(Sorry if this is a thread that has been done before -- I searched and did not find it.)So in 2005, we bought a very small used trailer, just as an experiment -- we had never camped a day in our lives, but we were sick of staying in motels and eating bad food at high prices. Just to try it out, we went for one night to a campground a couple of hours away from the house, up in the Angeles National Forest. Just by sheer luck (we went midweek), it was completely empty (which was a good thing, because if there had been any spectators, they would have died laughing while we tried to back the trailer into the campsite). We eventually got parked, and took a deep breath: Silent. Cool. Shady. Breezy.We went on a hike that afternoon, came back and had snacks and drinks and watched the sunset. A quiet dinner by candlelight. We slept better than we ever had at home. No phone, no computer, no television, no freeway noise, no air traffic. Brilliant sunshine the next morning, birds singing, the wind in the trees. We hated to leave. My wife summed it up: "This was magical!! Where has this been all our lives? What took us so long?" We were hooked.OK, your turn!

No Magic.. just enjoyment.tent and motorcycle, 1 year, 1977.bigger tent with cots and motorcycle , 2 yearspop up camper pulled by motorcycle, 15 years.no camping for 12 years.1500 ram and 21 foot camper, 6 weeks, sold camper.2 years no campinglast fall, F 250 Ford and a 30 foot camper.. spent the winter down south, 3 1/2 months.and Planning 5 months further down south this winter.

Several years ago we rented a PUP for the Marine Corps MWR facility near us and drove to a COE site about 2 hours away. My parents had a PUP when I was a kid and I figured I could do this for my family and create some memories. We got to the CG about an hour before dark and a thunderstorm was rolling in fast. I think I had just completed setting up the camper when all hell broke loose as the storm hit. My daughter was about 5 and my son was about 1. We sat in that PUP for about 3 hours in the driving rain, wind, lightening and thunder but somehow the power stayed on. The rain was so loud as it hit the canvas and roof, I had to practically yell at my DW for her to hear me. Ahh, the memories!

I'd have to go way back to 1966 when my parents rented a tent camper (as they were called in those days) for our travels down South to visit Myrtle Beach, to some former neighbors who moved to Tennesee, and my dad's Army buddy in Texas. My dad cooked all our meals on a Coleman gas stove outside on a picnic table (under one wing of the camper in bad weather). Maybe "magical" isn't the right word, but we had a blast. Did that for a few more years but as we grew the experience wasn't quite the same. My parents eventually bought a cabin tent and before you know it my brother and I were off to college. Fast forward to 1985 - my new wife & I used that tent on our honeymoon, then graduated to a Coleman pop-up around 1992. We had some moments that were the polar opposite of "magical." To my continued astonishment, we are still married. By 1997 there were four of us instead of two and that year saw our purchase of a used 15' Sunline. The thunderbolt hit our first weekend out with that TT on the "shakedown cruise" - THIS is what we were going to be doing as a family. Even before a year went by in that Sunline we knew a larger TT was in our future as the kids got bigger and we got closer to our real goal - touring the United States. It took us 9 years and 35,000 miles but as we look back there is not a thing any of us would change. The kids are grown now, and as I write this I'm next to a small campfire at our site in a CG in New York. For DW and me, this is still what we want to do. We are already making plans for the summer of 2017.

I have too many memories as my parents purchased a travel trailer in 1962 when I was 7 years old. But the things I remember most was when Dad parked the camper a a local campground (seasonal), but still went on several trips all over the country. At that campground, there was a group of us boys, all about the same age, (10 - 14) and we were all good friends. We all camped there for several years, so over time we we all grew. But when we were younger, we used to get a bunch of lawn chairs and cots and collect a bunch of fire wood and we'd have our own camp-outs together. Our parents didn't mind at all, probably glad to get us out of the campers! And, as you can guess ... we did all kinds of mischievous stuff ... like the night we challenged each other to run from one end of the camp ground to the other (like at 2:00 in the morning!!!) ... butt naked in a pitch black night! As I recall, we all did it! Yea, we were rascals! But no one called anyone a "chicken!" Those memories still put a smile on me!

I'd have to go back to around 66 myself. My parents rented a tent trailer and rented a bumper hitch for the Rambler. Our trip was to the Smoky Mountains and we had a blast. Next they bought a huge canvas cabin tent at Morsans (now campmor) and we camped all over the place. Best trip ever was cross country. They later bought a class c which I bought from them and took my kids all over. Also did a lot of camping with the Boy Scouts. My first wife an I camped on our honeymoon. Cross country with a small dome tent. My current wife loves camping but demanded her own bath, so we bought a small TT. Love it and we take it on many trips. We have a few years to retirement, when well get a bigger camper for extended trips. Our friends parents are pushing 90 and still camping!

