Family Fun
By Mary Capo- St. Augustine, FL Shortly after my husband and I were married in 1969 (and blended our five children into a new family), he began regaling me with wonderful tales of “camping.” Having been a Girl Scout in my younger years, this wasn’t a foreign concept.... Read more
A Camping Engagement
By Kate Hutto- Ocean Pines, MD It was 1966, and the Vietnam War was on. My boyfriend, Larry, had enlisted in the Air Force and was attending the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, while I was attending the University of Arizona in Tucson. In those days,... Read more
A Site in the Woods
By James Brand- Stanwood, MI It was 1948 and we’d been married less than a year. I wanted to show my new bride where I’d deer hunted. We had little money and a red 1946 Jeep. Her father had a friend who loaned us a pre-war Kariall Kamper, a precursor to the foldout campers... Read more
A Trip of a Lifetime
By Ellen Storer- Bluffton, SC My First RV Trip began in 1945 when my brave parents bought a trailer. This adventure started when I was 9 months old. We spent the winter in Florida and spring in Mississippi. Since we seemed to enjoy it, the decision was made to see the country.... Read more
Living the Dream
By Chris Baur- Houston, TX Back in the 70’s most kids my age were interested in sports, hobbies, collecting baseball cards and the like. Not me. For reasons unknown to my family and the scientific community, I became fascinated with all things related to recreational... Read more
No One Can Take Just One – Camping Trip, That Is!
“Dear Mom, Wish you were here-REALLY! You would love being up here this time of year. The leaves are turning and the scenery is great! Shawn is seeming to really like being here in the woods and hills. He sure attracts a lot of attention and makes a lot of people smile!... Read more
Candle Wax and Electrical Tape
Once upon a time, forty-two years ago, two wide-eyed baby boomers loaded up their ’64 VW camper with one black lab, one wooden canoe (attached with bungee cords), one bottle of Dr. Bronner’s All Purpose Soap, five gallons of trail mix, and two fishing poles and left... Read more
Storm Watching On Oregon Coast
In early 1999, we went with our camper to our favorite spot on the Oregon Coast (Sea and Sand RV Park…near Depoe Bay) to storm watch. We always tried to get a small spot that was parallel to the beach and we did. A thunderstorm came up during the night with winds from... Read more
Troubles and Travail
Last November my wife and I drove our Minnie Winnie, pulling our canoe, from Iowa to Arkansas for a couple of days floating with a couple of old buddies. The canoeing ended in disaster with our canoe trapped for three days in the river and a Search and Rescue for one of... Read more
First Time Campers
It was a beautiful spring weekend in1998 and we were camped in a park east os Sarasota, Florida. I had asked several friends to a “cocktail” party at our camp site. The party was spectacular, good food , good drinks (BYOB) and great company. Late in the evening... Read more
Blow-Me-Down Mackerel
July 2004, saw us load our travel trailer on the ferry from North Sydney Nova Scotia headed to Port au Basque Newfoundland. Several days later we headed into Blow-Me-Down Provincial Park west of Deer Lake. The friendly folk urged us to select any site or park on the beach... Read more
Beach Baby!
I am 36 years old and have been camping all my life. My husband and I decided to buy a travel trailer in 2007 and start camping with our family. We had one little boy, age 2.5 when we first set out on our family camping trips. In 2008, we decided to add another member to... Read more
Yeah, I see it!
The day started out great. We had our route planned and we were securing everything in the RV and attached the pick up to the hitch for our second leg of the trip. We had even planned out where we were going to stop for Diesel fuel. The first surprise of the day came when... Read more
Blow Out
I had a blow out on my class C, limped to a rest stop close to Eugene, Oregon. A total stranger on a motorcycle let us use his cell phone to call for help. Les Schwab was there in 20 minutes and we were back on the road. Submitted by Duane Dickey of Gresham, OR as a part... Read more
Wanted: Hill to Push Start Bus
It was all very romantic and it was 1971 when we decided to get married. My then future husband, Mark, had given me a paper back copy of John Steinbeck’s “Travel’s with Charlie” and said he wanted to take me cross country on a trip like that. So we... Read more
From Novices to Experienced Campers in Two Weeks
Our first RV experience began in the spring of 1977 with my wife and our two children who were ages 5 and 2. As a young couple, with not much money, we thought that camping would be one way to fight the high costs of vacationing and be good for the boys and us to experience.... Read more
The Time My A/C Got Torn Off
I don’t know if this is my most favorite memory but it’s unforgettable. Traded in my 31′ class C gulfstream for a 37′class A. Great. Go to CT. to pick it up and am traveling to the Bridgeport ferry back to Long Island. The RV is only 3 hours old for... Read more
Early Days Lead to Career and Back to New RV
Shortly after we were married in 1960, we bought a used 15 ft. Sportcraft travel trailer, which we pulled with our 1956 Chevy. When I added some features on the trailer, my wife suggested I write it up and send it to Trail-R-News, which published it and sent me a $25 check.... Read more
First Time Out
Due to earlier mishaps, Tom finally arrives home somewhat upset. He looks around the garage and finds a jack. (We have a 5th wheel, remember). And we’re off to Lake Dallas to get our 5th Wheel. We arrive and the RV park isn’t but about 20 miles away. Well, Tom... Read more
Our Most Humorous Camping Trip
The first night we camped at J. W. Wells State Park on Lake Michigan shore. When we asked for a camp site at first we were told there were none open; then we were told there was one so we took it. As we were sitting by the picnic table we soon found out why there was one... Read more
