Mello Mike went to Southern Utah in his truck camper and had a great time. You can read the introduction here:
My favorite photo is of his boondocking spot in the Valley of the Gods:
Check out his website and enjoy the beautiful photography!
While we were in Sand Hollow State Park, I snapped a quick photo of my rig. If you click on the picture, you can see it full-sized.
We have been towing small trailers with the Prius for almost a year now with no ill effects on the car or troubles scaling the Utah mountains. We waited until our warranty on the Prius was up until we started towing with it, but we have had no problems mechanically. This commercial I saw the other day made me literally scream obscenities at the computer screen.
It’s Volkswagen making fun of Prius hybrids and I had so many reasons to scream.
That’s complete bullshit! I can climb the Rocky Fucking Mountains towing a 1200 pound trailer and stay at the speed limit!
My Prius has needed NO major repairs and it’s damn check engine light has NEVER turned on in the five years that we have owned it, unlike my LEMON of a VW BUG!
I have over 130,000 miles on my Prius! That damn Bug never made it past 75,000!
And we aren’t the only ones. Just check out these videos of other people towing with their Prius cars.
Every time we go camping, someone comes up to us and asks how the Prius tows a trailer and are surprised when we rave about how well it handles. Plus, we get about 29 mpg when we tow, so we spend hardly any money on gas getting around.
I first saw a Jumping Jack Trailer at Sportsman’s Warehouse.
I never really saw the benefit of it because I don’t need to haul four wheelers or any other toys. When I saw it at Sand Hollow State Park a couple of weeks ago, however, I was surprised at how good it looked.
I spotted it from a half-mile away and it looked so good silhouetted against the red earth of Southern Utah. I could tell that the owners had hauled a four-wheeler with it.
I used to wonder why anyone would want a tent trailer because I couldn’t see the benefit of it over just a plain old tent that I could stuff into my car, but the benefit at Sand Hollow is clear. Tents aren’t welcome at that particular campsite and there are no tent pads where you can pitch a tent. A trailer is the only way to stay there.
I looked online to see how much they cost, but all I could do was find this KSL Classified Ad for one: 2003 Jumping Jack ATV Trailer $4000
By contrast, I found this homemade tent trailer and toy hauler for MUCH less: ATV / TOY HAULER / POP-UP TENT TRAILER $1,250 or OFFER
I found two others for less than $4000, so toy haulers are pretty rare, but there are other options than the Jumping Jack. It was interesting to see it in the wild, but I just don’t have a use for one.
A couple of weeks ago, we went camping down at Sand Hollow State Park in Southern Utah. It was the first time I got to test my homemade awning. It looked GREAT!
Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up well in the wind. Just a short burst of wind sent it toppling down. There are two points of weakness in my design: the connections at the top and the connections at the trailer. On the trailer, the poles (stolen from my Springbar tent) just slide onto this PVC connector.
They worked great in the garage, but there was no wind there. Even the smallest of wind gusts can pop the pole off this connector, so I need to drill a hole in both the pole and the PVC pipe, and add a pin to keep the poles in place.
At the top of the awning, it is held on with a pin, but the pin just kept popping out of place, so I need a different connection there as well. I did a pretty good job sewing the awning, so I’m proud of that. All I need to work on is the hardware and this puppy with look good AND stay in place.
I love this ingenious design for an A-frame camper that I found on Google Patents.
The description is HORRIBLE. (Continue Reading…)
When I posted an entry about the very awesome Quantum 5 Contempo Fifth Wheel Fiberglass Trailers, Mike immediately noticed one of the photos:
I was the original owner of the Quantum fifth wheel that you show at the top of this article. I know it was my rig because of the awning and sewer hose on the rear and the metal band where the seam is on the side of the rig. These were not original and I added them over the twenty two and a half years we owned the rig. We purchased it in 1980 in Fullerton, CA and originally used a 1978 Toyota SR5 pick up to tow it. I traded up to a 1984 Chevy El Camino when it was new and towed it with that veh. until 2002 when I traded it in on a new motor home. WOW, to see that someone else got the rig and enjoyed it after we did is just great! It was a neat small aerodynamic camper that my wife and I used with great joy for many years. It is good to see they are still appreciated.
I was so excited that one of the original owners was willing to talk about his beloved old trailer, so I asked him to send photos and he DID!
There is so much awesome retro goodness in this photo that I’m stymied. From the El Camino to the stunning orange sands of the American Southwest, I am speechless! Luckily, Mike was willing to tell me all about it. (Continue Reading…)
I was looking around on Google Patents When I found this car-mounted camper.
Here is the description:
An inexpensive, lightweight camper is releasably mountable about trunk portions of an automobile without requiring the formation of holes in the automobile body. The camper has a flat floor and front, rear, top and side walls which are foldable to compactly overlie the trunk of the automobile.
It looks pretty interesting. (Continue Reading…)
I found this Owl Mason Jar Light Outdoor Solar Light Canning Jar by LucentJane on Etsy a couple of weeks ago and just fell in love with it!
I really love the owl design, the pretty color and how well the solar light looks like it’s attached to the jar.
It has a nice handle so you can hang it from a branch or place it on your table.
I’ve been looking for a good centerpiece for my table when I’m camping. This one isn’t quite right for me, but I DO like it a lot.
At $30, I think I can make one for myself that holds up better than what I have right now, but I haven’t found anything that I like. This one is a great start for ideas.
This article from Campfish has a bulk approach to camp dishes:
She says:
After each meal, fill three dishpans with water. Then add liquid detergent to one bin, bleach to the other and leave the final bin clear water. Each camper then washes their dishes in the detergent water, then moves them to the bleach water and finally the clear water.
All wet dishes go back in the bag, which are then hung on a line outside.
I really like the idea of the mesh bag to dry dishes.
That was the idea behind this Hanging Camp Organizer by UtiliMate.
The only problem with the UtiliMate is that it’s $16, where mesh laundry bags cost MUCH less. Heck, here’s a set of EIGHT of them for ten bucks:
Of course, it’s just as easy to take a towel, DRY the dishes and just put them away, so maybe this whole idea is superfluous. Every time I see something that looks like it would make things easier, when I think about it, they just complicate things. In the end, nothing packs as light or dries dishes as quickly as a simple towel.
When we are camping at a place with electricity, it makes cooking food so much easier. I found a bunch of all-in-one toasters that act as a coffee maker, tiny oven and cook top all in one.
This one is my favorite: Nostalgia Electrics 3 in 1 Breakfast Station.
Honestly, the reason I like it so much is (Continue Reading…)
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