Our New Camper

The Lance 1181 Camper is a large camper and needs to be on a one ton, long-bed, dual rear wheel truck.  This camper has a slide, which gives us more interior room for full time travel.  We liked our first camper very much but the extra interior room is very welcome, since we spend most of our time in it.

It's hard to believe that all this can be fit on the back of a common pickup truck, but it is safely done.

We have a queen size bed and lots of closet space.

A full kitchen with a 6 cubic foot refrigerator and lots of room to work.

A table large enough for two computers and room to spare.  We can easily seat four adults to dinner.

A full bath with separate, enclosed shower.  We take almost all our showers in our camper.

We have two large propane tanks and enough fresh water and waste holding tanks to spend two to three weeks with no outside support at all.  We immediately began to customize the camper for comfortable travel off the grid.

Catching Up And A New Camper

It's been a long time since the last post, but we'll try to catch up on a few things here.  We did get to our volunteer position in Illinois and stayed the month of October before heading south.

The new gate house was complete and fall colors were everywhere.

 The fields where the controlled burns were done in April were now tall, dry prairie grass.

 November found us on the road again and we headed straight to Pflugerville, Texas and PrincessCraft Campers, where we had bought our Lance camper several years ago.  We were interested in a very new but used camper that was for sale there.

Sure enough, we bought it and sold our used one on consignment there.  The rest of November and December were busy on our lot near Ft. Worth preparing the new camper for our way of full time travel and the independence of the boondocking lifestlye.

North-East/Ohio Valley Truck Camping Jamboree

   

OK folks, we’re back for our second rally with the North-East Truck Camping Jamboree.  The Ohio Valley Truck Campers have also been invited to this rally and over 90 truck campers of all kinds will be here for this four day event.

No rally can truly begin until Wagonmaster  Mike(Mikeee)  Tassinari arrives with his cargo trailer loaded with all kinds of rally stuff.

A special feature of this rally is the sweet corn, 300 pounds of steamer clams and 36 feet of sub sandwiches for Saturday nights dinner.

    Mikee always has really good deals on camping clothing and everyone quickly comes to see what new items he may have.

Jackets, blankets and shirts with the jamboree logo are always popular items.

With over 90 truck campers present, we don’t think any manufacturer was left out.  Arctic Fox, Northern Lite, Chalet, Big Foot, Host, Eagle Cap, Palomino, Adventurer, Lance, Okanagan,S&S, Shadow Cruiser, Northstar, and Travel Lite were all present.  I am sure we missed some.  With all these models and owners present, this has to be the best truck camper show one could find.

Gordon and Angela White from Truck Camper Magazine were there with a Travel Lite camper for everyone to see and tour. 

                     Mikeee had the usual endless pile of firewood, all of which was used.

The morning seminars on truck and camper maintenance and related issues were well attended.

We had a wine and beer tasting demo with everyone bringing samples from their travels.  Saki, Nova Scotia Blueberry wine and home made moonshine were my favorites.

                     Here’s a group of people that can tell you a lot about truck campers.

                   Part of the rally is paid for with proceeds from the raffle that is held at every rally.

There were a lot of nice donated items.  We brought a lobster trap from our summer trip to Newfoundland.

                                          We ate six of these six foot sub sandwiches--

                                       ---and 300 pounds of fresh, steamed clams.

                                           Lots of melted butter for the clams and corn.

I don’t think anyone can add more enthusiasm to a rally than Mikeee.  Here he is going over his last minute instructions on how to best enjoy his corn, sub and steamer extravaganza.

                      We took his advice and all agreed that the meal was a huge success.

                              These New Englanders really like their steamers.

  

John, from Arkansas, didn’t do too bad either.

 
The raffle is always well attended, with many nice items going to the lucky winners.

                                        This helps to pay a major part of the rally expenses.
                     The rallies always end with a Sunday morning breakfast prepared by the guys.

Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes and coffee send everyone off on a safe trip home.

                          

   Got to get that flame just right.

                                                 Hey, they’re looking good right now.

                                                         You want your bacon crisp?

Mike Olesnevich from Xtreme RV in High Point, North Carolina sponsored this Sunday morning breakfast.  Mike specializes in truck campers and that is all he sells.

                     Time goes fast and before we know it we are on our way--

--through the mountains of Pennsylvania, and into West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana--

--where we will visit relatives and our kids while we volunteer at the Chain-O-Lakes State Park near Chicago, where we used to live.