Clear Springs is a small park, set up for day use for picnicking and swimming in the lake;  but camping is the best.  We first camped there as children during the 1950’s, when there were only 22 sites, one bathhouse, and a central water spicket that all the kids had to go to to haul water back to the campsites. Electricity was taboo in the campgrounds. By the time we returned with our own children during the 1970’s and 80’s, there was water at all the sites, and electricity at some.  Now that we are returning with our grandchildren, there are still 22 sites, all with water and 30/50 amp service.  It just keeps getting better and better.  There are no reservations; but if you call the ranger station in nearby Meadville, MS, (601)- 384-5876, they can give you the number for the campground host, always on duty, who can tell you how full the park is when you call.

What a special place.  Small, sandy-bottomed creeks flow into Clear Springs Lake, along with the artesian springs that rise from the lake bottom.  This is absolutely the best swimming experience in the whole wide world during the hot summer months.  If you use a float, and just drift around the lake, you pass through a warm spot, then an icy current.  A spillway at one end of the lake leads to a creek that is filled with old-fashioned swimming holes for the kids, and one sandy, rocky beach after another with treasures of agates, petrified wood, fossils, and quartz waiting to be discovered by rockhounds of all ages.

Hiking and mountain biking are favorite activities.  The one-mile trail around Clear Springs Lake is hilly, picturesque and just a little challenging.  Over 30 miles of mountain biking trails traverse up and down the steep hills.

Our favorite hiking trip is one that almost didn’t end!  Maps of the area are available, and we had one.  We set out about 1 pm in the afternoon for what we thought would be about a 3 hour hike on one of the many trails shared by bikes and legs alike. The trail was beautiful.  We were watching the trail markers carefully.   A small foot bridge that crossed a creek had been washed out and not yet repaired.  So, we had to detour.  Aha!  Therein was our downfall!  As we walked on, we began to realize that the path we were on looked nothing like the map we were following.

When we thought the trail should have led us right back to the campground, there was more trail, and the sun was getting low.  Truth be told, we were thinking, “Can we really drink out of the creek?” and, “Can you really survive by eating pine bark?”  Then, we came out onto a small gravel road.  It was NOT on our map.  We seriously hoped a local would come along and give us a ride in the back of his pickup truck.  But apparently, the road was not used often.  No luck there.  Deciding that the road must lead to somewhere, we followed it.  Just as the sun was dipping below the horizon, we saw lights, and heard the sounds of children. Following the sounds over the top of the nearest hill, we looked down and saw the campground nestled by the lake.  What a relief!!!

Don’t let our hiking experience scare you off.  The fault there was absolutely hiker error!  Even lost on the trail, it was a beautiful hike. Clear Springs is a special place to put on your Bucket List.

Our children attended summer camp at Camp Ozark, just out of Mt. Ida, Arkansas, most of their school age years.  But they weren’t the only ones having a wonderful time camping.  Several summers, we were able to drop the kids off at summer camp, and head off into the surrounding region with our family size tent in hand.  This particular year, our getaway was an elegant time to return to romance for mom and dad.

Devil’s Den State Park is located in Arkansas’s Ozark Mountains, between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville.  Built in the 1930’s as a CCC project, the park is filled with rustic wood and stone structures.  The special features that led us to set our sites on this location for our adults-only getaway included the 8-acre lake, mountain biking trails, caves for exploring, and the beautiful creek that runs through the campground.

This particular June, we were lucky to get a campsite right on Lee Creek.  Every night, we went to sleep to the sound of the water gently rolling and dancing over the rocky creek bed.  Hiking the trail that followed the creek, nature’s gift was an incredible display of early summer wildflowers that cascaded down the rocky slopes, broke slightly for the trail, and continued down to the creek’s edge.  And just when we thought we had seen Mother Nature’s surprises, including a healthy rattlesnake sunning himself on the rocky path, we came upon the most unexpected, blue swimming hole we had ever seen.

