Camper VS Trailer (04-19-14)

We took the camper for our weekend test and spent 3 nights out on the road to check out all the systems etc.  Here are my thoughts.  First, many people name their rigs or RVs.  If Paul and I have names for them, its “the trailer” and “the camper” and of course, “the truck”. Sometimes we call the trailer the Ranch, as in “lets head back to the Ranch”.  On a rare occasion we’ll call it Porter’s Place.  But mostly, it’s just “The Trailer”.

Our destination for the weekend was an RV Park in Coarsegold CA, a mere 45 minutes from where we are staying in Fresno, but it felt like a whole other world.  This Park is essentially a membership park, operated by other full timers like us and has a forest like setting.

We chose a small spot-one that would never have fit the trailer, and one without hookups, so we could test out the generator etc.  As it turns out- the generator is a joy- simply press the button and it starts.  The only downside is that you can practically see the propane being sucked out of the tank.



My first surprise came when it was time to back into the site.  Usually it’s my job to stand in the rear and help direct Paul so that the trailer lands in a good spot, without hitting anything. Well, with no trailer, I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and told him to keep backing up until he was off the road at which point I said “ok, stop”. He got out and said  “That’s it???” Yup, with no trailer, it was just that easy.

My second surprise came when we stopped to look around, breathed in the fresh air, sighed, and realized that Yosemite National Park, one of our favorites, is only “down the road”.  I started thinking about taking a day trip to the park the following day and realized….it doesn’t work that way!  There’s no “dropping the trailer to go off exploring”.  If we wanted to go to Yosemite, we should have looked for a campsite in Yosemite!  This is a totally new way of traveling, and will take some getting used to!





Once we were set  up, we relaxed with Margaritas.  We had to rough it and drink them out of wine glasses, since we aren’t bringing our Margarita glasses with us in the camper.  We looked over the calendar of events for the RV park ( we happened to show up on “Stagecoach Weekend”) and found out there would be a dinner, a dance, and an auction while we are here.  The dinner was just ok, but I have never been to an auction so I was looking forward to that.

In the hour or so before the auction we could check out the merchandise that was going to be up for grabs.  Most things were used, but some were brand new. We also took advantage of the time to search the web for prices on items we were interested in.  We made a list of things we wanted to bid on, how much we were willing to spend, and waited for the auction to start.

Four hours later we were exhausted, but proud owners of “new” chairs, a Blue Boy, a 30 amp extension cord, hydration backpacks, and a few other smaller items.  We originally  bought a ladder but it was too short so we brought it back.








That night, and the next morning, I figured out several of the major differences between the camper and trailer.  I had forgotten how…..luxurious…for lack of a better word, our trailer is. Being in the camper for 2 nights was already making me appreciate the shower in my trailer, the size of  my bedroom, and the thick insulation that keeps out the sounds of birds and trucks, both of which can be heard quite clearly from inside the camper .  The trailer feels huge compared to the camper.  The camper is really only one space.  Paul can’t watch TV without my noticing, and even the coffee perking sounds loud.  Climbing in and out of the bed is probably going to get old pretty quickly ( and Sandie, it would NOT have worked for you!!). But hey, we’ll get used to it. I’m not complaining, just making note of the differences.  It reminds me a lot of our boat.  Everything you need, but in a compact space.





As much as we enjoyed the dance on Saturday night, Yosemite was beckoning.  I had looked online and discovered that there were two sites available for Sunday night- maximum length: 27 feet.  We top out a 26 feet so I quickly booked a site and Sunday morning- off we went. It was very strange parking in and among the tent campers.

One of the excuses for heading to Yosemite was to test the truck and camper on a long, windy road.  From the main turnoff, its a 1.5 hour trip to get into Yosemite Valley.  The road is narrow and difficult.

The last time we were here, we didn’t come into the park as much as we would have liked, because the daily drive in and out was over 4 hours long.  Extremely tiring for Paul.  So being able to spend the night in the park was awesome!

Springtime in Yosemite means incredibly beautiful waterfalls- like this one- Yosemite Falls.

Our first day there we headed to Vernal Falls- a hike we’ve done before.  We didn’t plan on hiking all the way to the top of the falls, but once we got started, we were inspired.

By the time we were done hiking, we had climbed about 1200 feet in elevation and hiked about 6 miles or so. It felt awesome to be on the trail again!












The next day we discovered two major perks to having a camper instead of a trailer.  Check out time is noon, and ordinarily it would be difficult to spend the day in the park, since we would have to pack up and be gone by noon.  Well, this time, we packed up and drove to a Day Use parking lot. 




We took the tram to the hiking trail and were able to spend a good portion of the day hiking to Mirror Lake.

We’ve never hiked this trail before but after the elevation gain of yesterday, we chose it because although it’s about a 5 mile hike, it’s relatively flat.

Once we were done with our hike and got back to the camper, it was simple to open the slide and make ourselves some sandwiches, another perk to having the camper with us all the time!

  Both before and after our weekend, we made some changes to the camper.  The old, analog TV is gone, replaced by a larger digital one.  The bathroom faucet has been replaced, and Paul is in the process of installing the new shower head. Using a camper for weekends or the occasional week long vacation is different from living in it for 5 months, and  there are some changes that are being made because we will be living in it for so long.

We’ve had a fun time buying stuff for the camper, and have, of course, moved some things over from the trailer. 

For pictures of the interior of the camper, here’s a link to my blog post that has those pictures:

Truck Camper Post

Blog? What Blog? Oops, I forgot about my blog! (04-10-14)

Well, I didn’t really forget about it. We’ve been very busy for the last……..um, month. I guess that’s by far the longest I’ve gone without posting something. Here’s a brief synopsis of what we've been up to:

I flew to Boston for 10 days to visit my family.  Pretty much the only pictures I took were on the plane. While I was there I managed to pick up our taxes from our accountant, so that was a bonus.  My sister is moving in a few weeks and I am still debating whether I will fly back to help with that.

Part of the reason we came to Fresno early was to help Paul’s friend Kirk.  He sold his house and is moving into a condo, so he has numerous projects for Paul to help with.  They've been busy doing some remodeling and sprucing up at the condo before the big move.

Of course, life is never all work and no play.  We've taken plenty of time off to enjoy ourselves.  We went out to a comedy club with our friends one night.

There’s one goof in every crowd it seems like.

 

We've taken the opportunity to share lots of meals….this one was delicious, honest!

The last few days have been even more hectic. The site we are in is large enough to fit both rigs, which is awesome, so we brought the truck camper over and have been cleaning, fixing, and stocking it for the last few days.

We've certainly done our share of stimulating the economy in the past few days.  Kirk has been letting us use one of his cars, which means we can mostly leave the truck parked.  It sure has made things easier for me- I can do all my errands while Paul is helping Kirk at the condo.

The other day we started sleeping in the camper, checking to make sure its comfy enough.  We moved our Tempurpedic topper to the camper, so that helped a lot.

This has been our view from the window.

So now we are on our first test weekend.  There are quite a few things to say about the camper, but I’ll leave that for the next post.