We do not have one anymore; but when I was younger, I had one of those campground memberships where you can travel and stay at any affiliated member campgrounds. I really loved it, and it was a great way to travel, especially when you like to get out of cities and enjoy the peace and quiet of a campground. Most of the campgrounds are around a lake, or at least have a small pond where a person can fish or paddle around in a little rowboat. They all have good bath and shower facilities, and often a pool and hot tub as well. I belonged to one called "Thousand Trails", and they had affiliate campgrounds that you could stay in when you were traveling and there was not an official TT campground close by. My camper was a VW camper bus, and it had the pop-up top. We had the kids along and made a trip from the Seattle area all the way down the West Coast and back, and stopped at all of the interesting places along the way. We no longer have any kind of vehicle to camp with, and we have two little dogs to care for; but if it were possible, I would love to still travel around and camp and see more of the United States that way.
Our friends take their kids to camp grounds with tents every year. They have park passes that enable them to stay in any of the National Parks Campgrounds. It is really a great way to introduce your kids to the natural beauty of their homeland and build appreciation for the preservation of it. Many have said with lowering hotel fares, that it may not always be the cheapest option though. Buying all the camping equipment can be pricey and you still need a vehicle that can carry everything.
We actually did not spend a lot on camping equipment for our vacation trip. We did buy two small tents, and we also had a good-sized cooler to keep food snacks and drinks cold. Since we stopped at campgrounds, they had electrical plugins and we could actually just plug in the coffeepot and make coffee if we wanted that, plus there were barbeque grills with each campspot for cooking . We carried along bread, lunchmeat, other sandwich stuff, and snacks and pop to drink. Breakfast, we mostly stopped at truck stops and had a nice meal and plenty of coffee. Other than that, we just made sandwiche and snacked. The biggest expense was the gas for the long trip. If a person had to buy a special camping vehicle, then it would be a lot more expensive; but we packed the tents and sleeping baags in the trunk of the car, and the cooler in the back seat, and made the whole trip fine, just driving the family car.
Hey Happyflowerlady!! Just like your name it seems like you had wonderful experiences. You truly showed how one can be when it comes to enjoying nature's beauty and taking advantage of it, thanks for sharing such inspiration. I am also a camping lover and love to enjoy nature's sightseeing. You proved how to do it in the best way without spending so much money on it.
