thanks to you we're on our way! almost...

[AZmom]

We just purchased our first TT (2012 Winnebago One 30RE) and will hopefully have our F250 found and bought very soon! Thanks to the many who responded to my first post - we increased the size of truck we were looking at in response to all the great advice offered.

Now, we're almost on our way...to where?

Any recs for campgrounds in the AZ/CO/CA/UT areas?
Any books or websites you would recommend? My google search came up with TOO many results- where is best place to start?
We'll be TT'ing with a toddler. We're avid campers/backpackers (pre-kid) but would love some recs about extra kid-friendly campgrounds or locations.
Any funny stories to share about camping with young kids? I'd love to hear (and learn from) them!

[AZmom]

Thanks for all the recs!

I'm sure that having a TT won't preclude us from going tent camping. We took her once so far, at 7 months. My theory is that having a TT, with all its creature comforts will compel us to hit the road more weekends. And I'm hopeful that finding a suitable campground will be easy, and that our backpacking experience will help us if we're dry camping. Looks like lots of options available with no hookups.

DD just received a wagon for her birthday so we will be sure to bring it along! It isn't collapsible but I imagine we'll find space for it. I can think of lots of ways to put it to good use now that you mention it!

[Sillybugs2]

We tent camped when kids were younger then bought our TT four years ago. To this day they love state or federal parks best. KOA and such they never joined the planned activities preferring a nature walk, swop immune or the camp fire. Just a thought that not all kids need planned activities when camping. Enjoy your new rig.

[BubbaChris]

This is our first year with a TT and we don't have kids, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. We do live in SW Utah and are mostly focused on CG's within a 2 hour drive.

The most kid-friendly we've been to so far is the KOA in Cedar City. You can walk to town from the CG and along the way the State Historic park (fee to enter) is an awesome morning or afternoon of exploring. Within a reasonable drive is Cedar Breaks National Monument (and just past that, Brian Head resort). We also checked out Mammoth Caves on our last visit.

My favorite CG so far for care and such is Zion River Resort, a short drive from Springdale and Zion NP. Not quite as kid friendly though.

Congrats!

[Campfire_Time]

Being backpackers I'm a bit surprised you aren't tenting with the kids. They eat up camping in tents.

You can instill your love for the outdoors by looking for nature trails to take the kids on. Short trails may be boring for you but are a blast for kids. The best part to that is when they are in their teens they will still want to camp with you and be willing to take those bigger rugged trails.

Make your trips about the kids, sitting around the fire telling stories, teaching them about being outdoors, involve them in trip planning and letting them choose activities. I wish we had the Internet when my daughter was little. Its so easy to find things to do now.

Our daughter is 30 now, still loves tenting and hiking and traveling with us.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Congrats on the new tt!!!

We have one of the fold up wagons as well. Just watch which you choose as some have the handle that pivots side to side as well as the front wheels that turn. Makes it harder to stay straight. I can't remember what brand ours is, but the handle only pivots up and down, but not side to side which makes pulling it a lot easier.

[IndyCamp]

Congrats!

We bought our TT last year right after our son turned one. He's now 26 months and an old pro at camping! 😉

One suggestion I have that is not related to campgrounds, is to get a collapsible wagon. We take a lot of walks around the parks and campgrounds and the wagon is great. Sometimes my son like to ride in it, sometimes he likes to put a toy in it and push or pull it himself. It's also useful for hauling around lawn chairs or other campsite necessities.

Here is what I am talking about:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Mac-Sports-Collapsible-Wagon/dp/B00BUUUIGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405599...

[Stickbowhip]

Arizona has some great State parks. If you are used to the backcountry you will probably like those much more than most of the private campgrounds. As you gain experience with your rig you might want to consider dry camping. The national forests in the states you mention are spectacular.
As for kid friendly, well behaved and engaged kids will do great in the outdoors. Most kids these days aren't exposed to that, and I think they miss out on so much.

[CavemanCharlie]

Stay close to home on your first couple of trips. That gives you a chance to learn what you want to bring and what you can leave behind and save weight. If possible for the first trip camp in your driveway. That way if you have forgotten something you can run in the house and get it. If the toddler can't sleep without her favorite toy you can go grab it for her. Just make sure she knows the next time she needs to bring it with.

[Grandpere]

When our 3 children were 4 and 5 we took a trip into Canada. Our youngest daughter wanted to learn how to swim so dw took her and I worked with the other 2. Anyway, she started to fight dw and kept telling her to let go, so dw did. When dw pulled her out of the water she was spewing water and crying and yelling "You let go of me!" It was just hilarious, even now, 30 years later, we will all still laugh about it.

As for kid friendly parks, they are almost nonexistent. We stopped at several Jellystone parks thinking they would have great things for kids to do, but they only had swimming pools and maybe a swing set.

Hope your trip goes well and you create fond memories like we did when our children were growing up.

[keymastr]

Congratulations! As for campgrounds, you just asked about some of the most beautiful states there are so you might ask which ones are not so great. Probably be a much shorter list. Our first couple trips were very close to home so we were able to run back and get things we did not know we would need,(cooking stuff mostly). My wife drove our car along so we had transportation for going to the store/home etc. After that we pretty much knew what we needed

I think those first few trips were somehow kinda magical even though we had no idea what we were doing. Figuring it out is half the fun. Happy camping!