Starting Over - Getting reacquainted

[Surfcal]

Hi Gene,
 
WELCOME BACK!!!

Ditto!

[brainpause]

Ditto!

Double ditto!

[SkipP]

Cool thread Marcy!

I came from a non-camping family but when I was old enough, began hiking and backpacking in the NC mountains. My DW did come from a camping family so, after we were married, it was a natural progression that we continued to camp. After kid #1, we kinda got out of the camping mode and then after kid #2, we found that camping with smaller kids and, uh, warm;) humid NC summers didn't spell enjoyment for us.
 
We're on our third pop-up now and have enjoyed each one immensely. The experiences that our kids have had camping are the ones they most often bring up..... they're memories that will last a lifetime and, we hope, they too will continue the love of camping when they are on their own.

[marydell]

Well, I'll join the fun - as a kid my family camped in a pop-up quite often.  During the teens the parents decided to vacation in condos in Florida and we got away from camping.

When I married and had my daughter, I wanted to buy a pop-up, took the ex to look at one.  Being somewhat of a city folk, he wasn't too empressed.

Now that I got the inevitable divorce, one of the first things I bought was a pop-up and a truck to pull it.  NOW I AM HAPPY!!!!!  I've taken my kids on 4 camping trips since the beginning of September when I bought the camper.  We are going camping the whole week of Thanksgiving at Yogi Bear in Robert, LA.  Me and my kids love camping and are really looking forward to the Rally in July 2005.  I only hope if I find a partner in life, he likes camping also.

[Miller Tyme]

Hi, I'm Jim, and I'm some kind of "holic".....:yikes:
 
 Started out camping with the parents years back...first in a Starcraft TT, then a Starcraft pop-up...1968 if the pictures don't lie.....
 
 About 1998, I met Linda, who "insisted" we buy a pop-up...sure. why not...bought a '74 Venture...bare bones, but it worked for 3 years...
 
 Then, we picked up the Pal...what a difference! Furnace, hard-sides, bigger bunks...just perfect for Wisconsin camping.
 
 The last 3 years have been a blast...every weekend if not every other weekend...but now things have, unfortunately changed.
 What with Linda's passing and my change of jobs, camping time is limited.. but I'll make the best of it. I'm already making plans for next year... vacation time will be short, but well worth it.:W

[Chez Way]

Hi all!  I'm Jeanne and am a popaholic!
I grew up in a camping family...5 kids.  We would all cram into a '68 VW Bus with our giant Coleman tent and camp all over mid and southern California.   Our favorite campgrounds were El Capitan. Big Sur, Yosemite, Leo Carillo, Montana De Oro and Carpinteria.  Fast forward to marriage when my dh and I continued the tent camping tradition with two kids until that fateful weekend when the air mattress flattened in the night for the last time and that was it!  Two weeks later we bought our 2002 Coleman Mesa and have not looked back.  We have gotten so much enjoyment from our trailer and joining in on the rallys with the ScCampers.  Our kids love camping too.  I'm so glad we are creating some special memories for our family.

[Starryart]

People think we are crazy because we love camping so much! It is nice to read about others who feel as we do.
The Rockwood PU we now have, we bought in Jan 2002 and we have used it on 27 trips! We keep track in our camp dairy. If you don't have one...get one. It is great to look back on the memories.

The Jayco we had before that we owned for 8 years and took 72 camp trips in it. Plus we tent camped for another 8 years before that (didn't count the number of those trips).

When I was a kid, my family tent camped several times a year, so I guess it got in my blood. My DH and his family camped out in the open while river fishing. So it seems natural for us to continue our love of "gettin' away from it all". Our DD was raised on it since she was two. Now she will be 19 next week and is away at college. Sniff Sniff... battling empty nest.

 DH and I camp once or twice a month, usually from September till June. We camp the fall/winter/spring months here in south Texas. The summers are too hot.
We love the state parks and frequent several that are close by.
We own a tiny cabin in Colorado that we go to in the summer and we tent camp around there too.

Unfortunatly, my DH got laid off in a "reduction of force" when Koch Ind. took over the Dupont plant he worked for, so when (if) he gets a new job this may affect our camp time but until then he is a house husband while I am at my teaching job and we are camping as often as we can.
We will camp for a whole week this Thanksgiving holiday. YES! :tent:

[tlhdoc]

I too am a campaholic.  I come from a non-camping family, so I am not sure how the bug bit me.  I camped in a cabin with the girl scouts a couple of times.  The summer after 4th and 5th grades I slept in a canvas tent with no floor.  We lived in the country and deer and bear were common in the back yard (they still are), so I didn't have to go any where to camp.  As I got older I backpacked and camped on horse back.  Adult life took over for a while and DH is a non-camper, so there was a time when I didn't camp.  When DS was 2 years old I dug out my little dome tent and took him camping at Assateague Island.  On his first trip a raccoon (maybe Arvee?) climbed into the trunk of my car and stole DS's box of cheese crackers.  DS was not happy about that.  It was raining (happens to us on most trips) on the morning we were leaving Assateague and I left DS sitting in the tent as I packed up our gear.  I had pulled the tent stakes out of the ground and then a big gust of wind came up.  It blew over the tent with DS in it.  I thought he would never want to camp again, but he did and still does.  In 1996 I purchased a 1986 Coleman Sun Valley PU.  It was bare bones PU, but for us it was great.  Right after we got it I found that I really wanted a shower.  We often camp in parks without showers, so for the next three years I looked for a used PU with a shower.  I couldn't find one so in 1999 I bought my Coleman/Fleetwood Nevada new.  It has everything we need, so at this point we plan to keep it.

[wmkrahling]

Hello everyone.

