Suzi’s Blog
The U.S. National Forest Campgrounds Guide website, www.forestcamping.com, is a wealth of information about developed campgrounds in all 176 national forests and grasslands across the country. It is basically an encyclopedia, straight forward and impersonal. Suzi’s Blog adds a little personal touch to the ForestCamping.com website with postings about our experiences, adventures, and discoveries along with other postings related to camping, national forests and grasslands, and family fund.
I am Suzi Dow and I hope you will find something interesting, something helpful, something informative, but mostly something that will help you get out and discover our national forests and grasslands.
Clothespin Crafts
When the weather is miserable and winter never-ending, I bring out my crafts box. A personal favorite is being creative with clothes pins I’ve long been a fan of clothes line driers and those clip-style clothespins. (Here in Arizona, it is so dry, it seems a shame to use an electric clothes drier but that’s Read More >>
Keeping my knitting clean
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I like to knit. Each season I bring a collection knitting projects and work on them all season. This year those projects are an assortment of Holiday gifts (FYI: no sweaters or afghan blankets this year). The challenge I’ve been facing this year with Read More >>
Building a campfire and eating well
For a campfire, you need fuel (dead and down or store-bought wood), an ignition source (matches), and air (all around). Sounds simple but there are some tricks that as a novice camper you might not realize. One thing you’ll want is variety in the size of your kindling. Look around and collect dry grass, twigs Read More >>
Good night’s sleep means good time camping
Speaking as someone who has been camping for a long while, a good night’s sleep is essential to enjoying any camping adventure. From buzzing bugs to an inadequate sleeping bag, there are a number of factors that can keep a camper from a good night’s sleep. So what is a novice camper to do? Element Read More >>
Three Types of Camping Adventures
As the camping season gets underway, it seems to me camping adventures will fall into three general categories: change of wallpaper; summer vacation; and, lifetime adventure. Let me clarify and give you examples. A Change of wallpaper adventure would be a mini-vacation, probably a weekend break in routine. The destination, close to home, is simply Read More >>
Winter activities for children
The luster of the children’s Christmas gifts has worn off. Here are a few ideas for activities from one Grandma to help parents get through the next few weeks of winter until Spring arrives. These ideas are for elementary school age children who live where there is snow. Sand toys – A bucket and shovel Read More >>
Hot Soup for a Cold Day
Is there anything better than a bowl of hot homemade soup on a cold day? No matter were you are, at home or camping in national forest, cold weather calls for a bowl of hot homemade soup, thick with veggies, just as a day building snowmen calls for a mug of hot cocoa. I love this Read More >>
Rules when hiking with children
We have lots of plans for this summer. At the top of our things-to-do list is hiking with our grandchildren. One set of grandchildren live in a place surrounded by national forests and they often hike with their mother.. The other children live in a more urban environment. Their parents a very busy. For these Read More >>
Keep Fido, Kitty, or Polly Safe
When traveling, a paramount concern is keeping our pets, Fido, Kity, or Polly, safe. This is especially true in the RV. I have said, as a joke, that Fred is more likely to hit the road for another camping adventure without me than to leave his dogs behind. And he wouldn’t start our RV without Read More >>
Five Reasons you should go camping
Here are five reasons to go camping You’ll be totally unplugged. There’s no such thing as cell phone towers in the middle of nowhere. Research suggests too much technology may lead to increased feeling of anxiety and poor sleep. Responding to the beep or blinking light of technology crowds out real connections with our fellows. Read More >>
