Longer campground stays

[Bobbie Mayer]

What do you do differently when you are going to stay in one place for more than two or three days? (1-2 weeks?) About to head out on my longest stay in one place and I'm just curious as to whether others take different things, or set up more, or what, when they aren't packing up and leaving again in a few days.

[Casita Greg]

Definitely bring more beer!

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Definitely bring more beer!

I know that's tongue-in-cheek, but that's the kind of thing I'd plan on NOT doing if there were nearby stores and I could restock. (Beer being ubiquitously available.)

But that does bring up another question- with our small fridges and iceboxes, do you usually plan to stock up midway or do you take a week's worth of groceries?

[ShawnKK]

Bobbie, Talking about the size of the ice box ect. I am right now putting meals in a Food Saver. Take our breakfast for this weekend. I already sliced up taters add the spice onion and butter then used the FS. So now it is about half the size and all I have to do is open the bag and put it in a skillet. I didn't mix the eggs in there. Mountain man breakfast. For lunch I already mixed and add my spice and ect and put hamburgers patties in a bag and used the food saver. All meals are about half the size and ready to be cooked. I freeze about everything at home so the "icebox" will have a easy time cooling fast!

[carlkeigley]

We're spending a week at a nearby lake campground.
What we did that we haven't done is set up our awnings.
I also carried two extra canopies. We'll see if we use them.
We haven't begin to do any real cooking. We like sandwichs
and also "eating out." (when possible).

We did set up a folding table and extra chairs.

Still a learn as we go. What to remember next time. What to
forget next time.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Nothing different than the rare 3 or 4 day stay. A trip to the grocery store about every 10 days. Lug a couple jugs of water to put in the fresh water tank. That's about it for 3 to 4 week stay, very normal for us.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by ShawnKK

Bobbie, Talking about the size of the ice box ect. I am right now putting meals in a Food Saver. Take our breakfast for this weekend. I already sliced up taters add the spice onion and butter then used the FS. So now it is about half the size and all I have to do is open the bag and put it in a skillet. I didn't mix the eggs in there. Mountain man breakfast. For lunch I already mixed and add my spice and ect and put hamburgers patties in a bag and used the food saver. All meals are about half the size and ready to be cooked. I freeze about everything at home so the "icebox" will have a easy time cooling fast!

A friend of mine had a great idea related to that- she was going to fix shrimp one night, so her plan is to freeze the bag of shrimp INTO one of her ice blocks for the icebox. By the time she needs it the block will have thawed but in the meantime the shrimp will be frozen. I just need to find something to use to freeze blocks if I want to do something like that.

I don't think my Mom still has the FoodSaver she used to have but I'll check. Ziploc bags should work if she doesn't.

[Casita Greg]

On a serious note, when we go off to northwest Nevada for about 10 days to dig opals in the Virgin Valley, we are over 100 miles either way between the two nearest towns, (Lakeview, OR and Winnemucca, NV) so we usually freeze whatever we can ahead of time and we also pack it in an extra highly insulated cooler (we take a Yeti Cooler...expensive, but built like a tank and it really holds cold for an incredibly long time.) We still usually take the truck and make the 135 mi (one way) run into Winnemucca about half way through the trip just to pick up a few incidentals, (that is to say, I drop my DW off at a casino for a few hours while I go shop, lol) We also stock a lot of non-perishable items for these kind of trips.

[steve dunham]

How does one budget for a long trip when the costs are unknown ? For example camping in our area is about $20 /night but it was $56 /night + TAX in Orlando , Wine that is $10 at home was $18 in Florida , pork ribs which are $1.09/Lb at home were $3.89/lb in Georgia , Beer is $15/case at home and $42/case in Canada ETC ETC So my question is how does one know what to bring to keep costs inline with what you budget. I admit I am Frugal but paying what I think are inflated prices goes against the grain yet I know I can't take everything with us

Steve D

[ericw]

We have two different types of camping. Sometimes we travel light and move around every 1-4 nights. For example, we did 6000 miles from MI to CA and back last summer.

The other type of camping we do is to go somewhere (usually within 8 hours driving of home) for 5-14 days and stay in one campground. We even have a campground that is a closer to work than home we stay at for a while in the summer so I can go into work while we "vacation". Then we bring a 11'x11' gazebo in addition to the awning, another small fridge, tent for the kids, more cooking options (bigger grill, dutch oven...), outdoor carpet to put on the ground, kayaks, bikes, badminton, and a variety of games.

If you have specific questions feel free to ask.

