RE: Hello, introduce yourself here!

[texacokat]

 fivegonefishing
It sure is fun reading up on everybody here...for instance, we ll have to plan a virtual wedding shower for millertyme (!) and hey, gamecock, don t forget that Lou Holtz  real claim to fame will always be Notre Dame.
 
 We re Kathy and Scott; I was born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago -- Scott in Oak Lawn.  I really needed to BREATHE so went to college in New Mexico and Colorado and then married and moved to Texas, hence texacokat.  Skied, camped, hiked, did all the great outdoors out west.  In between had 2 kids and a girl scout troop and cub scout den.
 
 Finally came back to Chicago and had to divorce to meet and marry Scott!  (what a long, strange trip it s been)...Now, DD is in Manhattan studying at NYU and DS is limping through high school and counting the days til he can join that Army of One.
 
 Looked and looked at PUs from 1998 til last summer and finally took delivery on our newest baby.  We can hardly wait til we full-time it, although with our jobs going sideways, we might be full-timing it when the bank takes over the house payments ha ha.
 
 Looking forward to more fun trips this summer with the GLPUC where we ve met some really nice folks and have already plunked down the deposits on the sites we ll ve visiting in Colorado this summer.  Couldn t have done it without this PUT site!

[ForestCreature]

 fivegonefishing
Hey gnsmith & reallygreen, you guys may be neighbors and not even know it!
 The ThunderRocks and I met thru the board, and we only live 7 blocks apart!!
 It s a small world.
 
 Now back to the subject at hand.....
 I came up with ForestCreature because thats where we camp 99.9% of the time.
 And some may say I m an animal []
 We seek out the smaller rustic areas with 12 sight or less, the harder it is to find the more we like it. One of our favorite places to camp is in the UP.
 We were life long tenters until 4 yrs ago when we fell in love with the Aliner. This is our first RV,and now wonder why it took us so long to move out of the tent!
 We are not so empty nesters, a grown son who leases space in the house. He still camps with us occasionally in our old tent.
 Impatiently waiting for the weather to get better so we can get back out and camp soon.........
 

[NightOwl]

 fivegonefishing
[]

[Viking99]

 fivegonefishing
Well the screen name was easy to come up with. We camp in a 1999 Viking Epic. []
 
 We have been pop up camping since 1999 when we bought our pop up, but we both have been camping all our life.
 
 We live in southwest Ohio and do most of our camping here in the state parks.
 
 This year we have a new addition to go camping with. Noah will be a year old and we are looking forward to all the new camping adventures with him.[]

[ThunderRock]

 fivegonefishing
Think I ve answered this a couple of times here, but, again for the newbies out there..Thunderfoot was my old CB handle (old way of younger driving days) and we bought a Rockwood camper last year.
 Didn t like Rockfoot or Thunderwood, so, ThunderRock seemed logical. Someone told me that Ken was a little too plain; besides KenC & I were always getting mistaken for one another.
 
 Funny thing, too, when I took on ThunderRock, someone here said that if they heard my voice booming out at a CG to some loud or rowdy campers to " keep it down" , they d understand!! LOL!!
 
 

[garym053]

 fivegonefishing
Hi, I m garym053. That s zero five three, so you ll be able to tell me apart from the other 52 garym s on the board!! Actually the 53 is the year I was born, made it easy to remember!
 Started tent camping at 44! Loved it! I was like a big kid, even enjoyed cooking in the rain! Started looking at PU s a year later, and bought a Jayco Qwest 10. We are empty nesters, Son and his family in Arizona, Daughter and her family in New Jersey, so we get out of the house as much as possible! We camp almost every weekend from Memprial Day through Labor Day.
 We love to camp in State Parks much more than private parks. We don t need to be entertained nor do we have kids that need it. The wildlife sightings are usually better, and they are usually close to good hiking, biking or kayaking!

[campingcop]

 garym053
Campingcop= retired police officer now into camping.
 
 Started camping with a tent then moved to the pop up in 99. as 2 large dogs and all the tent equipment just didn t fit to well in a midsize vehile.  Now have a SUV and 2 med.size dogs.
 
 Rest of info in sig.

[Popupnut]

 garym053
I m Popupnut - Because I love the Pop-ups and am a genuine Nut!!!  I started camping a few years back with some friends in a tent - we quickly found out that we loved camping - just not tent camping especially with potty training tots!! So we decided that if we really wanted to camp with the kids it would be great to have a camper - so off we went shopping.  Shortly after that my Mom passed away and left each of my siblings and I just enough to purchase the camper - she would have loved the idea of family outings in a camper - it was an easy decision!!I left my husband with the decision on which camper and told him to have it picked out and in my driveway before I was done crocheting a King size blanket for the camper (I knew we would need atleast 1 King size bed (he s 6 2).  Otherwise I would roll him up in the blanket and toss him over the cliff (our house is on a mountain).  He came thru.  We are not usually so violent - but I really really wanted to start camping!!!!!  We have been camping ever since - made loads of friends who now join us on our camping excursions - we all camp in tents and campers and trailers - it s great fun!  I had the opportunity of meeting " mommamia"  last summer and that was the 1st PUT member I ve met - she is a blast and I know we will be camping with her and her family in the future.
 I now make pop-up (and other variation) camper signs - it all started here and I am forever grateful to PUT and Dave for the support and enthusiasm I have expereinced on this board.  
 I ve been with this board since the CoolBoards and have met some wonderful wonderful friends who although I have not met in person yet - I absolutely cherish via cyberspace!!!  
 And AustinBoston thinks he s longwinded!!!!  Pfew!

