Hungry for Adventurez

  I have been thinking a lot lately about the political situation here in the United States, and it has made me rethink how I approach writing about travel and the great outdoors. For this reason, what I post going forward might look very different from the rest of my work here. One of the first acts of the new presidential administration here was to strip multiple federal agencies of employees, especially provisional employees (meaning new or recently promoted employees who have fewer workplace protections). This has hit public lands like national forests and national parks especially hard, leaving some of the most expansive parks in America with just a handful of full-time employees to manage maintenance and services for guests. In my home-base state of Iowa, Ranger Brian Gibbs’ Facebook post about being fired from Effigy Mounds National Monument went viral.    Observing the nomad and camping communities As someone with a degree in politics (separate from the f...

Last year I had the privilege of spending a week near the beautiful Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Let's break down the best places to camp, and what to do while you are there! This region is densely packed with fantastic campgrounds, incredible Midwest vistas, great history, and so much more!  Apostle Islands Overview The Apostle's Islands is an island group in Lake Superior, around the Bayfield Penisula of northern Wisconsin. The National Lakeshore includes most of these islands and the shoreline at the northern point of the peninsula. The primary exception is Madeline Island, the largest island, which is the only commercially developed island. The peninsula's interior is largely National Forest land, and most of the area's towns are on the coast. Most human activity in the Apostle Islands area centers around Bayfield, Wisconsin's smallest official city. I have included a simplified map below to better explain the important locations I will be mentioning. Cam...

Devil's Lake in Wisconsin has great winter hiking  Do you miss camping and getting outside during the winter? This may be the year you need to try winter camping! There are a few extra things you will have to prepare for, like how to stay warm and deal with early darkness. However, winter camping can come with many rewards, such as reducing cabin fever and cheaper camping sites. Plus, you wouldn't want to miss out on great winter vistas like the one above, taken at Devils Lake in Wisconsin.  Finding Campgrounds for Winter Camping If you don't want to camp at a dispersed camping site, you will need to research which campgrounds you can stay at in the winter. In my state of Iowa, state-run campgrounds are ideal for winter camping, because they stay open all year and have a reduced winter cost. (Some Iowa state parks have winter prices as low as $6!)  Also, research what amenities are available in the winter. If you live in an area that freezes in the winter, your campgroun...

When I first started solo car camping, I was determined to use only shelf-stable, store-bought foods. It made sense at the time - cheap and easy to supply. My thoughts about how I prepare food while camping have changed a bit over time, especially now that I am preparing for my first multi-week trip. My sister, who started car camping around the same time that I did, and my dad, both have an interest in dehydrated foods, so I thought I would give it a go.  Reasons for adding dehydrated foods to my camping pantry Cook and prep time at camp I push myself very hard while traveling. I want to get the maximum fun out of my precious weekends and PTO. unfortunately, sometimes this means that I'm just an exhausted, sweaty mess when I get to camp. Nothing is left in the tank for cooking.  Dehydrating foods means a quicker cooking time, depending on the food. Some foods, like rice, won't need to be cooked at all and become a viable addition to cold-soaked  recipes.   (for...

This spring I built a foldable sleeping platform for my Hybrid 2018 Rav4. I had outgrown my Prius set up , plus my boyfriend wasn't a fan of the tight quarters. I used just some basic pieces of hardware (which cost less than $20) and some wood that my dad had leftover from his own campaign project. (about a sheet of 1 inch Baltic birch that costs less than $80, and 100 inches of 2x4s which cost about $5.) In addition to raw materials, you will also need tools for cutting wood, measuring, and some sand paper. Here is a breakdown of how it works and the measurements, so you can recreate it.  Why I Designed a Foldable Sleeping Platform for my RAV4 I am a weekend only camper. As much as I would love to do the full time van life thing, It won't be in the cards for a while. I wanted something that would allow me to make use of all space, without requiring the back seats to be taken out. Seats in 2028 hybrid RAV4s do not fold flat, so not using a platform was never an option. I’m also...

