Last night, the new owner of the little camper came to get her. For $1.
The camper didn't go quietly; the flatbed was very tall and the ramps very short, but after a couple of hours, it was done.
The new owner's plan is to weld a repair or a repacement of the tow "tongue" and then have fun with it, which is the whole idea.
It was fun having the camper and meeting new people.
I'll miss it.
Alas, it's the end of the line for my 1999 Dutchmen 1004D, which has been a good friend since I bought it in 2019 to use primarily at Oshkosh for the airshow. The rest of the time I rented it out.
A month or so ago, a couple of guys were in a hurry to get out of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The mosquitoes were eating them alive and the rain was constant. Despite warnings to go through the step-by-step process I provided in the Camper Guide, they decided to wing it.
They didn't flip the hitch safety latch down and pin it, and they didn't attach the safety changes.
A few miles down the dirt road from the campground, ye olde camper fell off their vehicle. It could have been catastrophic for them and/or anybody else on the road if they'd made it to the highway.
At the time, I checked things in the front and it was all good. I should have gotten underneath. I would've seen the "tow frame" was cracked near the weld to the camper frame. And a couple of subsequent trips by renters flexed it to the point it was pretty much broken save for a small thread keeping it together. That's a very dangerous situation.
I'll miss the camper. Moreover, I'll miss the nice people I've been in the last four years.
In the spring, I'll offer it for free to anyone who enjoys rehab projects and knows how to weld.
It was a quiet off-season for ye olde camper. I didn't have any major repairs to do and most of the puttering work was completed in the fall. There's always a few things to try to improve on and I continue to do that from time to time; little things that sort of bug me.
For example, there's the door, which is a sing-down version that is stowed by being clamped to the ceiling when the pop-up is folded up. It's not a particularly good design and what happens is all the jostling on the drive to the campground shakes the thing off and it rides on top of the front bunk mattress.
Then, if you're not paying attention and noticed the door came down, you pull the front bunk out and ...rippppp.... the sharp edges tear into the sheets and mattress.
Sure, I can always -- and do -- make a special note for people to check before pulling the front bunk out. And I've taken to putting the throw rug and a piece of foam on the mattress before closing up, but I'd really like to figure out is a way to keep it from falling in the first place. And I haven't yet. Let me know if you've seen some clever method of doing this.
Meanwhile, there are changes afoot in the plan for this summer. I'm closing the rental period in mid-August instead of October.
My sister, Wendy, who lives in Vermont, has leukemia and has been undergoing blood transfusions on a regular basis. She's scheduled for a bone marrow transplant in mid-summer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The odds aren't particularly in her favor, but the transplant surgeon won't go ahead unless there is someone to take care of her 24/7 for months afterward.
And so, I'm moving to Boston for three months to be that person. The camper is rented through August 16. When it returns, I'll spend the night cleaning it and then pack it up and roll it back into the hangar, and start the drive to Boston the next morning.
Your good thoughts for Wendy are apreciated.
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| 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.
It took a lot longer than I had anticipated, mostly because I wimped out on some cold days, but the upgrading of the interior has been completed, featuring a mix of grays that lines up nicely with the floor and tent.
Behold!
I'd hoped to be well underway in doing some remodeling of the Dutchman's interior but it's been too cold to work out at the hangar this winter. I used to like working in the cold weather but I was a younger man back then, I guess.
But we had a warm spell last week -- it got up to 30 -- so I at least got started, taping off a few sections and priming the old "faux wood" paneling. It doesn't look like much at the moment, I admit. But eventually it'll be a deep grey/blue, which should match the flooring better as well as the upholstery (which I wouldn't mind also updating if I knew how to do it).
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| Black River Falls was a popular destination for the camper this year. Thanks to Brian for the picture. |
The last renter of the season is out with the Dutchmen for a little fall foliage viewing. It's 29 degrees and I don't know how she does it even with a working furnace (although the battery won't last that long) and my donation of a Buddy Heater. Me? Frankly, I prefer the warm comfort of my bed with, perhaps, a faithful dog for extra heat.
It was a really great season. Again this summer I met terrific people.
Nineteen rentals was a new record. Almost every weekend was booked with the exception -- oddly enough -- of Labor Day weekend. And for the most part the weather cooperated too. The reviews submitted by campers were gratifying to read (See them here)
The Dutchmen is perfect for those weekend getaways, which is important because if you read the Facebook group associated with Outdoorsy RV owners, you'll be constantly told that just renting for a couple of days is too much work and not worth it.
Ah, the joys of being retired! It's fun puttering around the hangar and although cleaning can get a little tedious after you've done it 100 or so times, I enjoy hearing of the camping experiences of the people I meet. By and large, everyone seemed to have had a great time.
When the camper comes back, it's time to get started on its off-season regimen.
This winter, I hope to paint much of the interior; out with the '90s faux wood and in with combination of grays and blues, I think.
A panel of the new tent needs to come down and be sent back to Wisconsin for repair, the result of an attempt to retrieve a child's belongings without raising the roof all the way. That's a pricey fix although I didn't assess the actual cost. His heart was in the right place.
I also have to figure out what to do about the sink and faucet and whether it's worth it. Most people didn't seem to use the water tank or the faucet, which I had to remove because it leaked too much. They seemed to prefer the blue 7-gallong jug. So far, it's been impossible to find a replacement faucet, which has to be low profile (otherwise it hits the roof when it comes down) and pump action.
And even though most people didn't use the awning, I'll probably install a new one in the offseason. The old one looks pretty beaten up.
And, of course, there's the usual maintenance like replacing wheel bearings etc.
