RV park "camping"

[jimlj]

Is there anyone who actually camps any more?
As a youth camping meant loading up the '55 Ford pickup with tents and sleeping bags, the old Coleman ice box and stove and heading for the forest. When dad bought the first camper it was a single axle '66 Shasta with modern things like a refrigerator that needed no ice and a water heater. Since then I have owned several TT's. Until March of this year I had never stayed anywhere with full hookups.


As an electrician, last week I located and repaired a broken underground wire at a RV Park and it got me thinking about "camping". Talking to a few of the customers at this park made me realize this was not a stop along the route to empty the holding tanks and fill with fresh water, but the destination. I do enjoy having the fridge and a hot shower, and the last few campers I've owned even have a bed that is not part of the dinette or couch. but staying in a RV park is not "camping" as far as I'm concerned. Anyone else camp where there is no wireless internet and the closest electricity involves putting gasoline in a generator and pulling the rope?

[rbpru]

My point is RVing offers convenience. Camping ignores or gains enjoyment from the lack of convenience.

When I am canoeing and portaging in the Boundary Waters, convenience takes a back seat to scenery, adventure and challenge. When I am at a rifle shoot, bluegrass concert, museum tour or some other tourist trap, scenery and adventure skills give way to convenience. I am there to enjoy the event.

Age has a lot to do with it also, the spirit is willing but the self-distructing
body parts can really cramp your style.

Camping or RVing or both are choices we make and enjoy. Neither is better or more noble than the other.

Safe travels

[Woodtroll]

Whatever we call it, isn't it nice that we all have options to suit our family's preferences and needs? The important thing is that we're out there doing things with our families, spouses, or maybe even on our own; but at least we able to get out there!

This sort of reminds me of one of the threads about a particular campground/RV park recently; it's an open field with full hookups (although with great views of a lake and mountains). Not my idea of "camping" at all, as I require a little privacy and shade to be comfortable, but a lot of folks love it! Who am I to say they're wrong?

Again, isn't it great to have choices and options that suit our needs?

Happy camping, whatever type you do!
Regan

[Margali]

We just rented an RV for our first trip. Why? Because I MUST have access to A/C and power due to medical issues. This way I can take my kids to the state parks and explore nature. Sure it's not the tent camping I did in scouts but it lets us go as a family.

[toedtoes]

Boon Docker wrote:
In my opinion:
If you are out boon docking in the wilderness far away from civilization, hiking, fishing etc, that is "camping".
If you are at a FHU campground taking in all the tourist traps etc, that is "RV'ing".

What if you are at a campground with no hookups and hiking, fishing, etc.?

What if that campground is 1-5 miles outside of a small town and you never visit that town but instead hike, fish, etc.?

Lots of options inbetween boondocking and full hookups.

[toedtoes]

rbpru wrote:
RVing is eliminating most of the inconveniences found with camping.
* No wet canvas.
* No bumpy ground under your bed.
* No bugs.
* No Furnace and AC.
* No extended set up and tear down.
* No warming up your cup of coffee in the microwave.
* No extending the awning in 30 seconds.
* No catching tomorrow's weather on the TV's evening news.
* No ice or coolers to worry about.

These are just a few of the things you miss when you RV. They are the things that make camping "camping".

Screaming kids, drunken neighbors, seclusion, and wildlife are a function of where you choose to go. But trading the love of the above challenges for the conveniences of a TT; are what separates RVing from camping.

I dearly love my TT, but it is not camping.

I think you need to look at your list again. No bugs is eliminating the inconvenience of bugs - but no warming your coffee in the microwave is adding an inconvenience.

[Boon_Docker]

In my opinion:
If you are out boon docking in the wilderness far away from civilization, hiking, fishing etc, that is "camping".
If you are at a FHU campground taking in all the tourist traps etc, that is "RV'ing".

[rbpru]

RVing is eliminating most of the inconveniences found with camping.
* No wet canvas.
* No bumpy ground under your bed.
* No bugs.
* No Furnace and AC.
* No extended set up and tear down.
* No warming up your cup of coffee in the microwave.
* No extending the awning in 30 seconds.
* No catching tomorrow's weather on the TV's evening news.
* No ice or coolers to worry about.

These are just a few of the things you miss when you RV. They are the things that make camping "camping".

