Fire Roasted Popcorn

Pop, pop, pop.  We love our popcorn.  Fire roasted popcorn adds an extra little yumminess to the popcorn.

We've had a couple of popcorn poppers for over the fire.  This is our current one, a gift.  You need to heat up the popcorn popper over the fire.  You'll need oil to help the popcorn pop, I use Orvil Reddenbacker popcorn oil.  You'll also need popcorn, I just pick up a bottle of kernals right by the popcorn oil at the grocery store.

Heat the oil.  Pour in some popcorn.  Hold the popper over the fire.  Watch the popcorn pop.

We'll season the popcorn with a bit of Lowry's Seasoned Salt.  Kids that camp with us have said that we make the best popcorn ever.  So there you have it.  Kids you don't know voted our popcorn the best.

Grilled Pizza

Ready to grill

Mmm... pizza.  Who doesn't enjoy pizza?  Grilled pizza is a fun meal, sure to please everyone on the campsite.  Or maybe that's just our family?

The first thing you need is something to cook your pizza on.  We have a cast iron pizza pan that works great.  I've seen other gadgets, but this has worked well for us.

You'll want to purchase pre-made pizza crust, rather than some refrigerated dough.  We've tried the refrigerated dough in the past and it takes too long to get the dough cooked through.  The dough just ends up very doughy.  By switching to the pre-made crust, we've been very happy with the results.

Pizza is such a personal choice meal that I'm going to be very generalized in the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Pre-made crust
• Tomato sauce
• Mozzerella cheese
• Favorite pizza toppings

What to do:

Assemble your pizza just the way you like it, on your pan.  Grill your pizza to your desired doneness, about 10-12 minutes.

Holland State Park: Lake Macatawa

Campsite 108

We spent Memorial Weekend at Holland State Park.  Holland is split into two different campgrounds.  We stayed at the Lake Macatawa campground, rather than the Lake Michigan campground.  We have stayed at Lake Macatawa several times before, but it has been a few years.  While the Lake Michigan campground is very close to the beach, it looks to me like a parking lot of campers with a bunch of sand in between them.

Lake Macatawa is about a mile inland from the beach.  The campsites are bigger.  There are trees.  There are two loops to the Lake Macatawa campground.  We stayed on the Pines Loop, which has considerably more trees and shade than the Woodstock Loop.

Since our last trip in 2010, the shower/bathroom building in the Pines Loop is completely new, with individual shower rooms.  The shower/bathroom in the Woodstock Loop is still the old building.  Both loops have a playground.  My kids would tell you that the Pines Loop playground is better, but my adult eye didn't see much difference.

Lake Macatawa from Mt. Pisgah

Ottawa Beach Rd is the way to get to both campgrounds, to get to the swimming beach.  Across the street from the Lake Macatawa campground is a small beach on Lake Macatawa.  It's a nice little beach with calm water.  Lots of kayakers launching from here.  It's a lovely place to watch the sun rise.  You can see all sorts of boats heading out to the channel, past the Big Red Lighthouse, and out onto Lake Michigan.  I think the main people who use this beach are campers because there isn't much parking for others.

On the backside of the campground is a big hill, a sand dune with tons of foliage.  You can climb the dune right near the check-in building.  From there, you're on some great hiking paths.  The paths have check points with maps for easy navigation, several loops to take to lengthen or shorten your way.  The greatest part of these hiking paths is that they lead to Mt. Pisgah.  There is a separate entrance, outside of the campground, to Mt. Pisgah.  The separate entrance involves climbing 239 stairs to the very top of the sand dune, affording you spectacular views of Lake Michigan, Big Red, Lake Macatawa.  If school weren't still in session, I would have loved to watch the sun set from up there.  We loved hiking that area so much, we did so 4 times over the course of the weekend.

Big Red from Mt. Pisgah

Of course, being so close to Lake Michigan, we had to make that part of our trip.  We were right across the channel from Big Red and walked all the way out on the northern barrier making the channel.  Kids stuck their toes in Lake Michigan.

Kids being kids, they wanted to play on the beach and go into the water.  We headed back on Sunday morning.  The kids were in their bathing suits, the adults were in regular clothes.  Winter 2013-2014 was exceptionally hard, exceptionally cold.  The Great Lakes had something like 90% ice coverage.  What I'm saying is that the water was cold.  I saw at the campground that the water temp was 40 degrees.  That's cold.  But the kids were determined.  In they went to play, running back and forth from the sand to the water, having a grand time.  Husband and I were cold sitting on the beach watching them.  They had no complaints... until they were told to rinse the sand off.  Then the water was too cold.  Okie dokie.