During the evening, dining was in five-star style!  Several weeks before our trip, the dinner menu had been decided.  Included were such delicacies as Crawfish Etoufee, Shrimp Scampi, Sour Cream Chicken over Noodles, and Chicken Marsala, all prepared ahead and frozen in sealed, plastic bags that could be dropped in a pot of boiling water and heated to serve.  Side dishes were prepared the same.  (No pots to clean!) All the dinner elements were frozen, and acted as the ice in our ice chest.  With a little additional ice over the course of the camping week, all remained frozen or very cold until ready to serve.

Two place settings of our good china, Kirk Sterling flatware, and Waterford crystal glasses were CAREFULLY(!) packed, along with a cloth tablecloth and cloth napkins.  Candles and candle holders were a must.  A small handful of wildflowers from the surrounding hills graced our table each evening.  And all this under the protection of a really substantial screen tent over the transformed, concrete picnic table.  Each evening, as we lit the candles and enjoyed our special occasion dinners, fellow campers would walk by, each stopping to take a second look at the dining room set up in the screen tent!

I know what they were thinking.  “I don’t want to wash those dishes,” or “I am camping – that looks like a lot of work,” or “those people must not have their kids with them.”  And they would all be right.  We have never camped in such style again; however, it made for a truly special memory that we wouldn’t trade for the world.  Make your camping trip a special occasion, at least once!

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For the young family looking for outdoor adventure and quality time together, it is often the first camping trip.  Unless one has been passed down to you, you have to buy the tent.  And then, there are all the camping supplies – the ones you THOUGHT you needed, the ones you DID need, and the ones you REALLY needed, but didn’t get.  There are sleeping bags, bike carriers, outdoor lanterns, and everything made by Coleman.  What is a new Igloo to you is a familiar friend for every raccoon for miles around.  So much to know – so much to learn.

Our first camping trip was no different. We bought a Eureka tent that was guaranteed for life, and rated for high winds and snow.  OK – we lived in South Louisiana, but we wanted to make sure we had all bases covered.  (If Eureka had known what was coming, they probably would have asked us to share our luck with another company!)  For food, we had cokes, bread, hot dogs and bacon.  What else would you need?  It’s a camping trip….

It was October, and the leaves were turning.  We chose a beautiful campground, Clear Springs Recreational Area, located in the Southern Mississippi hills, halfway between Natchez and Brookhaven off Highway 84.  It was a special place where we had camped as children with our own parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  There was a great trail for hiking, a perfect lake for fishing, and lots of raccoons to leave leftover hotdogs for, (so totally against the rules – sorry!), and a really clean bathhouse.  We chose a campsite on a slope  near the edge of one of the beautiful creeks in the campground. It was perfect!

Setting up the tent took over an hour;  we were on a learning curve.  And someone should have told us about using a ground cloth.  Sleeping bags in place, dinner went off without a hitch – it’s hard to ruin hotdogs for a 2 and 5 year old.  After a really successful first campfire that chased away the chill of the October evening, we headed for the sleeping bags.  All was well…

Changes, they are a-comin’……….

Around midnight, thunder rumbling in the distance was sending a loud message that changes were coming.  Clear Springs is a retreat nestled in a cove in the hills.  We could hear the storm moving all around us, but couldn’t see it’s approach.  The thunder woke the children; both were ready to “go home now.”  The storm moved rapidly toward us;  the rain started.   As the storm came over us, winds literally howled around our tent.  I believe it’s the first time I had ever actually heard “howling” winds.  The sounds of trees falling in the hills all around was terrifying.

As we huddled together, just waiting for a tree to fall through our new tent, we felt the dampness seeping into the floor.  Had we waterproofed the tent seams?  Hmmm… No one told us about that.  Were the sleeping bags waterproof?   Should we have set up camp on a down slope near a creek?  So much to learn in so little time.

We stayed in the tent, water literally flowing through it, our sleeping bags soaked through, until the first light.  When we surveyed the damage, we realized we were in the natural drain path for the campground to the creek!  Who knew?!?

Finally, with dawn’s first light, we gathered up all of our wet gear, rolled up our wet tent, and threw everything in the back of our truck.  The two hour ride home was wet, cold and miserable.  A lesser family would have thrown in the towel…. and the tent, and the sleeping bags and everything that went with camping. But we persevered.

