A New Ride - New Adventures

Until recently, I had not been camping in a very long time.  It was an activity I LOVED as a child but as a busy adult, I never carved out time to go.  I'm not really sure why that is, because I have so many wonderful memories of heading down the highway with a pop-up camper in tow behind the family station wagon.  I slept in tents in the backyard with my friends, just for fun.  My childhood is highlighted by picture-perfect moments of making smores, cooking hot dogs on sticks we carved ourselves, and going on fascinating adventures.  There was canoeing, blue crab hunting in the Chesapeake Bay, splashing in the waters of Virginia Beach, wakeboarding, and getting stung by jellyfish...  Yeah, so, some not-so-great moments too.  My grandparents had a pop-up as well and then graduated on to a full-sized motor home which eventually found itself permanently stationed at campground near Shady Lake amusement park.  I spent a good majority of my summers there shopping at the original Aurora Auction where my grandmother and I "thrifted" for bargains.  It was also close to Geauga Lake and Sea World which we visited frequently.  I don't know if the campground still exists, but that is where I learned to make "mountain pies" and discovered the bliss of sitting by a crackling campfire on a cool night under the stars.

When Gerry said, "What do you think of getting a camper?" I was delighted with the idea.  He decided enough time had passed from his Army days when camping was a way of life instead of a hobby.  At first, we were looking into A-liners and then moved on to Scamps and even had one on order.  That was until we realized our truck was not well-suited for towing anything.  We canceled the Scamp and begin looking for a new truck.  Enter the Nissan Frontier Desert Runner.  I looooove this truck.

The truck kind of blew our toy budget so we put the camper idea on hold for a short while.  We were both a bit bummed but we knew we had made the right choice.  Our camping dreams would have to wait.  Or would they?

A few weeks after purchasing the new truck Gerry again approaches me, this time calling me at work.  "Hear me out," he says.  "Just because we are not getting a camper right now, that does not mean we have to put our camping adventures on hold..."  My interest was piqued. "Check your messenger," he demanded.  I flipped open my messenger and hit the link.  "Heck yes!" I exclaimed.

We were soon the proud owners of a Tuff Stuff rooftop tent and truck bed rack.  Thus begins our overlanding adventures.  Well, overlanding in as much that we'll be taking it to campsites where we have showers and flushing toilets because... well.  Siren Kimmie doesn't camp, she glamps!