We couldn't ask for much better weather than what we had.  We had highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s and 60s.  Sunshine.  When the wind kicked up, it was chilly, but you can't expect it much differently when the lake temp is so cold.

Camping is my happy place.  I love the time spent together as a family.  We played lots of games - ladderball, toss the washer (surely there's a better name for that?), Uno, Clue.  Bike rides.  Walking for ice cream.  S'mores.  Walks.  Popcorn.  Holding hands with my kids.  Uninterrupted time together.

Vanilla Vodka

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't posted.  We're getting ready for another camping trip and I

did the grocery shopping this morning.

From the title of this post you may guess that I bought vanilla vodka.  Why vanilla vodka?  It's a good mixer.

Years ago, on a camping trip to Muskegon, we were invited to go sailing with Husband's old co-worker.  While sailing, we were offered refreshments and we were introduced to vanilla vodka.

The vodka was mixed with Vernors, or ginger ale for those not close to Michigan.  It tastes like creme soda.  Keep the vodka in the freezer, keep the Vernors in the fridge, and it's a perfect end to a hot day.

Recipe:
1 shot of vanilla vodka
12 oz. of Vernors

On another camping trip, a cold Halloween trip in October, other friends introduced us to hot apple cider and vanilla vodka.  It's an extra little warm-up by the campfire.

Recipe:
1 shot of vanilla vodka
12 oz. of hot apple cider

Harrison Lake State Park

While we don't have Harrison Lake State Park scheduled for a trip yet in 2014, we typically make it there 1-2 times a camping season.  My main goal for this blog is to keep track of where we've been and what we liked about each place.  I figure, why not back track a bit?

One of the great things we like about Harrison Lake is that it's only an hour away, straight down U.S. 127, just across the Ohio boarder.  That hour makes a difference in the weather.  It can be cold and crummy at home, but sunny and lovely there.

A drawback to Harrison Lake is that it's a state park in the middle of a bunch of farm fields.  Sight-seeing outside of the park doesn't bring a whole lot of excitement.  Unless you really like farm fields.  The bright side to the farm fields is that watching the sun rise over the fields, with a barn off in the distance, is quite picturesque and gives you warm fuzzies about the heartland of America.

I'm a fan of cul-de-sac sites and there are 4 cul-de-sacs to choose from.  Cul-de-sacs offer bigger campsites and the kids can ride their bikes & scooters, play games, toss a ball, whatever they want in the road with minimal problems of car traffic.  The sites at Harrison Lake are generous to begin with, but the cul-de-sac sites are some of the biggest we've ever camped on.

We always take our bikes with us.  We'll ride our bikes over to the beach area & play on the play ground there.  We go and appreciate the views of the lake.  We climb to the top of the dam and go down to the bottom just to climb back up again.  We ride along the ridge over to the non-electric campsites and loop around there.  We ride up to the camp store where you check in.

On our trip to Harrison Lake last year, we just happened to be there when they were having a bike safety rally.  It was a great little experience for the kids with a road rally for them to maneuver through and all kids got a new bike helmet.

There is a lovely place to fish on the lake, near the entrance of the park.  We're not often successful, but that's why they don't call it catching.

Harrison Lake is a great place to camp when you want to camp for the sake of camping, to enjoy the moment of camping.  It is not a location to go and experience more outside of the park.

Word to the wise, when plugging the address into your GPS, it takes you to a place in the park that does not allow you to get into the campground, at least in the past.  You can see the campground, it's *right* there, but you can't get into the campground.  You need to use the entrance near Camp Palmer.  I just searched the address and it seems that they've fixed the location on the map.  Every trip since we attempted to go to the wrong place, we've seen plenty of other campers doing the exact same turn-around that we did.  We giggle because we're not alone in our defiant, "But the GPS says...!"

Lists, lists, lists

I think at this point, any reader knows that I like lists.  I do well with lists.  I'm less likely to forget stuff with lists.

I posted not too long ago about my packing list.

I also like lists while camping.  Before the trip, I list out our meals.  I post the list in the camper, right by the door.  Husband is involved in the decision of what we're eating, but not when we're eating it.  With the list - Voila!  Everyone knows what we're eating and when.

I also keep a magnetic pad of paper on the hood over the stove in the camper.  There is a pencil with a magnet right next to the pad of paper.  I use these to make a list of items that need replenishing before the next camping trip.  On our first trip of the year, I wrote out (of course, in list form):

• sandwich bags
• conditioner
• chapstick
• ice

I don't always have great cell reception on camping trips.  If I consistently had great coverage, I'd probably stop using the magnetic pad of paper and just add stuff to my shopping list app that I have on my phone.  I love my shopping list app, OutofMilk.  I love that I can organize my list by each aisle at Meijer, though it did take a number of shopping trips to get it set up just right.  The other great thing about this app is that I was able to share it with Husband and he's able to add stuff right to the list.  I've got other shopping lists for other stores through this app, too.

