Maintenance & Restoration

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 07:23 PM

It was our first trip in the scamp, and wow, was it great!

We are a family of 6. The Scamp got us and our stuff to where we needed to be. 3 would sleep in the scamp and 3 in a tent. For us, it worked perfectly.

We traveled 4,500 miles from Grand Rapids area MI to Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab, Valley of the Gods, Gooseneck State Park, Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, Dinosaur Tracks (Tuba City, AZ), Marble Canyon, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Escalante (Kiva Koffeehouse!!!), Goblin Valley State Park, and home!

We are in love. We are in love with the Scamp. We are in love with seeing these great states with our fiberglass egg. We are in love with being together in such tight confines and wide open spaces.

Here are some shots of our beautiful little ol' scamp at a few of these locations.

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 07:36 PM

and here are some more pics...

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 07:39 PM

and more still...

TomK · 08-01-2014, 07:42 PM

Wow David! Nice! AZ and UT are tops on our list of places to go Scamping. Hard to believe I've been to 39 States, but not those. Those memories will be with you all your life. What an adventure! How many days did it take?

Tom

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 07:49 PM

15 days Tom. It was a blitz. We are now ready to go back and spend some real time in just a few of those places.

sarahspins · 08-01-2014, 07:50 PM

Great shots! Did you split between the van and camper to sleep 6, or did you end up setting up a tent? I plan on accommodating our family of 5 in our 13' scamp by using a tent to contain the overflow, but I'm curious how others manage

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 08:15 PM

Sarah, 3 in the scamp and 3 in the tent. I was in the tent with 2 kids. My wife was in the scamp with 2 more. It turned into a running joke as I spent all those hours rehabbing the scamp and then never even slept in it on our trip. Oh well. We all loved the trip and that made it a winning combo for me!

sarahspins · 08-01-2014, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMScampers

We all loved the trip and that made it a winning combo for me!

When it comes right down to it, that's all that really matters

TomK · 08-01-2014, 08:50 PM

That was a blitz David. I bet the kids are anxious to go back. I grew up in MI and I'll never forget my first trip west. The scenery blew me away. So different than east of the Mississippi. It was hard to believe this was all in one country. If you can't find some area that trips your trigger here, there's no hope for you. (IMO) If you haven't been to Yellowstone, I highly recommend trying that area out sometime. Thanks for all the pictures. That really gets me going.

Tom

melissab · 08-01-2014, 09:34 PM

Thanks for Sharing David! That trip is on my To Do List for sure! How did you manage without A/C and in a tent with temps over 100 degrees out West?? What kind of mileage did you get with your Oddy?

Paul O. · 08-01-2014, 09:41 PM

Goblin Valley! That is one of those out-of-the-way gems. We were taken by its charm when we camped there a couple of years ago, our last trip tenting. Now it is scamping (the rocks got too hard for us after all those years).
Paul

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 10:05 PM

Melissa, we were there in early June. The warmest night we had was in the 50's or 60's. Our coldest nights were down to 37 deg. Bottom line: we were blessed with incredible weather!

Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

DaMScampers · 08-01-2014, 10:06 PM

Paul, Goblin Valley was incredible. We hiked the hoodoos. We hikes Little Wild Horse Canyon next door. We LOVED highway 12 that brought us nearly all the way in from Bryce. That is the most scenic drive of my life!

Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

Chillywilly · 08-01-2014, 10:43 PM

Beautiful pics. Now, that's a vacation to remember. Now that is a 13 footer right? Thanks for sharing the pics, too!

sarahspins · 08-01-2014, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissab

How did you manage without A/C and in a tent with temps over 100 degrees out West?? What kind of mileage did you get with your Oddy?

I've done most of these in a tent (both as a kid and as an adult), and I remember being quite COLD at night for most of them.

There are two things working in your favor, most of those locations are at higher altitude (which automatically makes it cooler at night), and the dry desert climate cools down rapidly at night - and often by 40-50 degrees from the daytime high. So you can have 100 degree days and 60 degree nights (or on milder days, 80 degree highs and near freezing or below at night), and unlike somewhere at lower altitude where it's humid, temps really drop rapidly after the sun goes down.

Borrego Dave · 08-02-2014, 03:13 AM

David, had to laugh about you doing all the rehab and not getting to sleep in it. Guess it's just what Dads do, my Dad fixed things for me and I fixed things for my kids. It's just what we do

. They will remember it with fond memories.

Jack L · 08-02-2014, 10:26 AM

Thanks for sharing. Utah and Arizona are incredible places to visit. I've made 2 trips there in the last 2 years and still have to go back to see the things I missed. Zion was my favorite. The best of the best !

Evergreengirl · 08-02-2014, 11:33 PM

Thanks for sharing pictures from your trip. Those are all incredible places, many of which we've seen. Your trip report made me want to get back to them!