October MorningFirst prize Rebecca's Reel Quilt Guild - May 2008
Dave's Quilt
October MorningFirst prize Rebecca's Reel Quilt Guild - May 2008
About this journal
I have tried, off and on over the years that we've been traveling together and keeping a journal, to write the entries myself. But I've found it a little too much. After working hard all day carrying MnJ and all their junk from here to there, it's about all I can manage to keep my life support systems functioning when they finally decide to call it a day. They, on the other hand, have just been sitting, watching the scenery go by. Besides it's more their adventure than mine and they know best what they want to share about it. So I figure they may as well write it up themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the traveling, that's what I was born to do, and I enjoy being the primary (only?) means of transportation. It's just that I'm not a writer and I'm not very good at discerning what might be interesting to humans or expressing human feelings. (I'm not at all sure they are either for that matter.) Those few times when I did do the writing I had to spend a lot of time interviewing MnJ and then there was a lot of editing for them to do before the entry was published.
In the beginning my travel journal was a few pages on MnJ's website pieced together mostly from memory after we got home. Memory being what it is we began to make notes as we went along. Then when we started traveling with a computer, they would sent email to their family. At the same time Mark would compose the web page to be published when we got home. This, of course, was double effort so was soon abandoned in lieu of email alone - with small adjustments for the web site when we got home. Eventually he stopped publishing the web pages all together.
Over the years the email distribution list grew and grew and became hard to maintain. There was always the question about who was or would be interested and who was not (and too polite to say so). The relatively new form of communication, blogging, seemed like it might be a good way to share our adventures but how do we do it while on the road? Mark's experience with publishing web pages told him it would probably use way too much cell phone air time to even consider.
Recently he learned that this is not true. In fact it is no more time consuming or cumbersome than sending email. So we're cutting our distribution way back with the idea that anyone else interested can come to the blog. If anyone reading this would rather get email directly, that's fine, just send me a note at my email address and you will be added to the distribution.
MnJ have told me that that their main intent with this blog is to document and share our adventures. We will also include pictures of Joy's quilts (I couldn't deny a fellow Q!) It is being published for those who care about us and are interested in our travels. They may, from time to time, throw in some random thoughts but there will be no stream of consciousness ramblings. And I'd like to track some of my maintenance issues but not in detail. We hope you enjoy.
Chinook Destiny - Bio part 9
The young man who guided MnJ around the various RVs at the Fretz open House turned out to be Chinook's eastern Sales representative. He came up to them as they were about to leave and said that if this deal didn't work out, maybe he could find them another. They exchanged email addresses and they came back home.
Well, as we know, the deal did fall through so Mark emailed John and got a response almost immediately. There was a 2003 Chinook Destiny on the lot at Marty's USRV in Massachusetts. I was a two model year old dealer demo so he thought I could be had at a very good price. Mark emailed Charlie, the salesman up there, and discussions began. When it was all over I was to get new owners and a new home. And I could finally begin to function up to my potential.
As it turned out Marty's USRV did give a very good discount and agreed to a trade-in price such that Concourse Q's depreciate was $0 over the three years MnJ owned him. Now there was a motor home that held its value!
The next weekend, after transferring everything from Concourse Q - including the luggage pod from the roof - to me, I became a home. John, Chinook's eastern rep, happened to be there and was very helpful getting us squared away. He was even able to order a new tow bar and owner's manual that had been lost sometime during my demo phase. We spent our first night together in Marty's parking lot.
I'd like to say here that Concourse Q found a new home almost immediately. He was being taken up to New Hampshire to a lady who'd been looking for a second hand Chinook for a while. She will be happy with him.
I wish I could say that we lived happily ever after but the truth is we've had a sometimes rock relationship. Oh, MnJ liked the larger bathroom and the extra storage but I sometimes got carried away with my pranks - probably due to youth and pent up energy. There were times, maybe not entirely in the past, when Mark wished they'd stayed with Concourse Q. And maybe I can't blame him. Looking back I guess his pranks were fewer and less disruptive but we're beginning to work things out. We all look forward to many more years together.
