It’s a tiny fiberglass camper, lightweight and just 13 feet long. Last summer up at Whitewater Lake in Wisconsin, we saw a Scamp parked in a driveway. I immediately fell in love with these tiny little campers. After casually browsing used Scamps for sale over the winter, we purchased one this spring. Our family has taken several camping trips with the Scamp, and the kids are really enjoying their little bunk beds.

Our Scamp is a 2018 model, though these trailers have been around since 1975. Ours sleeps 4. Billy and I share the almost full size bed and the kids sleep in the bunk beds.

Our Scamp has a kitchenette with a stove and sink, but no bathroom. We prefer to use the facilities at the campsites instead. It’s filled with lots of cabinets and a little closet for storage. It has heat, which was great on our first camping trip in May when it got down to the 40’s at night. It doesn’t have air conditioning, but the powerful fan and large screen door have kept us cool.

We’re still planning on tent camping, since we love hike-in sites, but we appreciate that the Scamp will allow us to extend our family’s camping season from early spring to late fall. We also like having the Scamp for when we camp in places like the Smokies, where bears might wander through our campsite.

I appreciate all the emails I received during my lengthy hiatus from blogging. I hope everyone is having a great time camping this summer, and I always enjoy hearing about your favorite places to camp.

{ Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt }

The classic pie iron pizza includes buttered white bread, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. I decided I wanted to mix it up a little. While searching for ideas, I found some great variations on a classic pizza pudgie pie.

Pie Iron Pizza Bar

{ Love Sarah Schneider }

This pizza bar was part of an awe-inspiring camp-themed birthday party. I bet the kids enjoyed picking their own pizza toppings.

Pie Iron Caprese Pizza

{ Runs with Spatula }

I’ve featured Caprese Skewers in the past, and mozzarella, fresh basil & tomato (sauce) work just as well on a pie iron pizza.

Pie Iron Calzones

{ Mustard Seeds }

Aren’t all pie iron pizzas really just calzones? This recipe uses refrigerated pizza dough as the crust.

Pie Iron Frozen Pizza

It doesn’t get any easier than this: Defrost a small frozen pizza, fold it and cook it in your pie iron.

Find more pie iron pizza recipes on my Pie Iron Pizza Pinterest board.

 At camp, put the cooked vegetables and cheese between two flour tortillas in a lightly oiled pie iron. Tear off the edges of the tortilla after you close the pie iron. Then heat over the campfire until the cheese melts and the tortilla is lightly toasted. 

Top with salsa and guacamole and enjoy!

Pie Iron Fajita Quesadillas

Makes 6, Vegetarian

Ingredients

• 3 bell peppers (some combination of red, yellow, orange or green)
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Fajita seasoning, to taste
• cooking spray
• 12 flour tortillas
• 6 slices cheddar
• salsa
• guacamole

Supplies

• pie iron
• butter knife

Directions

At Home

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers & onions and sauté until onions are translucent. Add fajita seasoning to taste and cook for an extra 2 minutes. Let cool and store in refrigerator or cooler.

At Camp

1. Spray pie iron with cooking spray. Place a tortilla in one side of the pie iron.
2. Fill tortilla with cheddar slice and fajita mixture.
3. Top with another tortilla and close pie iron. Tear off the edges of the tortillas.
4. Heat pie iron over fire, turning occasionally, until the tortilla is toasted and the cheese is melted.
5. Release quesadilla from pie iron, using butter knife if necessary. Serve with salsa and guacamole.

Marengo Ridge is just over 800 acres with five miles of hiking trails. Thomas Woods campground offers both car camping and hike in sites. On the early May weekend we camped there were only a handful of sites taken. We chose site 39, but there wasn’t a bad site in the campground.

We had a hard time keeping our baby on the blanket we laid out for him. At this age he just loves to explore and hates being confined (getting him into his car seat is a challenge). He spent a lot of time crawling around on the soft moss that covered the ground. He had a blast playing with the rocks, sticks and pinecones scattered about our site.

We took a couple hikes and spotted a good variety of early spring flowers. There were a few lookout points with sweeping views of the grasslands and surrounding farms.

We brought along our clip-on high chair and tray, which worked well with the picnic bench at mealtimes.

To our surprise, the baby slept better in our tent than he does in his crib at home. I guess he liked being snuggled up between us in our double sleeping bag.

We packed light for this camping trip and managed to fit all our essentials plus our pup Lacy in my Jetta Sportwagen. We did bring our huge sleeping pads to make sure that the baby got a good night’s sleep. We kept our meals simple as well. We made veggie quesadillas in our pie iron for dinner and egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.

