I grew up in a family that went camping for vacations and have many fond memories of hiking with my sisters in the Santa Cruz mountains and swimming in lakes further inland. Camping was the time when my mom splurged and bought us soda pop to drink and other treats like the makings of s’mores.

With my own family, camping was a big adventure when they were cub scouts, but once they hit their teens, hanging with mom and dad was no longer fun. Plus, with the weather in Virginia, camping is always a crap-shoot — we’ve been rained on more times than I care to count.

In any case, if you like to camp AND you like to save money, the National Park Service has some special discounts available, free entry and camping at many National Parks this summer.