On our second trip of the summer, my wife and I took the camper to Ludington State Park on the shores of Lake Michigan. We went to this campground last June, and vowed to return. For this blog post I am going to tell a bit about some cool new things we added or replaced on our camper for 2013.

The awning. This one is a replacement. Last year I made a rookie mistake. Despite my 30 or so years of putting up dining flies, tarps and awnings, I forgot one important thing. Always have the awning on an angle so rainwater can run off. I paid dearly with a catastrophic collapse of my main awning last July.

This spring we added a new awning, which is also easier to set up. As you can see, I have it tilted to let the rain run.

Trash bag holder. We found this item at the camping and RV show in February. It is a metal bracket for holding a 13 gallon trash can to the side of our folding table. You can buy them at www.trash-ease.com

I like the idea of the bag being handy, but I didn’t correctly guess at the thickness of our table, so it hangs a bit lower than I’d like. Still, it works and helps us keep the site tidy

A mat for under the awning. Our sons bought us the mat for Christmas. It is available at Walmart. In Michigan, most campgrounds are very sandy, so even on the driest days we are constantly tracking sand into the camper. With this mat  in place, we can thoroughly wipe our feet. It also gives us a dry landing area on rainy days.

The mat itself is 9’ x 12’, and is folded under in this picture.

A sippy cup for adults. I think this little item is going to be a hit this summer as we camp with friends. It is a lightweight, plastic tumbler with a lid. The insides have been cut to resemble a wine glass. Perfect for taking your wine to the campfire without the worry of breaking a glass.

I first read about it on the Fox News website during the Christmas Shopping season. Because of being featured there, they were sold out for a couple of months. I was finally able to purchase a set of 4 in March, and my wife used it for the first time on this trip.

It’s called “Vino2Go” and is sold by a company called The Product Farm (www.theproductfarm.com). While prepping this article I went to their site and learned that they now have two sizes of wine cups, and have added a product called “Brew2Go” for the discerning beer drinker.

I am not trying to be a commercial for this company, I just happen to think the product is pretty cool, and some of you might enjoy it. If you visit our campsite, we’ll be sure to serve you up an adult sippy cup of wine!