Jo, We are do tent as as cabins camping every spring and fall and often in summer. If you are planning only tent cabins, then you may want to explore Buckhorn Campground in Chicksaw National Recreation Area, some of the camp ground are close to lake on high platform, and very privacy in couple of them. Doris campground in Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge will good in spring, but may be now. It will not be crowded and deers roam freely around the tent all the times. If you want to have both tent and cabins then look for the red rock canyon state park, they have nice but small cabins. Turners falls park has cabins as well tent facility, but falls area is very crowded in the long weekend. Never go Turner Falls park in any long weekends. Cabins at Beaverbeds is good, we love the tree house cabins http://www.beaversbendgetaways.com/cabins_treehouse.php Cabins at Smoky Mts are the best cabins we were stayed, but that me be faraway for you. Recently we spend couple of days at another cabin in Gatlinburge http://rental.cabinsofthesmokymountains.com/gatlinburg-cabin-rental/Mountain_Treasure.html we had great time. -Chandra

Reading all these responses, I'm just amazed! We've been camping for years, and have never encountered most of these problems at all. We usually go camping at one of the state parks in Cape Cod and other parts of New England, where the sites are roomy, private, and very quiet. But now, we're spending two weeks at a 'resort campground' here in CT. The sites are small, the people are up all night partying, they go to bed and leave their fires burning. But what really gets me is that we've got all kinds of kids coming over to our site and no sign of parents. We have kids ourselves, who want to play with these others, so I can't toss them out completely. But the first day I was going seven different directions as they tried to untie our dogs, snoop through our cupboards, asked me for snacks, drinks, and even for dinner. I lined them up and told them the rules for playing at our site, and a seven year old girl told me that her mother says she doesn't have to obey strangers, a boy points out that his big sister is developmentally delayed and I'll just have to watch her, 'cause she doesn't understand. Last night at nine o'clock, the seven year old girl was knocking on our camper door. She'd been watching for us to come back, she said, and she wanted to come in and watch a movie with our son now. What kind of a parent lets their kid go alone at night to a camper they can't even see from their site, and sit inside with people they've never met?

dedtired, Hints for seasickness... 1.) Look off the stern instead of the bow; 2.) Fix your eyes on the horizon instead of looking a few feet ahead of the boat (you'll be out of sight of land); 3.) Sip on cold Diet 7-Up; 4.) Many people do fine underway; but when drifting they start feeling queasy. Whale watch boats stop frequently for whale sightings. While drifting, stand at the gunnel stanchions & hold on to a rail if it's rough rather than sitting down...much better. Actually, more people get seasick in calm water than in rough seas (within limits, of course!) When there's good wave action your body gets into a rhythem. In calm seas, there's just a slight up/down, up/down that gets to some people. Beam seas are the worst! That side-to-side motion can do in even the saltiest of seamen! Since I've been a boater, I can't imagine WHY people stick babies in cradles! Inhumane punishment, IMO! Also, if you're focused on looking for the blow spouts of whales your body won't notice the rolling sensation nearly as much. We need Lori. She's more local to Newport...I'm about an hour away. But here's a place to start...a fun lunch spot in Newport is the Red Parrot. Allow about an hour just to read the menu & make your selection. It's also a great place to people watch. And go hungry! Parking is tricky. Don't be a hero & try to find a parking spot on one of the side streets...it's mostly "Residents Only". Just pay your $15 & chock it up to a good day in Newport. You can also rent the most adorable two-seater scooters in Newport. The shopping is one of two things...either touristy or very expensive boutiques, gallery quality art, designer jewelry, home decor, etc. There are also some great bookstores. History lesson on Newport: Did you know that most of early Newport was built with slave labor? Most people don't realize the extent Newport relied on slaves. The wonderful granite cobblestone roads, the houses, the ships...all slave labor. By 1770, the entire workforce was slaves mostly from Ghana. They came as children & were different than the southern plantation slaves. In Newport, most slaves lived in the same house as their owners often slept in the same bedroom as the owner's kids. They were taught skills & became highly trained. By 1830, most Newporters had freed their slaves. They went on to found businesses, become councilmen, teachers, policeman, fireman, & held high offices. But they came to America as slaves. End of history lesson. Follow the signs for Ocean Drive/Mansions & go to Brenton Park. It's right on Ocean Drive. On weekends, it's a popular place to fly those huge kites in different shapes. The water is right across from the parking (free). Actually, you could just sit in your car & stare at Newport Channel for hours watching the boats. You'll see many huge international & corporate yachts. The rocks at Brenton Park are also a popular dive spot. Look for small boats with a red flag floating in the water near the boat. The red flag means, "Diver Down". When's your trip? /tricia Here is a link that might be useful: The Red Parrot

