Roam With Friends

Tag: Group Camping

Camping With 100 (or so) Friends: Organizing Tips and Tricks
Have you ever invited a few friends to go camping with you? Camping is fun but camping with other friends is like…more fun. How about inviting 130 friends to go camping with you? Yep, I have done that.

In August 2019 we held our 8th Annual Family Campout at Smithville Lake. And while I did not take attendance, I think we had nearly 130 people there.

I started organizing and planning this annual camping trip years ago…well 8 years ago. I invited a bunch of friends who had kids to go camping. My thought was, as cool as I think I am as a parent my daughter would have a much better time camping if she had friends. So I over invited hoping for one yes. Instead, I had multiple yeses. The daughter had a great time but so did everyone else. So we have kept doing it.

And having fun while we do it.

Planning and hosting a giant camping trip really isn’t much different than hosting a party. You need a mix of structure with unstructured, a wide range of personalities, food, and a venue. I am honestly humbled and honored that so many choose to come camping with us.

Activities for this years campout were diverse. We have found that some activities need structure and others just need a place to grow. Organized events are important but allowing time for campers to synthesize is also very important. I have learned over the years that there are two types of campers: the watchers and the doers. Our success is making room for both types.

This year we had several structured activities:
- A return of boat races. Any former cub scouts who use to do raingutter regatta. Same concept. Pro tip here; skip the cheap boats from Dollar Tree.
- Sip and Paint. Amazon had mini canvases and I asked volunteers to bring acrylic paints. We set a painting station up at a picnic table and campers could come/go all day. For the life of me, I can’t believe I know so many creative talented people who can really paint well!
- A giant chalk bag fight. I happened to find some chalk bags at Dollar Tree. I thought the kids would love it. I couldn’t predict the adults were going to love it just as much (maybe more) than the kids. Either way, everyone was chalked.
- A washer tournament. Two years ago we introduced a washers tournament. It has been a lot of fun. And I remain thankful to the duo who organizes the tournament, deals with the rules, and the over competitive players. (Just kidding, we have no over competitive friends!) I love that my role is to advance the bracket and announce the next games. Easy stuff. I can handle the easy stuff.
- Our annual glow party: black lights, UV body paint and a play list. Is there a better way to spend a Saturday night? We do not think so!
In addition to the structured activities, at their leisure campers could: swim, boat, bike, hike, or fish. There was plenty of organized activity as well as spontaneous activities (I loved the breakout musicians!) and even some down time. The weather was perfect. Well, except for that rain storm on go home day. We could have done without that.

Oh well, ya can’t have everything.

While this started out as a personal invitation from me to camp, we are well beyond that. Our camping trip has grown by word of mouth. From one camper to the next, this camping trip gets recommended to someone new every year. Our current camper population is made up of “OG’s (those who have been around for all 8 years) to newbies (first year campers) and everything in between. We have tent campers, campers who rent RV’s, and day campers who just swing by for the day and go home at night. The most important attribute the campers have is they all are coming to enjoy the outdoors and the companionship of others.

Feeding hungry campers is always the area that I struggle to get right. We have streamlined the menu as much as possible: walking tacos for lunch, hot dogs and s’mores for dinner, and pancakes, biscuits and gravy for breakfast. But the quantity of each items is honestly a stab at a moving target! I have given up the dream of no leftovers. Instead, I open any leftovers to those who linger on the last day. I mean can you go wrong with two days of walking taco’s?

As our group grew, communication became even more important. Last year we had a giant paint ball fight and I found myself waiting with a group of anxious children on other kids who were at the park or out swimming. I searched my brain for some way to communicate to everyone at all times about events as they were happening. In the end I chose to use two communication tools: one is the website Sign Up Genius and an app called TEAM APP.

I use the sign up genius for all the community meals. I list out all needed ingredients and how much is needed and campers can sign up to bring the items. The most asked question around food sign up has always been how much do I bring? My easiest answer to that question is “most of us have an idea of what it would cost us to provide groceries for our family for three camping meals so we strive to contribute that number.”

The TEAM APP is an app my daughters cheer team was using. It suddenly dawned on me during cheer season that this type of communication app would work perfectly for us. In this modern world we can count on someone or several someones to have their phone with them. So I set up a team on TEAM APP and communicated to everyone who registered for the campout to download the app and join our team. This was so much faster than a group text. The administrator can send quick important messages out to everyone all at once.

