Fall is the perfect time to take your family camping.  The parks are less crowded, less hot and less bug infested.

You Don’t Need To Buy All The Gear

In Michigan the state parks have small to large cabins, tents and even tee-pees for rent, so don’t discard this idea if you don’t have all the equipment.  Leaving Friday after work and coming home Sunday afternoon is a fabulous staycation that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  Pack warm clothes, sleeping bags, toiletries and easy to prepare food, like hot dogs, canned chili or canned pasta, and of course, graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars for S’mores.

Know The Rules

Each state has different rules about transporting fire wood.  In  Michigan, because of the Emerald Ash Borer bug, we cannot transport our own firewood, you need to buy it at or around the park.  Some parks let you take fallen trees out of the woods to burn and some don’t.  Other considerations are whether they are pet friendly, have electricity, cell phone reception or even allow alcohol.

Before you go, check out some great campfire stories.  Many good campfires have been made great with the addition of a campfire story.  Without all of the everyday distractions, a campfire is a wonderful way to get the whole family together and talking.

If you haven’t been camping in years, I dare you to give it a try.  A couple nights away from computers, televisions, video games, phones and traffic can make you more relaxed than you can even imagine.

photo credit: pfly

One of my favorite things about fall is hitting the cider mills and U-pick orchards.  To me fresh cider, warm cinnamon sugar donuts and a big bag full of apples for desserts is a great way to spend a day.

What Activities Are You Looking For?

Depending on what we want out of the day, we check ahead to see what each place has to offer.  Some places have hay rides out into the orchards, hay mazes, cider mills and even apple tossing contests.

Our local favorite is about an hour away.  A tractor takes you on a hay ride through the property until you reach the orchard that has over 10 varieties of apples for picking.  We like to go with a group and get a ton of different types of apples, so that everybody can try some of each kind.  We usually go with folks from our bible study group and then take turns trying to outdo each other for the best apple dessert.  Here’s a favorite, easy apple recipe.

Baked Apples

• 4 large good baking apples, such as Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. It helps if you have an apple corer, but if not, you can use a paring knife to cut out first the stem area, and then the core. Use a spoon to dig out the seeds. Make the holes about 3/4-inch to an inch wide.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, currants/raisins, and pecans. Place apples in a 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Top with a dot of butter (1/4 of the Tbps).

3. Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Makes 4 servings.

photo credit: r-z