Cheerful Valley Campground

Come Camping in New York’s Finger Lakes Region

1412 Route 14, Phelps, NY 14532, 315.781.1222    Email Us

Camping Tips for RV Beginners

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Camping season will be back before you know it and you can enjoy an amazing camping experience with the following RV camping tips. Unlike many years ago, now you can drive your RV to a beautiful camping ground like Cheerful Valley Campground and enjoy the convenience of fresh water, sewer hookups, electricity and much more. Here’s what you need to know about RV camping as a beginner.

• For easy storage, you should use plastic containers to load your belongings and gear into the RV. Most rented RVs will not come with these containers so you should be prepared. It is one of the best ways to de-clutter your RV and improve your camping trip.

• Most RVs come equipped with a fridge, freezer, and microwave. You can prepare food at home and bring it with you or make it right here at the campground. Most people do a combination of both. They cut up the veggies and place the meat in a marinade while still at home. Later, at the campground, they finish the other items needed for their meals.

• Bring trash bags for collecting waste and disposing of it properly. They are also useful for wet bathing suits and towels when you’re headed to the laundry.

• You’ll want to have games and rainy day activities for the kids, just in case. Bring books and puzzles for quiet times inside the RV when you’re getting settled down for the night.

Most of all, relax and enjoy yourself. You’ve waited a long time for this vacation and we want you to be able to enjoy yourself and your family.

With these RV camping tips, your next trip should be memorable.

Growing an RV Herb Garden

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RV herb gardenIf you have managed to master the skills needed to cook in your RV, why not incorporate fresh flavors into your meals with your own herbs grown inside your RV. Herb gardens are compact and very easy to maintain and care for which makes them an ideal option for just about any type of mobile home.

Choosing Your Herbs

Avoid the types of herbs that may grow too large to keep in small containers. Some of the preferred smaller options will include marjoram, basil, chives, thyme, oregano and rosemary.

Planting

Choose deeper pots that come with drainage holes situated at the bottom so that any excess water can easily drain away. Use a thin layer of tiny pebbles at the bottom and then add a good quality potting soil. From seeds to the point that they are ready to use in meals, growing herbs in your RV can take as little as 3 to 4 weeks.

You must make sure that you give your herbs enough water and that they are able to receive adequate sunlight in order to enhance the growing processes. From time to time you can consider organic fertilizer to make sure the herbs are receiving all the nutrients that they need for growth.

Pruning

When you regularly prune the herbs you are growing you offer the plant with the best way to grow vigorously into hardy specimens. Remember that the more that you are able to prune the more your herbs will grow.

To enjoy the most out of your herb garden make sure you frequently check on the soil and to ensure it does not dry out. Also try to ensure that your herbs are exposed to a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight every day.

One of the benefits of a RV herb garden is that it can easily be transported between your normal residence and the RV home between camping trips. Fresh herbs are a fantastic way to enhance your cooking skills especially when you are away from home.

Light and Tasty Camping Salads

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summer saladSummer will be back before we know it, so there’s no wonder many people are already planning their camping trips. Having a nice meal in the wilderness is among the favorite activities of most people. Whether you love hamburgers or you’d rather have some hot dogs, a light summer salad is always going to complement your outdoor meals. You can find here, below, two favorites to try on your next camping holiday.

Summertime Strawberry Jello Salad With Walnuts

Ingredients:
1 15 oz pineapple (canned, crushed)
1 pack of strawberry jello
1 small Cool Whip
1/2 cup walnuts (raw, chopped)
16 oz cottage cheese

Drain the crushed pineapple in a colander as much as you can.
Put the cottage cheese in a large bowl and mix it with the jello.
Add the Cool Whip and the pineapple, and mix everything very well.
Add the walnuts, stir some more, and then let the bowl set in the refrigerator for one hour.
You can either put your salad in a covered bowl or in several individual containers. Keep it in a cooler. you can serve this salad as a meal course or as dessert.

 

Ingredients:
1 pack rainbow rotini pasta, cooked as instructed on the label
1 pack broccoli (drained and cooked)
1/4 pound of salami (diced)
1/4 pound of provolone cheese (diced)
1/4 cup black olives (pitted, sliced)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1 pack Zesty Italian Dressing, prepared as per the instructions on the pack.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix them thoroughly. Add the dressing, and stir it in carefully, until you obtain a homogenous mix. You’ll obtain a light and delicious pasta salad that goes very well with any dish.

These are only two summer salad ideas. Try them, you’re going to love them! Your family and friends are going to love you, as well!

You Can Make Your Own Insect Repellent

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make your own mosquito repellentAny outdoors activity will expose you and guests to insects. This includes your camping trips, drinks out on the patio, parties at the beach and barbecues. Most of these insects have germs that can cause illnesses. For this reason, you’ll want to have plenty of insect repellent on hand during your outdoor activities. Most of the over the counter remedies have strong chemicals that aren’t good for your health or your body over the course of time. For this reason, you’ll want to make your own healthier versions of insect repellent. Here you’ll learn some very effective homemade insect repellent recipes.