I am not a new member.  I have been here for years.  I did not come with the pay site for a little while.  I decided I wanted to go for it when I was in Iraq.  It was my break and a good place to go to at the time.  I can back and renewed almost right away.

I have been reading PUTs for about 5 years.  This was the first place I came to look for the right trailer.  I actually got the one of my dreams and it is 4+ years old and still kicking.

I really enjoy the other sites, but this was the first, and in many ways it the best.   I have a warm place in my heart for Dave and the gaing.  He sent me a bunch of issues to hand out while I was deployed and made sure my subscription did not go away during my deployment. It goes to show that Customer Service is still alive here.  And that means more to me than anything when it comes to who I choose to throw my business.  I guess I will be around as long as PUT is still around.

The date of my joining is when I came back.  It meant that much to renew right away.

[Fishin BC]

B Krahling, Thank you for your service and welcome home!

Marcy this is great and I have loved reading everyone's posts!

Hubby and I like most everyone here grew up camping.  My dad was career Navy and it was about the only vacation we could afford.  We tented and fished and gold panned all the time.  

When Bill and I met we put together the "brady bunch" four kids, his and hers.  We bought a C class motorhome and had that until the kids hit the upper teenage years and camping with mom and dad wasn't cool anymore.  We went back to tenting it.  Two years ago some friends gave us an '82 starcraft they had rotting in their driveway.  We fixed it up and love being off the ground again.  We have one son still at home a senior in highschool.  We have replaced kids that have moved out and gone to college with Border Collies who are now our camping buddies.

Do most of our cooking over the fire or in Dutch.  You can never have enough cast iron! (DH grumbles - weight)

The Eastern Sierra's is our favorite location, but anywhere there are mountains we are game!  When the last kid moves on we plan to buy a fifth wheel and hit the road till we are to old to go anymore!

[ForestCreature]

B Krahling, Thank you for your service and welcome home!
 
 Marcy this is great and I have loved reading everyone's posts!
 

Ditto that sentiment to B Krahling!
 
 I have enjoyed reading all the posts too!!  All the Lifes stories are fun to read!
 Now if we could entice a few more to reply... (nudge..poke,poke! )

[maromeo]

I also grew up in PA and MN as a camping family but not until I was about 13. My parents bought a (what we thought was beautiful, after all it matched the kitchen! ) 1974 avocado green Stuery PU with avocado and white striped canvas, it slept 8 and that is what we needed, 2 adults and 6 kids. We loved it. DH had never spent one night in a tent until he met me then we camped 3 times in a tent and I talked him into a PU at the RV show in Phoenix.

My father travelled a lot for his plastics business, so in the summer months we combined camping and business on his trips. Because of this I have been to all the states except Washington. I hope to get there in my lifetime. After we were all out of the house my parents upgraded to a Class C and then a couple years later a Class A. My father is 80 and mother is 79 and they have given up the motorhome due to illnesses. But they still like to dwell on all the camping we did and how much fun we have had. I send them pictures from all of our camping trips.

As for myself and DH, we purchased a PU in 2002 and have never looked back. We love it. We have travelled over 25,000 miles with it and have spent over 65 nights. We love the family time it gives us along with the tranquility. We hope to continue on my family tradition of camping. I think my DD will keep it going like I have done.

Mary Romeo

[iwantapopup]

Hi I'm Linda!

Count me in as a campaholic!  Started as a Girl Scout and it must have gotten in my blood.  Now I see a camper go by and wish I was along for the ride and the camping!

If anyone remembers me, I was the one who dreamt of a pop-up and found one for $50 and my then husband & I restored it.  Check out the webpage in my signature.

It was fun but really too small, so we found a used TT and was starting to restore it when the marriage went sour, he walked out the door and hooked up the camper behind him.

So, I'm back to being "iwantapopup" for real now!  The girls are I will enjoy some tent camping next year and keep going to the RV shows and dreaming.  Someday we'll be back in a pop-up!

I have 2 daughters, almost 24 & 14-1/2 and a 6-1/2 yr old granddaughter who misses camping as much as I do.  We live just outside St. Louis Co., in Fenton.

Welcome back everyone old and everyone new!

[Wild Wild Qwest]

We are Sherry & Michael. We both come from non camping families. So, I guess it was the change of scenery from the BIG city, the opportunity to get away from the office environment and the daily grind that got us interested in camping and sleeping in the woods. We got a pop up about 4 years ago and learned everything we needed to know from the great people here at PUT and especially our good friends, Tim & Penny (aka - TJWSantaFe). We'll always cherish the many special memories...

Can somebody pass me the tissues...

[homecrew]

Hi everyone! Mark, Janett and Jessica here. My family never camped but I had a pup tent in the back yard and used to sleep out every now and then. As I got older I graduated to a larger tent and went with other 'kids' camping in the state parks. Janett's family was camping with her when she was a baby and has had the bug every since. We started tent camping with Jessica when she was about 4. In 2001 we decided it was time to get off the ground and purchased a new Rockwood 2280. Boy what a change that was. heater, air, potty, shower, running water..... and I could still call it camping!!
 
That's when we found PopUPTimes and the fun people on here. We went to our first group 'rally' with the old SEPUC group and then to the next two rallys with PopUP Times. And I believe that we still hold the Tennessee title for 'popping up the fastest'.:J
 
We've met a bunch of great people and bought more bargains and items for the popup than we could have ever imagined. We've taken two week camping vacations for the last three years and are planning on going to Maine this year.
 
Last year's vacation was pretty wet and Janett decided it was time to move up to something that we could function in even during a week or two of rain, so we sold Rocky and purchased a Jayfeather 23B. We just love it and can't wait til the warmer weather comes back. I know, I know, we could always go farther south. However, we really need a larger TV for any lengthy trips and need to wait til tax time.:eyecrazy:
 
See you around the campfire:W