Anyone that knows me know that I love to go camping. I do. If my life was the way I wanted it, I would live in a camper. I wouldn’t have to go anywhere. I just need to be able to live outside. Now, I’m not an “outdoorsy” type person. Maybe I am, I do like to hike and kayak and I love to camp. So maybe I am. But I would be as happy as a clam living outside.
The first time I truly remember camping, my dad bought a camper. We had to go up in Indiana to pick it up. We had a Buick LeSabre and my dad got those big mirrors so that he could see to tow it. That is comical to me now. But back then it was an adventure. My aunt and uncle went camping all the time. But they slept in a tent. I don’t know if it was Mom or Dad would wasn’t going to sleep in a tent. So, we bought a camper.
I loved it. I don’t think it was an Airstream but it was silver. The dining room table folded down into a bed. There was a double bed in the back and a kitchen in the middle. It was small but it was our home-away-from-home. My sister and I slept on the dining room table. Mom and Dad got the bed. My brother slept on the floor in the kitchen.
The only time we went camping was with my aunt and uncle. We went to Kentucky Lake, from Louisville. My grandmother had just died and this was the way for my mom and aunt to get away to grieve. My dad and uncle were troopers. Daddy pulled the camper behind Uncle Ted pulling the boat. I’m not sure if they got lost going or coming but every time they had to turn around Uncle Ted would tell Daddy “I know a short cut!” as he passed him going the other way. When we finally got to the campground, Daddy back the camper into our spot and unhooked it from the Buick. He did not chock the wheels. The camper took off down the hill and came to rest against a tree. The dent wasn’t too bad.
It rained the entire week we were there. Aunt Meri and her daughters stayed in the camper with us. Uncle Ted and his son stayed in the tent. My sister, cousin, and I moved into the Buick. each, that week was a blast.
The last day we were there it quit raining. We got to go out on the boat and then we went home.
When we got home Mom sold the camper.
Throughout the years I would go camping here and there. Jimmy always acted like he wanted to go so I found a used camper for about $500 and bought it. It was old. It leaked. I loved it. There were bunk beds and I had new mattresses made for those. We slept on the dinette set because it made a king-sized bed. There was a bathroom and a kitchen which we didn’t use because Jimmy didn’t want to clean out the septic tank, and we did our cooking outside. We loved it.
Our first camping trip was close to home and we were hooked, line and sinker. We went camping quite a bit that year. One weekend some neighbors pulled up in this brand new 5th wheel camper. It had a fireplace inside. They never came out of the camper. We had a campfire going 24/7 and the way the wind blew their camper had to smell like smoke. Maybe that added to the fake fireplace. We laughed and laughed about that.
At some point in time I started looking for a pop-up camper. I just knew we would be happier in that rather than the big monster that wouldn’t quit leaking no matter what we did. I heard that there was a used pop-up at the camper store. We went to look at it. I should never have taken Jimmy with me. While I was negotiating a deal, Jimmy and Katie went exploring. We went to go get them to finalize the deal and I could tell Jimmy wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything used. We bought a brand-new pop-up and felt we had arrived.
Through the years that camper has served us well. We have been meticulous putting it up and taking it down. If anything broke we got it fixed right away. But then things started breaking and we weren’t getting them fixed.
The outside shower door broke so it made sense to just duct tape it closed.
The plumbing broke so we weren’t hooking the water up to the camper anymore.
The window on the door wouldn’t stay closed so a trash bag secured with duct tape did the trick.
The snaps that held the door up broke so a bungee cord did the job.
And this this weekend wizen we went to put the camper up, one corner wasn’t going up. That happened before. The cable had messed up. No problem,the camp site host went and cut a 1X4 to hold that side up. Oh, and then when I was putting the sides up inside the step gave way and I fell through. You just can’t trust pressed board anymore. The door won’t go in securely because the board is not tall enough so it’s just Velcro’d in.
I’d love to have a new camper, I would. The one I really want sleeps two and runs over $200,000. Jimmy reminded me that this one is over 10 years old and we really haven’t had any problems with it. Maybe I’ll just take it in to be overhauled. Or maybe I’ll just continue the redneck lifestyle.
