by Michael Allen McCormick

Created on: June 19, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Here is my recipe for being a happy camper. One part food, two parts friends and a large helping of adventure. Blend with hiking, tenting, singing around the campfire. Simmer for at least an entire weekend. Your dessert will be a tasty helping of memories that will last you a lifetime.

In 1998, I got it in my head that I wanted to take a camping road trip up the Alaskan Highway. Alaska was the only state left that I hadn't yet seen. Our budget didn't allow for staying in hotels, so it would have to be a camping vacation.

I went to my wife and told her we were going on a camping trip to Alaska, and she asked me how long we would be gone. When I told her a month, she just laughed at me. She told me that she couldn't just shut down her daycare business for an entire month.

I told her that she wouldn't have to, we could bring the daycare kids along with us, and give their Moms' all a vacation from watching their kids.

I had already made the sales pitch to the parents, so now it was just a matter of overcoming all my wife's objections.

I fixed up my utility trailer with a top that I could lock down, and began filling it with camping gear. I painted "Alaska or Bust" on the back tailgate.

We ended up setting out with four drivers, one handicapped adult, one non driving adult and six children. Two of the drivers were teenagers on learning permits. Basically, we are clinging to a hope and a prayer we could make it, along with a fierce determination.

We took an old Chevy van and a station wagon (with six spare tires, just in case). We had pup tents for everyone. Never got to use the spare tires for anything except a balance weight for the tongue of the trailer.

Our first night out, leaving from Salem, Oregon, we camped at Mount Rainier in Washington. It took us almost four hours to set up camp that first night. We learned that because we brought a handicapped individual along, we qualified for half price camping in the park. We also got free admission to all National Parks we would visit.

The four hour set up time was unacceptable, so I began charting tasks for every person involved. I figured if they each had an assigned job, we could cut down on set up and tear down time. By the end of our 28-day excursion, we were setting up camp in under 15 minutes.

We rotated our seating in the van and station wagon every day along the way. This way there was no argument about who would sit where. They all knew where they would ride from looking at the chart.

The Canadian campgrounds were

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