Screaming kids, drunken neighbors, seclusion, and wildlife are a function of where you choose to go. But trading the love of the above challenges for the conveniences of a TT; are what separates RVing from camping.

I dearly love my TT, but it is not camping.

[jaycocreek]

Sometimes I wonder about the term camping vs RVing..It used to be that a trailer was called a camp trailer and they had no toilet/no refrigerator and no battery..To go potty you went outside behind the tree and grabbed a shovel if need be.Lights were a built in propane lantern that took mantels just like your old coleman lantern and to keep food cool they had a built in ice box that operated on, go figure,just ice..These were called camp trailers not RV's.

I am not really sure when everything changed and people went RVing instead of camping.I still camp but my camper has a battery/lights and a refrigerator that runs off of propane.

I started camping on the back of a pack horse in my moms lap in the Selway-Bitteroot wilderness elk hunting.I have gone every year since but the camping modes have changed.I have my wall tent and sheepherder stove rapped up nicely in the garage and still use it from time to time but we do not have any horses left to really get away.

So I wonder also what the op asked..If I had to camp in a campground surrounded by other campers there kids/motorcycles/atv's and drunk friends..I simply would not camp.I guess I am lucky enough to be able to camp all by myself or with family where the nearest camper is miles away...

I spent most of my life living in a camper during the week working miles out of town and coming home on the weekends and I still love to camp just not so much on weekends when the drunks go camping or more like, partying..

So I guess I camp,not RV because 100% of my camping is in the mountains either fishing/hunting or just enjoying the outdoors getting firewood for the winter.

To each his own..Enjoy your version of whatever it is called in your area.

[rbpru]

I camp with pre-1830's camping gear and candle lanterns, I camp with ultra-lite minimal impact gear, I camp with both a PUP and a TT.

I have been camping since the 1960's. It is all different and all good.:)

[profdant139]

To answer Jim's re-worded question, do folks really boondock off-grid? You bet we do! It is a lot of extra work, but it can be very worth-while. We started RVing on the theory that the trailer was just a mobile motel room, enabling us to get to national parks and so forth, staying in campgrounds or RV parks.

But after a while, we realized that the pursuit of prime boondocking had become one of the main goals of our trips.

[jimh406]

One style of camping isn't better than another. Think of an RV as a house. There are reasons for them even if it isn't your cup of tea.

[mountainkowboy]

profdant139 wrote:
mountainkowboy, I gotta ask about the butterfly nets leaning up against the right front fender -- are you lepidopterists, or mental health professionals? 😉

For the grandkids......

[Huntindog]

SoundGuy wrote:


With an inverter and suitably sized battery bank to power it dragging along a genset isn't necessary at all to keep your wife smiling. About the only device one can't practically run without a genset is A/C, otherwise a properly sized inverter can serve the purpose nicely. :B

Maybe for you. I have an inverter, and it is NOT a substitute for my generators... Thats right TWO of them.
I often camp in remote locations for hunts. The weather will be whatever it will be... The hunting goes on. Solar, doesn't work in nasty weather. So my batteries rely on generators. Two of them for redundancy.

Yes I have grown to like the features of TTs... But that is not what prompted buying my first one... A 2 week Kaibab late hunt in Blizzard conditions is Why I went in the TT direction.
That was a COLD tent hunt with no respite.
We did tag a dandy buck, but were in our twenties then and never quit.

If I only camped in nice weather.... I would not need a TT at all.

[myredracer]

toedtoes wrote:
Myredracer, off topic, but how do you feel about CAPTCHA? 🙂

I just got tripped up again despite being at a CG hundreds of miles from home in OR on a laptop using Verizon mifi. I just posted an update about this on a thread on the technology forum I started a couple of months ago here.. Very frustrated is how I feel. Some people have never had it happen.

[toedtoes]

jimlj wrote:
I guess what I should have asked was does anyone take their RV's into areas without running water and electricity?

Yep. I prefer dry camping. I carry my own water in my fresh water tank. I use my battery for lights, and charging my kindle, mp3 player, etc. Many places I camp don't have cell service - no problem for me.

I have no generator or solar. I don't need hair dryers, television, etc. I go to spend time in nature. Sometimes that means hiking and photographing the area. Other times it means hanging out at my campsite.

If I were sightseeing, I might choose differently, but I'm camping.