Buffalo Shores Campground - Buffalo, Iowa (National Parks Trip #1)

This represents another installment in the series detailing the first of our three cross country National Parks camping trips.

At the time of our trip, our son was thirteen and our daughter was eight.  Our first day out, we had overnighted at the home of our friends Peg and Bill in Ohio before continuing westward through Indiana, Illinois and on into Iowa.  We crossed the mighty Mississippi as we left Illinois and entered Iowa, thinking nothing of the bridge beneath our wheels - until that evening when we arrived at the Buffalo Shores Campground, a lovely little campground in the small town of Buffalo, Iowa.  

The New Jersey RV and Camping Show

On Friday, Alan and I visited the New Jersey RV and Camping Show at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison. 

The RV Show entrance

 

The sudden availability of RV shows in the Northeast at this time of year is one of the few things I love about winter life after Christmas.  If it was snowy, but sunny and 60 degrees, I could certainly round up a little more enthusiasm for the months of January and February.  However, since that’s not the case, I tend to entertain myself with travel planning and RV shows.  

Back to Yellowstone National Park! And Glacier and Grand Teton and . . .

My husband Alan and I spent our honeymoon tent camping across the country so that we could visit some of the most notable National Parks in the west.  It was a month-long, epic adventure that would prove to be the foundation for a lifetime of camping and the defining experience that shaped our love of this country’s spectacular National Parks.  After talking for years about re-creating our honeymoon trip and sharing that epic adventure with the kids, Alan and I did just that. 

Walking the Parks - a New Favorite Place!

Guess what!  I made a new friend!  Her name is Ladona Stork and she’s the blogger behind Walking the Parks.  Ladona and I were introduced by a mutual friend (Thanks, Peg!) and, as it turns out, we have several things in common.

Introducing our Kids to the Camping Lifestyle

When Alan and I bought our Jayco Jay Flight 27BH travel trailer in 2006, we already had years of camping under our belts and knew what amazing adventures lay ahead.  But camping was something new for our kids.  Our son had tent camped with us when he was younger but he didn’t remember anything about the experience since he was only two years old at the time.  Our daughter, listening to our camping stories from back in the day, was the one who kept insisting that she wanted to go camping too.  Five years younger than her brother, she wasn’t around in our tent camping days and didn’t want to be left out of something that was obviously a big deal in our family and a lot of fun.  So, it was with much anticipation that we all awaited the arrival of our Jayco in the spring of 2006.

I Love New York State Parks - and CampADK!

Rather than just provide a complete list of my favorite blogs and websites under “Check out my favorite places,” I’m adding them one at a time and letting you know exactly why I like them.  That way, you’ll be able to determine whether or not the site might be of interest to you.  Besides, these sites do such an awesome job of providing information and/or entertainment that I believe they deserve to be in the limelight!  Today, let’s take a look at CampADK.com.

Reflections on the New Year

With the turn of a calendar page, the slate is clean and the year ahead a blank journal page on which we'll document our lives.  With luck, delightfully memorable camping adventures lay ahead, opportunities limited only by our available time off, the coins jingling in our pockets and our imaginations.