Church Raffle Quilt 2007
I used a lot of my plaid fabrics for this quilt. It was won by a lady in Fair Haven.
An Open House - Bio part 8
MnJ got an invitation to an open house at Fretz Enterprises, the Pennsylvania RV dealer, my previous home. A lot had been going on with Chinook over the last three years and they decided to take a trip out there to see what was new - a dangerous thing to do! Besides a Concourse, like me at 21 ft long, there was a Destiny at 24 ft, a Glacier at 25 ft with a slide-out (a section of the wall that "slides" out to make the room wider) and a Summit at 27 ft with 2 slide-outs.
Their first stop, because it was right next to where they'd parked, was the Glacier. It was nice but a bit expensive. It did have a fancy paint job like the big guys but the slide-out didn't seem to add enough more space to the room to make it worth the extra cost. And it had a side entry taking up valuable wall space. They said the floor plan seemed uncomfortable even though it was very similar to mine.
There was a Summit, the high-end model, there but it was off limits to viewing. The floating customer service rep said that it had been sold and was being prepared for pick-up. This was no problem because the $200,000 price tag put it completely out of reasonable consideration. Even so it would have been fun to see what it was like inside.
The Destiny, on the other hand, might be workable. It had an extra three feet in length over me and almost all of it went into making the bathroom bigger - a real plus! Across the way the clothes closet was a little bigger and there was added storage in the form of a pull-out pantry with drawers below. But it was equipped with a dinette table and benches rather than the club chairs. And this, they thought, took up too much space and wouldn't be as comfortable a place to relax as club chairs are. The sticker price was a problem but it didn't keep them from thinking.
They were planning a trip to Alaska the next year and the extra storage sure would come in handy. They agreed to talk with a salesman and he, of coarse, put on the hard sell. When he was finished he had promised a very good "open house" discount and even said the dinette could be easily replaced. What he could not do was talk about a trade-in price right then. He said that he wanted "to talk it over with the manager" who was out at the moment.
Since MnJ didn't want to hang around for the manager to come back they arranged to continue the negotiation by email. Long story short, although the discount was very good, the trade-in price was ridiculous! I was insulted. And they wanted $1000 to replace the dinette with the "club lounge"! In the end there was effectively no discount at all and the motor home had been in the lot for several months.
End result:; I survived a potential metamorphosis!
Configuration - Bio part 7
I guess I should take a break in my life story to give you some idea of what I have to offer in terms of living space. I am doing it now because what I was as a Chinook Concourse is so much like what I am now as a Chinook Destiny. In fact my floor plan barely changed at all.
Immediately behind the driver's seat (on the "street side" in RV jargon or "port side" to sailors) is my sofa which converts into a slightly over sized double bed. Then comes the galley with a standard kitchen faucet over a double sink. Below, as you'd expect, is storage. Beside this storage area are two small drawers. Overhead above the huge window are bins used to store pots, pans and tableware (over the sink) and Mark's clothing (over the sofa). Behind (abaft) the galley comes the head where the toilet, shower and a small sink are located. The room is about the same size as a home shower stall. Joy jokingly says that it's a real time saver. "You can sit on the john, take a shower, and brush your teeth all at the same time."
My main door into the living area is on the back.
Across the passageway from the head is a small clothes closet and the refrigerator/freezer - which operates on propane, 120 volts AC or 12 volts DC. A three burner stove is next. Joy has never used to oven - too hard to get the pilot light going the one time they tried. In stead they used the space for storage.
Two swivel "club" chairs with a pull-up table between occupy the rest of the curb or starboard side wall. Another large window provides a panoramic outlook while dining. Joy stores her clothing in the overhead cabinets.
