Monday, October 22, 2012

My big girl pants.

Last time someone told me to pull my big girl pants up, I almost did the opposite and "mooned" them. Fortunately, since I spotted the two men wandering up the gravel path way, I had time to change my plans. It was 2am and my group of girls were out in the woods playing some weird game, where you spin and stare up at the stars, then when you get super dizzy, you stop, stare into a flash light and drop like a rock! Good times. Well this is the only time I camp. Girls camp. It's proper dirt in the nails, don't wash for a week, drop your load in a bucket kind of camping and I am not a fan. Not one bit! I have, however heard of this other type of luxury camping and it sounded intriguing to me, so for the sake of my kids having a well rounded upbringing that doesn't include "aww MUUUM, do we have to go to England? can't we just go on a cruise?" (QUOTE)I thought I'd give camping a go.
It started with the rental of a hotel on wheels, except in this one, you make your own bed. Actually you bring your own bed, along with pots and pans for food that you will be bringing and cooking yourself as well as dish soap for the dishes you will be washing yourself. Oh I know it sounds exciting doesn't it? Throw in some clothes and get a special hitch for your vehicle and your off. The accommodations themselves are quite comfy if you are ok with sleeping on a 2 inch foam pad and turning the shower hose on and off between soapings, which I'm not but the part I actually enjoyed the most, was being able to prepare and cook food in a small space, either to stay and eat or to take with us. It actually made my idea of downtown, loft living, quite desirable again. Plus, you can't get a good cheese and pickle sandwich from a drive through.
we parked it at camp sites that had hook ups to electricity and cable TV but other than that, the sites were just a stopping point. We had all we needed inside. The place itself, Moab & Goblin Valley, is another, awesome story but I really just wanted to share my camp trailer experience in case anyone else is considering it.
Renting works out for us, since we don't plan to do it regularly enough to warrant the purchase, storage and maintenance of a big rig like this, as well as the cost of a big enough, reliable car/truck to tow distances. Loading and getting ready was fairly straight forward since there are tons of lists available and we have used this kind of resource before. Unloading was also super quick and we didn't have camp fire smell to deal with since we had used BBQ and stove tops to cook. The trailer itself set up super quick, maybe 20- 30 minutes and taking it down was about the same. Bless my mans heart for having to flush and detach the black hose ;-) yes some jobs are absolutely man jobs. Along with scaring you wife whilst driving your SUV along the road reserved for razors and jeeps(don't roll your eyes at me Honey) Just saying.
It Cost: $515 plus tax and insurance, to rent the trailer plus $35 for the extra towing stabilizer. It cost $150 to park 3 nights plus $7 to get into a state park. We spent $240 in Gas plus a few snacks at the gas station then what ever I spent on food for the trip which I figured was the same as I would've spent at home. A total of over a thousand bucks for 3 nights out in Moab plus the cost of food. So what do you think? Is it worth it? If I told you all 4 of us could've gone on a 4 night cruise, food included for that, would it still be worth it?
Oh I know if we "owned" a trailer that would be cut in half but seriously, even a used trailer with room for 6 is gonna cost a few $$$ so I still don't see the appeal. Fortunately there are many who think it's a great idea and then get a reality check, so you can pick up a trailer on KSL.com for a fraction of what it cost to buy new. I also discovered a great little camp ground in town that had cabins you could rent for $67 a night, they sleep 6 have a TV, AC, a heater and a pool that was still open which was also within walking distance of lots of eateries.
I can't see me camping too much in my future but I did it and now I will go back to my little girl pants with days of the week on the front. Today being Monday,which means I now have to do all the laundry and grocery shop etc etc after my awesome weekend of camping.
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1 comment:

Marianne said...

Man. THAT is the way to do it!! Looks like you got yourself a good pair of big girl pants!!

Really, what a fun trip. You guys are awesome.

October 27, 2012 at 7:58 PM

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