What a Great Way to Travel!

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[I must first confess that I posted this yesterday on a different forum where it is already lost in the endless stream of messages (but with a very nice reply from Robert Brummett). However, you guys over here seem to be much more philosophical anyway.]

I just have to wax philosophical for a bit about how very much we are enjoying our Casita. We picked it up in January and have been on five camping trips since.

We just got back from a very pleasant week of camping, and I must say that this is absolutely the best way I have ever travelled. We have travelled very extensively these past 3 years, travelling by car, boat, and plane, staying in fancy hotels and lodges and well as your typical budget roadside motels. Travelling with the Casita beats all of it by a long shot.

This is our first ever RV, so I think I must attribute quite a bit of this pleasant, low-stress experience up to having your own place with you: the comfort of your own bed and things; the familiarity and secure feeling of your own place. All those hotel rooms - no matter how luxurious - still are very foreign and impersonal.

But another thing we still canít quite get over, is how you can set yourself up in a nice state park with very pleasant surroundings and not have to leave the park for days at a time. The initial check-in is a snap, and after that you are completely on your own. Tucked away from roads, traffic, and retail businesses. We enjoy many meals outside. A pleasant walk is just outside the door. We donít have to drive very much. None of this is an option with hotel/motel living.

And the overall hassle factor is very low. I find that driving is more tiring due to the extra vigilance required when pulling a trailer. Also, it usually takes us a couple of hours of hard work to break down camp and get the Casita ready to roll. But all the rest of it is just a cake walk - especially the setup which is usually less than 10 minutes!

The Casita always looks so tiny among the other rigs in a campground. Even the pop-ups look bigger. The other day we were parked right next to what must have been a 40 footer. We looked impossibly tiny - I wish I had taken a picture! We have even heard people laughing as they walk past about how small it is. But the Casita is just so compact, comfortable, and practical. We have total luxury and want for nothing.

Happy Camper Audrey

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Audrey, I couldn't agree with you more. Like you, traveling extensively through various means, I can totally relate to what you are saying. PLUS, you don't even have to call a valet when you want your car! ;)

Bigger vs smaller: Although my time camping in one of these fiberglass wonders is short compared to most others on here, I already have had great fun with the size difference and am collecting some pretty funny stories. I love parking next to the big rigs!

There's small and then there is small: Not so long ago, I was camped next to a couple with a tent camper. To make a long story short, the couple started breaking camp just before I did. They were both working very hard. I pulled out just ahead of them. Of course I did have to stop and dump my black water tank because I was heading home. But that's okay, they had to stop to use the restroom before they could leave.

A nice young couple, nosed out by a solo female camper who was at least twice their age!

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Murph and I had a wonderful 3-week trip in our Casita, and are anxious for the next one, coming up soon. It really does something for the spirit.

In fact, here we are in this photo thinking EXACTLY those same deep philosphical thoughts at one of our stops in South Carolina. [Well, actually I was checking the manual on one of my digital cameras to figure out something I had done wrong! Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: "Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits."]

I'm really too busy with my current project to even be thinking about such stuff, but I've been inspired to start putting together some notes for a possible little book that might be called something like ON THE ROAD IN AMERICA: Living Small, Living Large. That "living small, living large" subtitle is definitely inspired by what the Casita-experience offers.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3eb0056940184RB-MurphSC.jpg/>

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Originally posted by Audrey Harvey

you guys over here seem to be much more philosophical anyway

Hey, Audrey, thanks!

At least I think that's a good thing. :chin

Yeah, that's a good thing!

Glad you and John are having such a great time with your new Casita, and happier that you feel compelled to share your thoughts with us here, on the FiberglassRV.com.

Your new experiences help some of us old, sticks-in-the-mud remember why/how it was we fell in love with this stuff in the first place. (Speaking for myself only, of course!)

And, I think you'll find as you go along that breaking camp will become a little less time consuming with your Casita (certainly is easier than when we packed up a tent, and I know it's easier than packing up a tent-trailer!!) Some of it, too, depends on how long you've been where you've stayed (or stayed where you've been?) and how much you've ''spread out'' at a particular campsite. (duh!)

Anyway, thanks again for sharing. Very well said, indeed!!

:ola :ola

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Hi All
To have a small RV ,I beleive is the neatest way to travel.You can break camp and move on to your next destination or even stop at a spot that is calling you.No rush or panic.
You don't have to find a spot that will accmodate a 40 footer,just put me any ole little place.
I attract lots of new friends who are delighted to see the insides of our FG wonders.
Last camping season my wife and I made lots of new friends.I had a similar experiance where one of those big monsters parked next to me.BOY did he look stupid.:laugh :laugh .