The cabinet over the cab is the entertainment center (TV, radio and VCR) and more storage. The ceiling is home for the air conditioner (with heat pump) and a vent hatch with fan. The furnace is below one of the swivel seats and the generator is located below the clothes closet in the rear. All in all a very nice layout. if I do say so myself.
Chinook Concourse - Bio Part 6
My too-small-to-be-functional bath/shower taking up so much valuable storage space and my virtual lack of an indoor dining facilities (my table was hard to put up and unstable and in the way then it was up) began to annoy early on. MnJ started looking for what they hoped would be the ultimate wandering machine very early in our time together. This bothered me some but we still had a lot of fun and wandered far over the years.
Mark doesn't remember ever seeing any advertisements for the Chinook, nor even see any on the road, until a Chinook dealer in Pennsylvania advertised the introduction of the new side entry model. He thought this might be exactly what they'd been looking for. So he and Joy set out to take a look.
It was a real motor home with a fully functional bathroom (toilet, sink and shower), full galley (stove, sink, refrigerator, microwave and conventional ovens), a furnace, a generator and a permanently deployed bed, all in a body only 2 feet longer and maybe a foot wider than an I was as an extended cargo van. The ultimate wanderer. Well almost. That bed, while always available, took up a lot of space, too much space! The interior seemed crowded, especially compared to the rear entry Concourse which was the same size.
As soon as they got home I knew my days as a class B camper were limited. All they talked about was the Chinook this, the Chinook that. They even talked about how they were going to buy it with the factory pickup option to save shipping costs. Even so it was almost 5 years before they took the plunge and I became a Chinook.
They were on their way to Florida in the Fall of 1999 with no intention of buying a new motor home when they stopped by at the dealer to catch up on the most recent changes. I happened to be sitting there, a dealer demo model, ready to be sold into a caring family. The price made me seem like a bargain if not a down right steal and they couldn't resist, I became theirs. They spent the night in a nearby campground and, in the morning, spent two hours loading me up with everything from the Coachmen. Then we all took off for Florida.
That was on that trip, my maiden voyage, when I got the name Q, after a god-like character on the then popular TV show Star Trek. He was omnipotent, I thought I was omnipotent. He was a trickster, I was a trickster. Among my several pranks was forcing my built-in compress to always read NW, toward Washington state where I was built and turning on my "airbag deployed" indicator light on and off for no reason. I also continually leaked waste water into my dump valve so that when uncapped about a pint spilled onto the ground. Even now I smile when I think about the embarrassment that caused.
All my pranks were good-natured though and we became good friends knowing we'd be traveling together for many years.
The Coachmen - Bio part 5
They wanted to replace their camper with another Volkswagen (a new one this time) but none were produced that year (or at least none were imported from Europe).
So the search turned toward a used converted van (the only RV within their budget range and close in size to the Volkswagen). The more they looked the more they grew to appreciate what they'd had with both their Volkswagens. It began to seem as though the designers of camping vans had never spent much time camping. There was more attention given to creating an illusion of extravagance than basic livability. Most were little more than party rooms on wheels, capable of supporting life for a weekend but no longer. The few full-fledged campers they saw seemed very claustrophobic with cabinets, galley, and head (toilet) packed between the cab and the rear dinette/bed. And to make matters worse they were paneled in "rich" dark imitation wood. Yes, they were bigger in overall dimensions than a Volkswagen but they managed to waste so much space that they ended up with far less interior space.
Finally, late one Sunday afternoon, in a dealer's lot (again far from home,) they peeked into the windows of a Coachmen camper van and saw what they had been looking for, space surrounded with all the amenities for living. It even had a bathtub and shower like the larger motor homes - although they were far too small to be usable. Could this be an adequate replacement their aging wanderer? It sure looked like it.
They had no illusions about its being able to match the diesel Volkswagen's fuel economy but it had so much more to offer - a furnace that could be used on the really cold evenings and nights, a water heater to substitute for the range-top cooking pot, and the luxury of a microwave oven for those few times when they were willing to pay the extra $3 a night for shore power. Even the refrigerator, now up off the floor and with its extra capacity and freezer compartment made living on the road that much more like living at home. (And camping that much less like "camping".)
