After much digging, I found the notes from our Iowa camping trip, the cord for my camera (!) so I could add pictures, and we're off.
From My Notes 7/18/20
Revelation. Abandoning Scamp Dreaming. New crush=a Class C Camper.
Driveable. No towing, hooking, unhooking. No needing a vehicle that is in good shape to pull it. Self Contained is the word.
We went to the camper rental place yesterday and looked at three RVs, two twenty two foot campers, and one thirty foot camper. Wow. Wow.
At another place we looked at a Minnie Winnie which sounded good, but it was old and beat up and reminded me of the 40 year old Scamp we previously rented. https://librariandoa.wordpress.com/2019/07/09/traveling-tuesday-the-scamp/
Our weekend trip is a trial of:
Driving/maneuvering ease.
Using hookups including releasing gray and black water.
Beagle travel viability.
Comfort
Cooking
Storage
Shower/Toilet comfort/use
Mr. DOA advised we should think of sundown at that time of year (late September), and be sure to be at the campground between 5:30 and 6 that first night.
Travel Plan
I wanted a campground near the Buddy Holly things in Clearwater Iowa, as we always wanted to see it. Also in the area The Shrine of The Grotto of the Redemption. I have all these old black and white photos of it from my mom, and I wanted to see it in person.
We stayed at Oakwood RV Park the first night. Nice RV Park. Seemed quiet, I noted, except for a few dogs. Then, at 6:43 am, gunshots. It turns out there's a firing range nearby. They start early.
Other notes 9/26/20
We're getting 8 miles per gallon with the RV.
It was windy and the whole thing was swaying.
There were lots of weird, inexplicable noises from all over the camper.
The slideout (our bed and wardrobe access) would not operate unless you turned the air conditioning off.
Lots of heated discussion about the water heater between us. How does the water get to the heater. We filled the water tank to 2/3 full. Showers, pictured as somewhat luxurious, were still the infamous "sailor's shower" where you turn the water on, get wet, turn it off while you soap up, then on again to rinse off as quickly as you can.
The Buddy Holly Crash site was down a dirt road. There is a small memorial by the road, then you'd walk further in. Very windy. It was a narrow road with another vehicle behind us, so we didn't want to stay too long. Also, someone coming back from the trek out to the crash site told us "there's nothing there".
In town, we had quite a bit of trouble maneuvering to find a place to park and see features such as the Surf Ballroom where everyone played the night before the fatal plane crash.
The Grotto of the Redemption! What a fantastical place. Built by a priest from stones, it's amazing.
https://www.westbendgrotto.com/research/history/
Our sightseeing on Saturday took more time than we guessed, and we were off to our next campground, The Amana Colonies. I thought it was a bit further into the state and it would give us a feel for the camper on the road and the historic towns sounded fun.
Top advice: Bring your Rand McNally Road Atlas (we did) and look at it. We used the GPS for the quickest route. We ended up driving miles and miles on dirt roads. Slow going. Listening to rocks plinking under the campers brand new 2020 undercarriage. Thinking this thing costs over 100,000 and we don't want to have to repair it. White knuckle stuff. If we had looked at the Rand McNally's larger map, we could have gone around by interstate and avoided all of that time.
The Amana Colony campground was a huge open field. The owners and all of the people in campers around us were nice. There's once reason to camp for sure, people are so friendly and helpful.
It being a bit late when we got there, I wanted to just settle in and make Hobo Pizzas, which I love. The wind, however, was not accommodating. We never got a chance to use the awning that the camper had.
We thought, after settling in, we could walk into town. A staffer pointed us in the direction he said would get us there. We walked quite a ways, trying to follow his directions, getting lost in this cornfield and that cornfield. We were so grumpy when we got back. Again, if you had, say, an adorable little Scamp, you could just put it in place for the evening and drive around to your destination. It is true, as reader Kaye George pointed out, you would likely just tow a small car and use that if you were in love with the big guy campers, so you had some mobility.
Certainly not practical for this trip.
We ended up just slinking off towards home after breakfast the next morning, pretty discouraged. It turns out the Amana Colony town was completely in the opposite direction from the one we were given.
Again, from my notes:
Long list of undesirable things about the Jayco:
Slide out--pain in the @#$. Can't access your clothes once its in if you spill something on yourself (which I did). Vehicle must be parked, full stop, on level ground and in park to open it. It sounds wheezy like it's not going to work at all.
Bed not too comfy. Expected.
Kitchen. Zero counter space to put coffee pot or toaster on. Only a single outlet in the entire kitchen/dining area. Right by the door and by sink so you need to set your pot or toaster on a breadboard to use it.
AC loud and mostly cools kitchen/dining room.
Beyond nice to have a toilet and shower, but the sailor's shower is a PITA. You must use the thin biodegradable toilet paper provided (two rolls).
Gas stove with a horrible delicate glass cover that rattles. Smaller fry pan tried to slide all over while I was cooking, iron skillet was fine.
Curtain to provide privacy attached with velcro to four small buttons the size of a dime. Drops off pretty easily.
It's a traveling apartment building.
Too self contained a vehicle. You literally can't get away from it.
Super difficult to park even briefly.
A behemoth, high maintenance.
Another great camping experience. I have to say I was put off the idea of campers for awhile, but I'm back and ready to Scamp.
See you in 2023.
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