We have continued, for many years, to return to Clear Springs with our children, and now, our grandchildren.  The tent has been passed on to our son; and yes, it is still in good shape.  Remember that lifetime guarantee? Our Coleman stove is still in use, and our Igloos still keep things cold.  For us, camping is now in a 32 foot Fifth Wheel, complete with AC, a microwave, and satellite TV.  But the camping experience is still the best.

For many years, we camped with a tent.  While our tent was a Cadillac of a tent, with the children grown and us looking for more luxurious accommodations, we bought our first RV .  It was a 30 foot bumper pull, a CrossRoads by brand.  It was bought, almost on a whim.  We went to an RV/Outdoor show, thinking we would move up from a tent to a Pop-Up, then saw a really small bumper-pull, then this 30 foot trailer with a queen-size bed for MiMi and PaPa, and bunks for the grandkids.  It happened just that fast. ( Have you been there???)

It was a Friday afternoon in February, with a cold weekend forecast.  We had bought the trailer earlier in the week , and it was ready for us to pick up.  After receiving a brief instructional session from our sales person, we hooked her up and were off!

We showed up at Fountinebleau State Park near Mandeville, Louisiana near sunset, and we had no reservation.  Figuring out that we were totally green at RV camping, the park ranger assigned us to a pull-through site.  Good thing there!  We had come prepared that day with 2 pillows and sheets for the bed.  That was it.

After parking our new trailer in the pull-through site, and spending the rest of the weekend in a trailer that seriously needed leveling, we locked her up and headed into the nearest town for food and a few other supplies.  We got back to the campground well after dark, around 9:30 pm.  The temperature had dropped to around 30 degrees, with a forecast low in the 20’s. To our surprise, our new trailer keys had apparently fallen out of a pocket somewhere in a Home Depot parking lot in the nearby town.

A park ranger would be there until 10 pm, and suggested we call Pop-A-Lock.  He also suggested that, it was his understanding, that many of the keys that accessed the storage compartments for many brands of trailers were generic.  (Did you know that?) If we could find someone in the campground with a trailer similar to ours, their key might open our new palace on wheels.

After knocking on a lot of trailer doors of perfect strangers in the campground, we found someone who had a key he was willing to loan us at the late hour.  The ranger was right!  The key fit a storage compartment on our trailer, that happened to lead into the inside living area, if you lifted up the wood base for a mattress in the bunk area, and crawled up through the small space. I know you can picture it!

Lesson learned:  Keep a spare key to your trailer in your tow vehicle, and a spare key to your tow vehicle in your trailer.  You can’t really function without either.

Tent Camping Hints:

We started off as tent campers. We have many wonderful, and well, challenging, experiences to share.  Tent camping takes you back to the basics; it gets you in touch with nature.  Nature gifts us with sunshine, spring days, cool nights, and the sounds of crickets and frogs as you lay in your sleeping bag.  Nature brings unexpected thunderstorms, along with hotter-than-planned days, and colder-than-anticipated nights.  Nature’s gifts can include an eagle that soars high above your campsite, or raccoons that raid your food, as well as a surprise meeting with a pair of unidentified yellow eyes on your way to the bathhouse during the night.

Survival Hints for Tent Camping:

1. Waterproof everything.  Waterproof everything.  Waterproof everything.  Do you get my point?

• Purchased liquid waterproofing material is available for applying to the seams that hold your tent together.  This needs to be reapplied occasionally.
• Keep your clothes in an Igloo or other insulated container.  You will quickly find that humidity will make every wearable item you brought feel like it is is still on the damp cycle of your dryer.  The Igloo will keep the humidity out and your clothes relatively dry,  and it gives you something to sit on in your tent.
• Keep all of your chips, cookies, bread, etc. in an insulated cooler, as well, so they won’t get soft.  No ice, please!
• Don’t forget to waterproof the top of the screen tent canopy you bring to put over your food table.
• Make sure you use a moisture barrier, such as a plastic sheet, UNDER your tent when you set it up, and have another to place OVER your tent, in case of rain.

2. Plan ahead to keep ALL food tightly locked away – even when you are not at your campsite during the day.  Hungry critters do not wear watches!  They will share in your edible goods 24/7.