But of all the amenities packed into this small motor home, the toilet was to become the most appreciated. Trudging through dark woods or across cold campgrounds to find facilities at night was becoming an unwelcome adventure. And it could really come in handy when stuck in traffic jams or lost on back roads.
They gave me the name "Shamu" and I put up with that name for 8 years. During that time we logged over 90,000 miles together wandering up and down the east coast from Maine to Florida. But the miles began to take their toll and I was getting ready to move on. If an affordable replacement could be found that met all the requirements we'd developed over the years, we'd be ready to begin some serious wandering.
Volkswagen 2 - Bio part 4
After an unsuccessful attempt to return to the less expensive (and more pure) form of camping (tenting), MnJ were again ready to "get up off the ground". They'd been very happy with their Volkswagen Camper and it had fit their style of travel and budget so well that when they began to look, they never considered anything else.
A friend told them about a used diesel camper he’d seen in a dealer's lot some distance away in Pennsylvania and suggested they might be interested. They were and made a three hour trip to take a look.
That visit revealed a wrath of improvements introduced over the years, the most impressive of which was how much more roomy the interior had become. The sink/refrigerator had been moved to the street side getting it out of the doorway. And the passenger seat could be turned around backwards really opening up the floor space – not to mention a comfortable seat.
The galley was like those found in the big guys, a sink with running water (supplied by either electric pump from a respectably sized tank or by hose from a campground tap), a real stove fueled by a permanently attached propane tank, and a 3 way refrigerator (110 volt AC shore power, or 12 volt DC battery power or propane). Although there was no dinette, the two adjustable tables provided more than enough surface space. The hammock over the front seats was gone but it wasn't because the kids were on their own now. The full sized double bed "upstairs" (on the roof under the pop-top) looked to be roomy and comfortable but a bit hard for two adults approaching middle age to get into. No problem - the "downstairs" bed would do just fine.
Although they weren't too happy with the pumpkin orange color, they invited me into the family and brought me home.
With the additional storage (larger cabinets, and a new one over the sofa), a smoother ride, better fuel mileage and higher top speed (I could do over 65 MPH if there was no head wind) I was a vehicle that came close to meeting anyone’s traveling needs. They didn't mind that I had no on-board toilet; they'd never had one before. Nor was the lack of a furnace often a problem - warm sleeping bags did quite nicely. The refrigerator was a little small and a little too close to the floor but it didn’t need periodic shots of ice. The pop-top was a little heavier to lift than they liked, and I was a bit slow on the upgrades but I had what they needed for comfortable travel and camping. I was a "motor home", a diesel pusher no less, that could go anywhere a car could go, park anywhere a car could park, and at 28 mpg, burned far less fuel than most.
I provided them with many years of happy camping memories and many miles of adventurous wandering. They would have been happy with me in that form for many more years except I developed a $5000 problem in my engine. Replacing the van made more sense than rebuilding (or replacing) the engine so again the search was on.
A friend told them about a used diesel camper he’d seen in a dealer's lot some distance away in Pennsylvania and suggested they might be interested. They were and made a three hour trip to take a look.
That visit revealed a wrath of improvements introduced over the years, the most impressive of which was how much more roomy the interior had become. The sink/refrigerator had been moved to the street side getting it out of the doorway. And the passenger seat could be turned around backwards really opening up the floor space – not to mention a comfortable seat.
The galley was like those found in the big guys, a sink with running water (supplied by either electric pump from a respectably sized tank or by hose from a campground tap), a real stove fueled by a permanently attached propane tank, and a 3 way refrigerator (110 volt AC shore power, or 12 volt DC battery power or propane). Although there was no dinette, the two adjustable tables provided more than enough surface space. The hammock over the front seats was gone but it wasn't because the kids were on their own now. The full sized double bed "upstairs" (on the roof under the pop-top) looked to be roomy and comfortable but a bit hard for two adults approaching middle age to get into. No problem - the "downstairs" bed would do just fine.
