How did you camp before your Fiberglass RV?

[Harvey]

I'm 76, wife is 80; we've been camping for most of our 56yrs married life. Actually, I started as a teenager. Friends & I would go down to our local river, usually took a bale of hay, kicked it apart, threw a tarp over it, laid quilts or blankets over that, & it was 'camp'. We had a favorite area with a huge sycamore tree growing at an angle out of a bank. We'd build our fire in front of the tree which would reflect heat & light. Had no camping equipment, finally collected a coleman lantern & 'white gas' stove & thought we were living high!
When we married, wife (Hopi Indian from northern AZ) had never been camping. Our first camping trip in OK in early 1960s we camped out of our car with a tarp stretched from the top of doors & pegged down for shelter from nighttime dew. We had 2 young sons & had a great time, weather was nice, caught fish, few if any bugs; she was 'hooked' . We've been camping in one kind of rig or another ever since. Our sons grew up camping so they, their kids'n grandkids think that's the only proper kind of recreation. We've owned rigs from tents to truck campers to 5th wheel trailers & enjoyed 'em all during different periods. Currently in addition to the Casita we have a homebuilt teardrop trailer, a Scamp 13, & an 8' Starcraft pop-up trailer which is being replaced by a pop-up truck camper (my hunting/fishing rig). We still use 'em all depending on our mood & the camping type. I've also done a lot of camping (hunting & fishing) out of a 'shell' on the back of my truck. Gettin' too old for that anymore... We plan to continue camping as long as our health holds up, just getting 'wimpy' in old age & like a little more comfort .

[Bob in Mb]

Early 70's was a tent. Moved on to a very tiny truck camper (did not go above the cab). Then a tent trailer -- we lost our interest in that after the mice liked it better. Then a bigger truck camper. After that, we purchased a cottage. Got a new tent and did bit of tent camping over the next few years but not much. In retirement, we purchased an old Palomino truck camper that fit on our Ford Ranger. It had a crank up roof so it was low when driving and lots of headroom when the roof was up. The canvas also made good air circulation. We took it from one end of Canada to the other and from the Yukon/NWT to South Dakota. Loved every bit of it and where we took it. (Now it is camping with someone else.)

Came upon a Surf-Side on a vacant lot with a for sale sign on it. It seems very large compared to the Palomino and we like that we can take the truck and go site seeing or shopping without having to take the whole unit.


Thanks for asking us to look back. It has been a fun 45 years, when we think back on it.

[wwig]

Started in the back yard. Joined my local Boy Scout troop which was a very active troop. We even went winter camping in tents with no floors and the door consisted of two flaps of canvas tied together with 3 or 4 sets of canvas ties. Went cross-country with my best friend in in 1977 at the age of 25, always loved camping but knew on that trip it would be something I'd do the rest of my life. Went tent camping with my future wife in the White Mtns Memorial Day weekend 1984 and it poured for 3 straight days, resulting in heavy flooding back home in CT. We decided then it was time to at least get off the ground and bought a 1984 Rockwood 906. Camped all over the Eastern United States with our 3 kids in that pop-up, my daughter the youngest made me promise I wouldn't trade it in or sell it but give it to her when I was done with it. Picked up our Casita in September 2014 and the pop-up began a new life with my daughter Lauren.

[mweichel]

I've camped under the bed of my pickup, in hammocks in Central America, and under lean-to's in the Andes. A lot of two and three person backpacking tents in the Mountains of BC and Alberta and along the West Coast Trail. Family camping was always done with a big 8 person hexagon tent for the four of us. The wife got the queen airbed and I slept on the ground in front of the door with the dog. Moved to a small tent trailer and finally to my Escape 17B. Much better as it is so much easier to pack along and consume nice, cold beer.

[Carl V]

As kids, our parents had a 1973 Travel Mate popup. We were going camping every other weekends, mostly boondocking in the wild, driving up forest roads in northern QC, fishing trips. I kinda miss that today...

