The 2021 camping season is upon us and being the proactive and safety conscious man my husband is, last week we made the trek to drop off our Airstream trailer to Colonial Airstream in Millstone Township NJ, for a 15 point inspection and wifi and cell phone booster install.
Last year like many folks during these times of global pandemic, Matt and I decided to buy a camper. For one week in June 2020, we rented a 23’ Airstream and spent the week in the lakes area of New Hampshire with Hugo The Frenchie at Terrace Pines Campground. All it took was one week, we were hooked and the hunt was on for an Airstream of our own. By July, it was done. A 2019 27’ front bed twin Globetrotter was ours!
When I was young, my parents had a truck camper and along with my brother and I, camped every summer in Matunck, RI (my Dad belonged to a salt water fishing club), along with traveling to various places from Nova Scotia to Virginia. Those are special memories. Every kid needs to go camping… and I guess that’s why campgrounds are filled with these little humans (more on that in another blog post). For all the camping we did, as an adult, aside from a few tent camping weekends years ago while day hiking Mt. Washington, I have had ZERO desire to “camp”. Nice hotels, with spas and preferably on a beautiful body of water and great restaurants was my cup of tea. And, if you had to drive to the nice hotel, the preferred vehicle would be something small, sporty and open air. Maybe, it is an age thing (I’m 54), but I’m really grooving on the camping thing! We are able to bring Hugo The Frenchie anywhere we go and all of our “stuff” can come with us. We spend time outdoors exploring and prepare all kinds of awesome meals over an open fire. What’s not to like, right?
Back to our New Jersey trip…It’s a three and a half hour drive to the Airstream dealership thru some of the busiest and congested roads in the county. Not fun in a car. But when your overall length is approximately 50 feet and you are towing a 7500 pound, 27 foot bullet behind you, it can be fairly stressful too. Needless to say, getting to our destination was a welcomed relief. Because we did not want to make the three and a half hour trip home the same day we dropped the Airstream for service, we left the day before to overnight at a Harvest Host in Hackettstown, NJ.
Never heard of Harvest Host? If you have a camper, Harvest Host will become your new best camping destination. It’s actually not one destination. It’s over two thousand destination all over the USA and Canada. It’s farms, vineyards, breweries, golf courses and other places of interest which you and your camper can stay for free. Well, almost free because you need to join harvest host first. For $99.00 a year you can have access to all these places minus the golf courses. Click here to check them out and get 15% off your membership. For a small additional fee you can add the golf course option. All that is asked is if possible you support the place you stay with buying something from them. A bottle of vino, fresh veggies, eggs, etc. For us, being people who are all about good food and wine this never seems to be a problem.
When we picked up our new to us Airstream last year we drove to our first Harvest Host location, Bishop Estate Vineyard in Perkasie, PA. What a great experience! After maneuvering our new rig in between two soy bean fields, buying a bottle of wine from their store, we sat outside listening to the concert happening at the vineyard, watching a beautiful sun set while thousands of fire flies came out over the soybean fields to put on a fireworks display that would rival any small town’s fireworks display.
This year, in Hackettstown, NJ we stayed at Donaldson Farm, a very large fresh fruit and vegetable operation with a wonderful farm store which sells not only their products, but many products from other artisan producers. We indulged in their mixed berry pie & homemade pickles (not at the same time!), as well as bringing home rhubarb and beautiful looking asparagus.
We are excited for our first full season of camping in our Airstream, The MoJo Rider. And, look forward to sharing camping adventures, camp cooking recipes, Hugo The Frenchie and his new baby Brother Victor The Frenchie (who arrives on May 19th) escapades, Harvest Host locations, and more!
Do you have any favorite campgrounds or Harvest Hosts? Would love to hear about them! Send me an email. Jennifer@olivealittle.com