Memories of your very first trailer camping trip

fla-gypsy
Explorer
Jul 28, 2016
Camping, whether sleeping in the open, in a tent or an RV ( done all of them) has always been appealing to me since I was a little kid (a long time ago). Enjoying the natural open spaces is part of my make up for reasons only my maker knows.
Durb
Explorer
Jul 28, 2016
We camped a lot when we were young as money for vacations was tight. My parents would throw 6 kids and gear into a "55 Pontiac sedan and we would camp for a week and eat from just one coleman ice chest. We borrowed one of those suction cup roof racks and proceeded to drop the roof load on the deep water span of the Dumbarton Bridge. My Dad and I (10 years old) got out and pulled the load to the side of the road. I remember that almost everyone that passed us asked if they could help. My Mom came back with a government truck and helpers who picked up the load. They then helped secure it back on top and we were on our way home. That memory has stuck for 54 years.
rbpru
Explorer II
Jul 28, 2016
We were canoe and tent campers. We rented a TT to see if we really wanted to pull one of these barns down the road.

We discovered our truck was under powered, we could expect 10 mpg, a 300 mile day was about the limit and you will be passed by everything on the road.

That was about 3 years and 23,000 miles ago. We new what we would need to do the type of camping we wanted to do and what to expect before we bought.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Jul 27, 2016
In the August heat in FL, AC unit shorted out during the night. TT became an oven. Couldn't sleep, the dog threw up, slipped in the throw up and landed on my behind. Were at a local CG, so got dressed, hooked up and went to Camping World and waited till they opened. Left it there after unpacking the fridge into the cooler - after moving the beers out. Drove home. Turns out the stuffed the wires into the unit during assemble, wire nuts came off, and the circuit board was fried due to live contact.
pasusan
Explorer
Jul 27, 2016
My brother and I helped (mostly watched) our dad build a tent camper out of plywood and canvas back in the 60s. He showed us that we could travel all over and have all sorts of adventures. We went to Disneyland, Expo '67 and everywhere in between while we grew up.

Then when DH and I got married in '77 he fell right into the adventure and for our honeymoon we traveled across country from MD to CO with a '67 Shasta trailer (think ice box and no bathroom) pulled by our '65 Mustang. We did get the stares as we drove down the highways.

Here's a shot (sorry it's blurry) of the rig:

We have camped and traveled ever since - with the kids in our '74 Scotty trailer and now that it's just us again with our '90 Award.

Our first camping trip with the kids in the Scotty that we bought for $800 - the camper was almost paid for when we went to Niagara Falls for a week. :C
Naio
Explorer II
Jul 27, 2016
Fireballsocal wrote:
My Dad started me off backbacking when I was a youngster, not even carrying my own sleeping bag. 5 miles up into the National forest and then the weekend was filled with finding waterfalls, carving initials into trees, and finding and sometimes catching the local wildlife. I vividly remember tent camping there, cooking over a small gas stove and washing the dishes in the stream with a crushed piece of yucca as soap, like the Indians washed their dishes. ;)All the trips were followed by a ride in the back of the truck home, stinking to high heaven

In my early twenties, I got heavily into off-road motorcycle riding and a bit of racing. As the trips moved further away, I started staying out multiple days and sleeping on an air mattress in the back of the truck. I'd mostly keep sandwich stuff in the cooler but would barbeque occasionally. Those trips were followed by a long drive home where, you guessed it, I was stinking to high heaven.

I bought my first RV in my late twenties. It was a used Casita Liberty dlx, followed up by a used Lance 990 truck camper, followed by a used Hi-lo 22T, and then after 5 years without an RV, I recently bought a used Lance 1880 travel trailer. I have been a bit spoiled by the refrigeration, the warm furnace and cool air conditioning but no way do I miss sleeping on rocks nor stinking to high heaven. The very first shower you take in your own RV after a day of riding is just about worth the price of admission.
As an aside, I recently found out I am from a long line of campers. Here are my Grandparents in this undated picture taken somewhere in New England.

A very early hybrid!
Drbolasky
Explorer
Jul 25, 2016
Fireball - AWESOME picture!!!
Kittykath
Explorer II
Jul 25, 2016
Camping in the old, crappy Class C when our boys were small wasn't the first time camping, but it was the first time NOT in a tent. Our first time out, the rains came in sideways and we watched the tenters outside run for cover. Meanwhile, my oblivious sons are setting a puzzle, the DH is tinkering with a new camping gadget, and I'm baking lasagna and garlic bread. We were snug and comfy...and dry!

While we're still fair-weather tenters, that experience sold us on the RV style of camping.
profdant139
Explorer II
Jul 25, 2016
Fireball mentioned the first shower you take in your RV -- that was a real "aha!" moment. Yes, the shower was tiny and limited -- but gosh darn it, it was a hot shower in the middle of nowhere! That was a real luxury, and to this day we still feel incredibly lucky to be clean every evening, even if we are 20 miles away from pavement.

The other "aha!" moment was when we were camping in Zion in April -- a sudden midnight rainstorm sent the tent campers scurrying to pack up and leave, while we enjoyed the unfamiliar sound of rain on the roof. We were such newbies that we did not know what that "tinkle tinkle" noise was!
Opie431
Explorer
Jul 25, 2016
Mine was in 1946 to 1948 in the homemade tent trailer that my father traded for a row boat. We went fishing and camped on the shores of a sandy lake. What I remember the most tho is when my parents were still sleeping and my younger brother got into my father's peppermint schnapps. I woke my parents up by telling them that my brother was drunk and acting mean. He slept all afternoon.
And I think he was six years old so it must have been 1947.