So, now you know, that I love lists and how I make my lists and where I post my lists.

Zesty Salsa

Simple snacks while camping is a must. What is simpler than tortilla chips and salsa? I've shared my love of canning and this is my favorite salsa recipe from The Ball Blue Book. You can make it as hot or mild as you'd like with hot sauce and the heat of the peppers you use.

What you need:

• 10 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 6 lbs)
• 5 cups chopped and seeded long green peppers (about 2 lbs)
• 5 cups chopped onions (about 1.5 lbs)
• 2 1/2 cups chopped and seeded hot peppers (about 1 lbs)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in large sauce pot, adding hot pepper sauce if desired. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 20 minutes in boiling water container.

Forgotten photo for Alum Creek

Wouldn't it be great if this title actually lead to something more than the simple fact that I forgot to add this

photo to yesterday's post?

Anyway, we like to put up our sign, and then I try to take a picture of our campsite.  You can see how much brush surrounded our campsite, giving us a very private feel.  The sign was quite far back into the site, lots of space behind me as I took the picture.

Since it's the day after a camping trip, I'm trying to get caught up on laundry.  Oh, the joys of getting back from a trip.

Alum Creek

My view on the way

Just got home from our first trip of the season.  I love the view in this picture.  Yes, there were clouds all the way down, a little bit of rain as we were still in Michigan.  Once we were in Ohio, it looked like we just chased the rain the whole way with the clouds, but never dealt with any rain.

We headed down to Alum Creek State Park in Delaware, Ohio, on our side of Columbus.  Why would we go there?  Between the W family and us, we have 3 girls *right* at the age where American Girl is awesome.  We are equi-distant for the store in Columbus and the store in Chicago.  Camping in Chicago is... uh... not something we want to do.  Plus, the W family lives near Cleveland.

Alum Creek is quite large, many different roads, all named after letters.  We arrived and asked where to fill up with water.  The water hadn't been turned on yet for the season.    Thankfully, we were only the 2nd camper in line waiting for the line waiting to fill up the tank, and the first was a very friendly, patient woman.  Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long and then were on our way to our campsite.

We were on Road K, very close to the smaller of the 2 playgrounds.  We were almost near the water, campsites near us were on the water.  Lots and lots of roads for bike rides.  There were plenty of fishing boats on the water.  We tried two different locations for fishing, got nothing.  We tried the boat launch and another place not far from there, on Road J.  Nothing.  Mama "supervises" and Dad is the one in charge of fishing.

Another great thing about Alum Creek was the dam that's just a short

Kite flying

drive from the campground.  There are two great playgrounds at the Dam.  There are great open spaces, tons of wind that makes for great kite flying.  When we finished flying kites, we climbed the stairs up to the top of the dam.  All

Top of the Dam

101 of them (the kids counted, not me).  Made for fun things to see that we don't see on most camping trips.

Once we got back to the campground, the girls were giddy to check out all their new goodies from American Girl.  The boy started putting together his Legos.  The kids were very happy.  The parents were happy with what we'd given the kids.  Dinner prep was underway.

We had a great trip.  The drive there wasn't short, but I figure it's just prep for future trips.  We'd happily go back, especially if it were closer.

Checklist

Tomorrow is the big day!  Our first camping trip!  Everyone at our house is anxious with excitement.

This means that I'm packing today and will finish up tomorrow before we hit the road.

I have certainly forgotten things on trips over the years.  Husband has, too.  Then there was the trip where my youngest didn't pack any pants and thankfully big sister had extra and that they're close enough in size that it works.  And yes, Mama should have checked to make sure there were pants that got packed.  But didn't.

I attempt to minimize this forgetfulness by making a list.  The list used to be handwritten.  I'd take the list from the previous trip, make a new one and modify it specific to the upcoming trip.  Technology though, it makes this much easier.

I now have a spreadsheet.  Each trip gets it's own sheet, labeled with the location we're going and the dates.  Each person gets a column with all the items they need.  There's a column just for stuff that covers the dog and random stuff and previously forgotten stuff.  There's a column for food.  I also plan the meals for the trip on here.  Finally, I have a column where I can make sure I take out the trash from the house and run the dishwasher before we pull out of the driveway.  As things make it into the camper, I use that strike-through button to cross everything off.

I know there's an app for that.  I've looked at a couple.  The ones I've looked at don't allow for customization as much as I'd like.  So I came up with my own system.