My best childhood memories are from family camping trips. Except for stepping on the nest of yellowjackets near Klamath Falls. But even on that trip, not bathing for a week, sleeping outside, poking at a campfire, eating cold Spaghetti-Os out of the can, just... y'know... camping! It was the best.

When I was in college, the only camping I did was with the SCA group. Still, hanging out, playing music, cooking on the fire, it was good.

I always tried to get out for at least one trip a year as an adult. With my first wife, we planned our entire social calendar around our annual camping trips. Some years, we had about 40 friends join us and it became the summer event for the company she worked for. Every year, I would invite someone who had never been camping... I had spare tents, air mattresses, and stuff. The deal was: you bring your clothes, a pillow, and your preferred beverage and we'll bring the rest. We ate. We flew kites on the beach. One family came on their boat and spent the week crabbing so by the end of the week they brought buckets and buckets of crab to the potluck. Even the years that it rained, we always had a good time.

I think it was the year after I totaled my motorcycle and broke my first bone that I decided I was getting too old to sleep on the ground -- actually, too old to get up off the ground in the morning. When I was a kid, we had a tent trailer (I think my mother said it was built by a NFFMCo machinist from plans in a magazine). I started looking at tent trailers and found a small one that I could tow with my Mercedes Waggin. It was $850. It was basically a tent in a box on wheels which was what I was looking for.

The year we got divorced, my friend Steve said, "you can't not go camping." I went with my new GF and Steve and his husband and Steve's brother and his wife. It was good. My new GF decided she liked camping, but also decided we needed a bigger tent trailer. I bought a 12 foot one with an actual queen size bed at one end. She owned a Jeep Cherokee that towed it easily. We did a few trips in it.

I started looking at private campgrounds. Eventually we found a very large, very nice spot in one in Cle Elum -- just on the margin between the eastern foothills of the Cascade mountains and the start of the Eastern Washington desert. People on the tent trailer forum warned that most such places were very poorly run and beware. They were right.

The site came with one small trailer, one very large trailer that had been mostly gutted and just had five beds (for the previous owner's five grandkids) and the bathroom. It also had a very nice cook shack with a propane stove, fridge, and water heater. And it was right across the road from one of the restrooms. We stayed there for about three weeks that first year. Then a couple of weeks the next year. I liked going in the off season when there were fewer kids running around. The dog loved it. I eventually sold the smaller trailer and slept in the big one.

Basically, everything was there -- kitchen, bedding, towels, stuff -- and all I needed to bring were some clothes and food, and I could go out there any time, no planning, no reservations, no calling ahead. And it was an hour and a quarter door-to-door. I even kept enough clothes and canned goods there that if the zombie apocalypse descended on my home town, I could jump in the car and hide out at camp for a few weeks. Several times, I went there on my motorcycle.

I bought an old Airstream. I planned to gut it and put in a real bed, a comfy chair, a table, and maybe a piano.

But the campground had problems. It was first opened in 1968. They laid water lines throughout, but no electricity. Shortly before we bought in, they replaced the water lines, but hired a friend of one of the members (the low bidder!) who used the wrong cement on the plastic pipes and as soon as they covered over it, it started leaking in hundreds or thousands of places. The guy who did the work disappeared. They had other maintenance issues. They had a few people who were living there year 'round which is against the rules.

One guy came in suddenly, bought five sites, let his dog run wild, and had a noisy generator running night and day. It turned out he was growing pot on the site, but what put him in jail was getting busted for child pornography. And other members sued each other and the campground. And one member slipped on some ice on the road and died and his wife sued the campground. All of this ran up huge legal bills and the campground's insurance company cancelled their liability policy. They couldn't keep caretakers on board... they went through about eight different couples over the last three years.

One member who got in a tiff with her neighbor and was suspended for a year decided to call the county and report dozens of health and safety issues, the biggest of which was that back in the 1970s everyone sunk ten gallon tanks in the ground under their trailers and basically had mini-septic systems for gray water (and whatever else). The campground is along a river and in a flood plain, so the county was not too keen on people using it as a leach field.