This year I asked several friends to text me the answer to one simple question: “What is your favorite thing about the family campout?” The responses melted my heart. (thanks guys!) Let me share some of the nice things:
1. “We were nervous, lots of new people, meals, events…but man it was the best. Come as you are and be ready to make new friendships and just share in good, wholesome [fun].”
2. “We love all of the family activities, specifically the glow party! It’s a safe environment for the kids to explore. Feels like a great way to kick off school season!”
3. “My initial reaction [to being invited camping] was “heck no”! But as I thought about it and processed my feelings, I realized that camping was never going to be something that I introduced to my family because it was never introduced to me as a child. I wanted better for my kids. Tagging along while someone else (Pam) planned everything out for me was a super safe, and not too overwhelming way for me to be a better mom for my kids.”
4. “We love that the loop is made up of our group and for the most part, not outsiders. We don’t know everyone but someone in our group does and it makes me feel a little more at ease with my kid running around having fun.”
5. “We love the family activities…having a group makes meals and activities more fun due to competition, shared meals, and playmates for the kids so the parents can enjoy sitting on occasion.”
6. “I absolutely love the camaraderie of the family camp out! Lots to do and fun meeting new people! The community meals are great because you don’t have to cook an entire meal yourself.”
7. “I love that we are big enough to have the entire loop, my child enjoys playing with all the other kids, I really enjoy the group meals because it takes stress off of me to meal plan.”
8. “The thing I enjoy most about the campout is how excited Pam gets when she talks about it and starts planning.”
From the very first campout I have enjoyed organizing and planning this weekend for everyone. My heart swells thinking this weekend has become important to others.
January 14, 2020
6th Annual Family Camp-Out

According to The Short Chic she has two camping trips that are her most favorite camping trips of the year. The first is our Annual Halloween Camping Trip and the second is our Annual Family Camp-Out. We started the Family Camp-Out six years ago in 2012. It started as a desire to introduce our kids to camping. We thought it would be “funner” if we could convince a friend or two who also had kids to join us. To our surprise, that first year we had about 35 campers. That is 35 people who wanted to go camping or introduce camping to their family as well. We have continued to gather every year since then. Some come for the day, some spend a night, while others have graduated up to three nights of camping.

In September 2017 we had our Sixth Annual Family Camp-Out at Smithville Lake. For the past several years we have camped in the same spot and this year, we moved the camp-out to Loop F. Moving to this loop gave us beautiful views of the lake and easy access to the playground, bike trail, and restrooms/showers.

This year we fought with the elements. It was super windy Friday night, which prevented us from showing our outdoor movie. It rained Saturday afternoon, which pushed us all inside our campers and threatened our Glow Party. I know now the maximum kid capacity of our camper, or at least the number that will lead me to uncorking a bottle of wine.

We ended up with an extra spot from a cancellation so we found out how nice it is to have a “party” spot. We also learned that total strangers will pilfer your party spot when they think no one is watching. Thankfully in a large group camp-out someone is always watching.

I personally learned that I am over tie dying t-shirts. I learned that walking taco’s are always a hit and everyone loves a glow party. Okay, maybe I love the glow party the most. Allen learned not to bet money on my Family Camp-Out knowledge or maybe he learned not to place a bet over Friday evening cocktails.

Each year we still entice someone new to try camping. Beth, Ken, and Martin joined us this year. The rain did nothing to woo them over. I do hope they know it has only rained once before. Two rain storms in six years is not bad, huh. Please try again, Beth! Not new to camping but new to the family camp-out was also our college friend, Joy and her family. There are three families who have attended every single camp-out: us, The Todd’s and The Bell family. We affectionately call ourselves the OG’s.

Each year the Glow Party inevitable draws a total stranger to the fun. Meeghan found this out during a game of Simon Says. Some random little girl just joined in the game. I wish everyone could have seen Meeghan’s face when the little girl told her she had no parents there. That same little girl proceeded to cover every inch of her body in glow paint during the glow party. I should make a mental note that I need more glow paint before the 7th Annual Family Camp-Out!

