Here in the Pacific Northwest, summer is an elusive and brief affair. It sneaks around for quite awhile, teasing, with glimpses of bright sun and blue sky between days of rain, mist, wind, and cool temperatures. Locals refer to June here as Junuary, and they are not wrong. (and I secretly like it—sweaters in June are cozy!) But then along comes July, usually the Fourth of July actually, and the clouds part and the temperature goes up to a broiling 75 degrees farenheit, and then it feels as though summer has finally arrived.

What do we do with our free time in the summer in the Pacific Northwest? We beach walk, we pick berries, we hike, we swim outdoors (if we are brave—it’s not warm!!) and we camp. My family loves to car camp, and some of us even do a bit of real wilderness camping, which involves being willing to walk a looooong way, carrying everything you need on your back.

Our many summers of car camping are why I wrote The Camping Trip. Car camping is a fun and easy way to get outside, see parts of your region that you have not seen before, get exercise, and—above all—it’s a great way to make sure you get to eat a s’more, or two!

I hope you will have a chance to go car camping this summer!