Base Camp, Hermit Island, Maine

Domestic bliss was achieved (mostly) and water-carrying chores undertaken well. The two-washing up bowl system (hot washing then cold rinsing) proved the top innovation.

Lets not talk about drop-toilets.

Yoga Camp

A week of sibling yoga and Sikh mythology plus Kirtan chanting AND a big trip out to the Lotus Shrine in Yogaville - it is just what it says it is... Check it out

Charles Mears State Park Campground, Michigan

Well a campground of great friendliness and RV-living that felt to us, in our lone tent, like a supermarket car park on the beach plus loud in the night thanks to neighbours' air-conditioning and flushers...

The kids could bike and the beach was easy and there was a giant dune sand-slide slope... The breakfast triumph of the holiday was P's french toast and ketchup. No cinnamon sugar this time.

The camp breakfast, KOA Virginia Beach

It was a classy affair at breakfast time on our lot - organic scrambled eggs, Billy's bread and Valencia oranges plus the best of Trader Joe's cereals.

Sunset Lagoon, Hermit Island Maine

Too soon it was sunset and time to leave...

Ocean Prime Site No. 1, Hermit Island, Maine

Check out the spot you can secure if you're organised enough. We may yet be mailing in a request come January!

Bambi wandered through our site too...

Bowline Knot Site No. 10, Hermit Island, Maine

It's good to have little bit of elevation on a dappled sunlit site to ensure the neighbours are surveyed and encouraged to say Hi.

Sand Dune Beach, Hermit Island, Maine

Day 1 on the island of 1960s dreams... early morning crabbing and late morning paddling, before some cycling down steep sandy hills/hwulls. J forgot to back pedal and tumbled into a heap and so the accident open-season began.

Kind first aid support from a nearby caravan and beach backups, then a half hour drive to the ER holding an ice pack and singing soothing songs before a forty minute procedure of some brutality that brought front and back of chin together with two layers of stitches, only relieved by Sponge Bob on a carefully positioned monitor and lots of supportive singing of, 'I threw a wish in the well...'.

.

Spy Tent, The Front Yard

These two were after burglars in the front yard - the youth end of Neighborhood Watch-America, they had a hose set to 'jet 'at the ready, princess books to while away the in-between time and plenty of comfort.

Catching fireflies in jam jars was considered a complementary task, with their release set for after dark.

New Brighton State Beach, Capitola

As long as you're on a premium pitch and look towards the ocean, this is an idyllic spot.  Look right and there are condos, look left and there are hulking RVs parked all along the shore. Far left gets weirder but interesting, with a giant, decaying concrete ship, moored since the 1920s - once a ballroom and dining venue, now a pelican haven.

Finally behind are more behemoth RVs, caged chihuahuas and satellite dishes and unfrequented ablution blocks, that make this spot a ghost town at night and and a tad daunting to those of us with more camping-style needs.

Dodge Sportsman Adventure c. 1973

Here it is... c/o AirBnB - still in full working order and clearly well-loved but lacking in some modern safety features - restraints aka seat belts in the back and a suspension not really designed for the z-bend drop from Saratoga Gap to the forest floor below. In darkness we swooped downwards for over an hour, the eating-table fell on our knees and our bones were rattled and our minds frayed. Communicating with the driver over the engine roar was impossible. We did three nights before yielding to the lure of a sweet B&B with hot water and sheets.

Big Basin Redwoods

Down in the woods things were impressively large... no bears or raccoons on our watch, just woodpeckers pecking and crested blue jays and a lovely boy next door and a waterfall a small trek upwards and a stoked roaring fire on our return. We got a lift in a ranger van thanks to our battery going flat and embraced the great American wilderness and the complementing joys of Boulder Creek - a former logging town with micro brewing, an organic market and DIY store that sold lanterns! What more does one need?

Campsites 25 & 26, Pocahontas State Park

Finally the tent got its first brush with the great American wilderness, in the company of the Canadian cousins. We pitched up and went on a bear hunt... returned for a communal camp supper and my second encounter with the more venomous end of Virginian wildlife: I felt something on my leg, looked down, registered a shiny black spider, flicked and then observed it stand on the bench all the kids had just been sitting on, focused on its swollen abdomen and the tell-tale large red dot, seconds before P's foot obliterated it.

Despite the 'insect soup' atmosphere, it was a fab site with immense trees and an awesome stillness... The cousins went trans-Disney with an endless fantasy game populated by multiple Ariels in the real-life setting of the Pocahontas legend. P had flashbacks to wandering around Disney studios in 1994 watching animators bringing her to life. It was blissful stuff and we actually got to sit back and relax (well, apart from the constant scanning for arachnids...), brew coffee and chat. The best fireside game turned out to be story-consequences that J found deeply traumatic - 'That's not my story!' she wept as Princess Bob dealt with more major life challenges than he'd imagined and plenty of poop!!!

We'll head North next - less venom, more black flies... and hopefully more of the top cousins. Thanksgiving's South Carolina plans now ditched as they have alligators!

Just sometimes I get a twinge of homesickness for the damp, gentleness of North Norfolk coast and the lovely Stiffkey campsite.