Ist camping trip in many years.

[Dennis Clinton]

Congratulations on the 'first' trip out. I made it out this week with my Scamp-first trip since purchase 2 years ago-had to do some renovation(new cabinet doors, elec, etc. This was the 'shakeout' trip'. Met my son and family in San Diego for 3 days. Trailer was great(they had a big tent). Pulled great too. But how did I forget mixing bowls?(pancake mix done in a pot-but it worked). I still need to recover the cushions-but everything worked great-and we had fun too.

[SherryNPaul]

Donna mentioned keeping a journal. I totally agree. Even brief notes are fun to look through, years later, and prompt so many memories. We have a shelf of "little books" with our entries.
Even better, I keep track of mileage on the trailer, tires, axle lubes, etc., in the trailer. It's amazing how the years (and miles) stack up so quickly.... Even more quickly as we get a little older.
Sherry

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by Dennis Clinton

Congratulations on the 'first' trip out. I made it out this week with my Scamp-first trip since purchase 2 years ago-had to do some renovation(new cabinet doors, elec, etc. This was the 'shakeout' trip'. Met my son and family in San Diego for 3 days. Trailer was great(they had a big tent). Pulled great too. But how did I forget mixing bowls?(pancake mix done in a pot-but it worked). I still need to recover the cushions-but everything worked great-and we had fun too.

Congratulations on your first, shakeout, trip. There will likely be things that you and we both will discover that we didn't think of. I didn't think of a journal or a mixing bowl. Two things to add!

Odd how we forget things that will be needed. We took the pups food, leashes, baggies to pick up after them, and outside cage, but forgot to take their food and water bowls. We made do. Fed them on paper plates and used a plastic ice cream bucket for water. Thankfully Ann had just decided to take the bucket in case it was needed.

Agreed that things seem to move faster as we mature.

Kip

[honda03842]

We've keep three journals, each distinctive in their function. The first is primarily for ourselves, a record of each campground we visit, noting length of stay, local features and cost, serving as a reference for future travels.

The second is primarily for others, an on line journal that we send out to friends and relatives with a few pictures and little stories of our adventures.

The third we've only used on our Labrador trip. On this trip we carried a SPOT. The SPOT sends your GPS location to others whenever you press a button. This allows people to instantly follow your position on Google. As well it links them to lots of 'Google pictures'. People loved it and the local high school used it for the basis of a computer lab course, tracking our trip while learning geography.

We had purchase the SPOT as a safety tool on our Labrador trip. It has a nother button that allows you to call for help.

Of course all these journals are triggers for travel memories. Our Journals now cover 10 years of tavel.

Norm

[Darrell O]

Originally Posted by DeeJ

We are going to be making our first camping trip in years too! We are set for the 15th, we will go for a couple of nights, first night, no hookups, we haven't decided which provincial park yet & then treating ourselves to a night at Westbay marina in Victoria.
It's so nerve wracking trying to think of all you might need or should you bother with, but don't want to take too much....

Hi Dee, only a handful of Provincial parks have winter camping - and it's surprising how few take advantage of it. We tried Goldstream a few weeks ago and the only other camper's site looked like it belonged to a hoarder; or it was there cache of stolen property.

After that we went to Westbay. Site 51 is small so it's often available. It's also not one of their premium sites but you can manually shoehorn a 13' at any angle. We pushed ours around until the front window framed the city and Harbour view. Nice to have afront window - and a back window= so many new trailers don't have either.

[DeeJ]

Originally Posted by Kip in Ga.

Have fun! And simple modifications to fit your lifestyle are important.

We took too much stuff. Like too many pillows. We removed 4 before these pictures were made. Also decided we don't need a table inside. Would rather have the floor space. Ann used the folding table to cook stuff on outside on a single electric eye. She used it inside when making sandwiches.

In this arrangement her permenant bed is 30" wide and goes across the back. Leaving enough room for a seat on either side for sitting at a table if we need to. My bed is permenant also and both can serve as sofas if the need should arise. The gate is to keep the pups from getting past us when the door is open. With the spring off, it folds against the bathroom door.

With the exception of the P-P sitting in the shower floor, the bathroom is storage for junk we don't need but can't bare to leave home without, YET! She put hanging shelves in the closet which leaves room for fishing rods, awning handles and other taller stuff and a few things on the closet floor.

It will likely take a couple of trips to figure out what you do and don't need. But have fun. There is always a store close by.

Kip

I didn't think it looked like too much, but I know what you mean about storing stuff you just don't need. Because we're right on the cusp of our towing capacity, I'm trying to pare things down to the basics. I think we're going to leave the bed set up & take down the upper bunk to give us space to sit. I'm going to take 2 extra pillows for the back, which we can use to sit in bed & read. Luckily I still have a lot of the stuff we used in the camper van, but I'm surprised now by how much more storage space it had that the trailer. Oh well...

