A lovely nearby National Park campground was my camping "shakedown" destination.
It's been far too many decades (35-years) since I've gone car camping. My last car camping venture was in my Suzuki Samurai for a mapping and mileage gathering trip for my first book, Rockhounding California (formerly Rockhound's Guide To California) in 1994.
My 1998 Jeep is far larger than my old Sooze. It has room for a bed in the back when the passenger seats are folded away. Additional room in the back alongside the bed allows me to carry all else that I need for camping comfort, including a pup tent, sleeping bag and pad for my nephew, Jeff, who accompanied me on this trip.
Jeff relaxes in camp with a cup of tea.
This trip allowed me to test a few new pieces of camping equipment I'd purchased, such as a shower/potty/changing tent that I call, "the booth".
The booth allows me to accomplish in privacy the types of things I'd like to, well, accomplish in privacy!
The booth is a pop-up tent that may be secured by inserting heavy rocks into pocketed panels around the bottom or with the included tent stakes and attached loops. If wind is an issue loops further up the sides allow for additional stabilization with lines and stakes.
Jeff started a nice fire in the camp-provided grill pit and after carefully cleaning the hinged grill, he cooked up a tasty steak dinner for us. His tent is in the background, a burnt tree stump sits between.
We had a great menu that featured Pizza Quesadillas (a recipe from the SUV RVing channel on Youtube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXC4Jp0KyfY
Our menu also features French toast with sausage, Denver scramble and sausage, sandwiches, snacks (lots of tasty snacks), and our choice of beverages along with plenty of drinking water sustained us through our several day stay.
Along with good things to eat and drink, comfort is vastly important to me, especially as I'm sneaking up on 70-years old. In fact, if one has comfort and good things to eat most of the other "discomforts" of camping are negligible.
Wet wipes aid one in keeping acceptably clean. Anti-bacterial wipes are desirable if there are public or pit restrooms at your chosen site or for use prior to food prep.
My camp bed is 27-inches wide by 8-inches thick leaving plenty of room for stowing needful camping gear and the spare tire on the left. The surface of the bed is also available for stuff like a table and chairs, clothes, etc., if needed. Notice that folded against the back of the driver's seat is the rear passenger seat cushion with its headrest.
On this model of Jeep, the rear passenger seat backs fold into the floor for a level cargo area. The seat cushions fold forwards to rest vertically against the backs of the front seats. A small area rug is used to set bundles of firewood in order to keep the car tidy.
When the backs of the passenger seats are folded into the floor, the seat portions tip backward against the backs of the front seats. In this configuration, the headrests from both rear seats slot into storage ports located in the upper edge of the folded seats (you can see how the driver's side passenger seat's headrest remains in place in the photo above).
This photo illustrates how the passenger headrest inserts and sits atop the folded back seat just below the driver's headrest. On the passenger side I removed the headrest thus allowing my pillow, when laid flat on the edge of the folded seat, to be even with my mattress giving me four inches of additional bed length.
The bed of my jeep with passenger seats folded away is a level 53-inches long. I'm 5'7" tall. My four-inch gain was quite serendipitous. If my bed had been less thick I would have had to have removed the passenger seat completely, giving me the extra needed inches but also leaving a void I'd have had to fill with spare blankets, pillows, or something to provide a level spot for the mattress.
I didn't want to completely alter the inside configuration of my car or have to remove and replace a seat each time I had passengers. Additionally, if my bed had been an inch, or more, lower, I'd have had no choice but to remove the rear seat.
To create my mattress, I ordered a full-size, 4-inch thick memory foam topper from Walmart. I borrowed an electric knife from a neighbor and cut the 54-inch wide pad in half, stacking the two halves. I cut the mattresses to 53-inches in length allowing my bed pillow to rest upon the folded seat top incorporating that into my bed length to make it 5'7" long. I then drew a pattern of the side of the car onto which I wanted to place my bed that included the rear wheel well. Placing my pattern onto the mattress halves, I carved out a portion of the foam mat that allowed it to fit tight against the side of the car while accommodating the wheel well.
My eight-inch thick mattress still allows me to sit on my bed without my head touching the roof of my car. Comfy-womfy!
My car bed is as comfy as my bed at home, although not as wide. Twenty-seven inches of width - a standard sleeping bag pad is only 24-inches - is sufficient for a good night's sleep whether sleeping on either side or laid out on my back. It's also a great place to prop up my pillows and read a book or simply gaze out at the view beyond.
I was greatly inspired to enjoy car camping again by exploring and subscribing to Youtube channels about RVing and living and camping in one's car! While I realize I could comfortably live in my Jeep, if it ever became necessary, I'm planning only to enjoy camping in my car. By "RVing" in my Jeep instead of buying an actual RV I'm saving money on another vehicle, on insurance, and on licensing and maintenance, as well.
My Elective Frugality "fix" that inspired RVing in my Jeep helped me to realize that I can take very extended vacations in my car and be happy, content, and comfy! What more do I really need?
Oh...a bathroom! Well, I've solved that problem, too!
The booth tent has been outfitted with a collapsible potty - that and a couple of plastic bags, kitty litter, and bark shreds - fill those requirements entirely. In a future blog I'll shamelessly go into more detail on my potty "hack". Until then, I'll be sharing on some lifestyle philosophies that meld beautifully and joyfully with Elective Frugality...such as, Simple Grace, Natural Abundance, and Easy Elegance. These four modalities will help shape a personal and achievable "American Dream" allowing one to escape the "hamster wheel" of runaway consumerism, credit card debt, and financial stress that the "Dream" has devolved into.
I'll also be sharing more of my camping adventures, too.
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