Steinbach residents share camping reservation woes and strategies

Did you get a reservation for your favourite campground? 

Lotti Klassen of Steinbach did not, and she blames herself. Klassen thinks it’s because she told too many people where she loves to camp, and they all snapped up the sites before she got to it. Now, she’s staying tight-lipped about the best places to go camping. 

However, Klassen did reveal her favourite camping foods. 

She has a few foods that always make it onto her menu. 

“We’re pretty non-traditional. We’ve scrapped the hot dog and hamburger thing. One must-have for me is vereniki.” 

Klassen says it’s easy to cook up the pre-made pierogi and farmer sausage, then add some cream gravy and rhubarb sauce. 

Even without her favourite camping spot, Klassen will still do a lot of camping this summer. 

Susie Dyck of Steinbach understands the desire for certain meals while camping. 

“I want to do camping breakfast,” she says. “The hashbrowns, toast, the bacon... all that. I don’t know why, somehow eating that type of breakfast is so much better outside, somehow it is.” 

While she tends to be a last-minute planner, Dyck has an idea of where she would like to camp this summer. 

“Rushing River would be one of my favourites. I like that there’s no boats on the lake so you can kayak and it’s quieter. I enjoy that more than the busyness of lots of boats around.” 

Being more of a last-minute planner, Dyck admits she tends to go online a couple days before she leaves and searches for campground cancellations. She says it takes some effort to plan a camping trip, and a bit of money, but it's worth it.

Some people like to “rough it” when they go camping while others look for some luxuries. 

Vaughn Bergen remembers when luxuries started creeping into our lives at the campsite. 

He says his most memorable camping trip as a child was when they bought a new vehicle before their trip. Although they did not have air conditioning, their friends did. 

The difference was noticeable when they finally arrived at their campsite. 

“I remember my dad’s best friend, he gets out of the truck and says, ‘Yeah, there's nothing like getting to the campground all nice and cool, refreshed, not sweating, nothing.’ And we all piled out of our truck, all panting,” Bergen laughs. “That's probably my fondest camping trip.”