Although they weren't too happy with the pumpkin orange color, they invited me into the family and brought me home.
With the additional storage (larger cabinets, and a new one over the sofa), a smoother ride, better fuel mileage and higher top speed (I could do over 65 MPH if there was no head wind) I was a vehicle that came close to meeting anyone’s traveling needs. They didn't mind that I had no on-board toilet; they'd never had one before. Nor was the lack of a furnace often a problem - warm sleeping bags did quite nicely. The refrigerator was a little small and a little too close to the floor but it didn’t need periodic shots of ice. The pop-top was a little heavier to lift than they liked, and I was a bit slow on the upgrades but I had what they needed for comfortable travel and camping. I was a "motor home", a diesel pusher no less, that could go anywhere a car could go, park anywhere a car could park, and at 28 mpg, burned far less fuel than most.
I provided them with many years of happy camping memories and many miles of adventurous wandering. They would have been happy with me in that form for many more years except I developed a $5000 problem in my engine. Replacing the van made more sense than rebuilding (or replacing) the engine so again the search was on.
Volkswagen 1 – Bio part 3
There I was – though I didn’t have a name yet - standing proudly head and shoulders above a vast field of used Fiats - a gleaming white Volkswagen Camper with a round black spare tire nose. Newly cleaned, vacuumed and polished, I waited happily for a new owner to come along - completely unaware of the embarrassing flap of canvas peeking out from under my pop top.
A look inside would reveal a cavernous expanse of living space - more than enough room for two claustrophobic kids, four suitcases, four sleeping bags, and miscellaneous other odds and ends needed for traveling. I had a built-in galley - a sink with running water (with the help of a small hand pump), a small refrigerator (an icebox set on end holding up the sink), and a small shelf that could be lifted up when the side door was open to hold a camp stove. I had a full length closet with a mirror, a cabinet for small items along the wall behind the closet, and storage under the "sofa" and rear facing jump seat. There was even a table attached to the wall that could be lifted to form a dinette where the kids could play games as we traveled (seating safety issues were yet to be invented). And best of all, I would accommodate all four family members at night - Jennifer on a hammock stretched over the two front seats, Jeff on a cot in the space created when the top was up, and two adults on a "full sized" bed formed when the sofa back was lowered and the luggage area was cleared out. What luxury!
MnJ thought this would be traveling and camping the easy way - although they thought calling it "camping" was stretching the meaning of the term a bit. They would be free to travel into the evenings, to explore where there may not be campgrounds (are there such places?), and to pack up and go at the drop of a hat.
Although my heater was barely adequate in spring and fall and virtually unnoticeable in the winter and my power left no one in my dust, I served the family well for over ten years. The kids slowly outgrew being able to sleep in the cramped quarters provided inside and moved out into tents. And after a few years even "outgrew" wanting to travel with us at all.
By that time I had served, not only as a home away from home, but a second car, a commuting vehicle and a training vehicle the teenagers learning to drive. And things had begun to break down more frequently causing repair costs to exceed payments for a new car. But in spite of my shortcomings I had become a well loved member of the family earning a special place in all their hearts.
I was ready for another makeover. But would it be another Volkswagen or would it be back to tents?
A look inside would reveal a cavernous expanse of living space - more than enough room for two claustrophobic kids, four suitcases, four sleeping bags, and miscellaneous other odds and ends needed for traveling. I had a built-in galley - a sink with running water (with the help of a small hand pump), a small refrigerator (an icebox set on end holding up the sink), and a small shelf that could be lifted up when the side door was open to hold a camp stove. I had a full length closet with a mirror, a cabinet for small items along the wall behind the closet, and storage under the "sofa" and rear facing jump seat. There was even a table attached to the wall that could be lifted to form a dinette where the kids could play games as we traveled (seating safety issues were yet to be invented). And best of all, I would accommodate all four family members at night - Jennifer on a hammock stretched over the two front seats, Jeff on a cot in the space created when the top was up, and two adults on a "full sized" bed formed when the sofa back was lowered and the luggage area was cleared out. What luxury!
