My First camping trip

[LeahYabsley]

Guys I'm going to camp with my family at Arches National Park, Utah. The place is awesome there are so many things which i wanted to see, we are planning to spend almost 7 days here, i never go to camp before this it's my first time, my husband has a bit experience of that, me with my husband and our two kids are going there, i need to know what kind of tent food and other things should I keep with me. I really appreciate if you guys will help me with this.

[Mermaid Tula]

Here's a good recipe for Hobo Dinner. http://www.food.com/recipe/hobo-dinners-for-campers-243949 (I've made something similar, some stuff omitted and some added while camping) So Tin foil is going to be a great resource. http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/06/25-delicious-camping-recipes.html here's several recipes for some great camp food. If you have a dutch oven, there are a ton of recipes online.

Lets see, You could get a family type tent that has 2 rooms, one for you and the hubby, and one for the kids. Sleeping bags, pillows, extra blankets, bedroll/inflatable mattress, flashlights, lanterns, bug spray, WATER, Bring a few gallons of water with you for both drinking, and cleaning. First aid kit, sun screen, fire starters, Smore's stuff! Bacon!

[ShyMer]

My husband and I just got back from our first camping trip together (his first altogether, my first in ten years.) We had a lot of fun!
We almost had a bad experience due to firewood. You're supposed to buy your firewood at the campground because of parasites or something that could be brought over. Unfortunately their wood was really wet and would not burn for anything. We were able to use some pine that I had in our car for craft purposes to get the fire going. It helped to dry out the camp wood some, though it only smoldered for the most part.
So if you're depending on a campfire to cook your meals, maybe bring backup wood anyway.
Another tip- if you're in a campground and there isn't really anyone else around, check the other fire pits for wood, because many people don't use it all.

For food, we did kabobs(sp?) for the first night, and it was the most fun. We got mushrooms, red pepper, chicken, and onion, and marinated it in Italian dressing in a zip lock bag. I soaked our skewers in a cup with water so they wouldn't burn, and I pushed the hot coals under the grate to cook with rather than using the flames. I would be careful to not cut the food too small because it might break when you skewer it.

We didn't do anything exciting food-wise besides that, but I have heard if you have a Dutch oven, as suggested already, you can make most anything you would make normally at home. If you can get one with a flat lid with a ridge to hold coals on top, that would be best, but I think any kind should work to some degree.

Have fun!

Edit- we got a seven gallon water container from Wal-Mart that we really liked. The nice thing about the model we got is that it had a spigot so you don't have to unscrew a cap and pour it every time you use it. So check to make sure yours has a spigot, because the other one we almost bought doesn't have one.

[Marlin]

Raccoon proof EVERYTHING. Even if you think it is raccoon-proof.... its not. We had the little bugger break into our car and then a cooler and eat all of our food. Bring a few bungie ties so you can lock your coolers shut. As for food- hamburgers to cook on propane is never wrong. and do not forget stuff to make smores. Have fun :D

[Miyu]

Bacon! Always bacon!

My favorite camp food is baked beans. Either cut up a few hot dogs to a large can and cook it over the fire (beanie weenies), or just eat straight from the can (I like to use ridged potato chips as a spoon, yum!)

I personally always take some tea. The last time I went camping we had a beautiful, pristine creek running through our site, so I made some green tea with that water one morning and it was delicious :D

I make my own bug spray (I am super-sensitive to chemicals) - the one I'm using currently kind of takes about 6 weeks of prep (infusing a batch of Thieves' Vinegar), but a quick and simple solution is a mixture of tea tree oil and water in a spray bottle. Actually, tea tree oil is one of the two things I will never go camping without - it's antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral... pretty much a good all-around treatment to have, you can use it on anything from treating and preventing bug bites to cleaning a small wound, and even brush your teeth with it (in a pinch). You can buy a small bottle of it from anywhere that sells vitamins and supplements, and a tiny bottle will last you a long, long time!

Here's a pretty fun list I found: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius (The Mountain Dew thing doesn't work so well, though)

Have fun! Camping can be a totally awesome experience, one of my favorite things to do :D

[ShyMer]

Yeah the mountain dew thing keeps popping up in places like pinterest but doesn't work :(

Oh and if you want a sleeping bag for two people, just zip two sleeping bags together.