RETRO TRAILER CAMPOUTS

Summer may be wrapping up, but that doesn't mean the camping season has to come to an end. For those of us who don't own RVs and aren't keen about tent sleeping, Spacious Skies Campgrounds has an interesting option for people looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of urban life to enjoy a more nature filled setting. Four of their East Coast campgrounds are offering overnight accommodations from Retro Trailers by Riverside RV providing a 1950s ambiance balanced with modern conveniences so you won't feel out in the cold during an excursion in the woods to enjoy the crisp fresh air and Fall colors of this time of year.

Built by Riverside RV, these Retro Trailers available for rental at select Spacious Skies Campgrounds are available in 10 models ranging from 13 to 28 feet long. Exteriors are intentionally designed to provide a vintage look with two-tone paint jobs using eight bright colors and three neutral tones. The 1950s era vibe continues inside with black and white checkerboard floors, colorful cushions and birch cabinetry. Modern amenities include kitchens with stoves and bathrooms with toilets and showers. Kitchens are stocked with dishes, flatware, pans, coffee maker, microwave, stove top and oven. You need to bring your own linens and towels though.

Enjoy the seaside communities of southern Maine without the summer crowds during a stay at Walnut Grove campground. Explore the beaches that surround the nearby town of Wells, take a day trip to historic Kennebunkport that became well known as the summer White House of President George H.W. Bush, or hike around the forested Shaker country surrounding the campground.

Five miles north of Pats Peak, situated deep in a New Hampshire forest along the shores of French Pond is a Spacious Skies Campground with a focus on letting you get in tune with nature. Enjoy the beautiful surroundings around you for nature walks, fishing and other outdoor activities at French Pond campground. Take in the architecture of Henniker Covered Bridge and New England College for a relaxing walk about.

Situated where the Taconic and Berkshire mountain ranges merge in Upstate New York, Woodland Hills is an equal distance 2-hour drive from both New York City and Boston. Take a trek across the local mountains or drive down to Hyde Park to tour the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt mansions. The rural setting is great for enjoying Fall colors!

Spend some time in the Pine Barrens region of New Jersey enjoying the rustic countryside at Country Oaks Campground. Situated an hour from Philadelphia and 1/2 hr from Atlantic City enjoy a rural atmosphere while being convenient driving distance to these cities. The campground is surrounded by wildlife management areas that protect the local ecoregion providing a great location for nature hikes. 

Reservations for the Retro trailers as well as RV campsites, cabins, yurts and tent sites can be made online by clicking here or by calling the campground reservation number (862) 777-0319.

Math Dice Jr.

** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

Our family had some fun during our recent camping trip playing a game called Math Dice Jr. from Thinkfun that I really like as a parent for my kids because it is both entertaining and educational. Math Dice Jr. is a dice game meant for children 6 - 8 years old that has players compete to be the first around a game board based upon the luck of their throws combined with applying addition and subtraction skills.  There also is the original Math Dice which is meant for children 8 and up that also incorporates multiplication and division into the game.  My 7 year old twins aren't just there yet when it comes to multiplication and division so we stuck with the Junior edition of the game.

This is a nice game to bring along on a camping outing, road trip or any other variety of family vacation because it is easy to pack consisting of just six dice, a cloth scoring track, five cardboard player tokens, and a convenient plastic carrying bag.  We had plenty of room to play it on our campsite picnic table then I just stashed the game away in my backpack when we were done.  It let my kids exercise their minds a bit while still having fun competing to see who could be the first to get his or her token to the finish line to win the bragging rights about who is the best at adding and subtracting in their head.  Nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to make a game competitive!

Each player rotates turns rolling the dice.  First a 12-sided Target Die is rolled.  That number is the target you need to match when you roll your other five 6-sided scoring dice.  Add or subtract the numbers showing on your 6-sided scoring dice using whatever equation you need to hit your target number.  For every scoring die used in your equation to reach the target number you can move your player token that many spots.  First person to go from start to finish wins the game.

Here's an example:  My son rolls a 6 on the Target Die.  He then rolls 1,3.3,5, and 6 with his scoring dice. 3+3 (6) - 5 + 1 (6) + 6 (6) = 6. He was able to move 5 spaces on that roll because of being able to utilize all of the dice in an equation that came out to the target number of 6.  Combining a lucky roll with thinking out how to use all his dice gave him a huge lead in that game which he eventually won.  In fact my son took a knack for the game and won the most games through our weekend matches crowning him the family champ.

There is a short version and long version of the game.  We played the longer matches which have you traversing 15 spaces on the scoring track.  There is also the short version where a player only has to be the first to cross 7 spaces to win the game.

Math Dice Jr. gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it makes math fun!  My kids can gripe about doing math homework similar to the equations in Math Dice Jr. yet they were having a blast doing them while playing this game.  I also appreciate that it helps calculate equations mentally which can often be a challenge during the early years of school.  This really is a nice game to pickup for children between kindergarten and third grade.  Anything that has kids equating math with fun is a plus for this dad!

For children 8+ you may want to take a look at getting Math Dice or the brand new Math Dice Chase game for them.  As I mentioned above, Math Dice adds multiplication and division as elements of the game play.  In Math Dice Chase, the classic hot potato game is combined with math to test players ability to quickly do mental math.   For more information about Math Dice Jr., Math Dice or Math Dice Chase visit thinkfun.com

The Secret to a Perfect Camp Fire

One of the best parts of a camping trip is spending an evening outdoors around a fire roasting hot dogs, making s'mores and sharing ghost stories.  So how disappointing would it be not to be able to get a fire started while you are camping?  Getting a good fire burning can often be more difficult than people think it will be and I've witnesses quite a few struggles to get wood set ablaze while camping.  So from my own lessons learned, here is the secret to a perfect camp fire:

TINDER

Spark your fire with tinder that will get hot quickly but not burn out too fast.  Come prepared with your own tinder that is dependable to get your fire burning.  We make our own special "fire starters" that are sure to get things burning which we bring along on all our family camping trips. Take a cardboard egg carton and fill it with dryer lint.  Sprinkle candle wax over the top which allows the egg cartoon and lint to get really hot but prevents them from burning out too quickly so that the tinder keeps your kindling ablaze.

KINDLING

Create a nest around your tender of small twigs and branches.  This expands the heat and flames from your tender long enough to get your fuel logs burning. Otherwise logs might smother the flame from the tinder.  Don't include leaves, grass, weeds or vines in your kindling because that will generate more smoke than flame.

FUEL LOGS

Place logs around your tinder and kindling in the form of a teepee.  This is what keeps your fire hot and burning once you get it going.  Leave an opening on one side of the teepee facing the direction in which the wind is blowing.  This will ensure the fire is getting enough air to help fan the flames across the kindling and fuel logs.  The teepee structure will eventually fall as the wood burns.  Once this happens just throw more logs onto the fire to keep it going.

There you have it -- the secret to a perfect camp fire!  I hope these tips help ensure you are never left in the cold when it comes to starting a fire on a family camp trip vacation.