It's on the Books - Her Maiden Voyage Camping Adventure!

We did it!  We really did it!  We took the Pack -n- Play on her 'maiden voyage' this week.
We spent October 21 - 24 at Edisto Beach State Park.  What a wonderful experience!  After giving her a good scrub down (whew, what a job THAT is!) and getting her loaded with trip essentials, then making sure we had the campsite reserved, confirmed, and preregistered online, we set out for the first adventure.  Jimmy's Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi pulled her like she wasn't even behind us, except that it cut his mpg's by almost half.  Since she weighs 5,100 lbs without all the extra 'stuff' you pack to camp with, I guess that was to be expected.

We found our campsite, got her backed in and hooked up to water and electric and made sure both were working before we unhooked the truck.  Didn't want to have to hook back up to move if either weren't working right.  After rolling out the awnings, placing the patio rug and moving the picnic table under the cover, we started unloading and setting up the inside with the small appliances, dog crate, and other little essentials.  The campsite was just about perfect, since we were at the beach campground but on the back side right at the marsh with a great view.  The bath house was just across the little dirt street, and kept clean, so it was convenient....more space for showering than the camper and plenty of hot water, although I did give its tub a test run one night just to be sure everything worked, which it did.  We took Leo and walked the few yards over to the beach, and took a long walk looking for shells and enjoying the weather, scenery, and life in general.  Back 'home' and hungry, we made our dinner of super nachos that I had prepared for with my homemade chili, cheese, salsa and sour cream on tortilla chips.  I hadn't played Rummy in years, so Jimmy refreshed my memory and we played several rounds before sitting outside for a little while.

Tuesday dawned dreary and cool, but we were determined to go fishing some.  We tried to go to the dock at Steamboat Landing, but there were quite a few people there. Since we had Leo with us, I didn't think they would appreciate having him out there so we drove on to the Dawho bridge landing.  We had it all to ourselves, so I tied Leo on a long run to a railing and we fished in a pretty steady mist and drizzle.  Got too cold for Leo, so I put him back in the truck while we toughed it out on the dock.  The only things we caught were a couple of tiny croakers and one ugly little dogfish.  This was our second time fishing here, with no one else, and not catching anything.  One of the Park Rangers told us he used to try fishing there too, and never caught anything either so he quit.  Maybe that's why we had it to ourselves....no one ever catches anything from there, apparently!  Back 'home', hungry, cold and tired; our bowls of steaming hot chili were well appreciated.  It was raining pretty steadily by then, and the noise on the awning and roof of the camper made it impossible to stay awake, so naps were mandatory.  Later on we got out the little propane grill I had bought.  Putting it together was pretty simple, and we managed to do that without any fussing, or undoing anything to do it over.  Jimmy had brought his fish cooker along, so we made fresh homemade french fries and grilled hamburgers right out there under the awning.  Of course, we enjoyed a few 'adult beverages' of various types during our stay there, but always inside the camper since there is a rule of no public use of alcohol in the park.

On Wednesday we took travel mugs of coffee over to the beach, wearing our sweatshirts since the wind was pretty cool, and picked up lots of shells for me to try to do some crafts with. We even found a starfish, but not the first sharks tooth.  So weird, they used to be all over the beach there.  We tried to go to Botany Bay, as Jimmy has never been there, but it was closed yet again for another deer hunt.  That makes twice we've tried and failed.  Second choice was the little museum, which was a delightful little place.  The afternoon consisted of a nap after a sandwich lunch, then shopping for fresh shrimp to boil for dinner, and riding out to the little fresh market for some she-crab soup and a key lime pie - yummo!  We came back by the Piggly Wiggly for a couple of things, and ran into one of my high school classmates, Bill Coffey, who is now a policeman in Edisto!  Dinner was excellent, even with the cool breeze - well, actually almost gale force winds - and we decided to roll up the awning to prevent it being damaged, since we were packing up to leave the next morning anyway.  What a good decision that turned out to be, since after dark we sat on the 'patio rug' and enjoyed a million stars overhead while one meteor managed to streak across, and the fiddler crabs in the marsh were playing a tiny little symphony with their claws click-tick-clicking into the dark.  There were several more games of Rummy played that evening. The wind continued, blowing in a cold front.

