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Spring on the Bleachers: Why Our Camping Goes Quiet Until May
March 18, 2025From tryouts in late January to the playoffs, I'm at the ballpark most evenings. What baseball season looks like for the four of us.
Secondhand Sleeping Pads and the End of Our Air Mattress Era
March 11, 2025We popped three air mattresses in two years. Two used self-inflating pads from Marketplace cost $120 and fixed how Dana and I sleep.
Why Maya Keeps a Nature Journal on Every Trip
March 5, 2025Maya started drawing birds at Long Pine Key last winter. Now the journal goes on every trip, and it changed how all four of us look around.
Booking a Florida State Park Campsite 11 Months Out
February 26, 2025The 8 a.m. booking window, the backup sites we keep ready, what the fees add up to and why we book trips we're not sure we'll take.
Manatees, Fog and Cold Toes at Blue Spring State Park
February 20, 2025Presidents' Day weekend at Blue Spring meant hundreds of manatees in the run, a foggy boardwalk at dawn and a tent that never quite dried.
Café con Leche at Camp, Made in My Mother-in-Law's Old Cafetera
February 11, 2025Dana's family doesn't do instant coffee, even in a tent. How we make real Cuban coffee and café con leche on a two-burner propane stove.
A Jump Starter Now Lives in Our Glove Box
February 4, 2025After a dead battery at Long Pine Key, we bought a small lithium jump starter. What it does, what it doesn't and where we keep it now.
Getting Two Miami Kids Through a 47-Degree Night in a Tent
January 29, 2025Our kids think 65 is sweater weather. The layers, hats, warm-bottle trick and bedtime routine that got everyone through to sunrise.
Long Pine Key on MLK Weekend: 47 Degrees and a Dead Battery
January 23, 2025A cold front, a tailgate light left on all night and a kind neighbor with jumper cables. Two nights in the Everglades pinelands with the kids.