Judging by his smiles, I think our baby had a great time. We’re looking forward to our next family camping experience.

• Thomas Woods Campsite website
• Location: 3100 IL-23, Marengo, IL 60152
• Reservations: Call (815) 338-6223, ext. 1200 by 11 am on the Thursday before you camp, or register with the camp host when you arrive.
• Camping fees:
  Non-Electric Site: $10 Residents / $15 Non-Residents
  Electric RV Only Site: $20 Residents / $30 Non-Residents
  Holiday weekend surcharge: $2 Residents; $5 Non-Residents
• Firewood: No outside firewood permitted. Good quality firewood available on-site for $5 a bundle.
• Things to know: Dogs are welcome, though it is not mentioned on the website.

Another great thing about this recipe and my Campfire Pierogies is that the frozen rice and veggies keep your cooler cold. We had a long drive to the Smokies from Illinois, so starting with frozen foods helped keep the ice in our cooler from melting.

Start by heating up frozen veggies in a little oil. I used one pound sugar snap pea stir fry mix and one pound of broccoli.

Then add frozen rice and baked tofu.

Add teriyaki sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!

Camp Stir Fry
Serves 4. This recipe works equally well over a campfire.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups brown rice
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 pounds frozen vegetables
• 7 ounces baked tofu
• teriyaki sauce (I used Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki)

Supplies

• Large Skillet
• Spoon or spatula
• Knife
• Cutting board

Instructions

At Home

Cook rice according to package directions. Let cool, and then freeze in a plastic bag. Or skip the prep work and buy frozen rice at the supermarket.

At Camp

1. Preheat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet.
2. Add vegetables and cook until heated through.
3. In the meantime, cut tofu into 1/2″ cubes.
4. Add tofu and rice to vegetables. Cook until heated through.
5. Add teriyaki sauce to taste.
6. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes and serve.

Gotta love nighttime photography…

Here’s how to make them at camp.

You only need four ingredients, plus salt and pepper.

Soften the sliced onion in butter.

Then add sliced green pepper and cook until tender.

And finally, add the defrosted pierogies. Cook until golden. Season with salt & pepper and devour.

In this recipe, I keep things traditional with beans, cheese and salsa. For more creative options, fill your tortillas with pizza toppings, canned pie filling or ham and cheese.

Spray the pie iron with cooking spray and then fill it with tortillas, refried beans and cheese.

Buy tortillas that are slightly larger than your pie iron. Once the pie iron is closed, tear off the edges of the tortilla to prevent burning.

Heat over the fire, turning for even cooking.

Pie Iron Quesadillas

Makes 6, Vegetarian

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 12 flour or corn tortillas
• 16 oz can refried beans
• 12 ounces shredded sharp cheddar
• salsa

Supplies

• pie iron
• butter knife

Directions

1. Spray pie iron with cooking spray and lay a tortilla over each side of the pie iron.
2. Spread refried beans in the center of tortilla.
3. Top refried beans with shredded cheese.
4. Close pie iron and tear off the edges of the tortilla.
5. Heat pie iron over fire, turning frequently, until the tortilla is toasted and the cheese is melted.
6. Top with salsa and serve.

These breakfast sandwiches are filled with egg, cheese and sausage. You don’t pre-cook the egg, so it kind of coats the bread and tastes a bit like french toast. Yum.

Even this guy stopped by to beg for one. Sorry Mr. Squirrel, we don’t give handouts.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe over at Pocket Change Gourmet. Her recipe didn’t quite fit in our Original 1960’s design Rome Pie Iron, so I made a few changes.

Start by melting butter in a pre-warmed pie iron.

Place two slices of bread in the pie iron and squish down the middle of both slices to make room for the fillings. Pour egg into one of the slices of bread, being careful to not overfill it (I forgot to snap a photo of this step).

Cover the egg with a slice of cheese and put a sausage in the other side of the pie iron.

Cook over a fire, turning every few minutes until the egg is set and the cheese is melted. Enjoy with a mug of hot coffee!

Pie Iron Breakfast Sandwiches
Makes 6, Vegetarian (or not)

Ingredients

• butter
• 12 slices sandwich bread
• 4 eggs
• 6 defrosted vegetarian sausages (or pre-cooked sausages)
• 6 slices sharp cheddar

Supplies

• pie iron
• bowl
• fork
• butter knife

Directions

1. Preheat pie iron over fire.
2. Meanwhile, lightly beat eggs.
3. Coat inside of the pie iron with butter.
4. Fill both sides of pie iron with bread. Squish down the middle of the bread to make room for the filling.
5. Pour egg into the indentation in one of the slices of bread. Do not overfill. Top egg with cheese. Put sausage on other slice of bread.
6. Close pie iron. Cook over fire, turning frequently, until the egg is set and the cheese is melted.