Mrs pj and I had only been out to camp three or four days in the last two years. Last spring we stayed there when her daughter graduated from college about 20 miles away.

A few weeks ago, I got a letter from the campground. My site was getting overgrown and the pine needles were ankle-deep, and one fence was falling over into the path from the site behind mine to the restroom. So two weeks ago, I went out for the weekend to clean up.

I was taking this picture to send back to Mrs pj...

...and a guy walked over and asked if I was selling. He assumed I was taking the picture for the listing. I had thought about it, but hadn't gotten any further when I thought about the hassle of going out there several times to show it, having to explain all the quirks of the place, and so forth. But this guy already owned a couple of sites directly across from mine and he wanted my site. His daughter wanted the Airstream. She really really REALLY wanted the Airstream.

So, I looked at the other sites that were for sale and came up with a price (with a little room for negotiation). By the end of the weekend, we had agreed on a price, including the Airstream and my little Honda scooter. I told him I'd be back out in two weeks to sign the papers. That was yesterday. Now all the drama, drunk rednecks in golf carts, homeless people that they can't evict because of the pandemic, nuclear mosquitos, and a 50 year old deck and fence that need to be replaced... all that is in the rear-view mirror.

I still have the 12-foot tent trailer. A couple months ago, I pulled it out of the carport and set it up for the first time in five years. Remarkably, it was in fine condition. I was expecting water damage and mice. Nope. It's good. And Mrs pj says she likes it and would be delighted to go camping in it. It needs a bit of work on the brakes and there's some other wiring that went flaky. Nothing I can't handle. But I can't really pull it with the Subaru. I had towed it home with the Mercedes and it was just a bit much for that car.

So, I plan to take the proceeds from selling the camp site and buy something that can tow the trailer. Probably a small pickup. That would be good for other projects around the house. The trailer is about 2000 pounds. Any recommendations? More importantly, anything to avoid?

I think I will never stop camping. It just seems the mode changes every decade or so. I'd get a VW Westfalia but Mrs pj thinks that would be too small, especially to put a piano in it.

What a great story!

Ford F-150s are well regarded, get good mileage and are popular enough you should be able to get one at a good price. The eco boost V6 appears to be a winner.

Toyota trucks are equally well regarded but a lot more expensive. The Mercedes of Pickups. A small Tacoma truck will pull your tent trailer without issue and last a very long time.

Avoid diesels and avoid Dodges. Avoid anything European.

I've never been a fan of Chrysler products. I hear diesels are not the best for towing over mountains. My neighbor who move the Airstream has a Dodge with the Cummins turbodiesel. It can tow anything... just slowly.

I've always preferred Chevy over Ford. No reason in particular, other than every Ford I've had was a dog.

I was thinking about a 10-ish year old Tacoma or the Nissan equivalent. How old is too old for a Toyota pickup?

A guy at work bought a new Ford Ranger with a 4 banger. He said it was plenty zippy, but he did not tow with it. Then he moved to Hawaii.

I also hear that prices for used trucks and SUVs have skyrocketed... and RV dealers have nothing in stock. People are hitting the roads instead of leavin' on a jet plane. I imagine that later in the fall, prices will come back down some.

I'd love a big ol' American body-on-frame station waggin with a big ol' American V8. But I also like airbags and modern brakes. Or an El Camino. I always thought El Caminos were cool.

Fellow contractors who run Chevrolet fleets are very happy with them. 200 - 300K miles easy.

Diesels are the way to go if you’re towing heavy - #15k plus. You’ll pay for this - maintenance will eat you alive.

Nissan hasn't made a decent product since they moved design and assembly to Tennessee, but they’re cheap enough you might take a chance.

10 year old Toyota trucks are better than a lot of new trucks. You’ll pay for this as well - resale value is high. My 2000 Toyota truck has 270K miles on it and I fully expect to get 400K without major repairs if I want to. Many others have.

I like big old American wagons as much as the next guy, but time really has passed them by. Did you ever drive one? They handle like a shopping cart full of canned soup.