[Chez Way]

 garym053
My dh and I had been tent camping since we first met and continued the tradition with our kids (ds-9 and dd-6).  A year and a half ago while tent camping our air mattress went flat once again and that was it, we started shopping for pop ups.  We wanted to be able to camp more often, off the ground and without the hassle of packing.  
 
 We found PUT when I was searching for a used pop up on the internet and got loads of info about weight, brands, tow vehicles, etc.  We checked out a few used pop ups and started visiting dealers on weekends.  The next thing I knew we had a brand new 2002 Coleman Mesa. We LOVE it.  The whole family looks forward to the next trip.  Even our 12-1/2 year old lab gets very excited when she sees the pop up hooked up.  
 
 Chez Way is the name of our pop up.  Chez (shay)=French for little cottage and Way= our surname.

[Zooey]

 garym053
My name, Zooey is actually one of my cat s names.  I seem to use it for everything.  It s easy to remember.
 
 My husband and I live in Pittsburgh and have both been camping since we can remember.  We both always had tents until last February when we bought our 99 Jayco Eagle.  We absolutely love it!!!  We can t wait until Spring,  We look forward to hopefully meeting some of you this year.  
 
 Zooey[&:]

[Acts 2:38 girl]

 garym053
My DH (Firefyter_Emt) and I started PUing a few years ago.  After a real bad camping experience on the Cape with rain, and sand and sunburn - I said, " No more tents!  If you want to go camping so bad, I want something a little more like home."   Hotels/Motels are OK, but there really is a tendancy to veg out in front of the TV, etc.  This is NOT what I want to do on vacation!  A pop-up gave me that sense of always coming back " home" after a long day trip, no body is coming into there to clean/make beds.   There is definetly a level of privacy.  I don t enjoy every aspect of camping, and it doesn t always seem like a vacation w/ three kids along, but I really enjoy being outdoors, campfires, and traveling to places I ve never been without breaking the bank!  Also, you can t beat the new people you meet and become friends with! []

[Horscampr]

 fivegonefishing
Ok, Nice thread[]
 
 Horsecampr describes me, .....or rather my two passions (can you guess what they are?).
 
 I am a single girl with a love of the outdoors, camping, horses and all things that are created by nature.  As far as camping goes, I am still very much a newbie and still learning.  I will be going on my 3rd summer of camping this year.  The first year, I tent camped and loved it (some of my best memories are from that year).  When that summer drew to a close, my last camping trip was at a county fair with my old college roomate and very good friend.  She had an older PU and we camped in that, thus spurring my love of PU s.  The entire time I camped that week, I kept telling myself "  I HAVE TO HAVE ONE OF THESE."   Shortly after that, I found PUT s and became even further hooked[].
 
 Last summer, I purchased " Poppy"  my 31 yr old PU.  I spent many hours with my father fixing her up.  She s still a work in progress, but I am enjoying the challenge.  Her previous owners replaced the canvas and redid the interior, so along with the extra work I m doing, she s getting better and better.
 
 My other passion (if you haven t already guessed) is horses.  I have a 15yr old Standardbred ex-harness racer that I adopted when his racing career came to an end.  He bares many emotional and physical scars from his racing days and is now living his life in a loving home. I no longer show horses or ride in any specific discipline (I acutally prefer bareback whenever possible).  Unlike my camping knowledge, my horse experience spans 23 years of riding and training.  My interest lies with horse psychology and Natural horse teaching.  My future goals in this area are to become certified through Parellli Natural Horsemanship (at least through level 3) and to continue to work with horses that are emotionally scarred (and sometimes regarded as " dangerous" ) because they are misunderstood by their owners.
 
 My current equine partner and I are in the process of planning a week long camping trip together for the summer of 2004.  Transportation issues make it difficult for us to camp together very often and make it necissary for our trips to be planned WAY in advance. Aside from this, my other camping companions include friends and family (my mom has become addicted to camping as much as me!!!!!!!).  I also occasionally camp with my two dogs.  Mandy is a German Wirehaired Pointer and Gus is a Sheltie.  I share " custody"  of them with my mom and dad, but I know they like me best because I take them camping hehehehe....
 
