STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Any campers out there?

Hermes

a lot of people are surprised about this, but I have been camping my whole life and love it! I should also clarify that I like to hike out in the woods to do it - electricity at the campsite is cheating!

what do you mean by road trip camping? my camping is always destination camping with an advance reservation.

what part of the country are you in, and how far are you willing to drive? a good place to start looking is nps.gov for national parks that provide camping. I have found the national parks are the nicest kept and have the best facilities. We may camp out in the woods, but I do like a hot shower and to be able to dry my hair and put on makeup if I want!

my favorite place to camp is Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore in Michigan. we reserve a Platte River campground walk in site approx. 6 mo. in advance (all reservable sites are gone within the first 10 minutes of availability - it's like trying to get good concert tickets) Sleeping Bear Dunes is great - there's a very low traffic beach right on Lake Michigan, kayaking/tubing/canoeing on Platte River, forest and dune hiking, and morel mushroom picking in-season. There's also a ton of wineries nearby - I do the hair/makeup on the winery touring day

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Hi D. We are in Wisconsin. By road trip I just mean we are not afraid of a long drive to get to our destination but we always have a reservation in advance. We've been to New Mexico, Colorado, and South Dakota. We are tent campers so we are at a non-electric site but I do like campgrouds with real toilets and showers!

We will have to look into Sleeping Bear Dunes. We like doing winery tours too! The area sounds right up our alley!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

I absolutely love camping! A couple of places that I would suggest are:

New York Finger Lakes region: There are quite a few wonderful areas for camping in this area plus yummy wine. I particulary recommend Watkins Glen, it's simply gorgeous. Or uh..as the t-shirts all say...it's GORGE-ous.

Cape Henelopen State Park, Deleware: This is a beautiful spot on the dunes right on the tip of Deleware where the bay meets the ocean. If I remember correctly though, the Deleware state parks don't take reservations so the best way to get a spot is to rent a motel room for the first night and that afternoon go to the camp site and put your name on the list for the next morning (I can explain this further if needed) for the sites.

Oregon: I haven't been to Oregon yet for camping but have had friends who have plus the bf has been out to the coast there. It's beautiful and very quiet.

All of those are quite a long drive from where you are at but I haven't been camping more than just the Northeast.

Hermes

Grace wrote:

Hi D. We are in Wisconsin. By road trip I just mean we are not afraid of a long drive to get to our destination but we always have a reservation in advance. We've been to New Mexico, Colorado, and South Dakota. We are tent campers so we are at a non-electric site but I do like campgrouds with real toilets and showers!

We will have to look into Sleeping Bear Dunes. We like doing winery tours too! The area sounds right up our alley!

some people like to just load up the car and end up where they end up - I'm glad you put more thought into it

Sleeping Bear Dunes has tent sites with electrical hook-up, so you don't have to have a camper. you can also park next to your tent. I think that just all takes so much away from it, though. I prefer to haul everything out in the woods to a walk-in site for a more rustic experience.

You have to buy tokens for the hot shower, but it is in a private room and you can lock the door, so that's nice. I think I used 3 tokens for each shower and they're 25 or 50 cents each. The general bathroom is all corian counters, clean, and with electrical outlets next to the mirrors.

Lake Michigan over the Dunes

this was the beach on the 4th of July a couple of years ago:

more beach shots:

a shot of the dunes - there are places you can go where it's all sand and you can climb them:

here's a Leelanau winery map:

anyway - all you have to do is drive around the top of the lake, and I think there are also ferries that take you from WI to Charlevoix.

-- Edited by D at 15:41, 2006-12-18

Grace · Dooney & Bourke

Thanks D. I will be looking into that campground, it looks really beautiful. I'm already looking forward to winter being over and for camping season to begin!

Hermes

Grace wrote:

Thanks D. I will be looking into that campground, it looks really beautiful. I'm already looking forward to winter being over and for camping season to begin!

we're already making plans for mushrooming in May - I'm worried it may be a bit chilly though!

another thought to share with you if you choose to drive to the west side of Michigan vs. taking a ferry. If you drive, you can go through the upper peninsula's copper country and Pictured Rocks national lakeshore (that is supposed to be good camping too, although I've never been camping there) plus Tahquamenon Falls and Mackinac bridge. Mackinac Island would be a fun pit-stop too if you haven't been there. The Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie are interesting as well.