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

Today’s Fall Into Fun idea is to get out there and take a hike.  Finding a local trail, wooded area or bike path is a great way to take advantage of the cooler days.

Most state, county and even local parks have hiking trails that vary in difficulty.

Know What You’re Getting Yourself Into

Call ahead or check online to see what types of trails each park offers.  Will you be sharing the path with cyclists?  Is there a lot of uphill climbing?  Are the rest areas along the trail?  These are things you want to know before you get started.

I once found what I thought would be a wonderful path to take my grandmother and her walker on.  It was flat & paved with no hills and benches at very regular intervals.  The one question I didn’t ask was about bikes.  Grandma and I had to scrap the walk due to young kids learning to ride their bikes almost running into her!

Make sure you have a map of the area with your’re route clearly marked, basic first aid supplies and plenty of water and snacks.  Also make sure someone knows where you are going.  The best hiker in the world can fall and twist their ankle needing assistance.

Rails To Trails

Rails to Trails is a great non-profit organization dedicated to turning abandoned railroad lines into hiking trails.  Get information about trails near you.

So why not throw your remote on the end table, your kids in a stroller and some water in a backpack…get up and take a hike!

photo credit: TheGiantVermin

With fall officially upon us, I though I’d share some of my favorite, low-cost ideas for fall family adventures.  Over the next several days, I’ll share some of my favorite ideas, and I hope you’ll share some of yours with me!

You’ve probably heard talk about “staycations”, or vacation type things you can do at home to save money, so here are some great staycation acitivities for fall.

Walk With The Animals

One of my favorite fall activities is going to the zoo.  The animals are much more active if the heat is down and many zoo’s offer lower rates since they are heading into the off season.

One of the keys to making a visit to the zoo affordable is to take your own food and drinks.  Pack a cooler with sandwiches, fruit,  juice boxes and water and put the cooler in the wagon to roll around with you.  Even easier is to pack things that don’t need to be cooled, like peanut butter &  jelly sammies & granola bars that can just go in a backpack.

Our Detroit Zoo has something called a Zoo-Boo every year that they advertise as being “merry, not scary” that families with young children love.

You can check out the AZA website for a list of accredited Zoos and Aquariams.

If you have a zoo close by it is a great fall family adventrue.  I’ve found that even teens enjoy themselves and we all know that finding a fun activity for the whole family can be tricky to accomplish!

photo credit: Jesse Kruger,
photo credit: badjonni