Spring in New England is, well, unpredictable—to say the least. So when G and I spied one of those summer-like weekends ahead in the forecast in early APRIL (yep, I’m a few weeks behind in posting), we jumped at the chance to take Tedda (our Winnebago Travato) out and camp at Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, New Hampshire. G and I were a little bit ashamed that we had never visited Pawtuckaway after all these years living in New Hampshire and having this gem of a park so close. In fact, from everywhere we’ve ever lived in the state, Pawtuckaway SP has never been more than 25 miles away. And yet, we had never visited.

If you like camping, you’ll find no shortage of options. You can camp in tents, hammocks, full-size RVs, vans, and even regular cars. Sure, each comes with varying degrees of comfort, but there are certainly plenty of options. With regard to where one chooses to camp, again, options galore. Up until just a few weeks ago, G and I had mostly camped these past two years in established state, national (Canada), or municipal, or independently owned campgrounds. Now, however, we can add “boondocking” to our list of adventures.

Mid-November. For me, mid-November is one of New England’s “shoulder season” months. Long after the gorgeous foliage has peaked and before the beauty (and novelty) of the season’s first snowfalls is November. Cold weather. Gray skies. Short Days. Less sunlight. Nevertheless, committed to making every weekend count and to get as much use out of the Travato as possible, G and I opted for a return visit to Pillsbury State Park in Washington, NH, to take advantage of its last open weekend of the season.

When it comes to camp cooking, I’m all about simple, fast, easy, and damn delicious (I’m trusting G with that verdict). I’m not trying to be an outdoor gourmand, nor do I get worked up about having meals that are healthy or “clean” when we’re camping. Nope, comfort food all the way. So, after close to 30 nights of camping this summer, I figured I’d offer a round-up of my favorite recipes to make while camping. Enjoy!

Phew, our 11th camping trip of the summer, our 25th and 26th nights spent camping in our 2002 VW Eurovan Weekender! After a few trips to state parks that have been busier and a little less private than we would like, our expectations for Lily Bay State Park in Beaver Cove, Maine, were admittedly low. And boy, were we pleasantly surprised!

Our 10th weekend camping trip took us to Peaks-Kenny State Park in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, about 200 miles from home (199, to be exact)—a trip that took us a little more than 3 hours. We had never traveled to this part of Maine, as we’ve tended to stick to the state’s giant coastline for the last 20+ years. Peaks-Kenny is beautiful, with its 839 acres in the Maine Highlands and lakefront setting on Lake Sebec. And, like Mt. Blue State Park, Peaks-Kenny makes for a great family campground. For two adult campers who crave solitude and quiet (even in non-pandemic times!)? Perhaps not as much.

All good things come to an end; we had to have a less-than-awesome weekend camping after such a great stretch, right? Sure, not every weekend has been perfect in every way, but overall, each weekend has been a winner. This past one was a little bit of letdown; in fact, we ended up staying only one night. But let me first say this: if G and had kids, we would have loved Mt. Blue State Park in Weld, Maine. Mt. Blue is most definitely a family campground.

Nights #19 and #20 of our summer of social distancing (i.e., van camping) had us at Pillsbury State Park in Washington, New Hampshire, considered “one of the more primitive and lesser known gems,” according to its page on the NH State Parks site. Pillsbury State Park is nestled in Washington, NH, about 48 minutes from Concord, our state capital, an hour from Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city, and just about an hour and half from home for us. Yet, being there, you feel worlds away from the rest of southern/central New Hampshire.

After our weekend camping at Cobscook Bay State Park in Maine, just minutes away from New Brunswick, Canada, G and I weren’t sure how any camping weekend would compare. Our most recent weekend had us returning to a town park in Freeport, Maine, where we had camped twice last year, Winslow Memorial Park and Campground. Last year, we were new to this van-camping thing, and we loved Winslow; this year, with a few more trips and some really scenic parks under our belt, we wondered if Winslow would still rank up there. And let me just say this: YES. An absolutely resounding yes.

If you’ve seen the highway signs, then you know that Maine is “the way life should be” (no offense to the 603, but I tend to agree)—and Cobscook Bay State Park is certainly, in my mind, the way camping should be. I’m not sure how any campground—or campsite—will compare after this particular weekend.

