I’m 55 and out of the blue a few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to go camping despite the fact I had never been camping in my life. I have the ways and means to get whatever camper I want but my principal limitation was the HOA that I live in that didn’t allow campers/boats and such visible in the yards.
So I did the requisite homework and settled on a Forest River Rockwood A122 hard side pop up. It has just enough of the comforts of home, it fits in the garage, and I haven’t towed anything in years and it is very small to tow and easy to back up and maneuver.
I’m currently on my second camping out in the Croatan National Forest in NC. Ok I need to confess up here. This campground is between my work and my home......I didn’t get that far away this time but I just kept hearing people saying that this campground is awesome. They were right.
I feel like an absolute genius this morning. It’s dark, it’s cold. I’m sitting it total comfort with the heat pump running. I brought a laptop and a USB TV tuner. I’m watching the local news. There is coffee. My dog is laying his head across my leg as I type this.
I feel like I’ve figured out some of things that make camping a bit more successful and fun. I took a 3D printer and printed an auto fuse holder. Along the same lines I printed a suction cup soap dish / razor holder and mounted a toothbrush holder on the wall with a sticky Combat strip.
I also brought a dust buster. So easy to keep the floor clean of all the grit that works its way inside.
I mounted the grill and table last night and had a wonderful BBQ. This Rockwood A122 really has a lot of wonderful features.
The sun is coming up and the dog and I will hit the hiking trails soon and then come back and make biscuits and gravy.......the ultimate camping breakfast. I bought a toaster oven which fits nicely in one of the inside storage compartments.
I’m a somewhat sporadic sleeper. Not in the woods or at the campsite I’m not. I slept 8 hours last night. The last time I did that was on my first camping trip. Must be the fresh air or the sounds.
Why in the world did it take me 55 years to figure out how wonderful camping could be? And this camper, while small, just pleases me to no end. It really has everything a guy and dog needs for a weekend or even a week. (Going to graduate to a weeklong trip soon). The inside of this camper is attractive and feels oddly spacious for being so small. The refrigerator is cold as can be. The overhead fan is maybe the best feature too.
I guess maybe it’s all new to me but hard not to be happy at 7AM, drinking coffee while I’m being serenaded by about a million birds.
Rant complete!
John
New Bern, NC
from Southern California! We just started with an ancient motorhome 4 or 5 years ago - at which point I was well over 55. Since then we sold the MH and bought our trailer. Medical issues have kept me from getting out much but when we can we, too, love it - and that includes the dog.
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