Jeep Camping with Kids!
We wanted to do something fun over the weekend. I had a fairly half baked idea to take the kids on a tent camping trip. The destination started in the backyard and progressed to a lake 5 miles away. What the heck it’ll be fun, we can come home if it turns into a train wreck. I tossed out the idea of taking the Jeep. We can set it up like a full overlanding adventure! Take off the doors! Take off the top! Put the canoe on top! Lets see if we can fit all the camping gear in! Minimalist!
The anticipation of the trip was a big part of the experience. We told our daughters that we were taking the Jeep to the lake. The top and doors came off…and blew their minds. Then we put the canoe on the roll bar. They thought that was incredible! “You can do that!?”
The “rig” sat in the driveway for a few days and we all talked about the upcoming big adventure. The setup just LOOKED like an adventure waiting! Admittedly I had second thoughts as I crammed tents and sleeping bags in to every little crevice, but somehow it all fit. Except for the cooler, but by adding a rack and a couple ratchet straps…Voila! Done deal!
Pulling out of the drive way my wife was taking pics of the kids and they were all waving at the other cars while we went down the road. In all the commotion I missed the one turn that I needed to make. Oh well the five mile trip turned into eight but we made it to the lake!
Tent camping in the Texas heat with kids can be tough, but everyone had a good time and got to do lots of swimming. We had s’mores and cooked hot dogs. Enjoyed a campfire and looked for constellations. Saw speedboats and fish jumping. Got some sunburn and told ghost stories. All the boxes were checked off. Success!
In the morning I pulled off a perfect pot of percolator coffee, but breakfast at the local Mexican restaurant was a highlight. After breakfast we got to jump in the coolest car in the parking lot!
Do I recommend camping out of a Jeep with kids? Yeah I’d say so, but the camping part was more important than the Jeep part.