George L Smith state park, Twin City, GA

There were a bunch of kayakers getting together for kayaking at George L Smith state park, Twin City, GA. Marilyn was helping Ela in VA during Greg’s Korea/China TDY so this trip was on my own. Tried the shower in the Scamp for the first time, it works! This was a nice campsite with cypress trees that seem to chase the skeeters away, and I was able to park the canoe right by the campsite. Used our Green Scanoe and a T-bar rising from the back of the Dakota, along with foam pads under the gunwales to carry the Scanoe on the Dakota. I loved canoeing here, they have marked trails that pass through several cypress trees so you are in the shade a lot. My large Scanoe seemed almost like an aircraft carrier compared to all the nimble kayaks surrounding me. After camping here, I stopped by Magnolia Springs state park to canoe that lake too! Many do not realize that Magnolia Springs was also the location of the largest Civil War prison at one time, Camp Lawton, built to relieve overcrowding at the infamous Andersonville.

First Scamping trip to VA and PA

Our first Scamping trip! We headed to see our son and Grandkids in Springfield, VA. Towed with the Dodge Dakota, which handled the Scamp really well. When we picked up the Scamp from the seller, the tires were only inflated to only 32 lbs, so I figured they may need replacement (they were also probably 5 years old or more). I just thought "one more trip before replacing". Wrong idea, should have replaced them with what I wanted before we left. We had a flat on the door side of the Scamp minutes after refueling in NE GA. Did not even feel it, just noticed the belly band was no longer level in the mirror. We put the tiny 13" spare on and then looked for another spare, but the Goodyear store did not have our size, or even the slightly wider (and greater capacity) tire we wanted in stock, so we would have had to wait til Monday (this happened Friday evening). We ended up stopping at a Northern Tools to get one the same size as what we had. Stayed at a WalMart that night since we were running too late by then to make it to our planned overnight campsite. Our first WalMart camping experience! Glad we had the built-in propane heater to take the chill off, since we didn’t have any 110 volt connections at WalMart. In VA we stayed at Pohick Bay Regional Park campground, nice campsite not far from DC, with water activities and playground for the kids. No water connections so had to fill fresh water tank via jugs. Nice campsite. Drove through DE to PA and parked the camper in my Sister Ann’s back yard up in Lansdale PA. On the trip back we stayed at Fairy Stone state park in VA. Saw some deer here and drove just a couple miles on the Blue Ridge parkway enroute. We were on I-81 and saw a sign for the Blue Ridge Parkway, so jumped off I-81 above Roanoke to get to the parkway, once we got off we passed a sign that stated "not recommended for trailers" but the curves were no problem for our little 16' Scamp. Thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in the Scamp and looking forward to many more trips in the future.

We bought a Scamp travel trailer!

We have been looking into fiberglass campers for a few years now, and went to a "Scamp Camp" in Sebring FL last week in our Coleman pop-up to look at all the fiberglass campers. We wanted to see if they would be big enough for us. After we made the decision to buy a fiberglass camper, we went looking for something used, but in good condition and a reasonable price. We contacted a few ads for Casitas and 5th wheel Scamps, but all were gone fast! We were lucky enough to respond to one ad quick enough to be first in line when the owner reviewed her emails from top to bottom (ours was on top, but last one received). We coordinated a good faith deposit, which was sent directly from our bank (although the check didn't arrive at her mailbox as we drove into her driveway). Picked up Scamp in Citrus Springs, FL and drove it back to GA behind our Dakota after stopping at the FL DMV to get it registered. Had a wiring problem on the way back, but it was due to bad connection in the Dakota wiring. Hit some snow on the ground in GA on way back. (390 miles) Our Scamp is a 16' Standard, layout 6, with a side dinette. It also has air conditioning, heat strip, propane heat, awning, microwave, shower and toilet, and dual propane tanks. Although the ad said it was a 2004 model, it's actually a 2005 model.

First Blog attempt

Just trying to figure out what all the blogging is about, this is my first entry and I'll see if I can find it out there in Cyberspace.