We have gone a lot of places with our baby (from Texas). When she was 6 months, we flew up to Boston and road tripped around New England. We played in the snow, went sledding, it was cool. When she was 9 months old, we went to Vail where it was more of the same with playing in snow. 10 months old, she went to Florida, where she ate a lot of sand and charged towards the ocean repeatedly. Next month, at 13 months old, we are going to Seattle and Alaska with her.
It is definitely more work with a little one, but also a lot cooler to experience stuff with her for the first time. More work, but more rewarding. We tossed around the idea of camping, but it did not work out for other reasons. Otherwise, we wouldn't have too much of an issue at least attempting to camp with her.
We have not brought a stroller on any of the trips as it just seems like too much of a hassle. Car seat/stroller, blah blah too much. we bring the car seat, and a sweet thing to attach it to so it rolls through the airport and we check it at the terminal. Then when we get to the destination we either carry her, or wear her.
Note: Our 1 year old can have 40 toys in front of her and will crawl 30 feet to eat a penny she sees on the ground, I feel your pain there.
Good luck!