This week, Rob and I bought our first Pop up camper. It's not new, but new to us. It's a 1993 Jayco Jay feather 1006.
Seriously? AC? Talk about being spoiled. As I kid, I spent many many summers either in a tent or at least 3 different used pop ups my family owned. I remember sweltering in the Florida heat - we went down every year during the summer to visit my grandmother....and it was alway hot.
I mean, there is nothing worse than trying to sleep in 95 degree heat, right? They say history repeats itself and once again I am finding myself going down to FLorida in the summer after school gets out. We are big big Disney fans (we go once or twice a year depending on how far our Disney Vacation club points can get us). So AC was an absolute must for me. I didn't care what else it had or didn't have, as long as it had AC. I can get around pretty much any other obstacle.
So we picked up our new to us camper, drove it home, and set it up in our driveway.
We have our first reservation already so I must quickly get "our house in order" as it were. We need bedding, cooking supplies, a clothesline, a garbage can, etc...and of course, with three kids 8, 6 and 3.....some toys to bring along.
We are a gluten free family as well, so most of those fun camping foods are out or at least need to be modified. I need to plan out the meals well ahead...I'm guessing for instance, that the campsite sundries store will NOT have gluten free bread. Just a hunch.
So we are off and running. I suspect while we have cub scouts, circus tickets and general yard work to do this weekend, we will also spend a significant amount of time getting ready for our first trip!
Any advice to offer for this first time Kamping with our Kids is welcome!
SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'm more excited or more scared. Last time we (tent) camped, Josh was 5, Katelyn was three. We lasted about 30 hours before we packed it in and left...not sure if that was after Katelyn fell in the lake, or the dog...
ReplyDeleteWe have a popup just like that we bought used six years ago. It is important to have two support bars like the front bed even if it is a smaller bed. Why the manufacturer did not do this is beyond me. If you have children or anyone sleeping on the bed you will never have to worry about damaging the camper from weight or children jumping on the bed. If you want to save the life of your back wall where the smaller bed pulls out this is what we did and it is worth doing. Buy the same brackets that are underneath the bed that are holding the support bars that are there, you can get them at any camper store. Find some metal bars,we just used the eight foot chain link bars and cut them to link. Then in line with where you put the new bracket under the bed follow straight line to the metal dumper on the camper drill a hole and put bolts that have big heads so it will stick out on the bumper and metal pipe hole will just lay right on them for support. We added some washers to the bolt to make it come out even further. We painted them the same color as the bumper when done and never take the off. Now when you go camping we have support bars in the back as you do in the front. When we used our camper the back wall moved a little and we didn't want any extra pressure from the bed so that solved our issue.
ReplyDeleteThis is Shirley Eller again. I am sure you did that but just giving you some more pointers. Always, ALWAYS use a pressure regulator valve on your camper so you don't blow any water lines inside. Make sure you check all your water lines inside the cabinets for leaks when you water has pressure on it. It is easy to fix if you do but if left along it won't take long to damage your floors. Also carry silicone spray lubricant at all times you will need it on all metal parts on your camper. I made sure my metal cable crank had grease on it and I silicone sprayed the metal lift bars,cranks, and door hing with it. Make sure not to get any of that on your camper canvas. You will have little openings that a fly or insect can get through right where the beds pull out and next to the camper bed. I have a little zip lock bag that I put fiberfil in and put that in the little cracks that a insect could come through. Then when we pack up I just save the stuffing in the zip lock for next trip. If you have any questions you can be our facebook friends: Shirley Eller (Newton) and my husband Jon Eller. We are retired and use our popup to go to Florida on vacation and love it. Have fun!
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