There are some ideal essential oils out there that are very effective at repelling those vicious insects. Tea tree oil is one that works well against deer flies, ticks, and chiggers. If you’re out to alleviate black flies or mosquitos you’ll want to try some eucalyptus and lemon. Both of these work very well to help eliminate them. Another great remedy is peppermint oil and geranium oil blended together.

Never apply full-strength essential oil on your skin, it may burn your skin and cause a serious allergic reaction. Always mix it with a carrier oil prior to putting it on your skin. It’s far better to use one essential oil at a time as you prepare an insect repellent. If you’re going to mix the scents always choose essential oils that are from the same family. Lemon and lemongrass go well together as do lavender and eucalyptus. Tea tree oil and clove oil should always be used alone.

Another way to use lavender oil is to mix it with rosemary and peppermint oil to form your own version of an insect repellent. These are vital things to remember when you’re preparing your own versions of insect repellent.

Thus, your camping trips, barbecues and your parties on the beach or patio will be far more enjoyable when you employ these techniques to avoid insect bites. You’ll learn to mix and match your own preferred versions of these as you go. Just mix them in a spray bottle for best results.

Dutch Oven Recipes for Easy Camping Meals

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Dutch Oven recipesDutch oven one-pot recipes are the perfect solution for all those who want to enjoy a good meal at home, but don’t have the time or the skills to cook it. When using one-pot recipes, you add all ingredients at once, so you don’t have to do anything else than peeling, chopping, dicing, and then setting the pot on the stove top or in the oven. If you don’t have an oven, the Dutch oven is exactly what you need to slow cook your one-pot meal.

You can find lots of Dutch oven one-pot recipes online, either on YouTube or on special cooking channels for websites like The New York Times. There are also many bloggers who publish tried and tested recipes. Nonetheless, you should make sure you use popular food blogs, in order to avoid spoiling your meal. There are many small bloggers who don’t have the means to cook all the recipes they publish, so they tend to take some photos from Flickr or Pinterest, and use random ingredients and quantities. This is why you have to stick with the popular ones, as they wouldn’t risk their fame by publishing fake recipes. For instance, The Pioneer Woman, Simply Recipes and David Lebovitz are all famous blogs you can trust. These modern bloggers don’t have a lot of time, so they’ve adjusted their cooking style and their recipes to the hectic life we all live these days. If they can put all ingredients in a pot, add water and spices, and cook it over low heat until all juices and flavors are released, they are surely going to do it. Even better, they are going to blog about it, so you won’t lack inspiration for your own kitchen. Just make sure you do have a Dutch oven, as this is one of the tools you’re going to use a lot.

Staying Cool in Warm Weather

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hot weather campingIt can be a challenge to stay cool when the weather is hot. Too much heat, during warmer weather, can lead to exhaustion, dehydration, heat stress, and even heat stroke. Here are some helpful tips that can be used to help you stay cool when the weather is hot.

Stay Hydrated – Water is essential for staying cool in warm or hot weather. It can help to cool your body and keep your tissues hydrated. Drink water on hot days, even if you don’t feel thirsty. Avoid sugary drinks and soda, as well as alcohol and coffee, because they can have a diuretic effect. Water is best for cooling off on hot days.

Consume Foods That Are Cooling – Foods can help keep you cool. Choose foods like fresh raw vegetables, fruits, and salads. Make an effort to eat smaller meals which can help keep your core temperature down. When you eat a large meal, your body has a hard time breaking it down, which can raise your body temperature. So, eat small means filled with cooling, fresh foods.

Plan Your Time in the Sun – Avoid doing outside activities during the peak time of the mid-day sun. That means you should limit your sun exposure between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm when the weather is warm or hot. If you must be outside at these times, limit your sun exposure, as much as possible. Children, the elderly, and people with sensitive skin should consider staying a cool area and limiting the amount of time they spend in the sun.

Here are some additional tips. Get to know your body and look for signs of overheating or heat exhaustion. Wear light-colored, protective clothes. And, make sure to drink lots of fluids, especially water. Following these tips will help keep your body healthy, happy, and cool, even on the hottest days of the year.

Keeping Ants Out of the RV

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Ants in the RVNo one wants ants crawling around their RV and, with a little prevention, there are a lot of things you can do that will help keep them away.

Make Sure They Don’t Have A Point Of Entry

The harder it is for ants to enter your RV, the less likely it is they’ll show up. Keep an eye out for potential points of entry. If you see an opening, make a point of sealing it off. You should try to seal your windows with caulk. If you do this, it’ll be very difficult for ants to get into your RV.

