Dear Outdoor Dick:
The spring thaw is progressing nicely out here in southern Iowa and I'd like to take my twin boys Cale and Coyle for a little early camping trip - any tips?
Carl in Brown Mound, Iowa

Dear Carl
Brown Mound, wow! That's some of the best non-shell slugbait soil in the midwest! There's a perfect mix of rich loam and naturally seeping pig entrails that makes for some juicy slugs fish can't ever seem to resist! Grab 'em now, fresh off the thaw, and stick 'em in the fridge til good fishin' begins in early June. (Except don't let 'em touch any human food or you're headed to the emergency room with a pesky case of regurgitating emesis.) Okay, on to the question --

Early spring camping in the midwest is perhaps the least known yet most rewarding camping there is. A simple double-floored tent will keep mud and seepage to a minimum and allow you to really see nature regenerate itself - from the earliest maple leaf blooms to the first wild daffodil sprouts to the spring frolicking of young possums and prairie dogs.

I'd recommend a nice three-day weekend excursion for you and the boys. And while you should plan on bringing dried jerky and nuts and such as your main nutrition, by mid-April you can supplement it with the sweet, small early fruit off the Springberry bush, common as a tree stand buffer through most of the midwest. The springberry is the crimson cousin of the blueberry and those early berries, picked right off the naked twig, will positively melt in your mouth - nature's spring dessert! Note of caution, dad - a tiny white dot on the underside of the berry, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, is a sure sign of springberry blight, which can result in hallucinations that would make "Alien Vs. Predator" look like a Disney Channel series. You've got three hours to get professional medical attention or you're in trouble.

So, just bring the readin' glasses dad, and enjoy the fragrant blooming of the greatest farm country on earth!

Outdoor Dick