a high voltage converter, but when we went to blow up the beds, it wouldn’t give enough power. I went over to our neighbor’s site (they looked like legit campers) and asked what they use. They let us borrow their air pump that just has a car jack. It plugs right into the cigarette lighter and worked like a charm. This is the exact one they had, and what we bought for our next trip.
In New York, you can’t bring in firewood from outside a 50 mile radius of your campground. As newbie campers, we just assumed we would be able to find ALL the things we needed, Make sure you have a lot fire starters. We figured we would be able to buy these, but they were in short supply. There are lots of DIY’s available on Pinterest. I’m currently saving up my dryer lint!
When thinking about your bedding situation, you really don’t NEED to have sleeping bags. I knew this was something I didn’t want to deal with storing, so we just brought warm blankets. I wish we had brought one more, as it was pretty chilly at night, despite being in the mid 80’s during the day. Lay a fleece blanket down on top of your air mattress instead of a sheet to keep the cold out.
I really wish we had brought a rope or something to hang our lantern up outside. We foolishly only brought one lantern, and definitely will have at least two going forward. It was SO dark. These New Yorker’s were not prepared for it!
OUR TENT
I really thought that Mr G was a little ridiculous getting this giant tent. There were so many more compact ones available at lower price points. But the man likes to do his research, and it paid off. The Coleman WeatherMaster 6-Person Tent with Screen Room is a mid-price tent with so many bells and whistles. It is really roomy inside and has a divider that can create two separate rooms if you want privacy.
It has an added screen room in the front that we had our tarp under. It makes for the perfect spot to remove shoes and apply sunscreen/bug spray before heading out into the world. If you had a little one, it would be great to pop a travel cot in this area while they nap, but still allow you to have eyes on them.
The tent has a fancy hinged door that was so nice to have during the day when kids kept wanting to go in and out. There are lots of windows, and the top is entirely mesh with a rain layer spaced on top which made it really well ventilated. I usually feel like I am suffocating a bit inside a tent with all that vinyl, but this was so breezy.
MEALS
We way overpacked in the food department. We camped with my in-laws, and I had no idea how much food eleven people would eat in three days. It is always better to have too much (in my opinion) than not enough. I would simplify things even a bit more next time we go, but these turned out to be super easy meals!
BREAKFAST
- EGGS AND BACON
- BAGELS AND CREAM CHEESE
- FRUIT (WASHED AND CUT AT HOME)
LUNCH
- BBQ CHICKEN THIGHS (MARINATED AND PREPPED AT HOME)
- HOAGIE SANDWICHES
- CHIPS & DIP
- FRUIT
DINNERS
- HOT DOG ROAST
- BBQ HAMBURGERS
- STEAKS
- CHIPS & DIP
- FRUIT
If I had the room and knew I was going to camp more frequently, I would probably invest in a gas cook top. Cooking the bacon over the fire was truly brutal. By the end of cooking two pounds of bacon for eleven people, my eyes were pouring with tears from the smoke created by the grease. Other than that, all of these meals were so easy to whip together and made for easy clean up.
I don’t ever use paper plates or cups, but I made an exception for our first camping trip with so many people. I have reusable picnic plates and forks that I will bring for when it is just the three of us! I also bought roasting sticks which were awesome and much more useful than I imagined. They are super long, which made it so the little kids could easily roast their own hot dogs and smores.
I will probably do more pre prepped meals next time – pre-made breakfast burritos and foil dinners to heat on the fire, that sort of thing.
Overall, I think it was a huge success. I didn’t realize until we were up there that I was the only one out of all eleven people that had been camping before! It was such a fun experience, despite being so much work. We all can’t wait until we go again!
SHOP
