One of the scarieset things that can happen to a person when they are camping is to have severe weather approach. I’ve been lucky and have not had it happen when I was camping but during a road trip to take my son to college orientation in another state we ran into bad weather with tornados and it was really scary. The radio announcer kept announcing the tornado’s path by county but I had no idea what county I was driving in. Plus it was so windy and rainy that visibility was near zero.

We thought about pulling off the road under an overpass but there was no room under the nearest one we found. It was already filled with vehicles. About an hour earlier we had picked up a state highway map at a rest stop but it was in the trunk. So, while my son climbed into the backseat of the car and pulled it down so he could reach into the trunk to find the map, I used an “emergency turnaround” on the highway to go back to a restaurant we had seen a few miles back. When my son found the map and pinpointed our location, we realized we were about 10 miles south of the location of the tornado. We were also nearly to the restaurant which is where we waited out the rest of the storm.

The reason for telling that story is that we had no idea of where we were and felt helpless because we didn’t know if the tornado was 50 miles away or 50 feet away. We should have been aware of the weather we were driving into; in other words we should have been better prepared.

I started thinking about this story and that April is tornado awareness month last night as I sat in my basement waiting out a tornado warning and figured it was a good time to remind all of us to be prepared for the threat of severe weather when camping.

A weather radio is a good investment. Many of us aren’t watching television or listening to a radio when camping which makes a weather radio a good thing to have along so it can alert you if threatening weather is heading your way. The Midland WR-300 Weather Radio costs around $50 and has a 4 1/2 star rating on Amazon.

A few other things to do and to remember:

When checking into a campground ask about their severe weather procedures and where the nearest shelter is (in most campgrounds it’s the bathrooms).

Check the daily forecast to see if severe weather is being predicted (weather forecasts are usually posted at the campground office and often at camp host sites as well).

Make sure the entire family knows what to do in case of severe weather. A great resource to read and review is the National Weather Service’s Preparedness Guide which you can access by clicking here.

30/30 Lightning Safety Rule - go indoors if, after seeing lightning, you cannot count to 30 before hearing thunder. Stay indoors for 30 minutes after hearing the last clap of thunder (if you can hear thunder you are close enough to be struck by lightning.)

If you are caught outdoors when lightning strikes try to find a low spot away from trees, fences and poles but if you are caught in a wooded area take shelter under a short tree.

If you are caught outside when a tornado strikes like flat in the nearest ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.

If you come across flood waters (swiftly running water just 6 inches deep can knock a person off their feet) turn around and go another way, climbing to higher ground if possible.

And, although tornadoes and lightning seem like they are the deadliest, it’s actually flash flooding that causes the largest number of deaths each year.

Good Sam Club’s most popular event is their samboree at the Coca Cola 600 Sprint Cup race held at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

The Coca Cola 600 is the longest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and was first held in 1960.

It’s a great trip idea for stock car race enthusiasts who want to experience the excitement building up to the big race and spend time doing other fun activities with fellow RV’ers and campers.

The 2008 race package includes:

- 6 nights of camping at the Fleetwood RV Racing Resort with hookups for water, 50-amp electric, and sewer
- Tickets to the race with reserved Veranda seating in the Ford section to the following events during the samboree: “CTC Pole Night/CRASH Cars,” “CarQuest Auto Parts Busch 300″ and the featured event: “Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600″
- Visit to race shops via chartered motorcoach (includes a lunch)
- Pit passes
- Official Coca Cola 600 race program
- Welcome dinner at the Speedway Club
- Brunch in the Speedway Club overlooking the race track
- A stop at the annual Speed Street Festival
- Lunch at the campground
- Souvenir embroidered windbreaker jackets

The cost is $3,155 for 2 adults with one camping unit and $2,435 for 1 adult with one camping unit. Additional adults cost $1,343 each. Children aged 3-12 cost $1,087 each.

A $500 deposit is required.

Click here for more information or call 1.800.829.5140.

Now that camping season is starting to gear up in many areas, here’s a few of my own personal tips for choosing a campsite. They are things I have learned from the dozens of times I have gone camping at various campgrounds.

Because I didn’t think about some of the things listed below I have had some “not so fun” camping experiences, so I’m sharing them with you so they don’t happen to you too (I also did a video on this topic too, so if you’d rather watch than read, feel free).

1) Campsite Length - Make sure the campsite is long enough to accommodate your camping vehicle. (this is self explanatory, right?)

2) Bathroom location is important; especially if you are like me and don’t have a bathroom in your camper and have kids or if you yourself need to visit a bathroom frequently. If the bathroom facilities are modern a site right next to them is great. If the bathroom facilities are more primitive then you still want to be close to the bathroom but not right next to them - especially during the warmest months when a “ripe” smell can be prevalant. A camping trip can turn miserable in a hurry if all you can smell when sitting at your campsite is the bathroom odors from next door.

3) A RV or tent on corner campsites or at “intersections” of the campground often have the glare of headlights shining on them at night. After my family spent one camping trip having headlights shining in our camper as vehicles turned the corner on the busy road in the campground we were staying at, we learned to avoid campsites on corners of campground roadways and instead look for ones more towards the middle.

4) Be aware of the location of dumpsters. Being near dumpsters is convenient when you want to dispose of your garbage, but these can also be smelly so try not to be too close to them. Many campgrounds have dumpsters located away from the campsites but some have them nestled among the campsites and I can personally attest to the horrible odor a person has to put up with if their campsite is really close to them. Plus, if the dumpsters aren’t properly closed after people put their trash in them they are a magnet at night for wild animals looking for a bite to eat.

5) I like camping in state parks because the sites are typically larger and more wooded then private campground campsites. But, that also means some of the campsites are located near steep dropoffs and/or near standing water or swampy areas that are a haven for insects. One of my favorite state parks has campsites where the camper pad is less than 50 feet from a steep dropoff. The view is incredible; but it’s not the type of site I would choose if I had small children camping with me. Standing water/swampy areas are bad for me because I have allergies to insects and stinging bugs swarm around those areas in droves at dusk and dawn and sometimes even in the middle of the day. Call the campground before making a reservation to inquire about specific campsites before making a reservation, especially if you reserve sites online.

6) Shaded or not shaded? I like shaded campsites; otherwise the interior of my popup gets beastly hot during the middle of summer days. I have a sister-in-law however who prefers sunny sites without trees because there are typically less bugs.

Do you have other tips and things to consider when choosing a campsite? If you do, please write a note in the comments section to share it.

Happy Camping!