I am happy to say that our friends Jaime and Aaron made a return visit. Neither Dawn or Mary needed urgent care and no one was hospitalized during the camp-out. And I think no one was happier that Nikki was able to make it than Mary!

Plans are already under way for our 7th Annual Family Camp-Out. We are leaving the month of September as I heard so many tell me how busy that month is.

As I reflect back on the six years of our family camp-out and really look at that first year, I realize this was truly the beginning of our love of group camping and our Roaming With Friends.

See you soon at the campground!

March 14, 2018
Part II: The Adventures of Betty, Roxie, and The Rockwood: Wall, South Dakota

Trip planning is tedious work. You try to balance a long day of driving with a short day. You try to offset a full day of site seeing with a leisure day. (I should confess that I have never fully mastered that one! Anyone traveling with me knows that struggle is real!) By the time we reached Wall, South Dakota we had traveled nearly 650 miles and we were ready for a slower pace.

Day 2: Wall, South Dakota

We checked into Arrow Campground, unhitched, and set up. Even though we opted for an early dinner, we were still operating on Central Time, it did not feel so early to us newly transplanted Mountain Time zone vacationers. We had hoped to reach Ben Reifel Visitor Center before it closed for the evening to get our National Park Passports stamped but the campground host, Connie, told us the national park was not in summer hours just yet (those started in two days time) and we had missed their off season hours. To ease our look of disappointment, she informed us she was a Park Ranger at Badlands and she would be happy to mail us our stamps. She also gave us suggestions for activities and hikes we would want to see.

We entered the park through the Northeast Entrance and found ourselves gazing at the beauty of the odd rock formations in no time. We were excited and ready to stretch our legs so we set off on the Notch Trail. The Notch Trail is a 1.5 mile round trip trail that takes up to 2 hours. The trail climbs a log ladder and follows a ledge to “The Notch” for a a beautiful view of the White River Valley. The trail is not for the faint of heart or those with aversions to heights. After talking to everyone in the group, I quickly decided I was the one person who would struggle with this hike the most and I was determined to put aside my fears and do it. Connie, being the diligent Park Ranger even after hours, did inform me that if I got up the ladder and could not get down, helicopters would be called to come and get me and I would be billed for it.

That log ladder came faster on the trail than I was prepared for. I read that the ladder gets wobbly if it has too many people on it at one time, so we went up one at a time. I took the anchor position so I would not hold anyone up and I could have my freak out moment all to myself. We all made it up, and later made it down, as safe as we could. The hiking above the ladder was a little step at times. There isn’t really a path marked other than a long white marker stretched here and there to keep you going in the general direction. Finally we reached an area that we concluded was The Notch because after that point was a significant sheer drop and stretched out before us was a view that no photo can ever do justice.

Feeling accomplished, we wandered back to the trucks. We did two additional hikes that night; Cliff Shelf was a short half mile loop Connie had suggested we might see animals at and then Fossil Exhibit Trail that featured fossil replicas and exhibits of extinct animals that use to roam the Badlands. We also drove the scenic Badlands Loop Road. Every turn of the road brought a new site for us to awe over. At one point it felt like the Badlands went from growing up to the sky to something sunk into the ground. Daylight quickly ran out and we found ourselves watching the rock formations turn from white to stripes of pink to dark.

As the sun set on this beautiful place, the temperatures dropped and we watched a storm begin to move in. We exited the park through the Pinnacles Entrance and found ourselves back in Wall in less than 10 miles. Sleep came easy that night and I don’t think I was the only one dreaming about the wild west and all those who have attempted to tame a part of it.

Day 3: Wall Drug Store

The moment we left Onawa, Iowa the day before we started seeing billboards for Wall Drug Store. If we had not been planning to stop there anyway, the power of advertising would have pulled us in. The lure of 5 cent coffee, free ice water, homemade donuts, panning for gold, seeing a T-Rex, visiting the leather store, or riding a giant jackalope called to us even if we did not know it. Funny enough, I found a story about Ted Hustead, the founder of Wall Drug, who talked about how free ice water and a few 12×36 signs on I-90 made Wall Drug what it is today. Ted and his wife put a three year limit to turn a profit on the struggling drug store in the middle of no where. His wife was the first to suggest that travelers across the hot prairie would like ice water. So, Ted made some signs and put them up and the people came and have not stopped coming.