[mary and bob]

We stayed in one campground for 3 months last winter. Set up a 12 X 12 screen house that has sides to close it in, dorm fridge, heater, TV, chairs, lights, picnic table, patio rug, coffee pot, toaster, toaster oven, camp table with underneath storage, all in it. Another canopy for grill & bikes. Dorm fridge in the camper too, plus electric heater, 110 lights, another TV. Trips to grocery stores as needed, small one a mile away, larger stores & mall 15 minutes away.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

How does one budget for a long trip when the costs are unknown ? For example camping in our area is about $20 /night but it was $56 /night + TAX in Orlando , Wine that is $10 at home was $18 in Florida , pork ribs which are $1.09/Lb at home were $3.89/lb in Georgia , Beer is $15/case at home and $42/case in Canada ETC ETC So my question is how does one know what to bring to keep costs inline with what you budget. I admit I am Frugal but paying what I think are inflated prices goes against the grain yet I know I can't take everything with us

Steve D

Mostly in the west we stay in National Parks or National Forests. Food costs may vary, but not much. We don't purchase the stuff you're talking about at home or on the road.
Our average per night camping fees earlier this year (90+ day) was $7.28 per night. Our food costs were actually less on the road than at home, not by much, but less. The biggest increase was for gasoline, but that was offset by not heating a the house at home.

FYI. We don't stay in RV parks with electricity, etc.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Eric, that's what I'm thinking- canopy, maybe also set up the Kelty awning, bring the extra ice chest for more food. No real elevation changes so weight is less important than when I'm traveling. Maybe an extra x-pen for the dogs.

Food costs- I know from living on an island that some things are just more expensive because you are more remote, but prices also get inflated on others.

[Steve L.]

Since I travel alone and my mobility and endurance is somewhat limited, what I do can be limited by what I think I can “recover” from.

Short trip: (1-3 day stay)
5 gallon grey water dump tank.
Don’t hook grill to front propane tanks; Use the 1 lb cylinders. Or, just cook every meal inside.
Don’t put up the awning lights.
No patio rug. Just the wipe-your-feet rug at the step into the trailer.
No bumper clothesline.
No gazebo.


Long trip: (5+ day stay)
15 gallon wheeled grey water dump tank.
Hook grill to front propane tanks (w/ 12’ quick connect propane hose extension).
Awning lights w/light sensor. Helps when returning to trailer at night and potentially less annoying than the entrance light.
Patio rug, generally staked out (alum awing nails and stainless fender washer through corner grommets).
Put the bumper clothesline up for drying towels/washcloths, etc.
May set up gazebo or use the “hamster ball” popup gazebo.

[MsRubyLu-Kathy]

Originally Posted by Steve L.

Since I travel alone and my mobility and endurance is somewhat limited, what I do can be limited by what I think I can “recover” from.


...
Put the bumper clothesline up for drying towels/washcloths, etc.
May set up gazebo or use the “hamster ball” popup gazebo.

Okay I have to know what is the "hamster ball" popup gazebo????

[Loyce]

I freeze my water in closed 2 liter bottles, they cool the ice chest and then provide drinking water. I would cut the top off one, fill it about 1/3 full freeze, then put my shrimp in top with water and freeze.

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

A friend of mine had a great idea related to that- she was going to fix shrimp one night, so her plan is to freeze the bag of shrimp INTO one of her ice blocks for the icebox. By the time she needs it the block will have thawed but in the meantime the shrimp will be frozen. I just need to find something to use to freeze blocks if I want to do something like that.

I don't think my Mom still has the FoodSaver she used to have but I'll check. Ziploc bags should work if she doesn't.

[accrete]

Greetings Bobbie! And whatever you may gleen from all these great replies...enjoy your adventure!

My wife and i full time in a 38ft Mobile Suite currently set up with monthly rates at a Golf/RV Resort on the Oregon Coast. That is as close to living in one place as we want to be at this point in our life!

But when we go on our once a month Monday>Friday adventure in our Van Conversion + Parkliner we have a regular routine. We look at 5 days at a time because our current set up is great at working for that duration. If we are out longer, we go into town, do some laundry and restock...ready for another five days (fresh food/ice/etc). We prefer a Monday>Friday adventure, and being back home on the "Weekends" because we are pretty much solitary-Happy Hermits and camp in National Forestry camps or similar off-grid/boondocking.

Soooo...5 days at a time...
In Van Conversion:
YETI Tundra 70qt with dry goods (bear resistant)
(nuts/dehydrated food-meals/etc)
ENGLE Deep Blue 70qt wet-goods (bear resistant) ~20lbs of ice.
(Frozen food/meals, veggies. Keeps sub 40 deg for ~6 days, restock on 5th)
(enough food & water for ~2 weeks at all times)
15 gallons water in three 5 gallon jugs.

