Our First Camper

The day we brought her home and parked it at the curb.

It all started with the Hubbys’ beautiful monster of a Harley. Absolutely a work of art but unless our family of four wanted to climb on and cruise as one big moving pyramid like they do in third world countries we needed an alternative. One that would allow us all to enjoy the outdoors and not bust the budget.

I had to be strategic. Cunning. It had to be his idea.

In reality, it took one camping trip sleeping on rocks for him to agree that a camper would be nice. A few weekends later I convinced him to go look at campers. “Let’s go look and see what style we like… We don’t have to buy anything.” 

How that worked I have no idea.

We chose to visit Camping World purely for their size and location. Pulling into the parking lot and walking into their busy showroom it’s clear they are busy. The entire dealership was buzzing with activity. It took a hot second for a sales associate to say hello. We were asked a slew of questions about style, budget, auto size, etc… We were vague because we really didn’t know what we wanted or needed. I had a few ideas after looking online but shopping for a camper is personal. You need to get in it. Like a house, when you walk in it you either like it or you don’t. Many of the models I saw online felt cramped and way too small for my six-foot husband and two teenage boys who are both over 5’7”.

Right away we knew that we needed bunks for the boys and a private sleeping area for us. There are so many options. Full doors, half walls, couches that separate rooms and just simple curtains. We quickly learned that while we loved some of the luxury options like outdoor entertainment areas with TV’s and sinks, they cost a lot more and add size and weight. Weight is a huge factor when you purchase a camper. Our vehicle can tow up to 7900 lbs. The camper we ended up buying weighs 5,982 lbs and is 31’ long. Even loaded down with 1000 lbs of gear we should be ok towing it with our GMC Yukon. More on that later…

We looked at smaller 18’ units thinking that’s what we wanted but when we sat in them realized they were just too small for us. We felt like sardines. I couldn’t imagine a rainy day in there all together.

We must have looked at over fifteen models. In the end, we chose a Coleman Lantern with a slide out in the living area. We all have an area we can call our own without converting the dining table or couch into a bed but have them as an option if we need extra beds. There's tons of storage inside and out, has a modern feel to it and has a fridge, microwave, and stove with an oven. I have no idea if I will ever bake cookies in it but I could! One of our favorite features is the extra outside door in the bathroom. Easy access without trapesing through the camper. We liked it immediately as is and loved it with the slide out. We just knew.

The Hubby surprised us all by offering his Harley for trade. Did you know an RV is considered a dwelling so they offer longer financing options? Our plan is to pay it off within a year but opting for 120 months is great in that it lowers your payment. You never know what could happen so it’s nice to have a $120 a month payment vs $400. Much better!

We didn’t take our camper home immediately. Camping World sets up an appointment for you to come back for a professional walkthrough. This allows them to detail your camper so it’s spotless and offered us enough time to come home and properly freak out. What had we gotten ourselves into? My husband looked at me and said, “I have to pull that thing.” In which my response was, “I guess I can do it.”

Works every time.

We did seriously freak out though. Would our vehicle be up to the challenge? We knew nothing about water tanks, propane refrigerators or tow bars… Were we in over our heads? How in the heck would we back up?

Our pick up day was exciting. Even if we could only drive forward our adventure was about to begin! The Hubby drove his bike to the dealership and a very nice woman met us at our camper. We swore it got taller overnight. He said goodbye to his faithful stead and we were promptly soaked with a firehose of information. Camping World is great about telling you EVERYTHING they say you need to know. Looking back I wish I had videoed the whole thing. We still don’t know how to do some things but we’re learning.

At the end of the day, we pulled it home. We may have pulled up to the curb instead of backing it in but we were taking it out the next day so why bother, right?

In my upcoming posts, you’ll learn about our first adventure, how we made the camper our own and where we are now… Stick with us. Our adventures are yours. J