weekend of rest

No camping this long holiday weekend- we'd had reservations for a dog-friendly B&B before we were certain we'd buy the Covered Wagon. We will be going to Fort DeSoto for the dog beach for Tug's pleasure (and I think my sister's more than his- she's really in to seeing him wander around on the beach...).

I still can't believe I'm camping again. I really thought those days were gone for good. My poor knees have such bad arthritis I can't sleep on the ground even with an air mattress- I actually have trouble getting in and out of the camper due to the depth of the step. It's worth it, though. We're having fun sitting by the fire at night and cooking good food to eat. We spend more time planning the menus than we do eating.

I have to expound on the pleasures of grilled food. We do use charcoal vs. wood but it still provides a nice char and, since we're smart enough to light the coals well in advance, doesn't have that lighter fluid aftertaste. Corn in the husk and on a grate over the coals has a flavor boiling and oven roasting can't touch. Now we've also done it without the husk and wrapped in heavy duty tin foil- with the butter, salt and pepper in there! Then we put them into the coals. Wow, was it fabulous. We also peeled onions, put oil/salt/pepper on them and wrapped them in foil. Then they went into the coals. YUMMY!

I do love cast iron cooking, too. It gives a different texture to food and even taste. Heck, I grew up with a gas range and oven at home- I'd never had an omlette made in anything other than cast iron til I was grown. Now I live in a silly condo with an electric range and oven so no stove top cast iron cooking (glass top- no go). *sigh*

We'd lit lots of citronella candles last trip and it really helped keep the bugs off me. I have some sort of chemical attraction for them, I guess, since I come home with welts from mosquito bites which swell to two inches square. This trip I only had just over a dozen bites- the trip before I'd had over a dozen on each appendege (two arms and two legs, if you're not in to polysyllbatic words...). Gonna have to buy a LOT more of those candles...

Silly me, I hadn't posted a photo...

My bunk is on the left of the photo and my sister's is on the right. The big picture window in the middle encompasses Mama's bunk (aka the dinette) and the sink area. The door is on the other side. The entire top is a canvas tent held up by bimini bars. The bottom and sides are aluminum and there's no wood anywhere- unless the laminate stuff the sink/storage area count. LOL

My first tow job!

I got my hitch put on my pick'em up truck before Thanksgiving and got to use it this past weekend. I was supposed to make a "dry" run and hook up the Covered Wagon and tow it around the neighborhood two days before the trip. I didn't since I was too tired from some errands (with LOTS of walking) I'd had to do. So, naturally, when we went to hook up the C.W. there was a problem- my hitch is different from my sister's as we have different vehicles. One of the tow chains on the C.W. is shorter than the other and just reaches on my sister's SUV. It does not reach on my truck. So, we're packed with the dog in the SUV and only one tow chain is usable. Thank goodness we'd taken a 3 day weekend so it was Friday, 11 AM, when we discovered the issue. (Thanks to my sister for not being mad at me for ditching the dry run!)

We call the place which put the hitch on and they can help- plus, they're actually on the way to our campground (just an alternate route we wouldn't have taken otherwise). I got to answer a ton of questions when I pulled up with the C.W. attached (yes, nervous as only one tow chain was attached). Then they charged me a whopping $5.30 (with tax) for the fix. Do we love these guys, or what? (shout out to Automotive One in Longwood, FL)

Mama rode with my sister and I took the pickup and C.W. on my own. It was really easier for me since I'd been in the car the first time my sister towed it and followed right behind her the second time (our first "real" camping trip in it). I'd seen the issues, felt the difference in hitting the brakes and she'd found out how oblivious the general public is to what it takes to stop or manuever a trailer...

It went smoothly- except the backing into the camp site bit. We got it after about 15 minutes, though. The worst part was it was just Mama and I when we returned home. That was a full 30 minutes to back it into it's space in the "corral" at our complex (where all campers and boats are required to be parked). *sigh*

I think we did very well, though, but I'm looking forward to our next trip being to a B&B for Christmas. My sister has the C.W. at that state campground near her home for several nights at New Years and Mama, Tug and I will spend some time out there. Her friend will also be out there at some point. My aunt has a nearby site to tent camp in at least one of those nights.

catch up post

1. My sister's friend aparently liked the Covered Wagon! Mama, my sister and the friend went to the campground to set it up and then joined me at a restaurant for dinner. Tug had a date with his crate and a long snooze. Like us she was impressed with how big it is and how easy it is to put it up (now that my sister and Mama have worked out the bugs it takes just minutes). My sister even backed it into the spot on the first try! :) When researching the C.W. my sister came across people on the web who stated to be prepared for visitors. When people see it going up they come over to get the "low down" on the different design. Yup, it happened. Also, a park ranger saw them entering and told them he wanted to come by later and see it.

