RE: How do you store spices/seasonings?
A friend bought me a small nylon pouch full of spices - it's called "Thyme to Go" and has 10 small plastic containers with snap-on lids and had spices in it. As we have used them, I replace from home and have added other spices that we use for the ones it contained that we don't use as much. It can be kept anywhere in the camper, it doesn't weigh much of anything, is small and has a zipper to open and close. It works great.
Look at it
RE: Weekend Ideas - within 250 miles of Chas
On our way to Hunting Island a couple years ago, we pulled in and stayed at Croft State Park outside of Spartanburg, SC. There were lots of horse trailers and horses, but it was a very nice park. That's about 4 hours from Charleston and in the foothills. We stayed right after Christmas and didn't get too cold, in the mid 40's at night and was in the high 60's during the day.
RE: What's Your Favorite Site # @ Hunting Island St.Prk and WHY?
I love sites 52, 54 and 55 - we have stayed in them several times. Also, we have been in site 11 and could see the waves over the dunes. This can get kinda chilly if it has cooled down, but is wonderful when it is hot. Site 74 is about as close as you can get to the beach. It has DIRECT access, but is actually behind a dune. You can't see the water, but within 15 steps, you can be on the beach.
Now, if it is chilly, the absolutely best site is as ricklord2001 said, and it is #89, 91, 93 and perhaps 95. They are adjacent to the beach access path, but are blocked from the wind by trees and the dunes. You will also have people going through your campsite to get to the access road. It saves about 200 yards if they cross there.
If you don't have children, DON'T get #98, 99, 100 or 155. They are right beside the park and the children start playing about 8:00 am and they can get pretty loud. The young kids are there early and the teens are there until 10 pm and afterwards. They are usually pretty quiet after 10 pm, because the ranger is pretty conscientious about keeping a check on them and anyone else making noise.
We have stayed on Hunting Island in excess of 15 times and have been in all the areas. The only ones I do not like are the ones that back up to the entrance road - 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34 and 36. They are pretty good size sites, but you get hit with lights of every vehicle coming into the park.
The campground is my favorite place to camp other than our local park (Flag Rock) and the beach is fabulous. We have camped during the summer - its HOT!!
Fall, we have camped from Christmas to New Years several times, done spring break with the entire family (17 of us) three different years and do Thanksgiving EVERY year for the last 8 years. We have site 155 this year, but we have 2 young children who love the playground.
If you want more specifics, just PM me and I will give you all the info I can.
RE: Where Should We Go?
You might want to try Natural Bridge SP in Virginia. It's just off the BRP. Also, the Virginia Safari Park is there, also. We took our 4 year old and 1 year old back in August and had a blast. You stay in your car/truck/van, whatever and just drive thru. The animals come up to the vehicle and will eat out of your hand, bucket or whatever. It's not real expensive, $12 for adults and I believe $8 for the kids over 3. The buckets of food ar3 4/$10. The brochure says it will take approximately 1 hour, but we were there for over 2. While you are there, you might want to take in a football game or just a tour of Virginia Military Institute. There is a small zoo near Natural Bridge that is supposed to be nice (havent' been myself).
RE: Natural Bridge, Va KOA
We drove thru, but decided to settle for a hotel on our last trip. We went to Lexington and stayed at the Hampton Inn just off I-81. It was a very nice hotel. Don't know if you have the time, but we have 2 children and went to the Virginia Safari Park that is off the Natural Bridge exit. We had a BLAST!! The animals were everywhere and there were lots of them. Came up to the van and ate out of the buckets of food we purchased ($10 for 4 buckets). I had as much fun as the kids, if not more. The brochure says it is a one hour drive around the park, but it took us almost 2 hours. I guess we looked more than most people. Anyway, if you have the time, it's a good, fun time and I believe it was $12 for adults and less for the kids. Maybe that's not a good anniversary trip, but after 16 years, you've probably done most of the other things you do on anniversaries:W
RE: Refrigerator question
I will freeze the meat at home before we leave, place it in the fridge, and let it thaw in the fridge. It normally takes it several days to get completely thawed. If you are only going to be gone 3-5 days, it should be fine. Even in the fridge, most meats will keep for at least 5 days unless they are old when you buy them (check the dates well).