3.  Bring a small broom with you, and get some sort of entry rug.  It is a challenge to keep the inside of a tent clean.

4.  Bring ear plugs.  While you may be planning to listen to the sounds of nature,  you may end up in a campground with Non-tenters, aka RVers, whose AC units hum throughout the night.

5. Always bring extra blankets and towels.  Figure out how many you think you’ll need, and double it.

6. Come well-stocked with insect defense: repellent for mosquitoes, spray for wasps and hornets, and powder or granules for ants in the ground.  Spray the legs of your picnic table with ant or bug spray that has a residual effect.

7.  Come prepared with extra bungee cords and small ropes;  somehow, you always need them.

Do you have any special helpful hints for tent campers?  Share them with everyone!

Hints for RVers:

Plan ahead.  The world of RV camping has gone to reservations.  The idea of stopping for the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot or in an over-night rest area may be plainly unsafe or illegal. Reserve America is in use in most places.  To find a federal camping spot, check out recreation.gov. But have a reservation.  A reservation guide, such as Woodall’s,  is a real safety net.

Don’t leave home without the current version of the Next Exit by Mark Watson. No, I don’t know Mark Watson; further, I have nothing to do with his book.  I just know it is an invaluable tool for knowing where you can find gas/diesel, and where your RV or Fifth Wheel rig can fit in the gas station!  You can buy this book online at Amazon.com, and probably at Camping World or Barnes and Noble.  It is updated every year, and cheap.  Ours is dog-eared.

Survival Hints for RVers:

1. Check out your equipment BEFORE hitting the road.

• Check the propane in your tanks.
• Make sure your refrigerator is working; turn it on at least a day before you plan to leave.
• TIRES    TIRES TIRES If you have ever had a flat tire or a blowout on your RV or Fifth Wheel while travelling 65+ mph down an interstate, you know why this is so important.  Check you tire pressure.  Check your tires for signs of wear.  If any of your tires look even questionable, REPLACE THEM!  You can scrimp and save in some other area – but don’t take a chance on tires! We speak from experience, and not a pretty one.  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD, SPARE TIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!
• This is a good time to remind you to have RV insurance and Road Service, such as that provided by Good Sam’s.  It is cheap, and worth every penny.
• Attachments – If you have bicycles, ice chests, swim toys, or other small items tied or attached to the outside of your RV,  make extra sure they are secure.  One of these items coming loose on the interstate and flying into another vehicle is the LAST thing you want to add as a vacation memory.
• If you have a Fifth Wheel, make sure the tow hitch of the trailer is securely clicked in place before pulling out.   Speaking from another unpleasant experience, if it is not, the trailer will slip loose and land on the sides of your truck bed.    Not a pretty sight!  We’ll write about it and show you a photo later……..

2. Take extra plastic storage containers of all sizes.  These are stackable, and you never know when you will need one for something, whether it is leftovers, or a small turtle that needs a home to ride back in.

3.  Take a collapsible clothes hamper for dirty clothes.  It stores flat, is usually made from breathable mesh for moisture issues, and is easy to take inside straight to the laundry room when you return home.

4.  Use non-skid cabinet liner in all of your cabinets and drawers.  This really helps to keep things from sliding around so much while you’re on the go.

5.  Place child-proof cabinet locks, aka “kiddie locks,” on any cabinet door that might jar open while you’re travelling.  After arriving at a destination with most of our mug collection in pieces on the floor, we discovered this solution.

6.  After setting up your campsite, sprinkle ant poison around the area where your tires touch the ground.  This really helps avoid unwanted visitors in the pantry.  Use caution here if you have a little pet with you!

7.  Have a toolbox filled with basic tools that never leaves your RV.

Please share any helpful ideas related to RVing you have learned along your RV journey!

As any seasoned camper knows, half the time you spend in a campground is with other campers talking about camping!  We hope you will use this site to share your helps, hints, travel suggestions/pitfalls, or campfire stories with everyone.  Here are some topics everyone will be interested in:

• Camping with children/grandchildren
• Camping with pets
• Very cool places to camp
• RV maintenance hints and helps
• New camping products you have found
• easy, efficient food prep/recipe ideas for camping
• new or unusual places to camp
• how to live long-term in an RV

Campers are a sharing lot.  Let us hear from you!