Hi Linda, I am going to C and P some ideas from a thread I started and saved - to help me come up with ideas...maybe something will strike you! How about some "Hobo Stew"....before you leave home, brown some ground beef with onions and whatever seasoning you like. Do this ahead of time and freeze it. When you are ready to prepare dinner, put the beef in a pot with some broth, or water or beer or a combination of and add whatever canned/frozen veggies you might have with you...corn, peas, beans, etc. We make this for our annual hayride....I prepare the beef and the entry fee for those attending is one can of veggies. It's always different, but always good! You could also freeze some chicken breast ahead of time....in a marinade of your choice. They will marinate as they thaw, then you can toss them on the grill. Any left overs make good sandwiches for lunch. Kielbasa or hot links on the grill make for good appetizers, or snacks for folks that drop by. Just grill and slice...serve with something as simple as catsup. It's not gourmet, but it'll work. ________________________________________ Freeze your large containers of water. It will keep your food cold and you will have cold water to drink when the ice melts. How about chicken fajitas? Slice and marinate chicken breasts and bell peppers (yellow and orange) and onions. Then fry it all up in one huge pan. Serve on soft corn tortillas with shredded lettuce and sour cream. ________________________________________ How about wraps? for a cold food. My daughter and I cabin camp and we have a lot of vegies that are prepared and various lunch meats, sauces, etc. We have it all ready in zip locks and very easy to prepare and for clean up. ________________________________________ Pasta salad! Goes with everything! No worries if it sits out for awhile. Make ahead and take in a big bowl or big ziploc!! Marinate your steaks in ziplocs a day or two ahead. Toss 'em on the grill and pitch the bag. No cleanup! Make chili or spaghetti ahead and freeze or refrigerate. Heat & eat with garlic bread. Pickles. Candy bars. Chips/crackers. Cheese. Hey! It's camping! Go for it! Deanna ________________________________________ How about breakfast tacos? That used to be a staple when we went camping years back. Scramble eggs, add whatever else you like, such as bacon or sausage, potatoes, peppers, onions. Add to flour tortillas, top with cheese and hot sauce if desired. We would usually take fajitas for first night as we would have everything already made before we left and a big bag of flour tortillas. Also quesedillas are good and quick over the campfire, too. ________________________________________ Couscous is great for a quick and easy and tasty side dish. Boil 2 cups water in a pot. If desired, add bullion cube or other flavorings. Stir in 1 cup couscous, return to boil, then remove from heat, cover the pot and leave alone off the heat for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, mix in some butter if desired. Easy, quick, fulla carbs, no waste, and easier than messing with straining a pot of pasta out there in the wilderness. ________________________________________ My huband is going camping with the kids this weekend (father-kid). They are bringing cereal, granola bars, milk, taylor ham, bacon, eggs, coffee singles, cold cuts, bread, condiments, london boil (pre-marinaded), hot dogs, hamburgers, pre-cooked pasta, chili, potatoes (to be baked in the fire), marshmallows, s'mors-stuff, cookies, chips and stuff. If I was going I would bring boneless chick breast or pork chops to cook on the fire/grill, BBQ sauce, fruit salad, and a pasta salad. ________________________________________ Things cooked on a stick, individual foil dinners cooked in the coals, and banana boats! For the banana desert, use one banana per person, pull back one section of the peel, slit banana still in the peel with a knife, insert pieces of Hershey bars, nuts, mini marshmallows, etc. Lay section of peel back over the filled banana, wrap in foil, lay in coals or on grate over fire until hot and gooey. ________________________________________ You can do all sorts of aluminum "package" meals on a campfire. Just use sturdy heavy duty foil-- butter inner surface then layer sliced potatoes, onion,sliced ham or beef or spam-- add some seasoning , another dab of butter or oil-- wrap tightly and keep turning in the coals. Boxes of mac & cheese-- just add extra cheese.( use the little cans of evaporated milk) Do a big, huge pan of brownies. English muffins & toppings for mini pizzas. Couple of meatloafs-- good cold sandwiches or reheat, sliced Stuff for tacos Frozen hash browns-- & plenty of eggs-- There's a canned, refrigerated ham pattie we often use at camp,it's in the same section as the hams in the grocery. Canned tuna or salmon makes a nice addition to a tossed salad. Fruit Have fun -- don't forget the bug spray, liquid Benedryl, tylenol,deck of cards, good batteries & to check for ticks! ________________________________________ Where we usually camp, it is cold in the mornings and evenings even in summer. So my usual camping menu has warming items for breakfast and dinner. For breakfast it is nice to have hot cocoa packs to make for the kids. Also cooking fresh or dried fruit in a pot of oatmeal. For dinner, a chicken stew or beef stew made ahead of time with veggies and potatoes makes a one pot heat and eat meal. As suggested for the french dip, it can be frozen for transport and keep the ice chest cold. For lunches, we like to keep them simple: fresh fruit, pb & j sandwiches or cheese and crackers, some gorp (nuts, dried fruit and M&Ms) for snacks. ________________________________________ The cabin looks just wonderful! My Mom bought this huge cast iron frying pan that fit the campfire, it had to be 2' across at least! My Mom rarely cooked inside after getting the frying pan. Everything tasted great in the cast iron but then again we were usually starving for every meal! We even had roast turkey at least once per Summer. My Dad would dig a hole and place logs across the hole. Then place large rocks on top of the logs and start a fire inside the hole. When the fire would heat the rocks and eventually burn through the logs and the rocks would fall into the hole making an oven. Then my Mom would place the foil wrapped turkey inside the hole on top of the heated rocks and it would bake. It was delicious! Stacy