In Fairmount Hot Springs in BC .They have a high class area for those folks with those super rigs or for those folks who don't mind paying premium dollars for a spot.In one spot was a 40ft rig with a 13 ftBoler parked next to it.That was site to :E :E .

Let people laugh,There just jealious.

So Fine So Fine:wave

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This is my second Rv the first was a 32 foot claas c .it was nice
but i like my 1300 trillium better easyer to park , i can move it by hand has room to strech out space ti read cozy and warm . just
wish kats litter box was out side thats the only draw back so far.
I have seen a think made for a house where cat goes thur the wall
and litter box is outside in its own enclosuer. I see a new thread here.

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Hi Mary:

Well, I must attribute probably half of our tear down time to the photography. John takes an hour to break down his photography gear and completely repack the 4Runner so we can move. The contents of our 4Runner typically are - 1/8 groceries, 1/8 bird watching gear and 3/4 photography and video equipment and computers. It's amazing how much we stuff in there.

I usually seem to be doing dishes (including drying and putting them away) because we always seem to leave right after a meal and I don't really want to haul around a tub full of dirty dishes. This is also time consuming.

So, we'll get better, but I suspect our teardown time will be longer than most folks due to the ridiculous amount of technical gear we travel with. But that's what it is all about for us.

Audrey

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You can't blame the take down time on the Casita then! (It would take even longer with the tent... or would it be that with the tent John wouldn't feel comfortable even bringing all of that technical gear along? In which case you're back to blaming the Casita?) :jester

I agree about the dishes. I've done it both ways, but it's nicest to go ahead on and get everything shined up and spot free, so there's almost nothing to do once home. That was certainly never the case with the tent... always plenty to do to get everything unloaded and stowed, back at the house!!

But, still, I think it'll get better after you've done it a hundred times or more... surely!! (Just don't let John talk you into getting a larger tow vehicle, in which to carry more stuff!) :laugh

Cheers, y'all!!

:sunny

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Cargo Drawers.

:sunny

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When I was a contractor (in a previous life), I built a set of cargo drawers similar to this, to fit my Chevy pickup. I basically used two sheets of 1/2" plywood for the top and bottom, 2x10s for the sides and dividers, and 2x4s and 3/8" plywood for the drawers. I mounted lawnmower wheels at the back, so you lift a little and the drawer rolls easily, but when not lifted, friction holds the drawer shut. It carried all my tools, but still left me a flat "floor" for hauling lumber or other materials. I carried literally hundreds of pounds in these, and had great, organized access to them. You can make either a 2-drawer or 3-drawer model. Worked great!
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3eb2b3d2d5337cargodrawer.jpg/>
I let the drawer sides go about a foot past the back of the drawer, as shown, so that I could pull the drawer all the way out without it falling out. The rails would catch on the top panel, and the tailgate would support the drawer, so it just hung there, fully accessable. You can carry A LOT of stuff in a rig like this!

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Very nice wax, Audrey! One of the things I love the most about RVing (sigh, still hauling a 24 foot alumabox... sooner or later I'll get that Scamp) is meeting people. For some reason staying in a mo/hotel people seem to be a bit impersonal. In a RV people always say hi, and seem to be a bit more friendly.

The one other thing I like is the cost. I go to Salem almost every year for a week long getaway, and to stay in town the hotel is minimum $150.00 a night, and then you have to eat out... not cheap. Stay at Winter Island Park and it's $30.00 a night and you cook your own meals. For the cost of two nights at the Hawthorne, you can stay the whole week, eat, and have a little cash left over for momentos.

Plus, I can take my pooch along with me, and she doesn't need to be alone with a come and go pet sitter or be boarded. I just wish the cats were as happy with traveling as the Kyra is. I did it once... never again... they made it clear they are not into moving vehicles :bh

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I gotta agree Eric - you can't beat the price! I remember the first 5-nighter we did at a State Park. Wow - a whole $60 for 5 nights lodging. It had me grinning ear-to-ear. And then there's NOT having to pay for mediocre meals because there is no other choice than to eat out. I never mind paying for the really good meals out, but otherwise I'd much rather eat my own or John's cooking.

It's very easy to chat with fellow RVer's - a very approachable bunch. I get lots of great tips for good places to camp - especially from camping bird watchers who are very easy to spot.

Mary - well, we probably will get a bigger tow vehicle. But just a wee bit bigger. Toyota came out with a v8 version of the 4Runner and these 2003 4Runners are just a little bit bigger. Maybe in year or so we will upgrade.

And thanks for the cargo drawers link.

If I can get John to scan in the slide I'll post this awesome pic of a Pileated Woodpecker pair at their nest as a demonstration of how productive this type of travel has made our nature photography.

Audrey