Best Camping Spots: Vamping
The Eurovan is the ground-averse camper's silver bullet.
By Brangien Davis July 1, 2010
This article originally appeared in the July 2010 issue of Seattle magazine.
When my husband, Daniel, and I go camping for the weekend, there are no tents involved. We do not drag Therm-a-Rests or tarps out of the garage; we do not strap carefully rolled sleeping bags onto backpacks. Instead, we pile into our VW Eurovan and head for nearby wilderness to experience a night or two of nature—all within a comfort painstakingly designed by German automakers. We call it vamping.
The van is perfect for quick, low-maintenance outings, where day hikes and river strolling are on the agenda but sleeping on the ground is not. The fridge under the single backseat has room for the essentials (beer, wine, PB&J fodder), a bench seat folds down into a comfortable double bed, and the pop-top roof can either serve as an “upstairs” sleeping area or an airy cathedral ceiling. Plus there’s plenty of storage in case I can’t decide which shoes to bring.
On this outing, we headed about 100 miles east of Seattle on I-90, just past Cle Elum, to Teanaway Campground, a pretty drive-in site alongside the Teanaway River. The free, no-reservations (and no running water) spot served us well as an easy escape from the city. The sun shone, the river rushed, the ponderosa pines whispered in the breeze…and from 8 to 10 p.m. the campers across the way blasted Bob Seger. Thankfully, that old-time rock ’n’ roll had ceased by the time we let the campfire die out, slid the van door closed and tucked in to our auto accommodations.
Captions: The fridge under the seat keeps things cool; sandwiches are staple foods when dining in the van (wine is nice too). We may forget kindling but we never forget the Kindle! High-tech reading in the fold-out bed “downstairs.” Daniel keeps the back of the van shipshape—supplies are organized and ready for takeoff; upstairs sleeping quarters are high and tight.
Originally published in July 2010
Follow Us
Hives Among the Headstones
Inside a north Seattle project reimagining cemeteries as sanctuaries for pollinators.
In many old stories, bees are more than just insects. They’re messengers—tiny intermediaries between the living and the dead. There was once even a custom in Europe and America known as “telling the bees:” When a family member died, or another significant life event occurred, someone would go to the hive to share the news….
Dispatches from Greenland, Part Two: Nuuk
An insider’s guide to Greenland’s mysterious, overlooked, and charming capital.
Greenland is too vast to take in all at once. Yet a few days in Nuuk—the island’s compact, curious capital, just a four-hour flight from Newark—offer a surprisingly complete portrait. Nuuk changes like the weather that shapes it: by turns wild and polished; intimate and bold. To Northerners, it feels as hectic as Manhattan; to…
Paddle Camping on a One-Acre Island
Posey Island in the San Juans is Washington State Parks’ smallest marine park, where seals, tide pools, and even orcas make appearances.
Stroke after stroke, we paddled further and further away from safety. Should we be here with our two precious kids, I thought as we headed out toward open water. As we rounded the corner it became clear and I let out a sigh of relief—yes, we can do this. Over Labor Day weekend, my wife…
Kayaking the Bioluminescent Waters of San Juan Island
Sea sparkles and glowing jellyfish turn a nighttime paddle into an unforgettable adventure.
Under the cover of darkness, our small pod of explorers expanded into the waters of Griffin Bay in search of glow-in-the-dark marine life. Home to noctiluca scintillans, or “sea sparkles,” the waters of the Salish Sea around San Juan Island were named in Lonely Planet’s 2024 list of best places for bioluminescent viewing in the…