Congratulate me! I'm now an RV-er!

[UrsulasShadow]

Okay, so it's just a truck camper, but it makes the whole traveling thing so much more interesting! I figured the tent camping thing was much too complicated, what with the tent a/c setups, and knowing that I'd have to drive to WDW anyway (since flying all the gear down there sounds MUCH too hard!), and I can drive my truck already, so there's no new driving skills I have to learn besides using my rearviews more. This sounds much easier, and cheaper (if you don't count the gas prices ). Can't wait to book my first FW camping experience! Any advice?

 

[seven dwarfs]

Congrats to you. We have a travel trailer. Have way too many kids to travel like we like too so it was our only option. Best thing we ever did. Love it, kids love it and best of all we have some great memories. Here's happy camping to you

 

[T. Lynn]

Congrats and I know the feeling. We purchased a TT last month and will be using it to officially camp (not just in the yard) at Knoebels in about 3 weeks. We're so excited...

 

[wdwbound]

Welcome to a different camping lifestyle. We live in Maine and went to FW in May, and the price of gas was just coming down, so I know what you mean about the prices (worse since they just went back up again). Don't buy gas if you can anywhere around Washington, prices were very high there. But you will be pleased with the prices in South Carolina and Georgia.
Since we drove down before the camping season actually started, we could pick and choose a campground after stopping at the rest areas and getting brochures for that state, so we didn't make reservations ahead of time with no problem. We did stay at a couple of KOA's, one in Florence SC that was nice.
Have fun with the new camper!

 

[jennifer293]

Congrats to you..It is exciting to say the least. We love our TT. We took it out for the first time this weekend about 30 minutes or so down the road to a campground. It was very nice and DH had no problems at all backing it in the site (that is probably because he drives a fire truck for a living..LOL) We had a BLAST and l will say it is soooooo much better than sleeping in a tent!!!!

 

[musicmama]

I'm sure you'll have a great time! I am not a tent fan, so anytime there's a chance to "stay inside" I am all for it. We have a Class C and we love it. It was great to come back to (in Fort W.) during Christmas week.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I like tents well enough, but I think this camper will be a lot more convenient. It'll always be "at the ready" so I won't stress about what to pack every time I want to camp. Of course, we'll bring the tent for extra sleeping space, and possibly a screen house. I feel like I'm bringing a small city with me!

 

[auntie]

Congratulations...best wishes for many memorable and enjoyable trips in your new RV!

 

[leprechaun]

We have a truck camper as well and we drove it to FW and had a ball. We added a trailer hitch to the front bumper so we could bring our bikes with us and that is a worth while investment.
When we went we left at 2:00a.m. and drove to S.C. and stopped at the KOA in Florence, nice place.
I found the fuel was cheapest in Jersey.
Enjoy

 

[proudmomof4]

I like tents well enough, but I think this camper will be a lot more convenient. It'll always be "at the ready" so I won't stress about what to pack every time I want to camp. Of course, we'll bring the tent for extra sleeping space, and possibly a screen house. I feel like I'm bringing a small city with me!

Congrats on the camper. Believe me, I know what you mean by a small city. Last time we went, we had my van pulling our pop-up and we had to remove the seats from the van to fit all the food and clothes for 7 people to stay for 9 days and 2 people rode in the van. We had 5 people riding in my husband's car, we brought a tent for the teenage boys, 2 coolers, and a screen house, not to mention 2 folding tables and many other things.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

We have a truck camper as well and we drove it to FW and had a ball. We added a trailer hitch to the front bumper so we could bring our bikes with us and that is a worth while investment.
When we went we left at 2:00a.m. and drove to S.C. and stopped at the KOA in Florence, nice place.
I found the fuel was cheapest in Jersey.
Enjoy

Nice to see a Plymouthean has done the drive, and with a truck camper, no less! Did you make reservations at the KOA, or did you just stop in? What time did you end up in SC? What other things do you bring with you, and how many of you are there? This is not as new to me as you might think, from all these questions, but it's been over 20 years since I've camped in a truck camper, and I remember so little of it!