Use The Right Cleaning Products

If your ants don’t like the way your RV smells, they’re going to stay far away from it. You should try to use lemon-scented cleaning products if you can; ants dislike the smell of lemon. Using a vinegar cleaning product is also a smart idea. You could also try spraying peppermint oil around your RV. It’ll keep ants away, and it will give the RV a fresh minty scent.

 

Place Citrus Peels Around The Areas Ants Appear

If you see ants popping up in the same part of your RV, you should place a few citrus peels there. Citrus peels are toxic to the types of fungus that ants typically dine on.

There are a number of things you can do that will keep ants from entering your RV. If you have an ant problem, act now. You can get rid of the ants you have now and keep more ants from showing up.

Simple Camping Meals With Potatoes

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Potatoes for campingIt is not unusual for Americans to stick to certain foods when they are camping due to restrictions that can come with cooking over an open flame. Additionally, a major problem tends to be that they simply just are not thinking about their meals in advance and being creative. There are actually a number of things that are easy to cook while camping that will definitely spice up your meals.

One of the easiest items to bring along on your camping trip are potatoes. They are one of the longest lasting vegetables that you can find and do not need to be refrigerated to maintain their appearance, which leaves more space in your coolers for other food items. When cooking them over an open flame one simply needs to wrap them in tin foil and poke holes into them so that steam can escape. With this method, you can have a baked potato in a short amount of time.

You can also get rather creative as long as you bring a few additional items with you. You will need a heavy duty knife and a cutting board so that you can slice the potatoes. From there you can use whatever spices that you can imagine flavoring the potatoes such as dill, cayenne pepper, chili powder, basil, and oregano as well as butter or oil, whichever you prefer. Once you have seasoned them you will lay out tinfoil and place the potato chunks on top and then wrap the sides to the middle, creating a bag. From there you just heat them over the fire while cooking your meat to have a flavorful meal while enjoying the great outdoors.

If you take some time and think creatively there are a number of ways to enjoy your favorite foods while camping. Keep in mind foods that store easily, like potatoes, and you will find there really is a lot of options available to you.

Calming Your Dog During a Thunderstorm

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helping pets through a stormIn case you hadn’t noticed, thunderstorms can make the most calm canines become filled with anxiety. It is frustrating when this happens and you have no idea how to react. The next time a storm is headed your way, use all of the following tips.

Play some calming tunes. One of the most frightening parts of thunderstorms are the booming claps. You can stop this from taking control of your dog’s emotions if you drown them out. Head to a part of your home that does not have many windows and drown the sound out with soothing melodies. This will stop your pooch from being startled every time there is a loud sound.

Never leave your dog alone when you know that a storm is coming. This might seem like an inconvenience, but it is your responsibility as a pet owner. If you have to head out, place them in a carrier or crate and cover it with a thick blanket. This will prevent them from seeing all of the things they find so startling and it will provide a bit of a buffer from the noise.

Attempt to desensitize them to the sounds. Head to a site like YouTube and play videos that depict thunderstorms. Put them on at a fairly low volume for short spurts of time. As your dog listens, offer them treats and praise. Gradually lengthen the time you play the video and the volume until they seem to be unfazed.

There are people who are frightened at the mere thought of thunder, so it should not be surprising that this is something that can affect canines. Preparing yourself and adhering to the guidelines here should help you keep your dog calm the next time a storm rolls your way.

How to be a Good Camping Neighbor

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good camping neighborThere’s nothing like spending time with family and friends, camping and enjoying each others’ company. You get the chance to catch up with each other, spend quality time together, and reconnect for awhile.Your experience will be a good one and so will your camping neighbors’ when each of us follows a few simple rules of camping etiquette.

Arrive early. Try to arrive before dark, if you can. Setting up in daylight will be much easier for you and you won’t risk waking those campers around you who have already gone to bed.

Keep it clean. Run a sweep of your campsite at least once a day to pick up any paper or food wrappers that may have fallen on the ground. Put all food away each evening before going to bed for the night.

Be friendly. You’ll be surprised how willing campers are to talk to you if you strike up a conversation with them. You all have one big thing in common, you love camping and sharing stories is half of the fun.

Leash your pet. It’s better for everyone when you keep you pet on a leash at all times. Campgrounds are known for having a lot of running kids, bicycles, and new smells that can tempt your pet to run. They will be safer in your care, safely leashed. Be sure, also, to clean up after your pet. Bring bags with you as you walk the campground so you can remove their waste as it happens.

Watch for boundaries. Your neighbor’s campsite is their home for the duration of their stay so be careful of walking across their lawn. Make an effort to keep to the roads and everyone will be fine.

These are just a few things to enhance your camping experience and that of your camping neighbors. We look forward to meeting you so be sure to say hello if you see us in the campground.