Water Heater Best Option For Camping

is yes a valid answer? I'd love to find the idyllic meadow with a stream and a mountain view -- like the one on every RV catalog ever printed. With no people for miles...that would be magic.

Sadly being a midwesterner, there isn't much in terms of mountains or beaches around here --- so, we pretty much are limited to the state, county, and local parks. As close as we can get to the ideal is a sunday night after the weekend warriors leave :)
 
Jerry Kemp said:
the only correct answer here is "All of the above, and more."

Don't limit your choices.
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I'm envious of people who have those places. I keep trying to figure out how I can get to the desert, not one of the choices :). To be honest, I'm not sure what I expect, but I'd like to see it at least once. I know flying over it there is a whole lot of nothing. The night skies alone have got to be amazing!

What stops me is the time to get there -- its a 20+ hour drive from my basecamp, the time investment isn't small.
 
Sweeney said:
I'm envious of people who have those places. I keep trying to figure out how I can get to the desert, not one of the choices :). To be honest, I'm not sure what I expect, but I'd like to see it at least once. I know flying over it there is a whole lot of nothing. The night skies alone have got to be amazing!

What stops me is the time to get there -- its a 20+ hour drive from my basecamp, the time investment isn't small.
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Understood, but don't be envious of me, I'm in exactly the same boat.

I'm roughly an hour north of Dallas, TX, and everytime I pack up and go to New Mexico or Colorado its a day or two drive for me. Wyoming is even further, been there just a few times.

Last December (Dec 2021) made a trip to Utah + Arizona, all in my (now) 52 year old farm truck pulling my 550. It was an adventure of a lifetime.
 
The Smokies are not exactly close, but probably less than 15 hrs driving from you? That's about as good as it gets for us here in the Midwest.

Sweeney said:
I'm envious of people who have those places. I keep trying to figure out how I can get to the desert, not one of the choices :). To be honest, I'm not sure what I expect, but I'd like to see it at least once. I know flying over it there is a whole lot of nothing. The night skies alone have got to be amazing!

What stops me is the time to get there -- its a 20+ hour drive from my basecamp, the time investment isn't small.
Click to expand...
 
Long Truong said:
The Smokies are not exactly close, but probably less than 15 hrs driving from you? That's about as good as it gets for us here in the Midwest.
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Smokies aren't that bad of a drive...its more like 7 hours. Just slightly too much for weekend warriors. I'd guess for my traeling comfort I'd need 5 days to make it worth the trip. 1 day on each end for travel with 3 to enjoy the area.

I was a little surprised at the shortage of state-run campgrounds in the area when I looked. Maybe I'm missing them by searching in the wrong places. It's almost like they wanted to force visitors to the numerous resorts, some of which were quite expensive. KOA is my least favorite place in the world and they were $70 a night when I checked last.

I'd love suggestions about places to go and things to see or do. When we were there last the hiking trails were busy and the scenic drives were wonderful, but it seems everyone wanted to see how fast they could take it all in. I don't understand people like that. "Type A" who can't slow down enough to smell the roses. This was on the nature drive around Gatlinburg.

We've done the tourist trap thing, and while I enjoy a brief visit, the tourist area is either far too expensive or just childish. I am of course talking about Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. OK, I admit --- good people watching and just "atmosphere" to walk around. But the fees, if you want to visit any attractions, break out the wallet.
 
We went a couple of years ago, and the Balsam Mountain campground in the National Park was small and chill. Not quite the amenities of a state park campground (no showers), but less hustle and bustle than a big one.

Sweeney said:
Smokies aren't that bad of a drive...its more like 7 hours. Just slightly too much for weekend warriors. I'd guess for my traeling comfort I'd need 5 days to make it worth the trip. 1 day on each end for travel with 3 to enjoy the area.

I was a little surprised at the shortage of state-run campgrounds in the area when I looked. Maybe I'm missing them by searching in the wrong places. It's almost like they wanted to force visitors to the numerous resorts, some of which were quite expensive. KOA is my least favorite place in the world and they were $70 a night when I checked last.

I'd love suggestions about places to go and things to see or do. When we were there last the hiking trails were busy and the scenic drives were wonderful, but it seems everyone wanted to see how fast they could take it all in. I don't understand people like that. "Type A" who can't slow down enough to smell the roses. This was on the nature drive around Gatlinburg.

We've done the tourist trap thing, and while I enjoy a brief visit, the tourist area is either far too expensive or just childish. I am of course talking about Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. OK, I admit --- good people watching and just "atmosphere" to walk around. But the fees, if you want to visit any attractions, break out the wallet.
Click to expand...
 
Long Truong said:
We went a couple of years ago, and the Balsam Mountain campground in the National Park was small and chill. Not quite the amenities of a state park campground (no showers), but less hustle and bustle than a big one.
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Nice looking park! Although, theind of bothers me a little. I'd hate to see my galley opened up like a soda can, or am I worrying too much? Fear usually comes from ignorance, and I am admittedly not an expert on bears.

For me, Amenities are overrated for the most part. Even if the campground has a swimming pool, camp store, firewood concession, bike rentals, and the like, we never use them. With the rare exception of canoe/kayak rentals. I want a quiet place to contemplate the mystGod'sof God's creation, a campfire on cool nights/mornings, and perhaps a wee nip - for medicinal purposes.

With our new camper, we've taken a porta-potty and relied on GI showers exclusively this summer. I've found that I really like camping that way. Although, I do admit that I limit the potty to liquid only, primarily out of respect for my neighbor's camping peace. I want to be 100% certain there is no unpleasantness for them, they are trying to relax as well.

The bath houses are always my least favorite part of the experience ( except in Florida...theirs are resort quality!) All I need is Electricity or the ability to run a nice quiet inverter generator. The fat kid needs his Air conditioning. But most importantly, just the same respect from my neighbor as I extend to them.

I have been taught in the last 36 months that showers are overrated, especially when camping. I only need the shower house on Sunday before I go to Mass, with perhaps one or two times more during a week in the hot months.

One of the very few things I miss about the "big camper" is a shower and the ability to take nicer clothes, So I can go to Mass without looking like a hobo. I digress. It's hard to keep a shirt pressed.

In general, for the GI shower to minimize water use, I rely on wet wipes (Dude-wipes are my favorite brand so far) While on the topic of water conservation...After switching my dishwashing detergent to dawn powerwash, we stayed at a park for four days and still had water left, probably for another day or even two. Cooking on a grill helped us with that as well.

To refill, we use these totes -- they are amazing! Almost a perfect match for teardropping. They collapse completely flat, weigh next to nothing (when empty :D ), and with a bit of practice they dump into the gravity fill with barely a drop spilled -- that process reminds me of college beer bongs :D
 
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