nbcavillones

Road tripping and camping with kids means being flexible and adjusting itineraries. We decided to make our first stop Wegmans in Ithaca, for lunch and to buy food for the next two days. We explored the cafe before the kids decided on tuna subs, and we enjoyed a sit-down lunch. Then it was time to shop. Have you been to Wegmans? It was my second time in a Wegmans and the size was...overwhelming. Henry decided to wait outside with the kids. I had a short shopping list but it took FOREVER to find what I needed. One neat thing about Wegmans, if you happen to find one on your route, is the bulk section, which has a trail mix station. (I made a big bag of trail mix with peanuts, dark chocolate, craisins and banana chips.) I came back to the car to find that we already had our first boo-boo of the trip-- the little guy ripped his finger open after getting it caught in his car seat. No one was in any mood for the Botanical gardens. A quick stop for wine and we headed straight to the campground. I handed out chocolate chip cookies and Mickey Mouse band-aids and we were ready to roll, literally. I wish I could show you the road that took us from Ithaca to the campground but my phone camera could not do it justice. Suffice to say, when the kids said it felt like a roller coaster, it wasn't off-base! Camping with Kids 101: Flexibility is the name of the game.

The open road is a glorious thing. Rolling through Catskill Park region.

Here we go! I planned our route using Google's MyMaps, which let me play around with the order of the stops for maximum efficiency. Our first stop is Wegman's in Ithaca, since we're arriving around lunch time. We'll grab lunch and stock the cooler. We've decided to keep meals simple this time. We're doing Nicky's Pit BBQ take-out for dinner tonight, eggs and bacon or pancakes for the two mornings, sandwiches for lunch and hot dogs & beans for dinner tomorrow night. From home, we bought a carton of eggs, a jar of maple syrup, peanut butter and a loaf of bread. We're on a shoestring budget with this trip! We plan to maximize our time in the park, with free admission to the Gorge. We're also visiting the Botanical Gardens at Cornell while we are in Ithaca, which is free.

The trip represents a major milestone for us... the first time in nine years of camping with kids that we're diaper-free! We celebrated by getting the little guy his very own sleeping bag, just like his big sisters. (We love the kids' sleeping bags from REI.)