Sad Decision has been Made

[4Campers]

Looks like the pup is going up for sale come spring. We talked it over, agree neither of us have the strength or energy anymore to set it up. The past year has beat us down health wise.
It will be a sad day to see it move on to another family but hope someone will enjoy it for a few more years.

[GoneCamping]

Does that mean the end of camping for you? Or are you going to look into something easier? I'd recommend a motor home, they are pretty easy, back it in, hit a button to level it, hit a button to put the slides out, hook up power, water & sewer, dig out the beer!!!

[4Campers]

Yea, that sounds too easy. But we have no place to park a MH at home. City may ban it anyway and do not want to pay to park it in some lot. Looks like any future camping will be in a cabin or yurt, maybe in daughters TT.
Camping is in our genes so we will still get out, just not as often.

[GoneCamping]

In that case, you might want to look into Thousand Trails Cabin Pass, kind of expensive, but if you use it enough it'll pay for itself. If your not going to use it much then it's not cost effective.

https://thousandtrails.com/cabinpass

[4Campers]

Thanks, but I don't think the TT Cabin Pass is a good fit for us. There are very few properties near us and since we'd only be weekenders a long drive is not an option. Actually, one of the properties near us is where DD & SIL go.

[toomanytents]

Tim,
It sounds screwy, but NOW is the time to sell your popup.  People are looking now for summer camping.  RV shows are already going on.  We sold our TT through a dealer.  He'd been in the business 20 years and his dad before that.  He said someone turns on a switch on March 1 every year and all the buyers come out.

Cabin camping looks like it's going to work for us.  We have a variety near us between state, county and private campgrounds.  Naturally private are more expensive.   We have everything we need from tent/popup/trailer camping, it's just a matter of re-organizing and paring down.  No wet canvas to deal with! 

Cabin camping costs more, but we eliminated trailer licenses, insurance and maintenance.  For us, we also eliminated storage fee and since I'm no longer towing, I also sold the 10 mpg tow vehicle.  The replacement SUV with all our camping gear got 28 mpg.  So, we have higher cost per night of actual camping, but zero fixed costs.  If we camp ~30 nights/year, it's a wash.

[4Campers]

Dave- We'll probably sell before summer. Need to get it out of the garage and clean out all our stuff, separate the rest of the camping junk. I'm hoping to make it a package deal, all the stuff we won't use included.
You mention something I didn't consider, no more license fees or insurance. Not a big amount but may pay a night or two in a cabin. Although we'll stick with the Acadia, not towing will be better mileage.

[toomanytents]

We also had AAA RV membership.  I dropped the "RV" part of the membership when it renewed and that also saved $$.
Even if I had kept my truck, highway non-towing mileage was about twice the mileage as towing, so that saves $$ too.

[toomanytents]

We have now tried camping in "deluxe" cabins & yurts twice at state & county parks and have another trip booked.  "deluxe" meaning it has a bathroom & kitchen inside.  Inside bathroom is a must for DW these days and I don't complain.

Drawback - there are not as many cabins/yurts as there are campsites.
Bonus - it's working out well and it's easier.  We had everything we need from the trailer & tent camping days.  With some re-thinking & re-organization, everything is packed in a set of storage bins that we already had on a set of shelves in the garage.  Throw the bins in the suv, add a cooler of food and clothes and we're set.  Setting up and taking down is faster too.    One thing I have to learn to remember again is ICE.  It's hard to tell in advance what size fridge you're going to have, so you may need to store some stuff in the cooler - and that means you need ice.
Camping and you need ice..... who'd a thunk it?

[4Campers]

We haven't even begun to think camping. Too much going on.
Good to hear the cabin and yurt camping is going well. Only a few parks have them near us. One park tore most of their cabins down a few years ago and never replaced them. The state park we like has one cabin and it's probably reserved for every weekend all summer already. I'm sure we'll figure something out or else our cabin might be named Holiday Inn.
Glad I didn't toss our ice bottles out!

[toomanytents]

We've had to be creative and flexible to find a cabin.  State parks have some, but I have not been able to get an open reservation yet in one super popular state park.  Some of the county parks have good cabins.  Some private campgrounds also have them and some of those are reasonably priced.  It's hit or miss.  We're trying it this year and seeing what we think.  We have all the stuff we need (as long as the chief-packer remembers to pack the coffee maker).

[4Campers]

So much going on we have yet to do anything with the pup. MIL in & out of hospital, now to a nursing home. Have to empty her apartment and sell or move all her stuff. And she has a LOT of stuff!
I did empty the pup's front storage bin and clean it up. Got all the junk separated what goes with and what we keep.
Got all the camper stuff stored in the basement that goes with pulled out.
Supposed to rain all week, city wide yard sale coming up June 1. So much to do with so little time.

[toomanytents]

Tim,
I've had to deal with helping two relatives sell their houses, move into senior living situations (different type for each) and clean out and sell houses. I'm now the executor of the estate of one of those relatives. It is A LOT of work.  Some days it's more mentally exhausting than it is physically hard, but it's still a lot of work.  And you usually don't have nearly enough time to do it right.  We ended up canceling multiple trips last summer when the workload was highest.

It does eventually slow down.  Good luck!  Keep a positive outlook.

[4Campers]

Tim,
I've had to deal with helping two relatives sell their houses, move into senior living situations (different type for each) and clean out and sell houses. I'm now the executor of the estate of one of those relatives. It is A LOT of work.  Some days it's more mentally exhausting than it is physically hard, but it's still a lot of work.  And you usually don't have nearly enough time to do it right.  We ended up canceling multiple trips last summer when the workload was highest.

It does eventually slow down.  Good luck!  Keep a positive outlook.

Thanks Dave- My mom's house clean out was tough but nothing like MILs apartment. Of course I had lots of help with mom's, very little help with MILs. Two days' work and barely a dent. Still finding crap she moved here ten years ago and never touched. Plus, she is a collector who throws nothing away. Oh well.
Anyway, the pup is posted for sale. Between all the hospital trips, bad weather and moving MIL to nursing home we have not pulled it out of the garage yet. Buyer going to see it dirty.

[4Campers]

Well, I sold the pup today. Nice family bought it. They camped last week in her sister's pop up and their kids loved it. They have a week vacation scheduled already. She took pictures and videos as I showed her brother-in-law how to set it up. She really appreciated that I showed them the tips I learned and the mods I did.