Dealing with the unpredicablity of life and your camper!

[pk1023]

Okay, this is going to come out as just as complaint session, but I have to express it.

Soo... We've had a travel trailer for about 2 years, traded our terribly little one in on a nice BIG 30 foot unit with a slide. It's something our family of four can really live in and that's great.

Using it the 2nd time here in Central Indiana this weekend. Not far from home, about 30 minutes. I wanted to go a bit further, but about a week ago a co-worker at the preschool where my wife teaches said there's this "big party they host on their farm" this same weekend. My wife wanted to go and I think that pretty much helped decide that we'd camp but stay close. No problem I thought, camping is camping, just fun to get away.

The other challenge comes last Sunday, we need a reservation. So we start calling around, finding not much. Finally choose a private place that's like 37 bucks a night, much more than the 26 we pay at state parks. But, it's something and close which will allow the party to be attended.

So here we sit on Thursday. The weather forecast is pretty BAD for the weekend. It's going to be a wet, cold affair this weekend in Central Indiana.

So, before we break into the courses of all the things you can do camping while it might be raining, we know all that. We have board games and TV, plus my 10 and 8 year olds are happy to just play their video games. That's not the problem.

The problem is the best laid plans always seem to fail for us. What will run through my head all weekend is could be sitting in our nice, big house instead of paying 37 bucks. I mean it'll be rainy and cold, it won't be weather anyone wants to go out in. Probably no fire, probably no bike riding.

I'm excited to go to the party, I think that'll be a good time. But, it seems like the smarter move would have been to cancel camping...

I just get this feeling as I sit here at this desk and work 8 hours a day that god is mocking me. It's like I do all this work to get these cool toys, but then I can't seem to ever get what I need.

There was a stretch of weather here in Sept, the weather people kept saying "Get Out and Enjoy it" over and over. But I couldn't. Work, school, commitments. I couldn't enjoy it with my camper because life doesn't just work that way. The best of nature doesn't just line up with the schedules of a life. Flag football doesn't cancel for GREAT weather, just crappy, which means it took even MORE time up.

Okay, let the flaming begin! 🙂

[Spleenstomper]

Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:

Of course, now we have a nice camper, with a DVD player, a nice dry bed and a furnace so we don't have to sleep cold or wet now. But we still reminisce about that camping trip. And we always pack our ponchos.

We also keep 6 or so ponchos in the RV. We won't melt in the rain.

[Spleenstomper]

My kids are older teens so they play video games during inclement weather. I started buying older movies from 1980-1990 like John Hughes films and some by Cameron Crowe and make them watch them with us-- like "Say Anything". They actually got a kick out of how no one has cell phones in the movies and how if you wanted to see people, you had to go drive around and look for them.

I also like to use the time to organize the RV more. Ours is new this year and so I haven't quite found all of the spots where things should go. We bake.

It's a different day but worthwhile all the same....

[JAYHAWKERS]

The comment that "There is no bad weather" has apparently never had the experience our son and his family had on their very first camping trip with their brand new travel trailer and new pick up. High winds heavy rain, with hail, and a tornado. Only minor damage but my son and his wife were sweating bullets that night. Of course the two kids slept right through the whole thing! Do you remember your very first travel trailer trip? We ran out of water in the first 24 hours. We had a pop up camper before and quit filling the water after it started spurting back out. Met some nice fellow campers that loaned us a 100ft hose to go along with ours and all was good. Did find the problem was a fill tube that had a "goose neck" in the line due to the factory leaving excess tubbing sticking up from the fresh water tank.....pushed it down some and the problem was solved. Hope your problems are few and camping experiences memorable.

[dave54]

Would you rather be inside your stick and brick house when raining or out camping when raining?

I figger if it is going to rain anyway I would still rather be out in the woods than stuck at home.


Adapt, Innovate, Overcome.

[Veebyes]

Can't do anything about the weather so there is not much point moaning about it. We don't trust any forcast with a lead time greater than 48 hours. Too much can change, for better or worse.

#1 rule for camping or RVing is: Never let the weather win.

[VegasBT]

I have to agree with the general sentiment here. Life is what happens when you are making other plans. Recognize that it's okay to put yourself and your family ahead of other commitment, especially because your kids are not going to be small forever. When you come down to it, all you leave on this Earth is the memories you make with your children and the people around you. No one ever says "He was a great guy because he put working weekends over spending time with his family." Camping is like everything else in life. If you wait for perfect conditions, you're going to be disappointed. Perfect is the enemy of good enough. If the weather's good enough to go out, load the kids and go. Spend time with them. Enjoy them. Soon enough they will be grown and gone!

[pk1023]

Original poster here...

My season ended on a bright and sunny note. We took the 2nd to last trip that started this thread. It was our second time out in the new Salem Cruise Lite 262BHXL.

The trip was good, but short. The weather was colder but no rain. We made the best of it outside Anderson, IN.

The last trip, was 2 weeks ago over fall break here. That's just 2 days here, but we made the best. Thursday we went back to BSU to take pictures like my wife likes to. Then Friday we all went out to take the camper to the dealer for more work. The boys demanded we go one last time, so we drove her home, loaded everything up and took off for Mississenwa Lake.

It was great, I had NO cell service. I felt free for the first time in a long time.

It was a blessing.

But, weather and everything else still sucks and I hate it. 🙂

[punomatic]

hitchup wrote:
I remember working all week to Sun and warm temps, then come the weekend of rain storms and mud. Such is Life.

I would have tried to camp for Free on the Farm.

We have a riddle here in Oregon: "Q: What follows two days of rain in Oregon? A: Monday.":S

[jamway]

dave54 wrote:
There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.

It would take a lot clothing for a TORNADO to be good weather.

[dave54]

There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.

[xzyHollyxyz]

Dog Folks wrote:
Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.

Pick which one you want.

I LOVEthis!

[handye9]

Fifty years ago, I spent most summer weekends, at the lake with my grandparents. Grandma used to say "You know what comes after two days of wind and rain? ---- Monday"

She was right. It still happens today.

[cyntdon2010]

The weather doesn't have to be 100% perfect for you to enjoy the outdoors. Put on a hat and a raincoat and go for hike, go for a bike ride, go sneak up on wildlife. Life is what you make it. Whenever God shuts a door he opens a window. Find the window and crawl out it.

sounded so perfect I had to repeat this statement...

[wintersun]

Often we travel by car and stay at hotels as it is easier to do at the last minute and the overall cost is the same as traveling with our camper. When we camped as a family we used tents and sleeping bags and a Coleman cook stove and kerosene lamps so the dollar investment was small and it did not matter if the camping gear sat on a shelf for months at a time.

Even having paid cash for our rig there is still the monthly storage costs whether the camper is in use or not. We know we are not saving money but we eat better and have a much more healthy diet when traveling with the camper and cooking our own meals than eating in restaurants.

In general the faster it is to get the camper ready before heading out and the less time it takes to empty it when we return home, the more likely we are to take it out for short trips. The bigger the camper the more stuff it holds and the more stuff that gets put inside before the trip and the more stuff than needs to come back out at the end of the trip.

Two couples we know who moved from mid size trailers to 35 foot 5th wheel trailers mentioned the amount of stuff to move in and out as a reason why they used their rigs only for one or two long trips during the year. Both have sold their trailers and bought class B motorhomes so that they could simplify the process and make it easier to do more short trips throughout the year.