2. Last weekend (the first weekend of December) my sister went back to that campground near her house. She's apparently a semi-celebrity with the rangers since she was doing back-to-back visits for 1 night. Her friend brought her husband this last weekend and they had their tent in a nearby spot. Lots of visitors again and some were referred by the rangers! LOL

3. This weekend is camping on the Atlantic coast near old St. Augustine in Anastasia. We're doing a three day weekend (all 4 of us- don't forget Tug!). It's supposed to be in the low 50s at night so this will probably be the test run of our little space heater. Hope we don't get a toasted Terrier- there's very little floor room with the dinette made into Mama's bunk and his crate goes into that spot. We'll have to figure out how to do this...heck,we're 3 smart women!

You have got to be kidding me...

Yes, it's official: when my sister and I counted up the weekends in December wherein she'd reserved campsites we came up with 4 out of 5. The reason? She wasn't counting the Monday, 12/24, reservation at Ft Desoto which she made so we could spend the afternoon there and sip hot chocolate as the sun goes down- and then return to our B&B accomodations for the night.

No, I am not kidding.

Open for business

The Covered Wagon gets it's first visitor this weekend! On our shakedown cruise (overnight stay at a state park near my sister's house) we'd had campsite visitors. A long-time family friend and two of her children came by to "oooh" and "aaah" appropriately. :) This weekend my sister has one night at that same campground "just because" and her most frequent camping buddy will be joining her. These two normally camp in tents and even hike in to places- including up a GA mountain to a "green" hotel which can only be reached by trails. Not your garden variety girls (nor your garden variety girls roadtrip, either). We're kind of excited to get someone else's take on the C.W. since it's everything we expected and twice as comfortable, actually. Hopefully, we're not ruining a good thing and all the luxury won't lure them from their more strenuous and, frankly, impressive goals. Being a bad influence is a good thing (wink-wink) but I'm impressed by what they've gone through to enjoy some one-of-a-kind experiences in the past.

Mama, Tug and I plan to join them for a few hours around the campfire but then bug out and let them have a quiet night. Cross your fingers for less buggy weather! LOL

Insanity

My sister'd been dying for Mama and me to go camping with her again so when we got the Covered Wagon she started making online campsite reservations like a mad woman. Well, I didn't want to ask my sister if she'd hit a month yet with 4 weekends of campground reservations- in fact, I jokingly told her that if it happened I didn't want to know! So what does she do? Starts counting on her fingers and then goes for a calendar. Yes, December has 4 weekends of reservations!! Why not 5, you ask? Because that lone holdout is the weekend leading into Christmas and we have reservations at a B&B which accepts dogs...

Success

Well, the first "real" trip was a success- we all relaxed and enjoyed ourselves immensely. During our "shakedown" overnight trip a gentleman camping across the road from our site had lent us a rubber mallet for getting the pins into the struts which support the foldouts. My sister'd already bought one of her own by this trip. I think it took just about 20 minutes to put the Covered Wagon up once we started but I know in came down and was ready-to-roll in under ten! (Try that with a large tent and three mattresses- ha!)

We'd left some stuff stored in the benches and under the sink from the first trip and put a few more things this time. My sister figures by the end of our next trip in early December (this time to the Atlantic) we'll have it properly organized and outfitted. :)

We did discover it will be possible to take all we need in the bed of my truck! Great thing for the times my sister can brave an itty, bitty back seat with a "lick monster" terrier. I'm getting a tow hitch put on my truck so we'll be able to use either vehicle. That'll make things easier for my sister since now she has to bear the brunt of the pressure of towing. Sometimes one just doesn't feel like slaying dragons or fighting major interstate traffic pulling a big wind-buffetted C.W. behind you...Options are always good. We're new to towing things (Mama's done it before and simply declines to discuss the subject) so it's a lot of focus and energy.

It was plenty warm inside without breaking out the space heater and that canvas top really keeps the wind out. We all slept snugly (Tug in his crate this trip- we brought a different one from last time and it fit the space better). I think we'll be okay even in winter time (which, in FL, is a few weeks in Jan, Feb & March- not necessarily consecutive weeks, either). I'm more committed than ever to never go in spring, summer or early fall. My bug bites may heal in time for Thanksgiving, if I'm lucky. Something about my body chemistry makes me irresitible to insects who bite. My cup runneth over...