Our Place

115 Cricket Hollow Road, Cosby, TN 37722 (on 321)

Blink and you’ll miss it, but Our Place is definitely worth turning around for.

We stopped in for some coffee and books.

So many books! The selection was amazing. We bought a few field guides, a cookbook and some beautiful note cards from a local artist. It’s definitely worth a look around while you sip your coffee.

The Front Porch Restaurant

2912 Cosby Highway, Cosby, TN 37722

The owner of Our Place told us to stop into The Front Porch Restaurant for some great southern cooking. We decided to head over there on a Saturday night to hear the live music ( from 6-9 on Saturday nights).  After a long hike we were starving, and all the food was delicious.

I really liked their fried green tomatoes and Billy especially liked the cornbread. He said the cornbread was the best he’d ever had (sorry mom). We finished the meal off with some delicious pecan pie. We ordered a ton of food and our meal was only $30.

One woman we ran into said the restaurant sent food to her home when she was home bound for a period of time. Gotta love that.

The Front Porch Restaurant is a BYOB, so don’t forget to pick up a beer on the way there.

Cosby Campground

471 Cosby Park Rd, Cosby, TN

We camped in the beautiful but little-used Cosby Campground in Smoky Mountain National Park. I’ve heard that it’s a lot less busy than other campgrounds in the park, but I don’t know for sure because there was so much traffic on the road to Cade’s cove that we turned around! You can read my review of Cosby Campground here.

Hiking 

There are three hikes nearby that I really liked. All of them start at Cosby Campground. You can see where each of these trails start on this map.

Hen Wallow Falls (4.4 miles roundtrip)

I really enjoyed this moderate hike through the forest and up to the falls.

Take Gabes Mountain Trail and watch for signs for Hen Wallow falls. More information here.

Sutton Ridge Overlook (3 miles roundtrip)

We took this short hike on the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail to a beautiful overlook.

{Sutton Ridge Overlook just before sunset}

To get to the overlook, hike for 1.4 miles on the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail. Turn right at the spur to hike up to the overlook.

Self Guided Nature Hike (1 mile round trip)

We went on the self guiding nature hike our last afternoon in Tennessee. It’s only a mile, but the guide (50 cents) was interesting and well written.

I will return, hopefully soon.

It was dark when we arrived at the campground. We selected site B67. It is located in the back of loop B (Cosby Campground map). These sites are among the best in the campground. They are elevated from the road and surrounded by woods.  The entire campground is wooded, but there isn’t a lot of undergrowth, so the sites are only semi-private. Each site has a picnic table, a fire ring with a nice cooking grate and a flat, crushed gravel pad for your tent.

We had just arrived and I was rolling out our sleeping pads in the tent when someone from a couple of sites over came over and told Billy that there was a bear nearby. She shined her flashlight into the woods and the bear was 20 feet from our tent – the tent that I was inside! I got out of the tent barefoot and walked quickly toward the car, not even bothering to zip the tent shut. Moments later the bear stuck his head inside our tent! He then circled around the tent and then slowly walked away. Our hearts still pounding, we drove over to the camp host’s trailer to let her know about the bear.

Our bear encounter was the talk of the town the following day. When we went to buy firewood, the shop owner exclaimed “that was you!?” We saw a couple more bears during our stay at Cosby, but we were careful not to leave food out so we didn’t run into any problems.

Cosby campground is very beautiful. It’s a clean and well maintained campground, including the bathrooms. The bathrooms don’t have soap, so don’t forget to bring some from home.

{us after five days, no showers}

There aren’t any showers at Cosby. I’m fine with not showering for five days, but if you are desperate for a shower, you can take one for $5 in the town of Cosby.

There are lots of hikes of varying difficulty that start at Cosby campground. We especially enjoyed the hike to Hen Wallow Falls and the self-guiding nature trail. Hiking and other things to do in the Cosby area >

Location: 471 Cosby Park Rd, Cosby, TN
Reservations: Only a handful of sites are reservable online. Most sites are first come, first serve. With the exception of holiday weekends, you should have no problem finding a site.
Camping fees: $14/night

Have you visited the Smoky Mountains? Where did you stay?