The Happy Camper by mark justice hinton (a photoblog)
The lifestyle change it appears to be, it is the first time in 13 years that we don’t have a camper. That warrants a little explanation and recollection of the thousands of miles we travelled with the camper on some great adventures, as recently as last week.
In 1998, Lucky Dog adopted us. Soon after, we bought a camper that slid into the truck bed and popped up, with the top two feet canvas; part tiny cabin, part large tent. Our first trip to Water Canyon immediately revealed that a four cylinder Toyota truck could not carry the camper. Moreover, the small cab required Lucky to ride at the passenger’s feet.
By providence, Merri found a newer Toyota Tacoma at the same place we had bought the old truck two years earlier: Ideal Autos, owned by Rick Jackson, a very nice guy. The truck had an extended cab for Lucky and 6 cylinders. We added leaf springs and stiffer shocks and we were off. We drove 5,000 miles that first trip of 5 weeks, all the way to Hinton, Alberta. The experience was mostly wonderful.
Early on, we pulled into a campground in Montana. Nearby, two people struggled to set up a tent. It began to rain. We popped up in a minute and soon had bacon frying. The next morning, our poor neighbors threw their soaked tent into the trunk. I never missed tent camping or sleeping on the ground after that. Eventually, we had little need for campgrounds. Time and again, we drove to the end of a rugged road to camp.
Every year, for 13 years, we loaded the camper and drove north. We drove to Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming several times. We heard wolves howl near the Frank Church Wilderness. Mer followed a heron to the top of a mountain to discover a phenomenal view of the west side of the Grand Tetons, which we watched at sunset and sunrise (very cold). Another trip, I opened the camper door to find a moose standing 20 feet away. One summer, we drove to Washington state and Oregon, specifically for a CD-release concert by our favorite commercial musicians, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (the CD: Drum-Hat-Buddha); we camped next to an urban park that night. [Dave Carter died suddenly months later. He was a fantastic lyric poet. We were so glad we got to see him then.] We camped some in Utah; poor Lucky nearly died in the heat at Hovenweap. Most of all, we camped in Colorado . Each year, we drove a little less and camped a little less, but we still got out several times a season.
I took our first camper to Chaco, where the wind promptly ripped the canvas side. I drove that camper to Springtime Campground, San Mateo Mountains, west of Socorro, for my 47th birthday , with my first friend, John Stewart . The truck died suddenly 47 miles south of Albuquerque. We set up chairs and sat beside the road, waiting for the tow truck. After a quick and minor repair, we resumed our trip, joining a dozen other great friends.
Truck Bed Campers - Bookshelf
Field & Stream
A shell camper covers the truck bed, has sit-up headroom to the height of the truck cab, and minimum equipment usually consisting of a couple of bunks and a ...Popular Science
Room was gained by lengthening camper to fit the 8' truck bed ... worked out the center of gravity so that camper and truck body become a unified load. ...Popular Science
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TRUCK CAMPERS Truck campers fall into three categories. The big seller is the unit that can be installed in and readily removed from the bed of the pickup, ...Popular Science
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