Thursday dawned dry but COLD!!!!  We never did turn on the electric oil radiator we brought along, since our beds had plenty of blankets and spreads on them, but boy oh boy the air was brisk while we had coffee and got everything reloaded safely into their cabinets, nooks and crannies, bungie tying the table and chairs to the wall (a brilliant little device Mr. McConnell Sr. had created) and the TV (which we never used, never missed!) into its corner.  I was a little concerned about having to empty the sewer holding tanks, but we pulled up to the dump station, hooked a new hose to the fittings and followed the directions in the camper manual without a single wrong move.  The drive home was again uneventful, thankfully.  We stopped at Duke's BBQ in Walterboro for lunch (our only meal 'out' in a restaurant the whole vacation) and there was Reid Boyleston from Barnwell!  By the way, we highly recommend eating at this Duke's.  I think it would be worth the drive just for the meal.  We arrived safely back at my house, and backed her into the yard, unhooked the truck and then my job began, unloading all the food, clothes and miscellaneous things we thought we just had to have on the trip.  Didn't use or wear about half of it.  Lesson learned!

So, some observations:  state parks not having sewer hook ups is not a big deal, the dump stations are not a horribly difficult thing to manage, bath houses are great to have but so are potties in the camper for middle of the nights, hehehe; campers should not leave their outside lights on all night, it is light pollution to stargazers; campers should NOT hang wind chimes on their campers as some of us are light sleepers and hear them all night long; waves crashing on the beach all night when you aren't used to it can be disruptive to sleep also. Most dog owners clean up after their pets, but not everyone is so considerate - watch where you and your dog walk!   Four days without TV, wi-fi and Facebook, and never even missed any of it!  Camping involves some work, some thought and preparation, but the payoff is huge, it is so well worth all of it.  This old gal is hooked, and already looking for new places to camp (fairly close by) when the weather warms back up in the Spring. Being a member of The Roamin' Empire is a dream-come-true!  Let the adventures continue.......

Backing the Pack-n-Play into her campsite at Edisto Beach State Park

Ahhhhhhh Edisto!

Nothing like sand, surf and breezes

The Name Says It All......

She has a name!  After the suggestion of my friend, Jonna Murphy, I settled on "The Pack and Play" as her official name.  I liked the idea of having my last name - Pack - used, and it really is for playing, so that seemed appropriate.  Thanks, Jonna!  If there had been a name-the-camper-contest prize, you would be the winner, hehehehe!

The tires have been replaced.  The old ones, when removed, showed signs of dry rot and splitting in the seams, just primed for a blowout.  Jimmy also put something, I think called bearing buddies, on the wheels, to make it easy to keep the bearings greased.  That's his department, I work on the inside and decor!  She is back home, sitting comfortably in my driveway.  We went through her with a fine-toothed comb, and made lists of what we NEED to repair/replace and what we WANT to replace or add to her.  Off to CSRA Camperland in Augusta last weekend, and got only a fraction of the NEED to list as they are not fully stocked, but I will probably order the rest from Campingworld online, and save the trip to Columbia.  Today I have spent part of the day out there, working on her, and after this lunch break will head back for a little while.  I love being in that camper, and can't wait until she is on a waterfront campsite somewhere quiet. 

Some of the plastic lens covers on the inside lights had cracked, so I replaced those today, with the only 4 that the store had in stock.  I replaced the 5 plastic knobs that turn to open the windows, the old ones were dry rotted and crumbled in our hands when we turned them.  That is expected in a 23 year old camper!  I took down the cover over the A/C and scrubbed it, washed the filters, and wiped the remaining parts that I could reach.  There is a musty smell that was like mildew, and I'm sure this will help.  I have taken down the curtains and washed them also, but haven't put them back up.  I have a plan.....  I wanted to buy fabric to recover the two kitchen chair seats, and hopefully make pillows for the sofa, and maybe a couple of new curtain panels.  My hope was to find a flame-stitch in the colors of the sofa fabric, which are soft rose, blue, teal and beige.  I really didn't want to spend a fortune on this fabric, though.  So last week, on a whim, I strolled through the local thrift store for the Animal Advocates looking for remnants, or old table cloths or curtains.  Well, lo and behold, there was a beautiful almost new-looking valance hanging there for $3...in my colors, and flame-stitch pattern!   It is FIVE YARDS long, and when I ripped out all the seams it turns out to be the full 45" width of the fabric! This is awesome!  Enough to cover both chairs, make the curtain to cover the wide window over the sink and not have to use the mini blind.  There is enough for the little pillows, and likely a pair of panels for the dinette area, too!  Do you get the impression that I am trying to 'glamper' my camper????  Yep, for sure!!