RE: Virginia "Personal Property Tax"
Up until last year, you were able to purchase a "permanent tag" for your TT instead of trailer tags. We had permanents on our pup and HTT, upgraded to a TT last year and had to get regular trailer tags so the locality knows what it is and the taxable price of it.
RE: How much weight will it hold?
We used to have a Keystone Cabana hybrid and it had stickers on each of the bunk ends that they held 1,000 lbs. If that would be a problem, I sure would hate to see your food bill for the weekend!!!:D
RE: Does Anyone Bring The Game Corn Hole To Their Campsite?
Our game (homemade) fits and rides perfectly on one of the quad bunks, the one beside the door. It comes out of the TT upon arrival and is stored under the slideout. It's the last thing that is put back into the TT when we are leaving. The kids love it and the neighbors usually do, also. We hang the bag with the beanbags up on the back bumper of the TT and let the neighborhood (campground) play. Never had a problem with parts leaving, but there have been some heated games. I did get some rules off the net and had them laminated and put them in the bag with the beanbags. That way, if there is some question about the rules, we use what is printed.
RE: concertone 17" lcd dc monitor died
We didn't have the "monitor", but the actual concertone TV that died. We took it to a local TV repairman and he fixed it - cost us $75. Said he replaced the power supply switch or something like that. We had planned to just replace it with an AC only Tv from Walmart, which would cost us about $350. If I am somewhere boondocking, I am not going to use up my battery watching television, anyway. I think a good Sony or RCA is much cheaper than that and a whole lot better quality - the concertone is just junk, IMO.
RE: travel trailers
With that type of truck, you can tow almost any kind of TT or 5er. There is no real "best brand" for the money, everyone will give you their opinion, but it is really about what you want and especially need.
Is it just you or do you have family or pets that will be along for the ride? If so, that makes a big difference. If it's just you, do you want a big bedroom area or a big living area?
Are you going to be in "sunny California" and not need to heat it or are you going to be in the mountains and need an enclosed underbelly and heating?
Just a few things to consider. Check out ebay and choose the length of the TT that you are considering and check out maybe 2005 and newer trailers. That will give you an idea of what is available and then you can do a little bit of research to find out the problems with any trailer you are interested in.
There are several different "levels" of trailer and most mid-level trailers will be fine unless you need "the very best".
RE: Help! need receipe for Saltimbocca, I'm desperate!
Chicken Saltimbocca
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons ground sage (I use only only 1 TBL)
1 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
1/4 cup butter
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch
water as needed
Flatten the chicken breasts as much as possible. In a small bowl, combine the oil and garlic and mix together; brush mixture onto each chicken piece. Season with salt, pepper and sage and top with thin layers of prosciutto. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat and saute rolls evenly on all sides until nicely browned, about 10 minutes.
Pour in the wine; season with fresh sage, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium low, over and simmer until rolls are cooked through and tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Thicken wine sauce with cornstarch and water as needed, heat through and serve atop sauteed spinach.
SAUTEED SPINACH
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 (10 ounce) bag spinach leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach to the skillet and cover; allow to cook 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic salt and cover again for another 5 minutes; remove from heat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.
RE: raleigh nc to ohio amish country
If you want scenery, plan to travel up Rt 25 instead of I-75. It has some great scenery and it doesn't take much longer to get from Knoxville to Lexington. You will also get to go through the tunnel in Cumberland Gap. There is a nice campground there, but it has limited facilities. Only water/electric. It is beautiful, though.