We ate well, of course, and used up most of the perishables we brought. Lots of snack food made it back home which is surprising but we were stuffed from real food which is great. I never even broke into my stash of Cheerios (a popcorn or potato chip replacement when I'm trying to behave). The first night was sandwiches (pb&j, pimento cheese and blt) and iced tea. We like to have dinner ready when we arrive as it's less stress. Breakfast the next morning was an appetizer course of muffins I'd baked the night before we left. Then we had brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon for Mama & me, and some more muffins.
Dinner was turkey burgers for Mama & me while my sister grilled her soy sausages. We had fresh roasted corn on the cob (it's incredibly good that way- even the slightly burned parts taste great) and roasted onions & green peppers for the burgers/sausages. While we ate dinner we cooked some extra onions/peppers and baked potatoes in the dying coals for the next morning's breakfast of scrambled eggs and potatoes O'Brien. Totally killer! We eat twice a day when camping because we do cook real food. It takes some extra time but tastes better and so we cut out one meal. We take good snacks with us for the munchies (dried fruit, mixed nuts and yogurt). Yeah, I'm all about the food!

Prep time

We're not just jump-up-and-do-something type of women. We research and discuss and plan. In fact, I'm the one likely to just give up first and say I've had enough. Mama and my sister can talk something into the ground.

So, no surprise that our first "shakedown cruise" we took too much stuff. We weren't sure what we'd need or how much would fit into the Covered Wagon's storage areas. Mama and my sister spent three hours on our second day sorting and packing things into the C.W. I played with Tug and did minor cleaning of items or sorting (I also took him for a "bio" break to relieve his bladder). The theory is that everything has it's place and gets put back there and, with us, this will actually work. We're all a little OC (obsessive compulsive) and don't want to be the one who messes the system up.

Then, last week, my sister presents me with diagrams of my truck bed and the interior of her car (not to scale). She and Mama had figured out how to pack for when we take both vehicles. Everything will fit and, once we use the system a few times, we'll all know where everything is or at least which storage box to look into anyway. I was proud to contribute my latest idea: these XXL storage bags which zip at the top. We each get one with our name on it and this is where our dirty laundry gets stored. They can be zipped closed to be stored in a vehicle at night and opened to air out during the day so nothing gets mildewed (very important in FL heat).

I'm in charge of food and I make sure we eat well (and I look it, too!). Last week I made up a menu and went through each item thinking of what utensils and pots or pans were needed. The kitchen items on that list then get pulled to go on our upcoming trip. We eat 2 meals a day with snacks as that's a lot less cleanup and not as time consuming as cooking 3 times a day. We don't take a lot of ready-made food. My sister's a vegetarian (lacto-ovo meaning she does eat dairy and eggs) and Mama and I love chicken! For that reason it's easier to light some charcoal and cook veggies (heavy on the starchy ones) than it is to use box mixes or heat up the contents of cans on the little propane burner. Vegetarians sure do make it harder on us carnivores! :) Of course, we eat better than most people who only have a grill, propane burner and ice chest so I don't actually complain! Mama makes great scratch biscuits in our cast iron dutch oven....

Introducing the Covered Wagon

Growing up in the '70's I spent a lot of tent time camping with my family in NC (mostly). Once you had the tent it was cheap enough- you had to eat anyway and so the gas was the issue (what goes around comes around- $3.00/gallon now??). We would travel up from FL and do primitive camping where you pack everything in and on on your back while hiking trails. We also did car camping where you were at a camp site with your car parked there so you had more luxuries. Of course, we did combinations of both and left the car parked and hiked off on occassion.

During my mid-teens in the early '80's The Pumpkin was purchased. It was an old, faded orange color VW camper with the pop-top, sink, sofa which converted to a bed and a little table. We did a few trips in that with me in the pop-top on a narrow cot that didn't really fit my shoulder width. My sister would set up the cot in the cockpit which fit around the steering wheel and snap in curtains in the windshield and door windows. My brother wasn't camping with us by then so my parents had the bed. Something of an improvement over the tents but still not terribly comfy if you weren't the one in the bed.

In the late '80's I was transitioning into my 20's and lived in CA at one time. My bosses, a husband and wife a few years older than me, took me camping a few times in their tent camper. One Memorial Day we were camping in the Sequoias (the really, really tall trees) and it snowed. Pretty cool for a FL girl! The rangers came around and pulled out everyone without 4 wheel drive in case it got worse. Their Jeep wouldn't have any problems so we got to stay. I haven't slept in a tent since I first slept in that tent trailer...Mama didn't raise no fools.