Originally Posted by Darrell O

Hi Dee, only a handful of Provincial parks have winter camping - and it's surprising how few take advantage of it. We tried Goldstream a few weeks ago and the only other camper's site looked like it belonged to a hoarder; or it was there cache of stolen property.

After that we went to Westbay. Site 51 is small so it's often available. It's also not one of their premium sites but you can manually shoehorn a 13' at any angle. We pushed ours around until the front window framed the city and Harbour view. Nice to have afront window - and a back window= so many new trailers don't have either.

When we had our camper van, we always reserved site 51! As far as I'm concerned it is the best spot in Westbay! Not sure if we are going on the 15th now, but it will be soon.
I've been reading everyone's suggestions for things, I'm going to go look for a couple of small plastic mixing bowls today.
Any other campgrounds that you can recommend on the island, at the price of the ferry, I doubt we'll be taking her off island very often. Our little ferry is expensive enough.

[Darrell O]

Originally Posted by DeeJ

I didn't think it looked like too much, but I know what you mean about storing stuff you just don't need. Because we're right on the cusp of our towing capacity, I'm trying to pare things down to the basics. I think we're going to leave the bed set up & take down the upper bunk to give us space to sit. I'm going to take 2 extra pillows for the back, which we can use to sit in bed & read. Luckily I still have a lot of the stuff we used in the camper van, but I'm surprised now by how much more storage space it had that the trailer. Oh well...



When we had our camper van, we always reserved site 51! As far as I'm concerned it is the best spot in Westbay! Not sure if we are going on the 15th now, but it will be soon.
I've been reading everyone's suggestions for things, I'm going to go look for a couple of small plastic mixing bowls today.
Any other campgrounds that you can recommend on the island, at the price of the ferry, I doubt we'll be taking her off island very often. Our little ferry is expensive enough.

Dee, wow that Site 51 opinion is quite the coincidence. Funny how the internet has made the world bigger and smaller at the same time.

Anyhow, Rathtrevor Park is nice and attractive in the winter too, and attracts just enough fellow recreational campers to be comfortable. Just remember that there are no services in Provincial Parks until the season starts.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Miracle Beach campground and there were no campers - although it was open for winter camping. But we're glad we went a couple of more kilometers and found Saratoga Beach Resort, where we were able to site our trailer right next to the high tide line on the beach.

Whenever we can find a blank spot in the calendar for 3 nights away we plan to go to Gabriola and try Page's RV at Silva Bay. It looks pretty good from their website.

[DeeJ]

Originally Posted by Darrell O

Dee, wow that Site 51 opinion is quite the coincidence. Funny how the internet has made the world bigger and smaller at the same time.

Anyhow, Rathtrevor Park is nice and attractive in the winter too, and attracts just enough fellow recreational campers to be comfortable. Just remember that there are no services in Provincial Parks until the season starts.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Miracle Beach campground and there were no campers - although it was open for winter camping. But we're glad we went a couple of more kilometers and found Saratoga Beach Resort, where we were able to site our trailer right next to the high tide line on the beach.

Whenever we can find a blank spot in the calendar for 3 nights away we plan to go to Gabriola and try Page's RV at Silva Bay. It looks pretty good from their website.

I'll have to look up the Saratoga beach resort, that sounds great, right next to the beach!
I have never gone to look at Pages, but I know the Descanso Bay Regional Park looks really nice, we've gone for a walk down there a few times. If you come over & don't want to cook every night, we have a new restaurant, Woodfire pizza which is great & the Old A Frame is good for dinner.
It is funny about site 51! So it's you who's in there every time we couldn't get in there!!!

[DeeJ]

Originally Posted by Darrell O

Dee, wow that Site 51 opinion is quite the coincidence. Funny how the internet has made the world bigger and smaller at the same time.

Anyhow, Rathtrevor Park is nice and attractive in the winter too, and attracts just enough fellow recreational campers to be comfortable. Just remember that there are no services in Provincial Parks until the season starts.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Miracle Beach campground and there were no campers - although it was open for winter camping. But we're glad we went a couple of more kilometers and found Saratoga Beach Resort, where we were able to site our trailer right next to the high tide line on the beach.

Whenever we can find a blank spot in the calendar for 3 nights away we plan to go to Gabriola and try Page's RV at Silva Bay. It looks pretty good from their website.

I just went to look at Westbay's site to book our site & realized we aren't talking about the same campsite, our favourite one is site 61. So I guess it's not you taking our spot!