You see that correctly, we now own a camper. I know what you are thinking. A camper, don't they have 4 kids, are they crazy. We may be crazy but it has been a dream of ours for years to own a camper with
the goal of being able to travel some and spend time as a family. Even though we are in a very busy season
of life we decided that all time is doing is passing by and therefore there is
no time like the present. After what
was probably years of looking and months of seriously looking, Kevin found a
camper that would suit our family.
There is a quad-bunk in the back for all 4 kids to sleep.
The fridge/freezer, sink, stove, microwave are to the left of the above picture. Couch that folds into another bed is to the right. Straight ahead is a table with a U shaped dinette that will fit our entire family (and can double as another bed if needed) and behind that table the back slides out making a queen sized bed.
Bathroom with tub shower.
Once we fell in love with this camper and purchased it we were
able to store it at Grammie and Papaws for a while so we could get a parking
space together at our house. This was
not small feat. It involved massive tree cutting, land grading, gravel, and
railroad ties for a retention wall/landscaping.
Not only was the parking spot a bit of an adventure but
getting Kevin’s truck in the proper condition to tow proved to be a process as
well. He installed Roadmaster Rear Active Suspension, installed power folding/manual telescoping 2008 style tow mirrors, purchased SCT X4 flash programmer with tow specific program for ECU to better control shifting and installed a transmission temperature gauge to monitor transmission temperatures directly while towing. Not specific to the travel trailer, but in preparation to be able to carry bikes on top of the Excursion he had to raise the roof rails with some rubber mat material from Tractor Supply so that the rails will not hit the roof and allow space for the roof top bike racks to be installed (we already had two of these racks from using them with my '05 Sienna).
With the truck seemly ready and things finally settled with the parking spot, Kevin picked up the camper to bring
it home It
proved to be a bit difficult to get into out skinny driveway and parking spot
but he did it. Noticing that the
excessive amout of backing it took to get the trailer in the parking spot just
right, casued a lot of stress on the transmission, Kevin found what we hoped to
be a solution to that problem and yet another adjusmest to the truck…..
With a trailer hitch now on the front of the truck for
moving the trailer around we beleieved we were finally ready for a test run in
the camper. So this past weekend we were
finally able to get our feet wet in our first whirlwind, local camping
adventure. From many recommendations
from people we choose to go to Twin Lakes campground which is about 25 minutes
from the house and right near Clemson.
We loaded the camper and Kevin hitched her up and backed her out of the
driveway….
Then he turned the truck around and hitched her up, put the
bikes on the new front hitch (temporary since it was a short trip) and we were finally off on our first
adventure.
When we arrived the kids were
deputized as water safety sheriffs, responsible for making sure they wore
their life jackets and listened to mom and dad in the water.
Then as Kevin set up our site, we did some bike riding and
game playing….
Bryce was a pretty happy “camper”….
After dinner we roasted marshmallows over the campfire and
made s'mores.
Saturday morning we discovered a small sink leak but Kevin
was able to pick up a new seal and fix the problem. The kids and I headed into Clemson and grabbed
some lunch and picnicked at a park and played for a while.
Then we headed back for some lake fun…
Byce wasn’t really feeling the lake fun for too long so we
headed back for showers and naps. Around
the same time we also discovered the difficulties of camping with no sewer hook
up, your grey tank fills up quick and it has to be emptied. We didn’t have the proper equipment to empty
the tank without hooking back up to the truck and towing it to the dump station
so we decided to make due without using water inside. Luckily we have an outdoor shower feature so
Kevin hooked up a shower head and we had hot and cold water outside. Kevin grilled up some yummy burgers for
dinner Saturday night and we again enjoyed s'mores for dessert. Byrce enjoyed some plain graham crackers.
Sunday came way too fast and everyone was bummed that our
first adventure was over. We are however
excited about many more trips to come!!!
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