New Camper

After many years in a pop-up, we finally made the jump to a bigger camper.  We had talked about buying something new but were very much in the "just looking" phase when we stumbled across a great deal.  Last Wednesday we became the proud owners of a 1994 31' foot Cobra Sierra.  The inside was completely customized by the last owner and we immediately fell in love with it.  The only requirements we had were a master bedroom, bunks for the kids and air conditioning.  :)  This camper met all of those requirements and had so much more to offer.

So here's the new camper story...

Friday night (the 11th) I was poking around online and found this listing on Ebay of all places.  Mind you, I was a little skeptical.  I mean, who buys a camper on Ebay?  Did some Mapquesting and found the location was within a few hundred miles (144 miles to be exact) of our house.  Did some sweet talking and on Sunday morning, Toby, my mom and I headed to Verona.  We left our house before 8:00 am because I had to be back to work at 2:00 pm.  As I said, it was love at first sight.  This camper was absolutely amazing and had everything we wanted.   We had it bought within 30 minutes.  As we only had my Mom's van with us, we arranged to pick it up the following Wednesday.  Tuesday was spent cleaning out the pop-up and loading everything into the Freestyle.  My car was so full, I'm not sure I could have fit an extra toothpick in there.

Wednesday rolled around and Rod, Dad and I left (again bright and early!) and arrived in Verona before 10:00 am.  This is the point where I might mention that Rod is a professional truck driver and WOW am I glad he is.  He did all of the backing up, hooking up, wrestling with wires, etc.  We were back on the road within an hour and headed for Clayton Hills Campground.  (As a side note, six hours in the truck with my Dad and Rod...pure comedy).

Again, thankful for Rod and his driving skills, we arrived at Clayton Hills and quickly got the camper pulled into our new spot.  All in all, set up took around an hour - including leveling and hooking everything up.  Rod and Dad did a few tweaks to the awning and to one of the jacks while I hauled (and hauled and hauled) totes into the new camper.

By Wednesday night, all was set up, everything was put away and we were enjoying our new camper.  The first night Emily, Nate, Hunter and I stayed.  Thursday night, I had to work until 10:30.  I swung by home, picked Hunter up and he and I stayed.  Friday night, Toby came up, Hunter went to an end of school party and Emily went to Nate's, so it was just Toby and I.  Saturday morning, I worked.  Toby and Hunter came up, so it was the three of us.  Sunday, we all came home, having spent an amazing weekend camping.

Highlights - a fish fry Friday night and several beanbag tournaments.

Loving my new camper and it's new (permanent) home.  :-)

A huge HUGE thank you to Ron from Verona.  He is one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

First Trip of 2012

Finally, FINALLY back to camping!

Hubby and I took the camper up Friday morning so we could attend our son's track meet Friday afternoon.  After much debate, we settled on the perfect spot - shady but not too much, close to the road but not on it, close to the bathrooms but not too close...you get the idea.  For the first pop up of the year, things went remarkably well.  We set up rather quickly, unloaded the groceries, then headed to the track meet.

Fast forward several hours and we're back at the campground!

This trip was interesting in that I had 4, count 'em, 4 teenagers with me.  Hubby decided to stay home this weekend, so it was my two children, daughter's boyfriend and son's friend.  My sister, her husband and my 7 week old niece camped with us and as always, my parents, aunts and uncles were across the way.  (They have permanent spots at the campground, my sister and I are weekenders).

Friday night we had a little rain, but nothing too traumatic.  They had predicted some pretty heavy storms but we didn't get much.  Just enough to chase us inside early.  Saturday night, we got to see a few glimpses of the Super Moon - very cool!  We played dominoes and beanbags, cooked some smores, talked a LOT and in general, had a very fun, VERY relaxing weekend.

On the menu:

Friday - brats, beans and chips.  Saturday morning - cereal, Saturday noon - maidrites, beans and chips (see a theme here?), Saturday night - chicken fajitas, Spanish rice (Cinco de Mayo!), Sunday breakfast - cereal and bagels, Sunday noon - leftovers

Things Forgotten: hose...seriously, towels...again, seriously (we typically shower at my Mom and Dad's, so somehow I completely forgot towels - no biggie, Mom had plenty), hand soap (I always seem to forget this)

Lessons Learned - camping with 4 teenagers takes some MAJOR organization.  Night one, we had clothes and bags everywhere.  Night two, we shoved everything under the dinette.

Things to Tackle/Mods - still working out some sort of clothing storage.  I've found a few ideas I might try but still definitely in the planning stages here.  Water heater - leaning towards a 30+ cup coffee pot.  Need to drill another hole in the door track to hang the new light.  Canvas repair - we unfolded the awning this weekend to find a rather sizable tear.  Fortunately, it's along the seam, not in the canvas itself.  Unfortunately, it's still a repair that needs to be made.  We also found a small hole in the bumper that will need to be patched.  New curtains - definitely not a "must" but something I would like.  I bought all new bedding (and pillows) for the camper this year (that actually stays in the camper) and I might do some curtains to match.  Also thinking about adding privacy curtains.  Again, with taking extra kids, being able to close a curtain would be a nice idea.  The privacy curtains were gone when we got the camper but the track is still there.  Nothing major.

Wish List: flat screen TV (yes I know there are people that cringe over TVs in a camper, but when you have kids and rainstorms, you quickly find a tv can be a sanity saver), more storage!  :-)

And finally...the view from my "bedroom" window - this is what makes it all worth it.