What can you actually say about this store that has not already been said before? It is huge. It is odd. There are so many things going on that it can be overwhelming. Yet, it can be silly and fun at the same time. We walked through the doors as a group and quickly got separated as we each were lured away by our varied interest. The kids found the toy store, I went to search out allergy medicine, my son got lost in the leather store, Wayne went to the camping store, and Allen got lost looking at the historical photos hanging on the wall. We would bump into each other in a random part of the store and then lose each other all over again. It was fun and a great way to start the third day of vacation and we left Wall, South Dakota feeling good!

Thanks for coming back for Part II of our story. Make sure you check back for Part III as we head to Devil’s Tower. If you missed Part I, check it out here.

Pamela

June 26, 2017
People Like Us

As we travel all around, I find myself keeping an eye out for people like us. Who are people like us? They are others who share our opinion that group camping is more fun than solo camping.

A few weeks ago we were visiting Bennett Spring State Park and we spied another group of friends camping together. There were eight of them total; four couples. We watched them share meals, bike ride together, laugh, and just relax and enjoy being with each other. I asked how often they group camp and they answered as often as they can. They shared with me they may not always have all four couples but they do prefer to travel as a group instead of solo. I just smiled when one of the ladies added, “it’s just more fun” because I agree and I felt we shared a secret!

This group of friends is very well traveled. I enjoyed comparing notes of their favorite campgrounds vs ours. We enjoyed chatting about campers, modifications, and equipment. Who knows, maybe our paths will cross again.

Thanks for this group, Angie and I had to make a quick trip to IKEA for an Octopus who will now be traveling with us!

If you are roaming with friends, we may spy you and don’t be shy if we stop by an introduce ourselves to your group!

May 1, 2016
Group Camping vs Solo Camping

A study I read many years ago keeps coming back to me, it was a study about parental workload with multiple children. The study reported that as parents had multiple children their workload did not increase, in fact, it suggested that no more effort was required to parent three versus one. This was attributed to the idea that siblings entertained each other.

Whether this holds true for family workload, it certainly has some rings of truth to me. It also holds the basis for our decision to camp as part of a group versus solo camping. We have two children but their age ranges are wide (eleven years difference) which means they are just developmentally into different things. The Todd’s have one child who is the same age as our daughter.

Our very first camping experience was three years ago. We planned a long holiday weekend together at a local county park near a lake. We tented camped that trip and it was hot. Missouri hot; sticky and humid! Angie and I coordinated our meals that trip purely to address the “I want to eat what she is eating” potential. On the way home from that weekend, The Short Chic informed that she had the best weekend of her life!

We all found that we could sit and relax because the girls entertained each other. They were happy just playing with dolls in the tent and we had more down time for us. We found the holy grail of family weekends: me time, us time, family time, and friend time.

We have been group camping for three years now. Most of the time our group is just two families: The Taylor’s and The Todd’s. Occasionally our group has reached nearly ten families as we have found other friends who RV or camp. We have also gone solo camping when work schedules just could not be coordinated. Solo trips still provide an opportunity to unplug, rewind, and allow us to connect to nature. However, there is something a miss during those trips; our buddies. We find we spend the weekend wondering what our camping buddies are doing. We communicate frequently through text message. And on solo trips, trust me, the girls have let each of us know they were bored and camping without each other was no fun!

I am sure you have experienced at least one group vacation before and know that it is a very delicate balance to meet everyone’s needs. The smallest thing can upset the apple cart and leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. To avoid that, group camping takes a little more negotiating and planning than solo camping.

We find ourselves talking about and negotiating the dates for trips, destinations, departure times, travel routes, as well as weekend menu. We divide up a grocery list. We find ourselves balancing preparing food, with cooking, and finally with clean up.

I don’t want to sugar coat any part of our camping experience. There are moments, that everyone just needs alone time, moments when you do not want to be social and hang out, and even moments after a week’s vacation that you are just done. Those moments are to be expected and when they occur, everyone just backs up and provides that space.

After three years, we have developed a ying and yang, a give and take, a sweet and salty pairing that works for us. Our common goal is to get away, enjoy life, and create an experience for ourselves and our children.

February 6, 2016