I’ll start off with this: I really, really, really wanted to fall in love with Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal, Maine, just minutes outside of Freeport. It’s close to home (just shy of 1.5 hours away), and my hopes were that we’d love it so much that it would become one of our go-to close-to-home parks. Unfortunately, such was not the case. And while I’ve had a few days to think about our one-night stay here at Bradbury, I still can’t quite put a finger on what I (we) didn’t love about the park.

Our summer of camping weekends is shaping up nicely, with COVID-19 providing us the opportunity to stay local and explore places that we hadn’t been before. Moose Brook State Park in Gorham, New Hampshire, was one of those places. And guess what? This park might have catapulted itself to the top of our camping list!

Over the July 4th weekend, G and returned to Gilson Pond Campground in Monadnock State Park. For being only about an hour and a half from home, the park feels much, much further away. And while folks might have been converging on the trails to hike Mount Monadnock, one of the most frequently hiked peaks in the WORLD, we opted for a quiet weekend with Gilson Pond as our centerpiece. And boy, did it deliver

Camden Hills State Park is located in Camden, Maine, which is mid-coast Maine, about 85 miles north of Portland and about 75 miles from Bar Harbor. The Camden/Rockland area is gorgeous, with so much in the area to do, see, and explore. We’ve visited a few different times over the years, but we hadn’t ever visited Camden Hills State Park. The wait was worth it.

June 19-21, we found ourselves booked back at Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia Notch State Park. This time, we had a coveted river site, #59, and the highlight of this weekend’s trip was walking the Pemi Trail to the Basin, a fabulous place to spend some time on a hot, sunny day. From the parking lot and across a wooden bridge into the campground, hikers can access two main trails: the trail to Lonesome Lake and the Pemi Trail, which runs parallel to the Pemigewasset River, and stretches 3.6 miles, from Profile Lake to the Basin.

There are plenty of cheaper privacy shelters out there, but we decided to go with the NEMO Heliopolis Privacy Shelter and Shower Tent ($249) for a few reasons: we’re big fans of the other NEMO products we own, and they’re a local, New Hampshire-based company. And, honestly, I truly believe that you get what you pay for. So far, with four camping weekends to our credit this season so far, the Heliopolis has been an absolute game-changer.

For starters, Gilson Pond Campground in Jaffrey, NH, is gorgeous. Absolutely, positively gorgeous. For a small-ish state, New Hampshire has a ton to offer, and it’s somewhat surprising (and embarrassing) that after more than 25 years living in New Hampshire, there are still huge parts of the state that I don’t know well. This little corner is one of those parts. Seriously, if you haven’t ever made your way to this little corner of our state, do so. It’s just beautiful.

One of New Hampshire’s great draws is the beautiful part of our state known as the White Mountains, the mountain range that encompasses about a quarter of the state (and part of Maine, too!), and Lafayette Place Campground, nestled within Franconia Notch State Park, is a great base camp for hiking and biking, but on this particular weekend, we did neither. We simply escaped to the woods and, away from cell service and wifi, tuned out to the world and into nature for our first camping trip of the 2020 season.

Our summer plans initially included a few days in New Orleans (a conference for G, and a few days for me to play tourist) and then a two-week trip to the West Coast—a week in Washington State with family then a weeklong road trip down the Oregon Coast and into Northern California. We were looking forward to a few camping weekends as well, but most of those hadn’t been planned out at that point. And then, well, the global pandemic. Needless to say, our plans went out the window once COVID-19 hit. We canceled all of our bookings and flights and even the two camping reservations we had already booked. We cleared our calendars. As for summer? We would simply wait and see. Now, as I write this, we’re currently scheduled to be camping 30 days this summer, in 11 different parks (I’m hoping those numbers increase with the addition of more reservations—we’ll see!) throughout Maine and New Hampshire.

Since coming back from our road trip, we’ve been itching (I more so than G) to get back out in the van and to camp; however, with all the plans for the road trip, we (I) didn’t think to make any plans for after our return. Ooops! But as luck would have it, I stumbled across a fantastic park in Freeport, Maine, not far away from us: Winslow Park and Campground. We could not have been more thrilled with our weekend spent at this fantastic little park.