RE: Modifying Lower Bunk for Baby
I have a 14 month old and a quad bunk camper. I purchased a double rail system from Walmart. I put the one rail on the bottom bunk and another on the top bunk and turn it down. The bottom bunk is totally enclosed, but the rails adjust in length, so if I need to get in there during the night, I just need to push on the rail from the side and it closes up. She's not strong enough to do it.
Also, I take the bottom cushion off of the dining seat and it fits perfectly in the floor for a pad - just in case.
Here's the address to the rails I purchased.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5983014
RE: How long does it take to set up your HTT?
We moved from a tent (too much to carry in the car/truck) to a pup (couldn't get to anything easily unless it was up) to a HTT (easier to load, but still a pain to open everything) to a TT. I guess in a few years, we will upgrade to a 5'er or more likely, a Class A.
We moved to the HTT because it was a real pain to have to open the pup to pull out the dirty clothes, whatever needed to go into the house. The HTT was great for that, but it would only sleep 6 really "close" persons. We now have 2 small children and the grandparents seemed to like to come along wherever we went, so we got a bigger camper (33' bunkhouse).
PROS
When we bought the HTT, we loved the fact that it was small, but "grew" to be a good size camper once you were where you were going. It could be packed with no raising of the roof or sliding the beds.
Weight is low - Towing of a HTT was easy and could be done with most any truck or larger 6 cyl vehicle.
It had it's own bathroom - granted, it wasn't much, but it had a pot and a shower.
Tent ends - you can open them up and you are out in the open air
Full kitchen with large ref, micro, stove top and sink
Most are smaller, so they fit in almost any campsite space anywhere.
CONS
Put out beds, attempt to make them up while sitting on them or go outside and make them up before enclosing them. If you are traveling, you have to do this each and every time.
Most HTT's don't have slide-outs and they give you soooo much room inside.
Tent ends (yeah, it appears both places) can cause the HTT to heat up really quickly or cool down really quickly, therefore, you must have some type of heat shield (popup gizmos)
That's all I can think of - I loved my HTT, but we just outgrew it.
Setup - i.e. levelling and hooking up water/electric, sewer, cable, etc. has to be done on any type of camper, so that isn't a pro or con and it's according to what type of site we are on, how long it takes. We (DH and myself, plus a 4 year old and a 13 mo old) can have our TT set up in less than 20 minutes and it took DH and I about 30 minutes on the HTT and about 45 minutes on the pup.
That's all I can think of
RE: Advice and Prayers Please!!!
We also have little ones, we have a 32 year old son, a 4 year old daughter and a 13 month old. We have been camping since our son was 2 and have continued through the little ones. Each has gone on a camping trip at 4 months (Thanksgiving each year, we go to Hunting Island, SC, about an 8 hour trip). Be sure to bring blankets that your little one uses at home, especially some toys, foods that she likes, some moveables (tricycle, stroller, etc.) We have a sound machine that we use at the house to block the sounds of the 4 year old and we take that camping along with the monitors so we can sit out by the campfire after we have put her/them to bed. Just go with the flow and let her get just dirty/nasty in the dirt, play like there's no tomorrow and have the time of your life with her, she will be grown before you know it.
RE: I let the wife drive home - pulling the fiver!
We went camping several years ago and the DH ended up in the emergency room and was "out of it" the entire trip and for a week or two after we got back home. I HAD to tow it back, good thing I usually drove and could break camp, hook up and tow the thing. If not, we would have been there for several weeks. If you are going to use it, you need to know how to setup, break it down, then drive it. One of you may be better at going forward, going backward, etc., but you should at least know how to do it.
RE: how many of you camp with children
We have two daughters, 4 and 13 months, plus we have a 32 year old son!!! Yeah, I know!!! We camped in tents and has a small TT when our son was small, then sold it when he got in high school - too much going on. When he left home, we purchased a pup, then upgraded to a hybrid, when the youngest/last one came along, we upgraded to a 33' TT with quad bunks (planning for later when they HAVE to take a friend along.