MnJ thought this would be traveling and camping the easy way - although they thought calling it "camping" was stretching the meaning of the term a bit. They would be free to travel into the evenings, to explore where there may not be campgrounds (are there such places?), and to pack up and go at the drop of a hat.
Although my heater was barely adequate in spring and fall and virtually unnoticeable in the winter and my power left no one in my dust, I served the family well for over ten years. The kids slowly outgrew being able to sleep in the cramped quarters provided inside and moved out into tents. And after a few years even "outgrew" wanting to travel with us at all.
By that time I had served, not only as a home away from home, but a second car, a commuting vehicle and a training vehicle the teenagers learning to drive. And things had begun to break down more frequently causing repair costs to exceed payments for a new car. But in spite of my shortcomings I had become a well loved member of the family earning a special place in all their hearts.
I was ready for another makeover. But would it be another Volkswagen or would it be back to tents?
Early struggles - Bio part 2
Something about camping must have been appealing to Mark because that's how he ended up wanting to spend his vacations. He thinks it could be that he subconsciously loved those summer excursions (though he doubts it) or maybe that he knew of no other way to spend a vacation (even more doubtful). Most likely it was for the same reason his family did it - it was inexpensive. Paying for a tent and camping equipment once was a whole lot cheaper than paying for a motel room night after night.
Joy wasn't at all enthusiastic about camping - she hadn't camped much as a kid – but she was willing to try. But it was up to Mark to make the experiences convincingly pleasurable enough for her to want to do - a task he failed miserably at.
Their first camping trip together was a weekend in the New Hampshire White Mountains with his parents. It was a disaster from the start and got worse. Their car was too small for a play-pen to fit inside so they carried it and some luggage on top. This arrangement kept them off at least one major highway forcing them to fight their way through some heavy suburban New York City congestion. Then on the Connecticut Turnpike the car broke down. The time consuming fix was easy enough but he left his tool box by the side of the road.
They had hand-me-down sleeping bags and a borrowed tent. But they were completely unprepared for the cold mountain nights. They put Jeff, their one year old, in the car on the back seat to give him some protection from the cold and that worked great. In fact, he was so comfortable that he didn't even wake up when he rolled off the seat onto the floor. But sleeping was torture his parents, not only because of the cold but also because their air mattresses refused to hold air.
The next morning, Joy had the beginnings of an earache and tried bravely to have a good time in spite of it. But by Sunday it was so bad that they had to go into town to hunt up a doctor.
It was a while before they even talked about taking another camping vacation.
Eventually Mark was able to talk her into trying again. There was no mention of where they went that time or what they did but it must have been no worse than OK. Because over the next several years they hauled a tent and an ever growing cache of equipment around New York State in the trunk of their little car. They even took a three week trip out to Arizona to visit Mark’s folks who were living on the Hope Indian reservation at the time. They had become "campers” – but not to get away, as Mark’s folks had done, but to get there and back. (They slept in tents instead of motel rooms.)
After several years of not having any room in a small car, finding a suitable campsite in the dark, setting up tents in the rain, and sleeping in puddles - and many heated discussions - it became apparent that tent camping with two young children was no way to travel. So when Joy saw a Volkswagen camper van in a local used car lot, they went out and bought it. Thus they entered the world of RVs.
Joy wasn't at all enthusiastic about camping - she hadn't camped much as a kid – but she was willing to try. But it was up to Mark to make the experiences convincingly pleasurable enough for her to want to do - a task he failed miserably at.