We also used to go camping in the winter. We'd go for some miles in snowmobile, and Dad had this old WWII vintage tent he would set up, with a small wood stove and beds and everything. We'd spend a few nights and come back. Me and my brothers were like 12-13 years old.

Me and my wife started with a small pop tent. Then when our daughter arrived, we bought our Coleman popup. We toured most of eastern Canada and eastern USA down to NC with it. Favorite spot ever: Acadia NP!

Now our daughter is 18 and not following Mon and Dad anymore, so last summer we bought our '81 Trillium. I figure renovating the Trillium will take a couple years, in the meantime we still have the popup if we need our camping dose.

Last year I went winter camping with my Dad again. We had a great time! Same old vintage tent, wood stove, good winter sleeping bags, we had a blast! Dad was 79, still in good shape, and going winter camping was his idea! Needless to say I took a lot of pictures, and shot some footage, that you can see here if you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcH_r3CQQzw

[Pat Thomson]

Not a childhood camper. Started camping in 2001, when we went up to a campground where a friend was renting a cabin, started buying gear. First tent, the 'Pavilion', was about 130 sq. ft, had 3 wings, and when we set it up, we 'furnished' it - blow up mattress in each wing, table and chairs in the middle. That thing was Y shaped and needed at least a 15' wide site to put it up. Too much to set up in the dark, so we went to a Woods hub-type 8x8 pop up tent, very easy to put up, even just by headlights. In 2006 - had enough of the cold hard ground and leaking air mattresses - time for a trailer. My parents had a Boler, and we had a trial stay in it, liked it, and looked for a small fiberglass easy tow trailer of our own. Found the 79 Jubilee and the rest is history.

We do try to camp once a year in the Woods pop up tent, just to keep our hand in. Usually at Killbear Provincial Park, in early September - once we had to tie it to the picnic table to keep from being blown away!

[Elizabeth EWA]

My dad got the camping bug when I was about 12 or so. My brother, sister and I went through a series of tents...

When I was married, we went backpacking, tent camping, had a converted van, a pickup camper and finally a pop-up tent trailer. the pop-up trailer was the best but got sold as a result of the divorce.

I've been camping in tents for a few years now and decided that a small trailer would be nice but didn't want the work of setting up and taking town a tent trailer. I remembered seeing a Scamp once and then found this site.

I've been camping in my new-to-me trailer one night so far with another weekend trip planned for later this month....

[Jon in AZ]

Grew up family camping with a tent and tent trailer all over the US and Canada. Tenting and backpacking with Boy Scouts, backpacking and kayak touring as a young adult. Graduated to a series of different hand-me-down RVs- Jayco tent trailer, travel van, Toyota moho.

Then I got married. Ten-year hiatus. My wife was not a camper, and I learned to enjoy other modes of travel and exploration. But rising costs finally convinced my wife to try camping, which led to the Scamp. So here we are!

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

My dad scored 4 army sleeping bags from the Aleutian campaign, but he and my mother were not campers. We used those 8-9 lb eiderdown fill bags while spending weekends in an old unheated farmhouse on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. My parents were planning to build a weekend cottage to get away from DC and I loved going to that deserted old farm- especially in midwinter.

I have faint memories of a Bluebird/Campfire Girl/Girl Scout campout or two before my mother left home. After she left my dad would take me to Florida every December- 2-3 weeks in little old 10 unit motels and tourist homes. He believed in SADD before the rest of the world. His reaction to anything that was a problem was more sunshine and fresh air.