It'll give me something to do at the hangar. The airplane-building project is stalled because of the delay (chip shortage) in getting the avionics package delivered. Ordered it in May. It's almost November and still no sign of it. And what with a killer frost overnight wiping out the gardens, it's going to be up to the Dutchman to keep me out of trouble until spring.
The tentative plan is to open the 2022 camper season on May 1. I hope to see you then.
Bob
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| The camper, shown at this year's gigantic AirVenture in Oshkosh. Even with thousands of people camping, the place offers more space than a lot of commercial campgrounds. |
Even with the incredible heat this summer, demand for the Dutchmen has been the strongest ever. The biggest problem this year for people has been finding a place to camp. The most popular state parks are booked solid, which serves as a reminder to plan your summer trips during the winter for best results. I've already opened u, p the 2022 season for booking.
One of the illuminating aspects of renting the camper has been seeing the changing nature of "camping." When I was a kid, you put up a tent and lived pretty much by your wits. You quickly learned to do without the creature comforts and, despite our protestations, we found ways to entertain ourselves.
I fear that aspect of camping is disappearing fast, which is why I'm such a fan of Minnesota's state parks, which at least give you a little nature between you and the next campsite.
In early July, my wife and I visited her ancestral homeland of northern Vermont and we noticed that someone has built a new "campground" in the rural part of the so-called Northeast Kingdom. It's an area with mountains and spectacular views. This campground could've been a super place.
Instead, however, the developer basically created a large parking lot and jammed the big mobile rigs in side-by-side. Aside from the fact it wasn't an asphalt parking lot, err campground, it could've been a Home Depot parking lot.
Maybe that's not a big deal for the people in those big rigs with their slide out living rooms, bathrooms, showers and full kitchens, but that's not camping to my way of thinking. And it certainly isn't the environment to take a popup camper.
My guess is this will be more the exception rather than the rule across America, at least in campgrounds not run by the state or federal government. Too bad.
Do you have a favorite commercial campground that harkens back to your youth?
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| McCarthy Beach State Park is north of Hibbing |
It's already been a season of high demand for the popup in the last few weeks with folks taking mostly weekend trips. But yesterday a renter in August canceled her reservation. Why? She couldn't find a campground.
It's hard to tell whether this is a growing problem, or whether people are trying to jam in a few "popular" spots and state parks while ignoring the rest. But anecdotal data surrounding the end of the pandemic at leasts suggests the demand for campground locations is outstripping their availability.
Coupled with a possible state shutdown, the post July-1 period could be rough for people who want to get away.
And that's another thing: Is it even possible to get away anymore at campgrounds?
I'm a big fan of Minnesota State Parks, not only because they're beautiful, but because they're respectful of the need for space. The private campgrounds? Not so much.
So a short article in today's St. Paul Pioneer Press is worth noting.
Too many campgrounds, it notes, are basically like Target parking lots with people jammed right into each other's personal spaces. This is even worse for people using pop-ups because the people who need to have air conditioning, satellite dishes, and a full-sized living room (the land yacht people) tower over their neighbors like midtown Manhattan skyscrapers.
Choosing the right place to camp requires plenty of research, which should begin in mid to late winter.
So campsitephotos.com seems to be a promising tool. You can look up what a campsite looks like before you decide whether it's for you.
The site is separated into state park sites available for Minnesota and a list of private campgrounds. But there are few pictures for the private campgrounds.
The site also has a Campground Assist function, which texts you when there are available sites. I can't vouch for whether it works.
If you plan on camping, I urge you to find a camping spot first, then book the Dutchman.
As usual, I had big plans for the winter in terms of maintenance and improvements for The Dutchman. As usual, I sank into the Minnesota fetal position when the temperature dropped below 30 degrees. You know how it is, right?
Now that the cardinals are singing and the ice is melting, I'm quickly catching up.
As previously noted, the big project this year was the removal of the rear roof wood, which was rotted and leaking. That wasn't fun and all but before winter set in, that was completed. Today, I'm going to do a little more waterproofing of that section. Water and moisture is death to pop-up campers so, yeah, I probably have gone overboard on the waterproofing.
The big task this week has been putting up the new tent (the camper's windows and siding) which arrived from Canvas Replacements in Loyal, Wisconsin late last year, but which have sat in the box because I wasn't sure whether icy cold weather was a good time to be handling vinyl, which usually gets brittle in the cold. This product, I've since learned, is resistant to that sort of thing.
I couldn't be more impressed with the workmanship from this company and the replacement (so far, I've still got two sides to go) has fit perfectly. And, it's clean and gorgeous.
The other thing I wanted to do this winter was get underneath the camper and replace the steel cable that raises and lowers the camper roof. Maybe it could surive another year, but at 21 years old, do I want to take that chance? To me, it seemed like the cable was on borrowed time and I hate the thought that it could snap while a nice family was trying to have a fabulous weekend.
Yesterday, I decided that I'll let a pro handle it so I've made an appointment for next Wednesday for the nice people at Hilltop Camper and RV take care of it.
That leaves the only other thing on the list: Flooring and painting the interior. I'm going to wait on the painting and next week I'll see what the big deal is with peel and stick flooring (some pop-up camper owners seen to like it). That seems preferable to gutting the camper just to put down new flooring. We'll see. The only linoleum looks too much like, well, old linoleum.
I'm still on the fence about replacing the awning and am considering just removing it. Few people seem to use it.
We've already got our first rental request of the year and with things suddenly progressing faster than I thought, I may open up rentals to May 1 instead of June 1.
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| The goal here is to get the slots to align in a straight line. |
Last night, the new owner of the little camper came to get her. For $1. The camper didn't go quietly; the flatbed was very tall and th...