I figured a way to 'fix' the sliding window in the dinette area that would not stay up on one side.  Just no engineer inspections, okay?  It probably won't pass 'code'.   The screen door had an aggravating handle that you had to slip your finger into and pull to the side to open it.  I replaced it today with a flip down lever latch, and even got the holder up to keep it attached to the outer door!! Yes, there was drilling involved, and yes, everything is attached firmly, thank you very much.  The cover over the bumper storage for the sewer pipe was bent and letting wasps get in, so I worked at that until it came off, and replaced it with a bug-free insert type.  No inspections of these projects, either, okay?  I had bought a replacement holder to keep the outer door hooked open, but wasn't able to get the old one off, it has rusted to the point of no slots in the screws!  That's okay, it's ugly but it still works.  Just a few more little things inside, like seeing if the screens in the overhead vents will come down from inside to clean the leaves out of them......I just simply cannot climb up on that roof.  I am such a chicken about heights, oh yeah.  

Once these little 'want to do' list items are complete, and we get her scrubbed down and presentable, I will post a whole new album of her pictures for you to see.  Then we will truly be ready to hitch her up and "Pack and Play" our way through as many state parks as we can make it to!  

Later, y'all........

Getting Acquainted

Rain, rain, rain.....yesterday was a deluge nearly all day long, with 2.5 inches in the rain gauge.  Seemed like the perfect day to get acquainted with my camper, so I opened up the windows and took one of my oscillating fans with me.  I turned the stereo system on and listened to WBBQ all afternoon.  I started emptying drawers, cabinets and cubbyholes....boy oh boy, there are lots of cubbyholes in a camper!  There were dishes for eating, for serving, cookware, small appliances, utensils, plastic drinking things and plastic food storage dishes that might have filled up a Walmart aisle, hehehehe.   Sheets, towels, bath cloths enough to probably live in the cute little thing, and even electric blankets!  There is little to need other than a couple of personal favorite items, and most of those I already had duplicates of here in the house.  They will help fill all those cute little cubbies!  With the electric water heater, electric refrigerator, and an electric hot plate, the only thing we will add is my oil-filled radiator space heater for cool weather camping to let us be all-electric and no need to use the LP gas, which always makes me uncomfortable.  I had a bad experience as a teen working in Daddy's little hamburger stand, so I try to avoid using gas if possible.

The rain pounded for most of the time, but it was cool and with the fan blowing around there was no need to turn on the a/c, which does work well.  I love the open air and the sounds of the outdoors, so it was a really great day.  Today I'll start replacing everything and make a list of the very few, minor things needed on a 23 year old camper, like plastic window knobs, little plastic light covers, and I can't find a smoke detector so that goes on the short list, too.  I'm kind of spooky about fires, guess that was obvious from the LP gas post, wasn't it?  Tires...I forgot those....will be replacing them just as a precaution, since we don't really know how old they are.  At least they got us into my driveway, yay!!!!

This is a very thrilling experience for me, I have always wanted a camper of my own.  I can hardly wait to get practice setting it up and breaking it down, so we can hit the road.  What is that sound?????  Oh, it's Edisto Beach calling my name!!!  Roamin' Empire, it won't be long!

She has arrived!

She has officially arrived as of today, July 1, 2013.  The hookup and pull from the owners to my house went without a glitch.  She is now insured, titled, and tagged and sitting in my driveway.  We have pulled out the awnings and they seem to be intact.  Tires will be replaced later this month.  I had a wonderful time all afternoon running the a/c, listening to the radio on the four speakers and pulling everything out of the cabinets and drawers and making a list of what we have.  Seems to be everything imaginable, and probably lots more cooking utensils than I am going to be willing to use when camping!!  There are some really nice but disgusting ORANGE towels that I am sure the former owners may want to keep since they are Clemson fans and I just know they would blister my skin if I dried with them, hahahahaha!!!  Seriously though, everything is there, even electric blankets, a fly swatter and umbrella.  I just know we are going to have the time of our lives kicking back and enjoying the camping life.  Thanks, Chuck and Betty.....you have made this old retired gal really happy!!!

"Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows...doo, doo, doo,  Lookin' out my back door"

SHE COMES HOME TO ROOST!!

"She".  Well, most camper blogs I have seen refer to their rolling home as "she", so it seemed appropriate.  What I will actually call her remains to be determined, but this is the story of how she and I became acquainted.

I grew up in a camping family.  My parents started in my teens with a very small Shasta pull behind camper that all 7 of us slept in, and learned the ins and outs of very close quarters and everything having a place and always going back into its place!  I married and moved out but they continued to upgrade to larger pull behinds, a succession of increasingly larger motor homes, and their final toy was a huge Allegro motor home that was about as long as a railcar, it seemed like!  They took their dream vacation in that; a 3 month trip that took them up to the midwest, out to the Dakotas, down through California, back through Texas and after 10,000 miles returned to Barnwell with albums filled with pictures to share.  

My first solo (meaning without Daddy to do all the set-up and break-down chores) was with my late hubby, Terry Pack.  We did a few trips in a tent, to the coast and to the mountains of North Georgia.  Next we borrowed an ancient all-canvas-topped pop-up that we took our daughter with us in, to join my parents and siblings at the ruby mines in Franklin, NC...once.  When we had our second child, we also borrowed a pickup truck camper that was our worst experience camping, at Hunting Island State Park (delightful place, not delightful camper). The sand gnats nearly carried us away that first - and only - night, and the storm that came through demolished our screen room and shook that camper all night.  I promised myself, him and the Lord that if we lived through the night I would NEVER camp in a pickup camper again, and have kept that promise!  Our last camping experience was really his experience....he got a job in Oak Ridge, TN in 1984 before the school year ended so my uncle graciously loaned us his small motor home for Terry to set up and live in until we could get all of us out of school (even me, I was finishing my Associates Degree at USC-Salk!) and moved into a home up there.  After freezing and bursting pipes, flooding carpet and generally being miserable separated from his little family, he had lost the camping fever and it was never rekindled.  His failing health from Parkinson's probably contributed the most to that, but I always joked about how I preferred to camp at the Holiday Inn!

I should add here, that in 2011, the summer that I retired, I had the wonderful experience of camping a whole month with my youngest sister, Nevilee, in HER very first camper.  We had a campsite on a creek at Grandfather Mountain Campground out of Boone, NC. It was older, previously mildly damaged in a wreck but still sound.  She and I, our two Shih Tzus and their two wire crates, had a delightful experience in spite of both of us being sick or injured at the outset.  The rain destroyed our awning and made for a very memorable morning trying to get a bent awning roller to retract, in the pouring rain, after poking holes in it to drain the water that had filled up between the two layers like a giant bladder and pulled it down to the point of barely opening the door enough to squeeze out!  So thankful the neighbors didn't video it.... we might have been on America's Funniest Videos, hehehe!!

Now, being widowed for 9 years, and finding myself with the camping bug again, I began a search for a small, affordable camper that I can enjoy and share with someone special.  Never in a million years did I think I would find it right here in Barnwell, but I did!  We had looked at one out of town a week before, but it was in pretty rough shape, with lots of repair and cosmetic work needed, and very much overpriced. It did, however, have a feature I had never seen but was absolutely in love with... a front kitchen, plenty of room to move around and work, and not have to step aside to let other people pass by between you and the dinette to get to the beds or bathroom.  We heard that friends might be selling theirs, made arrangements to see it, and I was smitten....a FRONT KITCHEN!!!  and a full bath across the whole back!!  It was in great shape, immaculate, and within the meager budget.  Tomorrow we finalize the sale and Jimmy will pull it to my driveway for a few weeks so we can go through it and see what all there is to enjoy using.....you see, these wonderful friends also sold it to us completely ready to camp with all dishes, cookware, linens, everything you could possibly need to have a home-away-from-home!  I am so excited, I feel like a little girl setting up her very first playhouse!

Sitting in storage, waiting for me to find her  :-)