Camping Ideas for St. Nick

With St. Nick’s Day right around the corner on December 5^th, my mind begins to turn to coming up with creative stocking stuffers for our family of avid campers and hikers. While not all areas of the country celebrate this holiday, here in Wisconsin we hang up stockings that evening and in the morning, we awaken to find small goodies and bits of candy in them. They are never anything big, just thoughtful little surprises that are often as practical as they are fun.

In our family, we all look forward to discovering little “treats” in our stockings that remind us of our camping adventures or that portend new destinations in our future. My husband and I usually try to surprise each other with a tantalizing tidbit that will make our adventures easier or more enjoyable. Here are a few ideas for those of you at a loss for what to buy:

• Calendars are something everyone needs at the beginning of a new year. One of our family traditions is for St. Nick to bring each family member a calendar consistent with their interests or hobbies. While our daughter’s calendar usually involves posters for Broadway plays or other theatre productions, for the past five years Terry, Ryan and I have received calendars focused on places we want to visit or hikes we want to take. Last year’s family calendar was filled with photographs of Colorado’s Fourteeners, 12 of those 54 peaks over 14,000 feet high that I have been writing about and pining over. This year it will be (shhhh…don’t tell them) a calendar of some of the most picturesque state high points for each of them. We have visited 31 peaks; we have yet to complete some of the most challenging ones and those always involve an RV trip! In other years, when we were planning a camping trip to Glacier National Park or Canada’s Lake Louise, the calendars involved photos of those places to help us anticipate our impending trip. Think of a destination in your future or one you would like to visit and you will most likely be able to find a calendar with photos of your intended trip. This is a wonderful way to maintain that vacation feeling all year long.

• Along the same line, at our house St. Nick usually drops off a book or two. Several we have received in past year include books on day hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado’s Fourteeners, by Gerry Roach, and Highpoint Adventures by Charlie and Diane Winger. All have provided year round adventures in planning wonderful RV trips, beautiful hikes and pleasant memories to share. Other ideas include any of the books offered on the Woodall’s bookshelf, such as Cooking on the Road or Woodall’s Campground Directory for the upcoming year. Very helpful in planning the next trips!

• Since one of the best parts of a camping trip is the food, Terry and I usually each try to find some small stocking stuffer for the kitchen that can make our meals more interesting and easier to prepare. One year, he found a tiny cheese grater for the camper, perfect for grating the cheddar cheese for our breakfast omelets when we travel. Other ideas might be the perfect spatula to flip Dad’s awesome pancakes or a new set of dishtowels for the camper that will never be confused with those at home so they will always be there when you need them. None of these items will likely rock your world, but these small things can give you quite a bit of added pleasure when you are out on the road.

Happy shopping! And don’t forget about St. Nick on the night of December 5^th.

For more shopping ideas check out Woodall’s main site for the bookstore and additional camping information.