The Good Weather Guarantee

The camper at Whitewater State Park. Photo by Sarah Donovan. 2022.

 For awhile now I've been trying to think of a way to provide some sort of guarantee that the weather will cooperate when you're off camping with the Dutchman. I know, right? So is everyone else.

I thought about building an insurance pool that could be used to refund campers when they get rained out and come home early, but there's no guarantee it could be large enough.

This weekend it hit me.  I love repeat campers. First, of course, they're really nice people I've already gotten to know. Second, they're not much work.  They already know the camper. They pull up, hook up, sign the paperwork and off they go.

So, I decided I would just guarantee good weather to repeat campers and foot the bill because (a) they're nice people and (b) they're not much work.

As it stands now, when you come early (and this applies to all campers), I usually ask Outdoorsy to credit you for unused insurance days and to rebate the portion of your fee that actually comes to me (note: it's not that much). Outdoorsy does not refund their fees. That's on them.

Under my new plan for returning renters, if bad weather forces you to return early, you will, of course, still get a refund directly from Outdoorsy for the unused days. But I will also send you a check for the difference between what is refunded and what you paid in total.

Here's how that works in practice:

Let's say you have a weekend rental. Two nights for $170. You'd probably also pay $15 for tax, $39 for insurance, and $16 for Outdoorsy's fee for a total of about $240 (note: These figures are hypotheticals).

A day later, it's raining and cold and the kids are rebelling. Just come home.

Typically, I'd refund about $65 for my share (I told you it wasn't much) for the unused day, and Outdoorsy would refund about $18 for unused insurance and that's about it. You'd get $83 back from your original $240.

Under the "Favorite Renters" option, I give you an additional $157.

There are common sense stipulations.  The weather really has to stink. A passing shower isn't an invitation to get free use of the camper, of course. And the camper has to be returned in the same condition in which it left. Again: of course.

But this seems like a good way to reward my favorite people and insure that if they don't have a good time, at least they don't have to have an expensive one.

Reservations are now open for the 2023 season.

New Stove

"Bob, does only one burner on the stove work?" the text message one weekend recently said.

"Not that I'm aware of," I replied. And I should know because I was the last person to use it when I took the camper to the EAA convention and airshow at Oshkosh.

"The left knob doesn't turn," said the reply.

That's when ordering a new stove seemed like a good idea. I don't know if the old one was original equipment or not but it seemed to me that the rubber gas line alone was near the end of its useful life (in aviation, we replace fuel lines every five years).

So I ordered a new stove ($400!) and while it took some work to rebuild parts of it, given that it had obviously been assembled by someone at 4:55 pm on a Friday, it came out fine.

I also replaced the gas line and the connector to the camper gas line. Remember how the old stove connector really had to be jammed into the connector? It turns out that these fittings are not universal so it's best to replace both halves of the fitting. Mission accomplished.

Setup is pretty easy.

Align the midpoint of the stove frame with the mark on the metal attach point on the camper.

Connect the top part of the metal bracket on the stove with the bottom part of the metal bracket on the camper.

Insert the support rod in the bracket on the camper and attach to the bracket underneath the stove.

Insert the gas line fitting of the stove into the connector on the gas line coming out of the camper by pulling back the collar on the camper fitting, then swing the locking lever (which turns on the gas) so that it is parallel to the fitting.

Light the stove with a match or lighter (there may be one in the utility cabinet).

The stove should only be used outside. There is a gas line behind the sink but presently that fitting is not compatible with the stove.

By the way, if you intend to use the awning (you should!), do not set it up with the stove in place.