Like a pop up book, except you live in this one for a while.

Pop up campers provide adequate living quarters for the family who wants some of the comforts of home but doesn’t want to feel like they never left home. It’s kind of like a hybrid. If you have access to electricity, life in the pop up can get real easy, real quick. It doesn’t take long to turn the hot, humid camper into a meat locker and freeze the family! However, if you want a relaxing soak in the tub, rent a hotel room or turn the truck around and head for home.

A pop up typically has pull out beds with canvas walls and a solid roof, floor, door and lower third of the walls. It’s right in the middle of the camping spectrum, so if you’re used to tent camping, it can feel like a retreat at a high dollar hideaway. Other folks may usually rumble into the campsite wrapped in a massive motorhome with seven sexy slideouts. For these rolling road warriors, pop up camping most likely would be considered “roughing it”.

Before you hook it up to your hitch and tow it toward Texas towns, take time to test the things that tend to tire throughout the trailer’s term. Look for bugs, rips in the canvas, replenish cooking and camping supplies, check all the seams and zippers. There are zipper repair kits for sale online made specifically for pop up campers.  Check the weatherstripping. It may start to come out of the channel and need some adhesive to hold it in place. There is such a product as weatherstrip adhesive. Two sided tape or white glue doesn’t cut it. Don’t forget to get a visual on the tires, too. Tires that have been unused for a long time are more likely to form deep cracks in the sidewall and tread. To prevent this, park the pop up where the tires are off the ground, out of moisture. Also, UV rays can be harmful to the rubber, so if it can’t be stored inside, buy some tire covers and use them when the camper is idle. It may seem backward, but make sure to air up the tires to the proper pressure. It’s natural to think that small tires don’t need that much pressure, but they do. Air ‘em up!

Okay, so you’ve made it to camp. Where’s that? For familiarity, let’s say it is Garner State Park. This is one of Texas’ most visited state parks. Now it’s time to choose a campsite. If you have the luxury of choosing between different locations, like Oakmont or Live Oak camping areas, there are certain things to keep in mind. If you’re going swimming in the Frio river, that probably means it is anything but “frio” outside. Seek shade. Even a little shade makes a big difference in cooling off the camper during the middle of the day in summer. Anything you can do to help that A/C unit on the roof would help. I recently emptied out the sponge-like filters inside the cover of the unit. Wow! That’s a lot of crud we’re not going to be breathing any more. Be careful if you choose to remove the cover, and follow manufacturer’s instructions.

Maybe you couldn’t leave home any earlier, and nightfall is coming soon. Hopefully, you’ve packed a battery operated lantern flashlight and a fuel burning lantern in the camper’s easily accessible storage area. It’s nice to beat the dark and have the area well lit to assist you in setting up the camper. Speaking of storage, use it! Fill that camper up. You’ll never be disappointed that you brought an extra roll of paper towels or toilet paper! If you plan on having some campfires, the camper’s storage areas provide ample dry storage room for smaller kindling. That will help get the big pieces of firewood started that you dumped in the bed of the truck right before you left. Just make sure the starter wood is clean and doesn’t have ants or other bugs in it. You don’t want to bring bed bugs with you on the camping trip!

Keep a flashlight just inside the camper door for those middle of the night excursions. Use the awning that came with the camper. Don’t be afraid. Follow instructions.  Always use the camper’s stabilizers. Have the same routine every time. You might want to keep a laminated checklist for set up and take down. That way, you won’t forget stuff like turning off the propane tank, or driving off with the tongue wheel down. You don’t want to be “that guy” with the chains dragging down the highway, creating sparks that just attract attention to your forgetfulness, do you? Of course you don’t. Be a geek like me and have a checklist. Your camper and your family will thank you for it! Get out there and pop it up.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Pop-Up Camping.