 I am hoping to have a web site availabe for Natural Horsemanship and Pop-up camping by the end of this summer.  It will have many awesome links for camping and horses as well as pictures of my " experiences." []

[scpreacherswife]

 garym053
Speaking of long-winded... That should have been my screen name.....[&:]
 
 Any, I got my screen name because my husband is a preacher in South Carolina.  How original.  Hey, I can remember it anyway![]
 
 Most of our vital stats are in my sig. line.  I guess the other info should be that I was raised popup camping.  ALWAYS loved it.  After DH and I married in  81, we tent camped as much as possible, but it got harder and harder after the kids came and with a limited schedule.  Motels/hotels were tight on a already tight budget.  Naturally, I began my case long ago for a popup, and we started @ 4 years agp looking for the " right"  one at the right price.  PUT was a God send when I found it @ 2 years ago while searching for the right pop up.  Husband had never popup d, and since my parents old beloved Jayco was rather simple, it was a new and foreign world to DH and I on the newer options, etc.  
 
 Finally, last March we found a " vintage"  - NOT OLD - Coleman  86 Plantation series Savannah, complete with oven, air, furnace, 3 way frig AND BEST OF ALL true bathroom-with WALLS. [] It really eats up the living space, even on a big 17  box, and is extra work to set up, but to us it s worth it.  Our only negative is full size beds instead of queen/king, and it will need a new canvas next year.  We will be comparing Canvas Replacements and Bear Creek on that soon.  For when the kids outgrow the beds or want to bring friends, we have a little " popup"  tent and plan on buying a screen room w/ privacy panels from Weimers RV in PA soon.  Great people w/ great prices on " vintage"  replacement items for Coleman Campers.  And no, I don t get paid for saying that.   Hey, wonder if it could get me a discount.....[].  John @ Weimers, are you reading this?  Guess where I learned @ them?  Yep, Here.
 
 Looks like we are real close neighbors of Gamecock Camper.  Maybe we will meet soon-maybe even @ the SC RV show next Sunday![]  By the way, GO GAMECOCKS!  and gotta love LOU....my girls and I are big USC fans.  Unfortunately, my husband and son are still a bit confused and remain Clemson University fans[: (].  []
 
 I tend to mostly lurk and learn, but every once in a while I come out to seek wisdom.  I have " met"  many amazing people on the board, talked @ family history, Waterfall seeking (GOTTA LOVE IT), campgrounds and mods.  I havwe always gotten the BEST info from here.  When DH found out how obsessed I was w/ the whole Pop Up Times world, he used to make fun of me.  Now that he has one of his own, guess who s obsessing[] !
 
 Since this will be our first full year officially Popuping, I look forward to making lots of trips.  We camped this winter in the mountains of SC/NC -cold but FUN!!  This year we will probably stay close to SC due to schedules.  We couldn t camp much last summer and I lost all my vacation and sick time from work staying home sick w/ a rare kidney disease.  I m in remission now, but don t have much time built up.  Our difficulty/blessing comes in the form of me working MOn-Fri., while DH s bussiest day being Sunday.  We plan on tag teaming this year-He goes and sets up during the week, I join the family Friday til Sunday while he goes home Saturday evening and then returns Sunday PM late or Monday- when I return for work.  When we can we stay close enough to drive back & forth on Sunday.  We only live 1 hour away from Charlotte NC and Paramount Carowinds and have yearly passes.  This year we plan on camping there alot.  Never been but hear it s nice.  If time and finances permit, we would like to make the Fort Wildermess/Disney trip this next Fall or Winter.  Well, thats my info, past, present and future and probably way more than you wanted to know[&:].  
 
 Happy Pop-Upping!!![8D]

[Starryart]

 garym053
My DH and I have been camping since about 1982. Tenting first, of course,  and then graduating up to a popup in 1994 when we bought a used  86 Jayco from my cousin. I fell in love with real beds and A/C, after all Tx gets a bit hot in the summer (naaww! You think!). We used that old Jayco 72 times in 8 years ( I keep a log of each trip).
      Then last year we bought my brothers  95 Rockwood. It was such a good deal we couldn t pass it by.[]
 We love to camp from September to June- at least once a month, sometimes more, averaging 10 camp trips a year.
      My " handle"  comes from my love of astronomy (after camping of course!) and I am an art teacher- hence- Starryart.
 

[4campinfoxes]

 fivegonefishing
Hi all - we were on the old board & are happy to be on this new and improved model.  Screen name is fairly obvious - the name is Fox & there are 4 of us.  Not too original.  
 
 Let s see, I grew up camping in a pop up, my folks didn t get a hardside tt until after I was married I think.  My DH did some tent camping but not a tremendous amount while growing up.  As a couple we tented for awhile, b4 kids [&:]  When the oldest was about 6 & the younger one about 2 we got our first pop-up, a Jayco 10UD.  A couple of years later the big old Coleman Bayside beckoned us...[]  
 
 Now, we love to head out as many weekends as possible and usually a full week trip somewhere (SD, WI, IA).
 
 Cyclone - if you re checking this - we re both ISU alums & are happily living back here in Ames after a stint in Michigan.[]
 
 Sharon  -  65
 Chuck -  64
 Cait -  93
 Meg -  97
 
 Hope to see you all camping sometime!