Camping and Fishing

Another upcoming weekend, another camping trip! Our next stop is Paso Robles with friends, and we inevitably wind up getting asked a lot of questions about our choice to opt for truck bed camping.

You all have seen a lot of our camping trailer with its CVT rooftop tent. We’ve even had a few readers write to say that they were inspired to buy their own, and we’re getting a huge kick out of watching their adventures now!

I asked Nate the other day, "What do you think Wet-Naps, a spatula and a clean pair of socks have in common?"

We have been traveling SO MUCH lately. Our latest adventure was a fun one where traditional camping met modern amenities.

Nate comes from a woodsy, roughing-it kinda background. I, on the other hand, have always been more of the five-star resort sort of traveler. Since getting married and having kids we’ve merged our two traveling styles and now do a little bit of everything. When we do camp – and we camp a LOT! – I insist on comfortable camping. I need all the accoutrements to make my experience in the great outdoors as hassle-free and happy as possible. Here are my six must-have items whether we’re tromping through the backwoods, climbing rocks offroad or holing up in a little cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Last week we were exploring Temecula, and this week we’re down at the southern end of San Diego county in Ocean Beach!

I mentioned last week that we were on a mini vacation. We worked with KOA to go camping at Lake Isabella and it was such an incredible couple of days.

I grew up all over the western half of the United States. I may have only lived in Washington, Oregon, California and Oklahoma but my life seems to have bloomed in the in-between. The color of my youth was a bit more saturated when my family was on the road. Maybe it was because there were fewer distractions to divert my attention from the world around me. Perhaps it was because my father dealt with a backseat plagued with two fighting brothers by shouting, "Both of you, shut up and look out your window."

Nate and the boys and I are an adventurous group, but before last week we had never been family geocaching. Readers frequently wrote in to tell us we needed to rectify this oversight, and it’s been on the "must do" list for awhile.

This is a blossom year for the Day family. A year when our recent growth blooms into a flower of wonderful experiences. When Chelsea and I started out, we cultivated our relationship and discussed what we wanted our family to look like and do. We decided adventure would be the foundation of most of what we did when the boys were young. Now all we had to do is add water.

Roughly 93 million miles away from where I stand, a steady stream of photons were ejected from a gigantic plasmic orb and traveled at light speed for nearly eight and half minutes only to collide with the dried prehistoric lakebed laden with shattered and crushed gypsum and granite.

Ever had trouble getting a campfire started? Our DIY fire starters can help!

A family of ancient volcanic obelisks stands in opposition to the sunrise as I work my way north alone in the snow. They’ve taken their stand just a few miles to my west and I stand also, still, as silent as they. Wolves hidden in the forest to my east are calling to to each other as though they were reconnecting after some time apart. I am the foreigner here. I’ve slipped into this plain and now silently consume their song.