We almost bought one last year, and a new truck to pull it, Wayne..
After looking at the options, and taking an RV trip to Baja, we decided that
buying 2 lots in Baja for $60k was a better investment in fun than $80k for a
fiver and 3/4 ton diesel..

The problem I see with most fivers is the size... unless you use them for long
stays or live in them, they just don't appeal to me.. (though our friends have a
new 36' Prowler that is about the size of our house and VERY nice)

mac

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My daughter, after growing up tenting with us from infancy to 14, then a
popup until she went to college, describes it now as merely "sleeping near
trees."

And yes, she ducks and cowers when she says it. :-)

See, Mac?  I KNEW we weren't camping anymore.   <sigh>

[wringing hands, wailing] Where, oh WHERE did we go astray?

I think I gave up the last of of TRULY roughing it (finding a place to
recharge the camper battery) with the purchase of the generator.   <sigh>

Been There/Done That List

- Tented with three girls, youngest in diapers, including porta crib, high
chair, porta potti (next older daughter), yadda, yadda, yadda.  Using blankets
and beach towels and clotheline, I erected a truly private "shower stall"
behind our tent in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I heated water on the
Coleman stove and, using a web lawn chair as bath deck/floor, Leslie bathed
herself and three daughters in the great outdoors.

- Special-ordered 1987 Starcraft Galaxy popup.  The only two options I did NOT
get was air conditioning and a shower.  We used this camper for thirteen
years.  We took 2-1/2-weeks when the popup was a year old to tour Yellowstone
and Grand Teton National Parks - the spring after The Great Fires.

I've taken down in the rain and nearly gotten struck by lightning.  I've
watched from my home with great angst as my beloved popup was tossed around
while setup in the driveway during a storm.

We've paid our dues and have simply moved ALONG - not necessarily UP.  As the
price of oil passes $60 and STAYS there, I have begun to look more enviously
at popups and other LOW-profile campers.

- In 2000, we traded-in the ALL USED UP popup for an entry level (VERY entry
level) travel trailers.  (Look, Ma!  No slideout room!)   <sigh>

It has been great.

             :)
JR

that was my point, Tom... I got too "less young" to camp, so the next best thing
was to start "RV'ing"..

mac

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cool.. I'd pass on the tv, but that's a personal thing... we have a 13" with DVD
and never use it unless the grand-crumb catchers are along...

Everything else on your list is what the Travel trailer has and the tent trailer
didn't..
My wife likes all the cabinets and storage and I like being able to not have to
pack the kitchen and stuff every time we go out...
OTOH, we've been going to the forest most weekends and cutting wood, and we're
thinking of buying a used popup or tent trailer(very small) to take with us,
because we really miss camping, as opposed to rv'ing.. sometimes, less is more..
*g*

mac

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we're really lucky with our neighborhood... the last 4 or 5 places I lived were
as you describe, but this one is different..

Almost any warm night will see a bunch of neighbors with their lawn chairs in
their driveways, usually with extra chairs for folks that drop by... everyone
know who lives where, what they drive, etc.... sort of like a neighborhood watch
on steroids...
In the colder weather, we have a fire in our camping fireplace out in the
driveway most nights and our driveway and shop become the neighborhood gossip
center.. rofl

mac

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