My first marriage was when I started to actually get into camping. My first few nights were in a sleeping bag with my 5-6 month old daughter in the Shenandoah Mountains/Blue Ridge area of VA- easy driving distance from DC . No tent at first. When DD was 2 I bought a Wenzel puptent for 1 and convinced my then-husband to come along with us. Shouldn't have bothered. He hated the bugs, the weather, the animals, wide open spaces, the lack of TVs and stereos (let me just comment here my family of origin did not get our first TV till I was 14. Everyone else we knew had TVs, but my parents were too busy working and taking classes to be interested in such a time waster. I had read through EVERYTHING in our local library by age 8)
When I remarried, to my best friend from college, he was open to trying camping. At the first campout we went to we rented a primitive cabin from the state of FL at Hontoon Island State Park. Bunk beds, wooden walls where the bunks were and then screen walls. It was a really great campout, even if I did forget my sleeping bag.
I joined the Palm Beach Pack and Paddle club the second year of our marriage, and became a life member of The Florida Trail Association the year after. Besides holding various chapter leadership positions, I also became a certified trip leader. At this time my DS had joined Cub Scouts and DH did most of parental stuff with Cubs, and I became a Girl Scout Leader for my DDs troop. My co-leader wound up embezzling all the cookie funds and DD hated the outdoors. That was the end of that.

The 4th year we were married I proposed that we should attend the 1985 Worlds Fair in New Orleans. I was appalled to see the costs of hotels, so we bought a 3-4 person pup tent and camped in a KOA in Slidell, LA. Co-incidentally, where my dad learnt jungle fighting back in WW2. The army was attempting to lay a false trail regarding the Aleutian campaign- after Slidell they were send to the Mojave Desert for training- to make it appear they would be sent to North Africa. We did enjoy the World's fair, and except for an exceptionally strong down draft that flattened the tent and turned into a tornado a bit further from us, the camping was good.

I wound up joining Boy Scouts when DS crossed over. There was never any problem with me camping with the youth. The older leaders were very encouraged that I cheerfully endured all KINDS of sticky situations. That first year we did a LOT of car camping and I was introduced to Eureka tents. The one camping trip that really stands out in my mind was at a regional park in Broward County. They only allowed camping for organized youth groups. They showed us where to pitch tents, and then locked up the park and went home. At 4 AM we were attacked by thundering herds of water sprinklers....I was heading for the Ranger station to get them turned off- they no could do. Meanwhile GFB mobilized everyone to dump the trash cans and upend them over the sprinkler heads. And adults had to sit on the upside down cans, to keep them from being shot off by the force of the water. But that was DH last camping trip with the Scouts.

Eventually the Boy Scout troop was down to 3 boys. I thought that was the end, but 2 Woodbadge trained Scouters decided their Woodbadge project would be to revitalize our troop. They looked a little stunned when I first met them and started talking up backpacking, but we took MLK weekend and did a backpacking trip along the West bank of the Kissimmee River. They were hooked and I was now Camping/High Adventure Assistant Scoutmaster. Edited to add- that backpack along the Kissimmee became an MLK weekend tradition.

We decided that we would go to Northern Tier High Adventure Canoe Base, which takes the youth out into wilderness for 2-3 weeks. As a prep, we did an overnight canoe trip on the Peace and Withalacoochee Rivers. And we did a 4 day canoe camping trip thru the Okeefenokee Swamp Thanksgiving weekend. My DS had dropped scouting at this time but I stayed in- the fathers, young men and I were just having too great a time! We stayed at military bases in GA and Key West, tubed the Ichetucknee and Rock Springs Run, camped in SP from Estero to FL Caverns- - in fact- I devoted 2 weekends of every month to scouting.

In 1997 we did the NT BWCA trip. In 1998 we did Manitoba, flying out on seaplanes to far distant lakes. In 1999 we did Atikokan. And in 2006 I was fortunate enough to be a provisional troop assistant scoutmaster for a return trip to Atikokan.

And no, DH did not do any of this with me. In fact, in 2006, he refused to go in late to work and drive me to the airport to catch the plane for Canada. I had to get to the airport on my own.

His criticism all the years I did FL Trail was it interfered with our time together. Same thing with Boy Scouts (by the time I was ready to step back I was a assistant district commissioner and head of the Training Team.) I had been giving lots of thought to my upcoming retirement 33 years as a nurse- 24 as a Hospice nurse. DH had not joined me on any camping trips for a long time..
In the winter of 2005 my grandson asked me to take him to Niagara Falls summer of 2006. I had to decline because I was already deeply engaged to this last Boy Scout trip, but I told him if he would wait till 2007 I would make it worth his while. I bought a tent that was bigger than my first apartment, took a month's LOA from my job, rented a van, and took him north with the spring.