Their first camping trip together was a weekend in the New Hampshire White Mountains with his parents. It was a disaster from the start and got worse. Their car was too small for a play-pen to fit inside so they carried it and some luggage on top. This arrangement kept them off at least one major highway forcing them to fight their way through some heavy suburban New York City congestion. Then on the Connecticut Turnpike the car broke down. The time consuming fix was easy enough but he left his tool box by the side of the road.
They had hand-me-down sleeping bags and a borrowed tent. But they were completely unprepared for the cold mountain nights. They put Jeff, their one year old, in the car on the back seat to give him some protection from the cold and that worked great. In fact, he was so comfortable that he didn't even wake up when he rolled off the seat onto the floor. But sleeping was torture his parents, not only because of the cold but also because their air mattresses refused to hold air.
The next morning, Joy had the beginnings of an earache and tried bravely to have a good time in spite of it. But by Sunday it was so bad that they had to go into town to hunt up a doctor.
It was a while before they even talked about taking another camping vacation.
Eventually Mark was able to talk her into trying again. There was no mention of where they went that time or what they did but it must have been no worse than OK. Because over the next several years they hauled a tent and an ever growing cache of equipment around New York State in the trunk of their little car. They even took a three week trip out to Arizona to visit Mark’s folks who were living on the Hope Indian reservation at the time. They had become "campers” – but not to get away, as Mark’s folks had done, but to get there and back. (They slept in tents instead of motel rooms.)
After several years of not having any room in a small car, finding a suitable campsite in the dark, setting up tents in the rain, and sleeping in puddles - and many heated discussions - it became apparent that tent camping with two young children was no way to travel. So when Joy saw a Volkswagen camper van in a local used car lot, they went out and bought it. Thus they entered the world of RVs.
Prehistory - Bio part 1
My name is Kyue (with a silent "e"). I am the spirit of adventure and recreation in the physical form (today) of a small motor home. I wander the highways and back roads of America in search of fun and adventure. I am an oasis of rest and warmth and a comfortable haven in times of stress and bad weather. I am shelter and safety. I am a faithful servant and a relentless but good-natured trickster. I am transportation. I am home. I am Q.
I haven't always been a motor home, of course, few come into this world so flush - although I guess some do - or maybe as a yacht, or a luxury hotel suite, or a mountain cabin, or some such. No, I began life as a tent in the trunk of a car. Even that might seem flush to some who travel with a pair of hiking boots toting a sleeping bag. In the early sixty's, being a tent in a car was the only way to become part of a young growing family on a very low income. Mark was kind of use to traveling that way so it seemed a natural thing to do for him but Joy wasn't so sure.
On his ill maintained website he tells how camping was how his family spent their vacations as he grew up. He says that he doesn't remember that any of their trips were particularly outstanding except that he was bored a great deal of the time. They were long - usually about 4 weeks - but they would usually stay within a 200 mile radius of home, spending a week or so at each campground. They probably didn't move around much because it took several hours to set up camp with a large, heavy, floor-less wall tent (headquarters and bedroom for his folks), the kitchen area on the end of a picnic table under a large dining fly and a tent or jungle hammock for each of the four kids. And it took almost as long to take it down and load up the utility trailer at the end of the stay.
His family wasn't poor but there wasn't much money to spend on kid activities or entertainment either. And bicycles were considered unnecessary and took up too much space so were left at home. There was usually swimming (but not always) and sometimes a mountain trail or two to hike but they mainly just sat around the campsite doing nothing. It was a change in routine good for the normally busy adults but it came up short for kids.
In the narrative, he is quick to point out that the restful change of routine was mostly his father's. His mother was still in charge of cooking the meals and cleaning up afterward. She also did most of the work other than making and breaking camp! The change in routine for her was that she did it outdoors without running water.
Back in those days camping in many State and National Parks was free and the others were close to it. He tells how his father came back to the car after registering at one State Park shaking his head and commenting that $1.25 a night was pretty expensive. There weren't many private campgrounds back then and staying in one was never considered. The ones along the roads were not particularly attractive or inviting. And no doubt they cost a lot more than $1.25 a night.
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