36 years ago, we started with a teeny, tiny tent and headed to the Shenandoah Mountains, VA at every possible opportunity during the spring, summer and fall, along with our children, who were, 5 & 6 at the time. We continued tenting, with pleasure for 4 years, and then splurged on an ancient pop-up which we purchased used from friends for $500 – we named it the Taj Mahal (as it seemed about as grand to us) and towed it with our antiquated Chevette, returning mostly to the mountains for weekend jaunts. Then our children got involved in sports – soccer & swim teams, their activities monopolizing any free time we might have had, and our careers blossomed, demanding more of our time and energies. We didn’t camp for over 23 years. By then, our children were off on their own, and our careers were not as all encompassing. It was time for us! We bought a Coleman Pop-up, which served us well for 3 years, as we took weekend trips on the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway and summer vacationed in NH. We loved the spaciousness of the pop-up bunks and the feeling that we were really close to nature, but it inevitably poured rain just as we were “popping down” and stocking up with supplies was difficult as we had to keep most everything in back of our SUV, not to mention that we now had time to take longer trips. In 2006, we gave the pop-up to our son, and bought our first trailer - a 16’ Fun Finder. We were in heaven! Frig, AC, heater, small bathroom and enough bunks to take our grandchildren with us occasionally. That little Fun Finder went everywhere – Florida (for over a month), OBX, all the Mid-Atlantic & New England States, Quebec, New Brunswick PEI, Nova Scotia all the way to Cape Breton – over 10,000 miles, towed by our Toyota 4Runner. In 2012, we moved up again, giving our Fun Finder (still as good as new) to our daughter. This time, we bought a used 2011 Shadow Cruiser – 23’ with a real bathroom, a queen size bed, large frig, oven, etc, etc. It’s a keeper, serving us well for trips up and down the eastern seaboard, and back to Canada. We stayed in it happily for 2+ months this last winter in FL, and will again in 2016 (God willing).
All units, with the exception of the teeny tiny tent are still in use by our family. We are about to leave for our annual Family Camp in the Shenandoahs. What fun it is to see our 3 units – the Coleman; the Fun Finder and our Shadow Cruiser all in a line, occupied by our children and grandchildren. Happiness Personified!!!!