2012 Camping Season

After a break in camping (due to school and work schedules being insane!) we are once again ready for a new camping season.

Camper is cleaned out and ready to go, new bedding is washed and beds are made, mods are (partially) done...now we just have to wait until the first weekend in May and we are OUTTA here!

Maiden Trip - 2008

We took our first trip this weekend - FINALLY! Last year we had been at least 3 times by Memorial Day weekend. Had a little excitement - some major storms rolled through our area. In fact, there were several tornadoes and at least 6 fatalities. We were fortunate - neither our home nor where we were camping had anything major. We did see some marble sized hail though - a little daunting when you are in a camper!

Other than that - it was a very relaxing weekend. My sister and I had a new spot to camp in! Last year we camped across the way from my parents but there was no water or electricity handy. This year, to our surprise, new hookups were ready and waiting when we pulled in. MUCH handier! :)

On the menu:
Friday night - chicken fajitas, Saturday noon - brat patties, Saturday night - spaghetti and french bread, Sunday morning - Pop Tarts, Sunday noon - pizza pockets, Sunday night - leftovers!, Monday morning - baggie omelets.

I also did something I swore I wouldn't do - took a TV and DVD player camping. Last year we brought the portable DVD player in from the car a time or two but never had to make room for a TV. I decided it would be nice if we got bad weather and MAN was I right on that one! We also got a toaster oven which came in very handy when we had spaghetti. Of course Saturday morning found me fashioning a TV stand out of scrap wood. I wound up moving the fridge on top of the end table, putting the DVD player on top of the fridge and setting the new stand over the DVD player. Worked out quite nicely! I'll have to take pictures on our next trip out. Forgot the camera at home this weekend.

Things forgot: Kleenex, cooking spray, dish soap and hand soap. Nothing too traumatic. Borrowed dish soap from my Mom and sister and found a bar of soap in the toiletries kit that worked almost as good as liquid hand soap (which I prefer because it doesn't leave a gloppy mess on the counter top).

And finally - Hunter proved himself to be an AMAZING helper! The two of us put the camper down at home, set it up at the campground and put it back down again. We actually have it down to somewhat of a science!

Soooo Ready

I am ready ready ready to go camping but the weather just isn't cooperating. We were going to try to go this weekend but it's supposed to be cold and rainy...yuck! Given the fact that it's rained for weeks on end and the ground is already muddy, it doesn't sound like much fun.

Next weekend we have a graduation reception 4 hours away, so that's out. Looks like Memorial Day will be our first weekend out!

Eep!

Funny how I went the whole summer without updating this anymore...Guess we got so busy camping, I didn't have time to write about it!

In all, we camped 15 nights in 2007. Shooting for many more in 2008! We spent time at Clayton Hills, Backbone and Vinton. Our final trip for the year was Boomtown USA - a fireworks show and campout in Vinton, Iowa. The show was AMAZING and the weather was just right.

Memorial Day!

Our family enjoyed another great weekend of camping over Memorial Day (and who doesn't love those extended weekends!)

After some initial confusion as to where our campsite was, we got setup fairly quickly. My sister camped with us and it was her first time setting up her new camper, so we helped her out some. Nothing major - just working out some kinks. We discovered early on that our neighbors had FOUR dogs with them, but Cooper for the most part ignored them. We were pretty worried that we were going to have a weekend full of barking!

Friday night we completely and totally cheated - we ran into town for pizza! It was almost 8:00 by the time we got everything set-up and no one felt like cooking. I tell you what...it was delicious!

Saturday, we woke up to cloudy skies. We got a little rain off and on during the day, but nothing unbearable. We did make a quick trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a grate for the fire ring. Unfortunately, Clayton Hills doesn't have grates over their fires and we like to do most of our cooking on the fire. We bought a $10.00 grill replacement grate and propped it up. It worked fairly good!

Saturday night brought karaoke! My sisters and I even wound up singing! (We had a little liquid courage in the form of some Busch Light). It was probably one of the more redneck events I have been to, but also one of the funner things I have participated in. My Dad and Uncle Rod sang (beautiful voices) and a lot of people sang that probably shouldn't have (my sisters and I most likely in that group.) I tell ya - if you have never sang karaoke while camping, you're missing out.

Merry and Sid (aunt and uncle from Texas) were camping this weekend. They left Sunday morning for the next leg of their journey. They are a retired couple that spent a few years traveling and have now settled in Texas. Was nice to see them again!

Sunday, we made our best score yet! The people across the way from us were selling their grilling system. We got the grill, post arm, carrying case and carrying tube for $30.00! Toby, Hunter and I went fishing and we used the new system to fry our fish for supper. It worked awesome! Emily went shopping with my sister Jessie. She just isn't into fishing!

Monday morning looked a little gray and rainy, so we decided to get around fairly early and come home. Can't wait for the next trip!

Menu:

Friday
supper - pizza!
Saturday
breakfast - cereal
lunch - hot dogs and brats
supper - chicken fajitas
Sunday
breakfast - pancakes and sausage
lunch - hot dogs and brats
supper - fresh fish
Monday
breakfast - whatever anyone scrounged up!

Mods Completed:

Moved the stacking shelves into the cupboard (put them side by side) and used them to stack dishes.
Bought a shelf for a $1.00 at a garage sale on the way home from Prairie. Put in on the counter top.
Hung a 3-tier basket from the door track.

I'll try to get pictures taken of these things and post them soon...
Also maybe some karaoke pictures. :)