In the '90's my vacations were about spending time with family in SC who I didn't get to see otherwise. Sometime in the '90's my sister, who is the oldest, got back into hiking and camping through groups here in FL. I just rolled my eyes. I'd never liked camping in FL even when I'd liked camping. Too many bugs and too much humidity. Heck, we've had more Christmas Days where it was 80 degrees than below 60...

So, now we're into the new millenium. My sister's the persistent type and wanted Mama, whom I live with, and me to join her in doing more than the occassional weekend in a hotel somewhere. I'd always thought, in a if-I-marry-rich-or-hit-the-lottery kind of way, that for my retirement I'd like to have an RV and just travel. No real roots for a year or so. I wanted to go through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. I'd even looked up RV rentals on-line and seen prices and options plus nixed Mexico. Apparently, the roads really stink and if you rent an RV you can't take it there unless you're with an experienced caravan leader. So, my sister wanted to do some great vacation for my 40th birthday ealier this year and started badgering me over a year out.

We'd gotten our little dog, Tug O' War, by then so we'd lost some options like a cruise (which I love the idea of but they both freak out) or even a nice hotel (some do take dogs but they're too hoity toity for me). see Tug's blog at http://ourbostonterrier.blogspot.com/

So, I finally told them of my grand RV dream. It was decided. My sister, the internet research queen, found a great place to go which was only a few hours away on the Gulf Coast. (Pinellas County's Fort DeSoto park. We're going there next weekend so I guess you don't have to ask if we'd recommend it.) We would rent an RV and the four of us (Mama, my sister, Tug and me) would spend a 4 day weekend. You can read about that one on Tug's blog (April, 2007). However, being persistent, my sister got us to agree that if we liked camping still we would consider a tent trailer for the four of us. We'd both declined tent camping again. My arthritis is worse than Mama's but neither of us get up from the ground easily- gracefully fell by the wayside over a decade ago for me. So, 8 months out from the RV adventure and Mama and I don't know if we'll agree to the tent trailer but my sister's already found one for us. She and I took a half day trek to see one since it's a small manufacturer without a lot of dealerships who carry the product.

Quicksilver by Livin' Lite is all alumninum without any heavy wood which rots over time. The interior benches are marine grade vinyl and removable. It has 3 beds (Mama has the dinette bed and my sister and I have the two bunks- in our model all 3 are full size). It's also a fold-out vs. a pop-up so less mechanisms to break. Plus, it has air conditioning. For Mama's asthma and to keep me from bitching there's nothing like a cool night's sleep. We only promised to go out late October through March, though! The biggest thing about this tent trailer: it's light enough to be pulled by a strong family sedan or a light SUV like my sister's SantaFe. Try finding a traditional pop-up where you can do that (you won't be able to as they don't exist in the over-2-adults category).

Through a series of misadventures with delivery I won't relate we finally got our tent trailer in late September. My sister christened it the Covered Wagon as it's just beds, a dinette, some storage and an itty bitty sink. No frills. We've named her SUV the Turtle as, although it can pull the Covered Wagon, it can't take all four of us and our stuff, too. So we figured we'd take 2 vehicles and load up my sedan...only I decided that at 40 I was allowed a mid-life crisis purchase and bought the only type of vehicle I've ever really wanted: a pickup truck. The internet research queen (my sister) helped me get a great deal in mid-September and my Tacoma can pull the trailer and carry us and our stuff! Of course, there will be times we'll take 2 vehicles since my alleged "back seat" is really just big enough for Tug or groceries. My sister can fit back there with him for short trips. Since the Covered Wagon is silver, my sister's Turtle is silver and my new pick'em up truck is silver there was only one name for my truck: Silver (as in "hi, ho, Silver- away!").

We tested the Covered Wagon last weekend in 90 degree weather- thank you, thank you, thank you for that A/C- at a state park about 15 minutes from my sister's house. Next weekend it's back to Fort DeSoto for a 3 day weekend. We're considering this a mental health purchase- my sister and I hate our jobs and Mama's retired and feeling guilty that she's free and we're not. So, I've agreed to go out once a month for 6 months of the year. Mama and Tug will accompany us when Mama feels like it. My sister will take it out other times with friends she camps with in tents. I think we may end up as a corrupting influence there. My sister has 2-3 weekends each month reserved somewhere through April. I am afraid to ask if it's hit 4 weekends yet.

So, that's the tale of how we came to have a Covered Wagon. I'm a little long-winded at first but once I lay the ground work I shorten my entries. I promise!