We’re Moving (the Blog)

Dear glampers,

 

We’ve been pretty quiet here in the last year or so, but life is not so quiet.  Since our move from Oklahoma to Illinois, we’ve been glamping a-plenty but have struggled to balance this blog with other endeavors of life.  But we miss you and this fabulous glamper community.  So we’ve decided to simplify: we are integrating this blog into our photography website.  Look for us at: https://happyglampersphotography.net/blog/

 

I’m sure you’ve picked up Laura’s obsession with taking photos.  Well, our little photography business is in its second year of operations and helps support our glamping habit.  We hope that sharing our silliness in one place will be fun for glampers and photo minded folks.  After all, glamping is a science and an art.

 

So come on over, and join us at our new address.  We love to hear from you and hope you all have some awesome glamp-cations planned for this year.

 

Cheers,

Laura & TJ

 

Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer
solo camping airstream

Bachelor Glamping: She took the kids and the dogs… Now it’s just me and the camper

“How on earth is this going to work?” I asked myself. We had just received the orders for our most recent military move, and it had presented us with one hell of a planning challenge. Military moves are always tough… de-conflicting all the checklists, appointments, and inspections is a little bit like solving a Rubik’s Cube in the dark.  Underwater.  While on fire.  Luckily, after half a dozen moves, Laura and I have a pretty good system.  This move, though… this move really gave us a run for our money. In short, we were going to have to be totally moved into one house before we could officially leave the old one, in different states, across the country.  Solution?  Glamping, of course!!

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer

Glampsgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, glampers!

This time of year I spend a lot of time wiping tears from my eyes.  The crisp smell of the air alone will cause me to cry.  The girls think I’m crazy, and TJ always laughs a little as he pulls out a hanky for me, but I can’t help it, its all too wonderful!  And there is just so much to be thankful for.  TJ and I are avid avoiders of the whole Black Friday nonsense and the immediate jump into Christmas as you clear the plates from the Thanksgiving table, so glamping with the best of friends for a long weekend outdoors was the perfect alternative.  Last year we started what we hope to be a semi-regular tradition: Glampsgiving.

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer
Timothy Egan Worst Hard Time S C Gwynne books for reading when camping in texas and oklahoma

Glamper Lit: Texoma

Dear glampers,

I think we’ve purchased each of these books at least three times because I keep slipping them into people hands before they can say no and I know I’ve forcibly suggested them to many more.  Yes, these books are that good.  And, I’m going to say it, and it may sound a little preachy here, but they are books that are important to read.  Each one tells the human experiences of this area.  Experiences that are so influenced by natural forces that it’s almost as if the Earth could be described as a central figure.

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer

Things My Daughters Taught Me About Life (While Camping)

Hello again, Glampers!

Not to take our little blog down an existential path, but I’ve recently come to a conclusion while glamping: the more Laura and I take our girls exploring outdoors, the more I realize they’re teaching us as much as we’re teaching them. Somehow, kids seem to come pre-wired for an occasional bout of shockingly zen-like wisdom.  It’s like they’re little Buddhas, except in addition to the secrets to a centered, tranquil life, they can also recite an unnatural amount of My Little Pony trivia.  In just a few years of Glamping, these pint-sized philosophers have unwittingly bestowed upon me dozens of surprisingly astute observations.  Here are the top seven things my daughters have taught me while camping… hopefully they’ll be helpful on your journey to Glamping adventure!

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer
Palo Duro Canyon State Park Camping

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Do you ever get so tired of looking at the same walls day in and day out that you just pull out your camper and bring along every bell and whistle just so you feel like maybe you fulfilled the promise of that tiny house board you’ve been cultivating on Pinterest which you know will never really happen but at least you could feel like you live in a photoshoot at some romantic locale just for that one weekend?  (Because really, that is tiny! I mean, where do you store the waffle iron? But… but it’s so cute! and really… I am a minimalist, right? Right?)  Of course you do, you are a glamper!  And that’s just what we did at Palo Duro Canyon.

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer
Camping in southwest oklahoma

Every Rose Has its Thorns: Quartz Mountain Nature Park

Ah… spring has arrived in southwest Oklahoma.  And it’s only sticking around for 2 weeks!  So ready, set, glamp!

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer

The Cold Front

Dear glampers,

We knew heading into this trip the weather would change.  It was our youngest’s birthday wish to spend her birthday camping in Honeysuckle Manor.  This trip would take place in the middle of the week and all reports predicted that the 80 degree weather we’d been enjoying into November would be pushed out with a front coming through that night–one that would leave the next morning’s high at just about freezing.  But who could resist one more chance to camp before the bustle of the holiday season was upon us?  I’ll never forget this trip, because it was the last we would have with Blue.

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer

Wichita Mountain National Wildlife Refuge

Greetings Glampers!

As we all hunker down and await the peak of winter, now is the perfect time to start daydreaming of Springtime Glamping!  Naturally, Laura and I initially think big.  Grand Canyon?  Yellowstone?  Badlands?  So many choices!  But for us, our go-to first camp of the season is our local favorite, the Wichita Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer

Accidental Boondocking

Happy 2015, glampers!

 

We thought it might be silly to kick off the year with our tale of…. The Accidental Boondock (queue campy horror music).

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Posted by Laura Shanks

Photographer | Dreamer | Airstreamer
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