Starling Travel

Back in November, I wrote an entry about the Del Rey Kamp King Truck campers:

• Starling Travel » The Del Rey Kamp King Sky Lounge Truck Camper

In January, Hugh Barker saw my entry and offered to send me photos of his family’s beloved Kamp King Koach. And what great photos they are!!

I asked him some questions about each photo and he was nice enough to answer.

Hugh: Hi Laura, It was great to see your site pop up when I googled KampKing Coaches. I’m not familiar with the Mfgr. Del Rey. Were they the parent company for Kamp King Koaches or did they purchase them at some point? Our housecar didn’t have that name on it anywhere. It did have a plastic Mfgr tag on the driver’s side rear that said Kamp King Koaches with the El Monte address, and another on the passenger side rear that said what we assumed was the model… Sky Ryder. You might be able to make it out in one of the photos.

Hugh: Ours doesn’t show up as one of their standard models in your brochure either,it was custom made.But when you see the pictures I’m sure you’ll agree it was made by the same mfr. Sorry I don’t have any good 4 sides pictures of it without people in them.

Laura: Thanks so much for sending me these photos! I absolutely LOVE them. I actually like photos with people in the BETTER because it shows how much the camper was loved! Who are the people in the pictures?

Laura: Are you the disinterested graduate?

Hugh: The first picture is where it sat in our drive way in Riverside, CA. I am the disinterested grad leaning on my 1965 Pontiac GTO hot-rod with my half-beagle half-black lab dog Fred. He would ride on the seat in the cab next to my Dad who did all the driving. If I happened to be up front the dog would ride in the restaraunt style booth table seat with my mom. Circa 1974

Laura: Where was the second photo taken? The vegetation looks like the Sierra Nevadas, but I really can’t tell.

Hugh: It was taken in Joshua Tree National Monument Park, near the cities of Joshua Tree or Yucca, CA. May 1968

Laura: Who is the woman in the third picture? She looks so smartly dressed and so happy to have her photo taken. I love that her clothes match the camper!

Hugh: The third photo was taken on Guemes Island in the state of Washington. Had to put our 1963 housecar on the ferry boat to get there. Mrs. Houl was our host. She and her husband took us out in the tide flats to dig for gooey(sp?) neck clams. She was a snappy island dresser!

Laura: What happened to the camper in the fourth picture? Did all that writing come off? Who is the girl in the bell bottom jeans? I love her long hair.

Hugh: The fourth picture, I’m not sure where it was taken. The girl is my sister who was marrying the president of her HS class. They didn’t have $ for a big fly-away honeymoon, so they borrowed our family KampKing and toured the west coast National Parks. I decided to paint the camper for the big honyemoon exit. I had made the grave error of “decorating” the vehicle for my sister’s wedding. Little did I know the vehicle paint was overly oxidized from the sun. When I scrubbed the black 1960’s style kindergarten poster paint off…it also removed the original white and blue vehicle paint underneath. Thus, all the “sayings” I applied in an 18 year old fit of sibling rivalry still showed in shiny metal color! My dad never let me forget about that.

Laura: The two campers together look SO good because of the retro trucks!

Hugh: The last photo was a front view when we were in Baja California, probably Ensenada. Some friends of mine from high school had one with a sliding door the whole width of the rear of the vehicle. It has a protective panel for driving, when parked folded down and turned into a deck. September 1966

Laura: You can’t imagine how wonderful these photos are! Thanks for sharing them!

Hugh: I am glad to have found someone who can appreciate the photos. We loved our Kamp King! Kinda wish I still had it,but the fuel bills would just kill me!

Laura: Thanks again for sending those photos! They are a beautiful testament to RV history!