Archive for June, 2009

posted by familycampman on Jun 18

Updated: I don’t recommend you purchase their firewood. I bought two bundles and it just would not burn. It is likely not seasoned correctly. I suggest that you buy from another local provider.

This past weekend the family and I spent at Mineral Springs Family Campground in Stafford Springs, CT.  In short, I thought this campground was quite nice.  Not only did they have plenty of wooded and meadow sites for RVers (not me), they have a good amount of wooded tent sites which were placed in the back of the campground away from the hustle and bustle.

To help convince my wife to come, we rented a nice rustic cabin. It came with a double-sized bed, a set of bunkbeds, a table, and a small refrigerator. I was impressed with the cleanliness and the quality of the cabin.  It was definitely worth the $60/night.

The site itself was pretty spacious and had enough room for my 4 person Wenzel tent (Review coming soon).

The campground was very clean and had a very nice pool, even though the water was very cold. They could have used more chairs around the pool. I did find the “No Marco Polo” rule a bit silly. I mean, when was the last time a game of Marco Polo gotten out of hand.

Their fishing pond was pretty small, but great for the kids to search for frogs. It is a catch and release only pond so don’t expect to keep any large fish you catch.  For the record, we only caught two fish – one small sunfish and one baby bass.

Overall, I’d recommend Mineral Springs Family Campground as a good place to bring the family for a weekend unless you have an RV which you can stay for longer.

Thanks again for reading.

Eric

posted by familycampman on Jun 17

Hello everyone,

I’ve just returned from the first camping trip this year. This time the wife and my 2-year old son came with us for the first time.  For the most part this trip went very smoothly, but I’ve taken down a few notes for my next camping trip that I thought I’d share with you:

Always bring extra clothes – You never know when a child  will fall into a lake or river (as my son did). I suggest also a sweatshirt and pair of jeans, especially if you’re camping in late spring or fall. The temperatures can drop quite a bit at night.

Crocs are perfect kid camping shoes - Let me set the record straight – I will never wear crocs. I find them hideous and a threat to my masculinity. However when it comes to children I think that crocs are the perfect camping shoe.  You don’t have to worry about them getting wet or dirty and they’re more sturdy than flip flops for general running/playing.

Buy a decent tent - I will be reviewing my most recent tent purchase in a later post, but when it comes to tents be sure to buy a decent one. I’m not saying pay through the nose but if you go cheap you may regret it if you get stuck in a rain storm. Waking up in puddles is not very fun.

Thanks again for reading

Eric