We're just back from our first camping trip in our new camper. We went to Pickwick Landing State Park for a long weekend. Except for short road trips to sight-see in the nearby towns, we did absolutely nothing. It was great.
Pickwick is only 120 miles or so from our home, but we'd never been there, and we didn't want to venture too far away since we'd never towed the camper except the day we brought it home from the dealership. It's a good bit longer, taller, and heavier than our old TrailManor camper. A two-hour drive was the perfect distance for the new camper's maiden voyage.
The TrailManor was sort of a pop-up camper, except that the pop-up sections were surrounded by metal/fiberglass instead of canvas/screens. It was a good old camper, and we've hauled it all over the southeastern States, but there were a few things about it that we did not like. Joel did not like the beds, which were located in the pop-up sections and were waist-high from the floor. The larger bed was abutted on one end by a closet, and on the other end by a bathroom, leaving a narrow hallway space from which to access the bed. Putting sheets on the bed in those tight quarters was a pain. And since the length of the bed was perpendicular to the hallway, the sleeper on the inside of the bed had to first crawl over the sleeper on the outside of the bed, aim for the narrow hallway, then turn around and back out into the hallway while feeling for the floor (which was a l-o-n-g way down) with one foot. Joel said we're getting too old to risk crushed kidneys and broken legs trying to get out of this bed in the dark. I did not particularly mind this set-up, but then I always slept on the outside edge of the bed and didn't have to crawl over anybody to get out.
What I hated about the TrailManor was the "recirculating" toilet. We bought this camper used (dragged it home all the way from Austin, Texas), and if the seller mentioned that the toilet was a recirculating toilet, I either missed it or did not realize was a recirculating toilet was. What it is, is nasty. I guess it's perfect for deep woods camping where there is no continuous water supply, but the fact that it conserves water by recirculating it means that after the first whizz or two, the water begins to get stinky. After a #2, the water turns brown and emits exactly the smell you'd expect from #2 brown water. During our first trip in that camper, we began limiting toilet use to middle-of-the-night awakenings to avoid hikes to park bathhouses in the dark. But on our last camping trip, as I was coming back from the bathhouse in a cold, early morning drizzle, I said to myself, "I have a camper with a bathroom in it. What is wrong with this picture?"
So we started thinking about a new camper, one better suited to old age and potty convenience. Joel's bed requirement - a bed that was accessible from three sides - pretty much eliminated pop-up style campers. My must-have list included a regular toilet, but I also wanted a camper that was comfortable on the inside. We typically do not spend much time inside our campers - after all, what's the point of going camping if you're going to spend all of your time indoors? - but at night, when the weather is bad or the mosquitoes are ferocious, it's nice to come inside, shower off the campfire smell, and relax with a book before bed. The TrailManor had two couches, both of which were as hard and narrow as old-time church pews. I wanted a soft sofa, and a couple of comfy chairs.
Joel did a lot of internet surfing, shopping for the right camper. When we went to Eureka Springs a few months ago, we did a day trip to a camper store and toured a few models. The camper that Joel wanted was about 24 feet long, had bunk beds at one end, and a love seat that was jammed up against a half-wall that separated the "bedroom" from the rest of the camper. I could imagine climbing out of bed and flipping head-first over that half-wall trying to get to the bathroom in the dark. Standing in front of the bunk beds, I imagined trying to get sheets on the mattresses in the bunk recesses. It didn't look easy.
The camper I liked best was 27 feet long, with a slide-out section, a nice bathroom, two comfy chairs, and a comfy sofa. Joel said this camper was just too big, that he wouldn't feel comfortable towing something that long.
Joel kept surfing, and kept forwarding me pictures of smaller campers. I couldn't imagine being comfortable in them. Finally, one night I said, "You know, considering that we only go camping once or twice a year these days, and considering that the TrailManor is paid for, we should just deal with the bed and the toilet, and just keep it."
Pretty soon, Joel started forwarding pictures of bigger, nicer campers. ;)
Thinking that it might rain during this trip, I took my sewing machine and had plenty space to work in when we came inside for the night, while Joel lounged on the comfy furniture, surfing with his i-Pad. As our younger son said when we bought our first air-conditioned pop-up after years of hot tents and sleeping bags, "Now, THIS is camping!" ;)
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