Good Times in an RV

By Chris Decker Experienced RVer

About this time every year, adults and children alike, dream about warmer days in the sun and summer nights under the stars. Yes, cabin fever has set in!

With daylight barely over nine hours a day, my wife, Deb, and I dream of sunsets after 8 p.m. and sunrises before 5 a.m. Days at camp, nights in a tent, or days in an RV, it’s how we seek revelry in the Maine summers. Before you know it, we’ll be watching the snowbanks dwindle and grass and daffodils peeking up through the frozen tundra. Camping season is coming!

This is a new article about learning and experiencing life camping, particularly RVing. Each article will focus on learning experiences, things to know, and anecdotal remarks on our personal experience on learning about life on the road. I will also be soliciting feedback from you, the reader. What do you want to know, learn about, or just read about?

Here’s a little bit of background about our experience with camping. Camping used to be a serious backwoods adventure with very few luxuries. For 25 years, our life has been backpacking in western Maine, tenting in Baxter, and canoeing the Allagash. Then, 10 years ago, Deb and I purchased a used popup camper. This provided a little more fun, a lot less work, and just a few more comforts of home. Over the last four years, we upgraded to a 30-foot tow-behind travel trailer. This opened up a whole new world!

Prior to 2015, Deb and I were relegated to camping in Northern New England. Our travel trailer, aptly named “Campah,” changed all of that and gave us the ability to explore beyond our “shores.” During the last four years, we set forth on discovering America and in turn, found ourselves.

Let me tell you about an early learning experience with our new TT. With a Ford F150 and a good size trailer, you can carry a lot, but not everything. And where you carry it makes a difference. Deb and I have a nice tabletop grill we purchased at Beans and it works great. Nothing like hamburgers and steaks on an outside gas grill! And we even have bacon and eggs cooked up on it for breakfast. But, where do you store it when traveling?

Deb and I take a lot of stuff with us, particularly if there are more than just the two of us. There is a lot of unused space in the bathroom of an RV, especially in the tub area. Great! The

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grill fit in there perfectly.

After a weekend boondocking near Gulf Hagas Deb and I came home, mostly on back roads. Anyone who has traveled Maine roads knows that they can be a “little” rough. Needless to say, after that trip, I learned how to replace a bathtub.

Chris Decker, with his wife Debra, write about their camping and RV experiences. He is a retired principal and elementary teacher and lives in Maine. Questions, ideas or feedback can be emailed to Chris at campahedu@ gmail.com. You can follow his blog at campahedu. com/.

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