IOverlander is a free, crowd-sourced app designed for roadtrippers, RVers and Car campers. I have recently started to use it to plan out my weekend adventures in Iowa, and find free places to stay overnight. Lately I have been camping solo almost every weekend. While campgrounds are much cheaper than hotels, I have been starting to wonder if I can illuminate the cost and hassle of staying at the more popular campgrounds. (If you want to learn more about ultra low budget travel, read this !) Plus, in the busy summer season, sometimes the popular campgrounds, like Makokita cave and Backbone State Parks are completely booked. iOverlander helps provide some great options to explore a little differently.  How the iOverlander app works  iOverlander is a crowd-sourced app. That means that anybody can log a pin in the app and leave notes on the quality and type of location. People who visit a place later can also add check-ins with pictures and notes to help future travelers. If you a...

Aldi is my absolute favorite grocery store, especially for cheap and lazy camping food. It’s easy to put together shelf stable meals that are actually pretty healthy and require almost no prep work. As an added bonus, Aldi also has decent outdoors equipment in the “Aldi Finds” aisle, but we will save that for a different post. For this post I will be assuming you have a camp stove , such as a jet boil, available.  Lazy Camping Food #1: Favorite Cheese, Fruit, and Crackers No cooking necessary, yet somehow super luxurious. I like to get a wheel of Cammebert or Brie, which I slice up and eat cold with strawberries, peaches or apples, and a sleeve of crackers. It's perfect for a mid hike meal or snack. It's the ultimate lazy food, but also kind of feels luxurious. Plus, rich cheeses are a great food for when you are are on longer, active trips. This is because cheese contains calorie-dense fats.  Camembert cheese, 7 oz: $4.19 Strawberries, 1 lb: $2.19 Crackers, 7 oz: $2.55 (...

 I recently visited Yellow River State Forest and stayed at Little Paint Campground. This park is expansive, more so than any Iowa State Park or forest I have visited so far. Let's talk about what activities are available here, and who should pay Yellow River State Forest a visit.  The view from the lookout point near the fire tower The Layout of Yellow River State Forest By Iowa standards, Yellow River State Forest is a massive park. It is north of Marquette and south of Harper’s Ferry. Combined with neighboring Effigy Mounds National Monument, Pikes Peak State Park, and Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, the area is an unofficial national park (in my opinion).  Yellow River State Forest is not one contiguous park. It is made of several smaller units. The largest one is called the Paint Creek Unit, which has multiple campgrounds.  The main road of Paint Creek is State Forest Road. It offers some fantastic views as you drive through the park....

If you hate cleaning dishes on vacation, you aren’t the only one. Plus,  ice is a hassle you don’t really need to bother with. These four recipes are far better than the typical ramen or plain instant backpacking foods, and pack a surprising amount of fruit and vegetables. These one pot camping meals (no refrigeration required!) are perfect for your next overnight adventure. One Pot Greek Pasta Salad Dinner for travel on day one of camping I usually make a big batch of this, or something similar, ahead of time to eat on Friday night after we drive to the campsite. It's very filling and the feta and veggies hold up well for a few hours on the road. I don’t do exact measurements when I’m cooking, so feel free to adjust ratios how you like them. If you would like to exclude the cheese, follow food safety for longer journeys, try adding in sun dried tomatoes and black olives for flavor and richness.  Ingredients: Broccoli florets Pasta shells, elbow macaroni, or bowtie pasta Crum...

I have been car camping with and without a cooler for a while now, using either a Prius or a Hybrid Rav4 with a bed platform. And honestly, I have come to realize that I really don’t need a cooler. Maybe my opinion would change if I was traveling full time, but for now, my mind is made up. Here is why for minimalist car camping setups, you really don’t need a cooler, even if you love meat or are trying to eat healthy.  Problems with using a traditional ice cooler Traditional coolers, such as your average Coleman cooler, use a combination of water ice or dry ice and insulation to keep food cold. This means that you will have to buy ice for each camping trip, and you might need to refill during your trip to make sure food stays at a safe temperature. While ice isn’t particularly expensive, it is an expense that should be kept in mind if you are working with a tight budget. A second problem with ice coolers is that water ice will melt into water, which has to be removed from the coole...