RV camping was made for kids

Finally, we are off!

The 32-foot Winnebago RV is stocked with every variety of food from Costco, as well as toys, games, movies, pillows, sheets, towels, special “blankies,” and stuffed animals, along with two kids, 5 and 7, two parents and me.

“The most awesome day of my life,” declares my 8-year-old cousin Ethan Sitzman who pronounces the RV “so much funner” than a road trip in the family SUV.

I’ll say. Our home away from home as we tour southwest Colorado is a Winnebago that comes equipped with flat-screen TV, bunks for the kids, complete with individual DVD players and curtains, stove, fridge, bedroom for the parents, sleeper couch for me, bathroom (hot showers are no small thing on a camping trip) and more cabinet space than my first NYC apartment.

Not exactly an old-fashioned camping trip but an outdoor adventure just the same. “You are still sitting around the campfire whether you have an RV behind you or a tent,” stated Tom Garland, a dedicated RVer, RV park owner, along with his wife, Mari, and president of the Colorado Campground and Lodging Owners Association. “You only miss as much of the outdoors as you choose.”

At every campground, the children make instant friends to throw a baseball or play with at the playground. Yes, a lot of campgrounds these days have playgrounds as well as organized family activities, splash pads and pools.

“Absolutely the ideal family time,” offers Dan Schweizer, a Kansas farmer who beds down with his wife and three children in their camper, just as his parents did when he was small. “The close quarters bring you closer together. At home we are all going in separate directions and here we are together.”

The RV industry is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a season that has seen an uptick in sales and interest from renters, likely because RVing is an economical way to travel. The industry estimates there are as many as 30 million RV enthusiasts on the roads today. And while we think of RVers as retirees, the reality is that more recreational vehicles are owned by those between the ages of 35 and 54.

Every aspect of the trip is an adventure for the children — the drive (we do not have to stop if someone needs the bathroom!), the sights we see along the way — dinosaur exhibits in Fruita, Colo., the Museum of Western Colorado, the 23-mile loop road of the Colorado National Monument looking for faces and shapes in the astounding multi-colored rock formations that preserve a grand landscape of the American West, the train ride through the wilderness on the Silverton & Durango Narrow Gauge Railroad and Mesa Verde National Park where we explore the ancient cliff dwellings.

It’s so much easier than tent camping with children (especially when it rains). The Muellers, engineers from Denver who parked their brand-new RV in the spot right next to ours at a campground in Ouray, Colo., agree. “It took so much time to pack and unpack and we were spending all of our time doing that instead of relaxing,” stated Erica Mueller.

“You could never clean up the tent,” adds Daniel, relaxing in a hammock he had strung in the trees as the children played nearby.

The stove and fridge make it easier to cook for a child with food allergies too, adds Erica Mueller. “True camping with children was more work than it was worth,” she said. “This gets the children outdoors away from TV and the computer with a lot less work for us.”

All that and plenty of bang for your vacation buck too. The 2008 PKF Vacation Cost comparison study showed that a family of four could save 27 percent to 61 percent on travel costs by using an RV. Figure on spending about $1,500 a week to rent an RV. A Typical 700-mile trip costs about $315 for fuel and $200 for the campground, so you can get away for a week for $2,000 — not bad these days.

Maybe that is why RV rentals were up 12 percent last summer, according to the Recreation Vehicle Rental Association. Reservations at Kampgrounds of America, meanwhile, are up 11 percent from last year. KOA welcomed some 20,500 camping families at its 475 campgrounds on Fourth of July weekend — making July 2 the largest single registration day in the company’s 48-year history — this at the time when hotels and resorts continue to struggle to attract families wary of vacation spending.

But it’s not only about the money. Jamie and Heather Shambarger, travelling around Colorado from their Utah home with four children between the ages of 2 and 15, state they can well afford to stay in resorts but select not to. “In a hotel you take them from a house to another room. What fun is that?” asks Heather. “How can you experience the outdoors from a hotel room?”

More Source:

RV camping was made for kids - Travel - Family - msnbc.com
Family Camping Made Simple: Tent and Rv Camping With Children
How it's Made - A Guitar is Born | Woodall's Campgrounds, RV Blog ...
RV Campground Reviews - RV Travel with Kids

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Submited at Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 at 6:00 am on Family by sofia
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