Tag: camping

My Sorta, Kinda, Camping Shopping List

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, travel11 Comments

My husband was bound and determined to get us in a tent camping this summer. The idea did not thrill me, I am not a camper. It’s too much outside. Like, I like to be outside and do outdoors things but at the end of the day I like to be in a house or a cabin or a lodge or hotel room or something. Not a tent that is basically like being outside, where it is hot and stuffy or cold or just smells weird or bugs can get into or bears can take out the side with one swipe of a mighty paw. But… the guy puts up with all my whims with barely any complaints so… I made a reservation for a campsite through hipcamp. Baby steps guys. This one is on a farm nearby and looks super cute, and is only two sites, and they are not close to each other. I thought it would be a good starter camp for us – well, Wyatt and I. Billy camps all the time. Just not with us.

Of course, this meant though that I had to browse the internets to see if we needed anything for our overnight camping trip. Which led me down a path of adding things to a camping list. I mean, we don’t need all this for our intro trip, but if it goes ok and we do more camping, we may need to add to our stuff. Billy has all the actual things we need, those things that are useful and actually needed for camping – my list is more…. extra.

Note: This list does contain affiliate links that would provide a small compensation to me if you were to purchase something, at no extra cost to you.

This nifty neat picnic table cover that is fitted is calling my name. I love a citrus fruit pattern in the summer, and I am always a bit squeeged out by picnic tables. They always have yuck on them. This looks perfect to cover up the yuck and keep the table area clean while we are camping.

Um, fun right? I would like to see unicorn flames in our fire. Not like burn a unicorn obviously, but just pretty unicorn and mermaid colors. These magical flames would probably be cool for Wyatt to see too!

If you read here, you already know that coffee is an important part of my morning. I am a literal zombie until I get at least a cup in me, so the coffee situation needs to be a high priority. I really like this percolator! I love that it is stainless steel, a good sturdy material, has a lifetime replacement guarantee, and the company is veteran owned. This is something I am probably going to get for our upcoming trip, for sure, because I think we could even use this on the stove in our kitchen, so dual purpose! Or what about in case of a power outage? We could make a fire in our firepit in the yard and still make coffee! Coffee is so important! LOL.

So this is something else I am thinking about getting before our little trip. I can’t decide though between the quippy little phrases or the names. I think it would be a fun surprise. I mean, it would be even better over magical flames, do you agree?

Remember, I said this list was going to be a bit extra. Look at this! A cutesy little s’mores caddy!

And for a little in-tent comfort…. a tent fan and a giant mattress. Confession: Billy purchased a giant mattress already for camping. He did it last year in hopes that I would agree to go. So we do have this already. He used it alone on his last camping trip and he said it was really comfortable!

And of course, one of my own camping journals!

And just for me things! If I make it through this camping overnight, I could definitely wear that shirt. The headband might be a necessity though! With my insane hair I will 100% have camping hair and sometimes I just don’t feel like braids or a pony.

So are you a camper? Or an outdoorsy non-camper like me? Or are you more of a city or beach vacationer?

The Tin Can Tourists

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, family friendly, Michigan7 Comments

On Friday, the Tin Can Tourists rolled into town, with their kitschy quirky vintage charm and reminders of how good life can be. I guess that is a debatable statement depending on who you are – at least for me, it would be a very good life, to tool around in my awesome vintage camper!

It’s the 100 year anniversary of the Tin Can Tourists, a vagabond group of campers that started, well, in 1919, in Florida. This group has a strict code of guiding principles, that begins with clean camps and includes friendliness, decent behavior, and just plain good wholesome fun- a set of principles I can get behind!

These fun, candy colored campers came in all shapes and sizes, and the owners were on hand to answer any questions and allowed entry into their homes away from home. It had rained buckets just an hour before, so you could only stand on the rugs just inside the doorway, understandably, which was more than enough to be able to take in the whole glorious picture. They were all outfitted with the coolest of decor, all old vintage woods, antiques, but also outfitted with the latest appliances like microwaves and some of them even had bathrooms – with tubs! I can definitely see my little family touring the National Parks in one of these babies!

That last one was designed by an airline designer – I can totally see it!

I loved hearing all the stories. One woman, in her senior years, told us of how she found her adorable camper while on a walk with her dog. It was parked on the street with a for sale sign in the window, and she poked around, looking underneath and even through the windows. She liked what she saw, knocked on the door, and told them it was sold, and that she would be right back with the money and a truck to tow it away. She said when she told her son, he was like “oh mom, what did you do now” with a laugh. She was a pretty cool lady and she was so friendly and open. I meant to get a photo of her vest, which was turquoise and covered in National Park patches. She told us that she and her cousin have been bopping out exploring for the past few years – what a great time they must have, and stories they must have.

This one was our favorite. Not as eye catching on the outside as some, but the front window made all the difference. It felt so big and open and airy, so much light. If I were buying right now, this is the kind I would want. The owner was also very friendly and told us this is the way to travel – and agreed the window is amazing. She talked to us while the wind whipped around us, eating her dinner out of an aluminum container, her dogs contentedly hanging out in their pen. Plus, how cute is that gnome! I love gnomes…

We could have stayed all night, talking to some of the owners. They were all so welcoming and I am sure have some amazing stories to share. They are having a rally in Camp Dearborn soon, and then beginning a caravan (like in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape!) through Michigan before heading out to other parts of the U.S. this summer. It’s been 100 years for the club, and also 100 years for Michigan State Parks, so double celebration! Check out their website for more upcoming events, if you are interested, perhaps they will be showing up in your town soon! They also have a ton of information about vintage campers, campgrounds, and their own history, plus some amazing photos.

Like I said, we could have stayed all night talking, but our stomachs were rumbling so we headed across the street to the Little Crepe and Pierogi place and pigged out on pierogis. Well, some of us did. One of us just looked out the window, maybe dreaming of the open road and some good, clean fun.