have to make a permanent decision when you’re planning your first camping trip. If you want to begin by trying a tent, call up those friends who will let you borrow one. Better still would be friends who have more than one tent, and who would camp with you that very first time. If not, you can always rent a tent for your camping trial. Look in your local phone directory for rental companies and outdoor stores, and call around to see if they rent tents and other camping equipment. The REI store in my city rents tents, stoves, sleeping bags, pads, and lanterns. REI has outdoor stores all over the US; to find one close to you, call 800-426-4840 or go to www.rei.com.
CHECKLIST
Questions to Ask When You’re Renting an RV
If you want to begin by trying an RV, renting is even easier. Almost every city has RV rental agencies. If you can’t find one where you live, you can drive or fly to a nearby city and pick up your RV there. Or you can have the RV delivered. Roger Arnell, of RV Gold Inc. near Sandy, Oregon, told me that most of his deliveries are to the airport in Portland or Seattle, but for a small fee he will also deliver to your home in Washington, Oregon, or northern California.
Roger recommends that you rent the smallest RV that can possibly meet all your needs for sleeping and safe traveling space. It will be easier to drive and also will use the least amount of fuel.
If you pick up the RV in your own city, you can drive it home and load it up with your own dishes, kitchenware, and bedding, but if you drive or fly to a pick-up destination, you may need to rent those necessities. Roger calls them “convenience kits.” When Roberta and her family flew to Las Vegas to tour the national parks in a Cruise America rental, they paid extra for furnishings, but when Sara and her family flew to San Francisco to camp at Yosemite, they each checked two suitcases, one with city and camp clothes, and the other with camping equipment.
When you’re making rental arrangements, be sure to factor in the cost of the furnishings that you will need. On the big island of Hawaii, two agencies rent camper trucks. At first glance, one seems much more expensive than the other. When you look closely at what you’re getting, the cheaper rental is bare bones; anything you might need—bedding, cookware, dishes, beach umbrella, propane stove—is extra. On the other hand, the more expensive rental includes everything you might want for a week of Hawaiian camping.
There are some important questions to ask at the time that you rent: How will you be charged, by the day or by the miles? What is the fee if you drive extra miles beyond what is allotted? Will your automobile or homeowner’s insurance policy cover you in the event of an accident, or do you need to buy additional insurance? What happens if you have a breakdown in the rented RV? Who should you call? Who pays for towing?
Resources for RV Renters and Buyers
If you’re thinking of renting or buying an RV, there are many sources on the internet and in magazines to check for detailed information on driving and towing, shopping for a new or used RV, and comparing different units so you can find the best one for you.
The Good Sam Club, an organization of RV owners, is dedicated to making RVing safer and more enjoyable. They offer discounts, triprouting, and other services, and in many areas they support local chapters for one-on-one advice and mentoring. They also have advice for RVing with children. Reach them at www.goodsamclub.com or 800-234-3450.
GoRVing (www.gorving.com), a service developed by RV dealers, will send you a free getting started video for first-time RVers. Another good site for sharing general RV information is www.rversonline.org. If you’re worried about driving the RV, RV Rite (253-435-8666) sells training manuals for all recreation vehicles. Several magazines might also be helpful, including Camping Life Magazine (www.campinglife.com or 310-537-6322), Motorhome Magazine (www.motorhomemagazine.com or 800-678-1201), or Trailer Life (www.trailerlife.com or 800 825 6861). Some of these publications will send you one free issue or sign you up for an online newsletter. Camping Life plans to debut a television program on the Outdoor Life Network in 2006.
Where Shall We Go?
We live in a wonderful country. We have an unbelievable number of places to camp in the US. Planners or visionaries at every level of government, national, state, county, and even some cities, have provided sites where we can park our motorhomes or set up our tents. In some areas, it’s possible to “camp” in a cabin, a yurt, or a refurbished caboose. And that’s not counting private campgrounds or parks in Canada!
If you already know where you are going for your upcoming camping trip, you can skip this section and go on to the next. But maybe you’ve never ever camped before. Maybe you’re not sure of where you want to go and you want some help finding a spot. Or perhaps you know what you want, a forest or a swimming lake or a place to fish, but you don’t know where to find it. You might simply be overwhelmed by all the choices and don’t know how to begin selecting a destination.
Some campgrounds have playgrounds.
In any of those cases, stick with me. This section begins with a discussion of planning first camping trips, which will probably be close to home. The sections that follow describe public and private camping choices, and then camping farther afield. You will learn how to make and use an itinerary, how to research out-of-state campgrounds, and how to find private campgrounds. The last sections cover making reservations and camping without reservations.
How Much Travel Will Your Children Tolerate?
The most important guideline in all the planning that you do is knowing what your kids will tolerate. If this is a weekend trip—one day out, one or possibly two nights away, and one day to return—figure out how many hours your kids are willing and able to spend on the road in one day.
Janetta, a single mom, realized that she and her daughter could tolerate a drive of only one and a half hours from Seattle, singing and talking, while Jeanie and her husband were able to drive for three hours from their home in Bakersfield, California, to good fishing spots. Jeanie says she spent most of the drive reading to young Christine.
Don’t assume that your kids will be sitting in the car the whole time you’re driving; build into your trip the time for several stops where the kids can get out and run around. Plan for these stops in highway rest areas, in towns along the way where you can look for playgrounds in local parks or school