Never mind 8 mpg and cantankerous carburetors. Never mind vaporlock and crude ignition systems, drum brakes and primitive cooling systems. Newer stuff is way better.

Find yourself a ten year old 4Runner and never look back.

You seem like the kind of guy who would like a Mercedes Sprinter based motorhome. More room than in a Westphalia, and better fuel economy to boot. Very cool.

Have you seen them?

PJ, you make me want to go camping! I went last year with friends; I’m the one that doesn’t have gear besides tent/sleeping gear. Thank goodness for friends who have cooking stuff.

Congrats on the sale of your old site/Airstream! That was fortuitous.

I am quite familiar with the Sprinter-based RVs. And their eye-watering price tags. Even the DIY conversion jobs are pretty pricey.

One of my coworkers has a Winnebago on a Sprinter. He gets 25 MPG. In an RV. But he has a retired airline pilot sort of bank account. I don't.

Yes, I would love one. High top and long wheelbase. When I win the lottery.


Many years ago, I was sitting at a spot in the campground at Fort Flagler State Park across the sound from Port Townsend. It's a U-shaped loop and the sites at the bend go up a bit of a hill. I saw the front end of a Sprinter come into view. Then more Sprinter. And more Sprinter. And for what seemed to be quite a long time, Sprinter went past. Then the back end followed by a Coleman Evolution 3 tent trailer. I waited a while and walked down the road. The Sprinter was backed into the site on the end... quite a trick to start around the curve, then back up sharply, up a hill. Judging from the fact they were already unhitched and had started to set up the trailer, she must have done this in one pass. It was a woman and about ten kids. I told her "you have my dream camping rig." She said "I have MY dream camping rig". Apparently, the deal was only a few of the kids were hers, but each kid could bring one or two friends as long as they slept in a tent, not in the trailer. It was the high-roof, long wheelbase version -- seats like 12. Lots of room for kids and stuff.

Hmmmm... what about a Highlander Hybrid? It has a V6 and several of them on craigslist have a towing package. It would make a better vehicle for other-than-towing duties.

On the other hand, a small truck would be better for moving household and landscaping stuff.

Have a Tundra and a nice Lance trailer.
Wish I had a Tacoma and a less nice trailer.

Went shopping for a trailer and they were out of the one I wanted, but the larger one was for sale.
That should have told me something.

One of my kids has my tent...note..need to get it back.

I have been trolling websites that have mini teardrop trailers small enough that a Prius can tow them.

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
One of my kids has my tent...note..need to get it back.

I have been trolling websites that have mini teardrop trailers small enough that a Prius can tow them.

I wanted to look at teardrop trailers. Now you know who is in charge.

I really enjoyed what you have shared with us...

ME? Always have had the family compound on NH lake. We had mom's generation of camps there and spent teenage years there. Wonderful memories.

I don't think I'm camping material but am loving the armchair traveling....

Great thread.

The night before and the night after a long backcountry trek, I sleep in the bed of my Chevy Silverado crew cab. I have a very thick foam mattress covering the entire truck bed, with a heavy duty tarp over it so I can use the truck for hauling stuff without ruining the mattress. The topper has windows in all sides that open and are screened. When it isn't raining I sleep with my head on the open tailgate so I can look up at the stars. I park alongside my highline so I can keep an eye on my horse all night. The tailgate is also my kitchen, I set up a Coleman 2-burner propane stove on it to make coffee in the morning. I carry two 5-gallon jugs of water in the trailer's tack/dressing room and that takes
care of all my, my horses', and my dog's water needs for a couple of nights.

I love the simplicity of this setup, and I love my Chevy 2500HD truck. But I am towing 10,000 lbs so I need a serious towing setup.

The Tacoma or the Highlander are both fine choices for your purposes. A friend just bought a used Highlander hybrid and is thrilled with it. I am thinking of getting one too, or a hybrid RAV4.

I don't have a lot of use for camping in a group setting, but I think it would be fun to have a little trailer for camping off a forest service road at my whim. The best part would be never having to pack up my camping gear--just leave it in the trailer.