About Us
Have you ever said:
- "I work too much there is no time to go on a family camping trip."
- "Camping is only for the "granola" family."
- "I can't stand bugs and dirt why would camping be fun?"
- "We can't camp our children are too little."
- "We have too many children to camp."
- "I have never been camping though our children would love to go, if only I knew how or where to start."
If you have ever had these thoughts then you are in the right place!
Let's learn how camping works for your family!
This is the right place for you. Through our resources you will learn camping is for everyone. Through our knowledge and experience and many others that have gone before us you will discover tips and tricks for your family to camp.
Many people have had a camping experience that didn't go so well. Wouldn't you love to go on a camping trip where everything doesn't go "right" but still come back home laughing and telling stories for years later.
Family camping is one of the most rewarding adventures you will ever go on as a family. As we travel throughout the country we run into person after person who said their favorite memories growing up were camping as a family. You can have a fun camping experience no matter what your past experience is. Come and learn from our success and mistakes.
About Our Family . . .
We are a family of 7. Our 5 children range from ages 4 months - 9 years.
We LOVE being together and especially love to CAMP, travel and explore together! We love experiencing more of who God is as we travel and see more of His amazing and beautiful creation!
We have gone on a big camping trip most of every year of our 17 year marriage.
Our Childhood Camping Experience...
Heather went tent camping the first time at 6 months and grew up tent camping with her family all over the United States. She traveled to 49 states as a child! Some of her favorite childhood memories revolve around the amazing camping trips they took around the U.S.
I, Jonathan, grew up RV camping (borrowed my grandparents mini-home) with my family all over the United States and went to 48 states as a child. My favorite trip from childhood was a 3 week camping trip driving to and from Alaska from Indiana when I was 7.
Yes we have the educational degrees to back up our camping knowledge. . .
I have a Master's Degree with the emphasis being in Camping and Adventure Education, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching. Heather has a similar Master's Degree with an emphasis in camping. I've taught in the university setting backpacking, canoeing, and mountain biking courses. But I learned how to really teach by teaching fourth grade for eight years in one of the toughest inner-city school settings. We love to teach and are excited for you to learn about camping.
As part of our degree we each spent a summer leading backpacking trips and learning wilderness survival skills. We've led backpacking, canoeing, mountain biking & climbing, and horse packing trips. Our biggest debate is which "toilet paper" from the wilderness is better. I believe sphagnum moss (aka modern day baby wipes) and Heather says Thimbleberry leaves (we now use regular toilet paper on our family trips and we will teach you what is the best bathroom for children while camping).
We've camped on a 110 inch snow base and woke up to 10 more inches of snow on our tent, to camping in the desert with a 6 month old at temperatures that make snow camping fun for even the person that doesn't like cold, to camping on the beach in St. John USVI, to the mountains of some of our favorite National Parks, to the remoteness of the Boundry Waters in Minnesota.
Our dog...
In addition to camping with children we've camped with our golden retriever who traveled to more places than a majority of people. Sierra traveled to 30 states! We always got a little nervous with her in Yellowstone barking at the bison right out the window. Unfortunately, cancer got her almost five years ago.
Camping brings the entire family together... Grandma & Grandpa included...
Here We are just outside Acadia National Park showing grandma our crab catch
One summer alone, with two children (ages 1 & 3), we put 9,000 miles on the car, camping from coast to coast (San Diego to Nova Scotia), with a new campsite most every night for 3 of the weeks. We learned quick how to (un)pack in rain or swarming mosquitoes with children ready to go to bed.
Camping changes...
After over 40 years of tent camping, during the summer of 2016 we bought a small RV mainly for the traveling aspect as we need to make trips to California from Illinois more frequently to visit family. Seven of us in a minivan with all of our camping gear and two 17 hour days in the car was getting a little squishy. Because we love to travel all around the U.S. and camp, we realized that we needed to buy a large van or a motorhome for our growing family, so we ended up with a small Class C motorhome. In 9 months we put 10,000 miles on it and are planning another 6,000 miles over the next couple of months.
Our family loves to camp and we hope that you will enjoy being outside together in God's great creation creating memories and camping as a family.