Camping

Funny SD! We go camping and use a small pop up camper that fits in the bed of our pickup. I've seen a lot of huge RVs that have satellite dishes and lots of bells and whistles.....of course we just pass them up and get out into the back woods on dirt roads, away from people and do some real camping, enjoying the quiet outdoors. I'd hate to be limited to big main paved roads and lots with dozens of others surrounding. That to me would be a nightmare. (n)
 

I started tent camping in my early 30's. In Africa, I had a lion walk by my tent, some 20' away. Also, in another area, had a hippopotamus sniff my tent while I was inside, and his bristles pierced the tent fabric while he was doing so. Both of these incidents happened in the wee hours of the night.

Back in the States, I camped all over the place, in areas where I had to hack my way in. Usually, I rode my motorcycle to the clearings, and then took it from there, on foot. I liked solo camping.

Later, during my second marriage, I discovered the pleasures of RV'ing. With the kids, we became an RV family. As I type this, one daughter is out in her new RV, with her family. The other daughter honeymooned in her RV, at a great state park.

Janet hates tent camping, so I hitch up the RV whenever we are taking to the road.
 
HAHA. That's the only camping I would do now.
When I was younger, I did real camping with a group - we slept in caves, etc. Not any more.

We have always done a lot of boondocking but one time in our bus, we were forced to stay a couple of days at some KOA in Minnesota. (had to fix the air brake lines). Now, our bus was 40 ft and we thought we were pretty large. However, all of a sudden the windows got dark and I looked out to see this monster, tall, motor coach parking next to us. (It was a 45 ft coach with 3 airs, and a 28 ft enclosed trailer). I watched it park and then, saw the self levelers come down, and the 3 slides come out, and then, he came outside and plugged it in and next, (I'm not lying, he had a remote that popped open his poop compartment and out popped the hose)o_O. Of course, he had to manually hook the hose. (guess he didn't have a butler) ;). Parked next to us like he was, I was able to see inside his rig. He got back in, sat down in front of a fold down flat screen tv and cranked up the air conditioners. For the 3 days that we were there, I only once saw him outside. Struck up a conversation with him and he told me that his idea or roughing it meant the campground had no cable. :ROFLMAO: (pre wifi days).
 
Especially when it rained. With a wet dog.
One time we were camping and had our sweet little Schnoodle with us. Unfortunately, she had bad epilepsy and getting upset could trigger an attack.

It was cold and the raccoons came around in the middle of the night to raid the ice chest. She was giving them hell and I took her into my sleeping bag to calm her down. The excitement brought on an attack and I was sharing my sleeping bag with frothing thrashing dog and copious dog pee and poop. It was a long night with showers for the two of us, a malodorous sleeping bag wadded up as far from the tent as possible and two people and a dog sleeping in one bag.

And anybody wonders why I prefer a camper?
 
One time we were camping and had our sweet little Schnoodle with us. Unfortunately, she had bad epilepsy and getting upset could trigger an attack.

It was cold and the raccoons came around in the middle of the night to raid the ice chest. She was giving them hell and I took her into my sleeping bag to calm her down. The excitement brought on an attack and I was sharing my sleeping bag with frothing thrashing dog and copious dog pee and poop. It was a long night with showers for the two of us, a malodorous sleeping bag wadded up as far from the tent as possible and two people and a dog sleeping in one bag.

And anybody wonders why I prefer a camper?
That was bad. Very bad...the poor doggie, too.
 
Been some years now since I camped out, loved hauling myself out into the woods. Best time ever was a buddy and I hiked in , put a camp together by nightfall. Just before dawn fish jumping woke us up. We carried back out most of our food 5 days later. Those trailers are looking a bit better. BUT not as good as walking to the lake and getting a fresh trout for supper in the house. LOL
Sleeping on the ground or whatever..not for me now.
 
We started tenting in 1968 till the girls reached there teens, then on to a pop-up, then a trail manor. We finally got a 5th wheel then in 2010 we got a motor home, we really hated that we couldn’t go to state parks, we thought about getting a small 5th wheel but things changed, but for 20 years we traveled every summer n had the best time of our life!
 
I started off with a tent and a motorbike, but now I like a bit of comfort.
Roads in many parts of the UK aren't really suitable for large vehicles, but this doesn't stop some people driving large RVs on them. Vans in the UK do seem to be getting larger and full of gadgets that are deemed "essential".
On the other hand there are lots of people with small vans, not much bigger than a family car. I fall somewhere in the middle with a van 5mtrs (16' 6") long, but it's comfortable and well enough equipped for me.
 
I did my time in tents. Now, it's comfort I want for these old bones. After a day out hiking, I like to stretch out on a couch, crank up the air and watch some TV. I'll gladly cede the tent spots to the young'uns and wallow in our 39' fiver.
Like you, I'm soooo over tent camping - no matter how many pads I put under a sleeping bag, the ground still puts me in mind of The Princess and the Pea. And speaking of pee.... My days of grabbing a roll of TP and heading for the woods or outhouse are in my rear view mirror.

We love our 32' fiver. Very comfy king sized bed, flush toilet, nice shower, stove, fridge and TVs. (Only the BR TV ever gets turned on and we don't bother with cable hookups. DH watches DVDs of old sitcoms like WKRP, Bob Newhart, etc., and drifts off to them.)
 


Back
Top