For starters, we’ve decided that we’re tired of being wet. Anyone who has done much camping in the rain knows exactly what I’m talking about! So, we decided to get a camper!
Some people will say that you’re not really camping unless you’re in a tent. We used to be those people! The big picture for us, though, is that we want to see and experience as much as we can on a limited budget. We spent a small fortune on hotels during our two month long Alaska trip (it rained 3 out of 4 days), and the alternative was to let everything stay wet and ruin our gear. The time, labor and money on long trips that a camper will save us will be substantial. There will be no need to run from a rainstorm, or to spend hours arranging tarps and/or drying things out. That all adds up to being able to stay in an area we like for longer, and having our time freed up to actually go see things. This will be ideal for the longer trips, when we plan to spend extended periods away from home. We do still plan on doing a little tent camping. Those trips will be very short, and the weather forecast should be more reliable.
The third day we were home from the Alaska trip we went to look at campers and get an idea of what was out there. We had no idea how lucky we were about to be. We went to a local RV dealer with a particular trailer in mind, and although they didn’t have one in stock, there was a very similar one at their other location. We drove right over, and it just so happened to be the previous year’s model, and on sale for 25% off! It was perfect – exactly what we were looking for regarding size, weight, and layout. We put a deposit on it to get the paperwork started, got the financial details worked out over the next few days, and they began prepping it for us to pick up. There was one challenging aspect – the height of the hitch receptacle on the Jeep. Our Jeep is lifted with large tires, making it too high to match up with the trailer. While discussing the prospect of having a custom hitch made, we casually mentioned that the camper we were originally looking for was also lifted. One of the mechanics had the idea that we “lift” this one, which could be accomplished by mounting the springs on top of the axle and putting bigger tires on it. Everyone agreed that this would work, and they got busy making it happen. Within a few days we had our new toy! You can see more photos here.
The maiden voyage took place the following week, and we stayed two nights in Fort De Soto Campground. We even had a thunderstorm the first night and it felt great to just stay put without having to worry and scramble. There are a few more pictures here.
In the following months we took a few short trips to Hopkins Prairie in Ocala National Forest. There are more photos here and here.
We also finally made it down to the Everglades, and stayed a couple of nights at Long Pine Key. The whole photo album can be seen here.
The next exciting thing we did was to purchase a canoe! We chose an Old Town Discovery 133, along with the brackets ( these are ours, which have apparently been discontinued but you can get similar ones here or here) and straps needed to carry it on the roof rack. It is just over 13 feet long and 40 inches wide, and very stable with plenty of space for gear.
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