In Parkliner Fiberglass Trailer:
2.5CuFt ice box Block ice (Veggies. Keeps sub 40 deg for ~6 days, restock on 5th)
Cupboards: various dehydrated food-meals, nuts, etc...
(enough food & water for ~2 weeks at all times)
15 gallons water in built in tank.

Last in (Frozen foods) First out rule. The first two days we will have frozen meals out of the ENGLE. Days 3/4 combination of salads/fruits/nuts. Day 4/5 fruits/nuts/dehydrated food-meals (such as MT.House etc)

On food storage:
We used to pre-pack with our food saver but then we found the ziplock vacuum pump & bags and have switched over. With the ziplock we can package foods when we get back to the camp after a restock (if going on a longer adventure.)

On camp set up:
We sleep in our Van Conversion and Entertain/Dine/Relax in our Parkliner.

We like the idea of just pulling out the leveler/chock and driving off rather than having any "Camp" to break down. That said...

IF the weather is nice (we camp exclusively in the Pacific Northwest) we may setup the Fiama F45 awning on the van. And we recently purchased a free standing 12' x 12' awning to set up off the camp/curb side of the Parkliner. The biggest issue for us is the typical afternoon winds that can wreck havoc on awnings.

If we know we are going to be in a camp for several 5-day stents we will put up one or both of our 16ft Kelty Noah's Tarps. But its really got to be a nice forcast before we do that much work.

On Cooking: Most of our meat type meals we would cook outdoors right outside the rigs on a small aluminum table and the portable butane stove. IF the weather is bad/wet and we know we are looking at being inside we will go with non-cooking/smelly type meals. The dehydrated meal-in-a-bag meals are amazing. There are several that, if taken out and placed on a nice plate you would not know they came from a bag that had just had boiling water in it for ~12 minutes! This way we will not have any smells in our rigs from cooking.

: ) Thom

[RogerDat]

Not much changes for us on equipment. More snacks, more reading material, a bit more clothing.

Might as others have said set up a bit more for a longer stay, say hanging the bug netting on the pop-up canopy.

More research on what is in the area in terms of activities or points of interest since I have more time. I tend to want to relax but if I have a week or more doing a couple of the area attractions does not seem "rushed".

[Bobbie Mayer]

Thom, which meals in a bag are particularly good? I haven't tried any of those things since the early 70s. When I'm by myself I usually don't do a lot of cooking- frozen foods for a day, then things like brats in buns (microwaved) or frito boats. When I'm with a group we usually have some group meals to mix things up.

[accrete]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

Thom, which meals in a bag are particularly good? I haven't tried any of those things since the early 70s...

Hi Bobbie : )

Here are the ones we use on a regular basis. The Mountain House meals are typically available at most food chain stores and even Costco locations. REI will usually stock all three brands..but are higher retail and rarely have "sales" that we've seen on our visits. If we had to go with one brand it would be Mt.House because the meals/flavors are consistently good and locally available at decent prices.

AlpineAire Foods

Backpacker's Pantry

Mountain House Foods

The only issue with most of these meal-in-a-bag meals is they are typically two servings. Though i would imagine one could let any leftovers cool down and then put them into one of the ziplock bags, pop in the ice/cooler, and have it the next day. I've not tried to do the left over thingy cuz we gobble it all up in one meal between Cari and I. BUT if i was going it alone i would try it. Just follow safe food practices and you should be fine.

WE LOVE the simplicity of these meals. There is a Mt.House "Chicken Breast and Mashed Potatoes" meal that one could serve to dinner guests and they'd think you'd have slaved over the oven/stove all afternoon. And it only takes 2 cups of boiling water in the bag, 12 minutes of re-hydration, and WaLa!~ a wonderful meal, trail or not. And don't let the online prices scare you away from the idea. We've seen this same meal priced as low as $3.49 at our local grocers and close to that at Walmarts. Typical price will be ~$5~$6 ...IMO, not bad for an easy to cook & tasty meal for two adults. And we are usually stuffed. So we save $$ i suppose cuz we don't run to the cupboard looking for desert : )

Also, they weigh next to nothing and take up little room. We fill several upper cupboards in the trailer, and also stuff several (read weeks) worth of meals in the forward upper peak over the cab in our van conversion. If i actually counted how many meals of this type we have between the two i would say we've got yummy & nutritious meals for maybe 5 to 6 weeks between the two rigs.

Throw in the fact that we always have our Kelly Kettle and Katadyn Base Camp Water Filter we could probably bug out anytime and be fine for several weeks.

Cheers,
Thom

as a PS comment... We will typically have one main meal about brunch time and really start our day off nice. THEN we will snack on almonds/nuts, fresh fruit and veggies for the rest of the day. That is our ZEN side showing through.