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!