DH did agree to come with us for a short week to NW Georgia, after I gave him all sorts of instructions on how to catch the Metro shuttles from the airport to our house. He is totally a child of the automotive age. And I, growing up in DC, believe in taking public transport and letting someone else deal with traffic headaches.

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

Had to post the prior message- weird things happening with dropping or doubling paragraphs. Anyway, we spent a short week in NW GA with the Cabbage Patch General Hospital and panning for gold and gems, then drove to the Atlanta Airport to send DH home.

I drove on to Bowling Green KY with the kids, where we toured caves for several days. Then to KY Horse Park and the Museum of the Horse and trail riding. Then toPittsburgh to spend a day at historic Kennywood amusement park- 3x cheaper than the Mouse. Then north to Eire, where the KOA gave us a tent site smaller than the Tent Mahal, so we switched to a KOA Kamping Kabin- several museum stops regarding War of 1812. Then N into NY and a final week at Niagara. IT was GREAT!

My health headed south in 2007 and it took a long time to be properly diagnosed. My doctor told me once in 2010 that he'd been afraid I would die and I said, Same here. Apparently I have a severely atypical asthma. I wound up working shortened days in 2009. Clinging to dreams of my retirement and the travelling I would do was the only thing that kept me going . I had folders full of stuff- packing lists- equipment lists- and I told DH I would be looking for a travel buddy. He started to say the same thing he always said, about how he would travel with me "sometime". I've heard it for 25 years, and told him "I don't know WHO you are telling that lie to, because I don't believe it. Seen too many people for whom "someday" never comes."

Then, I had a major auto accident. My multiple minor back injuries during my working life, and the respiratory distress from chronic vomiting, coalesced with the accident into a major life changing event, and it wasn't for the better.

I was out of work6 months and doing paperwork half time for 3 months. When I went back to full time nursing I realized my job was killing me. I've had it with people seeing me only as a paycheck. DH was too alarmed at the disruption to our standard of living to agree, at first, so I went to a per diem status. Altho the agency was using lots of per diem nurses, they punished me by not calling me for 3 months. At that time I had to take a reduced benefit from Social Security to helpcover our day to day life. I realized that with my bad back I would never do a long distance backpack and the motorcycle pop up trailer was beyond my strength too.

I started looking into trailers. First I thought teardrops. We started to accumulate cats, and I realized we needed more than a teardrop. I started researching "stick built" trailers. I was appalled at the poor use of space, and the poor construction, and the way trends in stickbuilts- ie slides- only open them up to more problems.

So as I am doing this DH is more and more insistent that he WILL travel with me. I dunno. We just got back from tubing the Ichetucknee and he confessed that the day we drove up and the day we tubed were very anxiety provoking for him, because he kept feeling like he should be doing something productive instead of wasting time. Well, we shall see. I ordered my Snoozy and hope we'll have the 1986(?) Chevy tug ready to tow by mid September.

Probably more than you wanted to hear. But there is how I came to a FG camper.

[Joe & Cherie]

My wife and I camped in the back of our 1999 2 door Tahoe for 8 years! It was an awesome setup! You removed the spare tire, folded down the rear seat, and blew up the full size air mattress! Tons of sleeping room and very little setup and tear down! If it rained - we were good to go! We also set up an ez-up and it sat right behind the Tahoe barely covering hatch. That Tahoe made a very comfy sleeping machine! It was 4x4 so it went anywhere. Sometimes when we went to a party and knew we may have a few too many beverages - we set the bed up before we left home. Climbed in back and good to go! I miss that 2 door Tahoe!!!

Here's a picture of it on the trip home from buying our Castia! It retired from sleeping duties when the Casita arrived. Now its moved on to a new owner.