 

[minkydog]

Congrats on the camper. Believe me, I know what you mean by a small city. Last time we went, we had my van pulling our pop-up and we had to remove the seats from the van to fit all the food and clothes for 7 people to stay for 9 days and 2 people rode in the van. We had 5 people riding in my husband's car, we brought a tent for the teenage boys, 2 coolers, and a screen house, not to mention 2 folding tables and many other things.

"Now let me tell ya story 'bout a man named Jed, poor mountaineer barely kep' his fam'ly fed..."

My mom camps like this. Her motto is "More is never enough."

OP, congrats on the new camper. I bet you're gonna love it. We camp in a pop-up mostly and there's nothing like having it all packed, ready to go. See ya in FW, Nov 2006

 

[disneylovinmom]

Congrats!!! You are going to totally love it. We just traded in our truck camper for a 29 foot fifth wheel. We now have 4 kids and it's just too small to go anywhere for any length of time. It was really tough to see it go. It was so convenient and we could take it anywhere. I would buy another one in a heartbeat. Enjoy your new toy.

 

[toytowner]

ok so now you add the cooler carrier on the front and rod holders just tell wife more storage lol. great fishing on outer banks, great rest stop.if this is your first slidein camper remember it's a little more top heavy 80 mph is not the way to go.good luck and enjoy.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

ok so now you add the cooler carrier on the front and rod holders just tell wife more storage lol. great fishing on outer banks, great rest stop.if this is your first slidein camper remember it's a little more top heavy 80 mph is not the way to go.good luck and enjoy.

Yeah, I figured I'd need my lead foot surgically removed for this...

 

[leprechaun]

Nice to see a Plymouthean has done the drive, and with a truck camper, no less! Did you make reservations at the KOA, or did you just stop in? What time did you end up in SC? What other things do you bring with you, and how many of you are there? This is not as new to me as you might think, from all these questions, but it's been over 20 years since I've camped in a truck camper, and I remember so little of it!

First things first as they say,
No resseis, we were following the South of the Boarder signs of about 300 miles and had a thought we might stop there but when we got there we thought better and kept going. We made Florence S.C. in 18 hours, then "only" 8 hours to FW
Other than the bikes I don't think we brought anything "extra". Going light was important so we could use the camper while on the road. The one thing I would bring more of is bottled water though.
Our two kids normally would stay in a tent but they stayed in the camper w/ us.
We have a '00 Lance 845 for our short bed p/u with the idea of going to the beach stiper fishing w/ it but haven't gone 4 wheeling yet. Some day

 

[Seahunt]

My advice is - take time and make sure your tires are in good shape before every trip!

The reason I say this is because this post brings back memories of going on a trip with my cousins years (and years!) ago - we were just going to the state fair about an hour away, but since there was so many of us, my uncle took his TC, which he probably only used once a year. (As matter of fact when we were loading our stuff, we found some hot chocolate packets in the TC and HAD to fix them in the house before we left, as kids do. For some reason the hot chocolate wouldn't seem to get smooth, no matter how hard we stirred, so we were drinking it anyway- I offered a drink of mine to my aunt, and she started laughing because the pieces of "chocolate" that wouldn't melt were actually mealy bugs that had infested the packets because they were so old Yuck! Spit it out all over ourselves, and had to go home and get new clothes to wear to the fair!)

About half way there (we were on Interstate 70) the right side tires blew and we went skidding one way and then the other, just missing flipping over. Of course, all of us (kids) were riding in the back (in those days, who thought about safety? ) I was laying on the front top bunk with 2 of my other girl cousins looking out the front window - and we got thrown out of the bunk and it pitched us clear across to the back door!

No one was hurt, and all the kids thought it was great excitement! But from then on, tire care became, and still is, a very important component of any camping vehicle my DH & I have had, just based on this memory from childhood!

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

Congratulations! I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from it!