Roger’s Reality: The Camper with a Whole ’Nother Story

By Roger Owens

So, when we left off the Camper Saga last October, I promised a “whole ’nother story,” and here it is.
    We’re in Virginia, having camped our way up the coast. We had yet to experience the great Camper Saga; that was on the way back. As I said in the Camper Saga, it was tough setting up and tearing down the very next day on the way, but having only used the camper three or four times, it was a good training exercise. And we only ran the AC at night, for maybe eight to ten hours. Now we’re on the swampy coast of Virginia. It hot, humid, in fact flooded. At first, I thought the horse pasture was a lake. We’re there for a week; the AC is running twenty-four hours a day.

Roger’s Reality: The Camper Saga, Part 3

By Roger Owens

This is the bad part, with a very bright spot right in the middle of it. We’re in South Carolina, rolling down I-95 at a smart 63 miles per hour. That’s as fast as I can go without the transmission on my old Explorer shifting up and down, and it sucks gas bad enough without pushing it. Like I said, we’re not in a hurry. I reckon we’re getting about ten miles to the gallon, two hundred miles on a twenty-gallon tank. Just about right for breaks for old dogs, and old people as well.

Roger’s Reality: The Camper Saga, Part 2

By Roger Owens

So, when you buy a boat, or a camper, first you really check it out, figure out how things work, and then it’s time to try out your new toy. We called it a “shake-down cruise,” in keeping with the nautical theme. Cruises plural, rather. On three short trips we learned that the swaying of the trailer was a bit uncomfortable, between the wind and the big rigs blowing by the old farts doing 63 in the camper. We’re not in a hurry. I have driven many trailers, but none with this high of a profile. We call it being “under sail,” because, buddy, the wind and the truckers’ slipstreams are pushing you around like a sailboat whether you like it or not. Of all the crap we’ve packed, we sort out what we’ll really need and what we can ditch back at the house. Once home, I purchase a sway brace and install it on the trailer. It works. Lesson One learned.

Roger’s Reality: The Camper Saga, Part 1

By Roger Owens

When Mom passed and the dust had settled, with the usual bickering over her estate, we got some money and I decided to get us a camper. Cindy and I had always thought we would go back to a pontoon boat for our retirement, but it was clear we are no longer up to boating. Plus, we would be limited to the waterways nearby. But with a camper trailer, we would be going back even farther, to our days as master tent campers. We had it all, double inflatable mattresses so you’re just like in a bed, reading lights, side tables, fans, shower, our own toilet, and a separate room in the tent to put it in. I mean, we were pros. In the intervening years we rented motor homes several times, and the ease with which we could get into the wilderness and then just pack up and leave impressed us greatly. So, a camper it would be.

Goines On: Fifth-wheeler

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Goines’ wife cautioned him, “Just think things like asking your primary care physician about cannabis (don’t waste her time). Or just think things like referring to me or someone else as your primary care ‘provider’ (which could be misconstrued). Just think such things, don’t act on them.”
    Goines would have to think long and hard about this, and might conclude he would have to take her advice…and act on it.