Should we get a different camper or fix up the one we have?

(Written in my journal 10-14-09)

We have had our 5th wheel for a year and a half now. It has been good for us. But, we are considering changing our way of travel. The 5th wheel and truck are good. We have lots of room in the camper. We don’t all fit in the truck, so we bought a 15 passenger van that I drive. I haul a flat bed with 4 atvs, 3 kayaks, and 6 bikes. We really like to four wheel, so if we bought a driving camper we would have to leave them behind. Also, with a driving RV, we wouldn’t have enough room. We would have to get an older one and remodel. The new ones are way out of our budget. A driving RV would be so nice when we travel, though. Tytus, our baby, gets tired of his car seat real quick. Also, I feel like the time I waste driving I could be taking care of the kids, feeding them lunch, doing school, playing with them, reading them books, and we would have a bathroom to use. Two of my kids need character training. It is hard to do when I am driving. Then we are all quiet when the baby is asleep, so he DOES NOT wake up.

So, we have two choices:

1. Buy a driving camper. If we do that, we will have less room and not be able to bring the fourwheelers. I think it would be too cramped so we would need to buy a cabin somewhere to go back to every few months, to stretch out a little.

2. Keep what we have and remodel a little. Also, we are trying to not drive longer than 2 hours at a time. If we leave when it is his naptime, it is a pleasant drive for everyone.

I think for now we are going to do option 2. We will keep what we have and just change the ways we travel. Driving 2 hrs at a time seems to work better. Also, if the National Park or museum we want to visit is more than 45 minutes away from where we are parked, we’re not going. We will just have to move closer with our camper and stay for a few days. We are limited on where we can camp because Shae has to have internet with his air card and signal for his cell phone. Most National Park campgrounds do not have signal, so we have to stay at campgrounds outside of them. We would like to camp in National Forests more. It is free and tends to be very beautiful. But, there too we are so limited by Shae’s work. But, when I think about how we are limited on where we can camp, I just remember that we like food.

 No work, no eat.

 So, we are happy with what we can do and where we can go.

I would really like to remodel or consider getting a different 5th wheel. The carpet in the camper just grosses me out! It is the cheapest stuff and is just disgusting. I am constantly sweeping and vacuuming. I might just buy a decent vacuum, instead of the cheap shop vac I have. I want to pull all the carpet out and put some other flooring in, but the carpet is what helps the slide outs go in and out. I am going to try to be creative and come up with some way to get the carpet out. My husband thinks I am crazy. He said it would be so much work. I know he is right, about me being crazy and it being a lot of work (ha ha ha). So, I am going to do some research and see if there is an alternative.

I also want to take out the big bench seat table we have and put in a real table. The benches we have are cloth! I have 6 kids, and two eat like little pigs! I try so hard to teach them manners. But, it is very hard to in the camper. Josephine really needs to be in a high chair and Gabriel a regular chair.

 I would like to change out our windows, too. We really need the double paned windows. There is a little draft that runs through them.

That is all for now. I am ready for bed. The wind is terrible outside. I can feel our camper shaking!
Sheri