Tourist With A Blog

To go with my end of summer theme this week, let's talk camping. My favorite summer camping spot is Big Lake. I grew up camping in this area, and I love returning. We try to head here for a few days each summer. Getting There It is a bit of a hike to get there, about 4.5 hours, so at least 4 nights is needed. It's a beautiful area, though, and worth it. We like to stay at the Apache Trout campground . It's a very nice campground. We like to get a double spot and share it with my parents. There are other campgrounds nearby, and I know my brother prefers to boon dock nearby. Greer isn't that far either- and that's another fun spot. What We Do Big Lake itself is the main star. We head down probably once a day and fish. This year we rented a boat which you can do through their store .  Sometimes the fishing is good, sometimes it's not (this year not one fish was caught!). But it's pretty ei...

  Camping, caverns, and wine tasting? Yes, please.  Kartchner Caverns has it all. This is another good cool weather camping spot not too far from home. The sites themselves I think are nice, plus the stars out at night are amazing. The park is a designated International Dark Sky Park . This is defined as  “a public land possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural heritage, and/or public enjoyment.” Pretty cool. This area can be hot in the summer; we visited in October and ended up being pretty hot then too. All campsites here have electric and water hookups, so we ran our a/c for just a tad bit.  But if it's not the middle of the day, we were able to enjoy the outdoors too. The Caverns The camping sites are within a short walk of the caverns . You should make  reservations  ahead of time, and pay attention to the age restric...

One way we like to travel is camping. I grew up camping every year, mainly in the Big Lake area in the White Mountains- home to some of my favorite childhood memories. It's still one of my favorite locations. I've wanted a camping trailer ever since. My husband wasn't so easily convinced. But, when COVID hit, camping was one way we could travel and we ended up buying a trailer. We started with a smaller unit that I could technically tow with my SUV.    While the SUV could tow it, you could tell it was hard on the thing. My husband quickly upgraded to a large truck, and a larger 5th wheel soon followed. Since we have kids, a bunkhouse is the only way to go, and the larger trailer provided us with some much needed storage. One of our favorite, easy, cool weather camping spots is Lost Dutchman State Park . October through April would be a good time to visit this desert campground.    There are a lot of hiking trails in the area, there's a ghost town across the stree...