Ray D
Well-known member
;D
Don?t know why I?m posting this. Maybe to correct some of my previous statements, where I lay claim to being a newby. Maybe, because I only recently remembered this, and need to set the record straight. In fact, I may be the inventor of the motorhome.
I was one of a group of around a dozen hunter/campers that stayed most of our idle time, in the woods. We were all backpackers, campers, hunters, fly fishermen, and always had at least two of us going, for the weekend. Frequently, there would be as many as eight or ten.
Now and then, particularly in cold weather, particularly when hunting was involved, we tired of the cold, wind, rain, and sleeping on the ground.
Enter The Motorhome
One of my trucks was a smaller truck, a 64 Chevy, ton and a half, with a straight 6. That truck could climb a tree, in low - low. We quickly found out that it would go almost anywhere, in the woods. It had a 8' X 12' stake bed, with a 2X wooden plank floor.
Well, we got to thinking. I had a 8' X 10' wall-tent. The tent would sleep as many as could stand being that close to each other. Ten was possible. Pretty cozy with a big group.
So, you guessed it. We would pull that truck out of service, a day or two early, and pitch that tent in the bed. We used 16 penny nails for tent-stakes. After pitching the tent, all of us would put our sleeping gear, etc, in the tent. Then, we pull the tent posts out and collapse the tent, for the ride. Late Friday afternoon, we get out of Dodge. It?s a 64, ton and a half motorhome, followed by three or four cars, caravanning into the woods.
Park the cars at the edge of civilized roads, and load extra passengers into the bed of the truck, and go in, on a logging trail, til we found one of our regular camp-sites. Raise the tent, pitch a large tarp over the whole shebang, for a windbreaker - camo effect, and the motorhome is ready for genuine comfort!
We built a campfire, outside, of course. We cooked on that, and if necessary one or two white gas back-packer?s stoves. In really cold weather, we piled as many rocks around the fire, as possible. We would place hot rocks in the tent. Made quite a difference. Anybody going out, during the night, would take cold rocks out, throw some more wood on the coals, and bring in one or two hot rocks. Actually, if the tent was full, we had a steady stream of rock replenishers.
Actually, it was probably pretty cold in there, but it seemed warm and toasty. We referred to it as sissy camp or our ton and a half motorized tent, depending upon the conversational circumstances. Met quite a few jealous hunters.
Had no trouble with the gen-set, the tv, the leveling jacks, nor for that matter, the bathroom. The slide outs worked perfectly, every time. (Two man mountaineering tents.)
Ummm, this is the place for tall stories, isn?t it?
Ray D
Don?t know why I?m posting this. Maybe to correct some of my previous statements, where I lay claim to being a newby. Maybe, because I only recently remembered this, and need to set the record straight. In fact, I may be the inventor of the motorhome.
I was one of a group of around a dozen hunter/campers that stayed most of our idle time, in the woods. We were all backpackers, campers, hunters, fly fishermen, and always had at least two of us going, for the weekend. Frequently, there would be as many as eight or ten.
Now and then, particularly in cold weather, particularly when hunting was involved, we tired of the cold, wind, rain, and sleeping on the ground.
Enter The Motorhome
One of my trucks was a smaller truck, a 64 Chevy, ton and a half, with a straight 6. That truck could climb a tree, in low - low. We quickly found out that it would go almost anywhere, in the woods. It had a 8' X 12' stake bed, with a 2X wooden plank floor.
Well, we got to thinking. I had a 8' X 10' wall-tent. The tent would sleep as many as could stand being that close to each other. Ten was possible. Pretty cozy with a big group.
So, you guessed it. We would pull that truck out of service, a day or two early, and pitch that tent in the bed. We used 16 penny nails for tent-stakes. After pitching the tent, all of us would put our sleeping gear, etc, in the tent. Then, we pull the tent posts out and collapse the tent, for the ride. Late Friday afternoon, we get out of Dodge. It?s a 64, ton and a half motorhome, followed by three or four cars, caravanning into the woods.
Park the cars at the edge of civilized roads, and load extra passengers into the bed of the truck, and go in, on a logging trail, til we found one of our regular camp-sites. Raise the tent, pitch a large tarp over the whole shebang, for a windbreaker - camo effect, and the motorhome is ready for genuine comfort!
We built a campfire, outside, of course. We cooked on that, and if necessary one or two white gas back-packer?s stoves. In really cold weather, we piled as many rocks around the fire, as possible. We would place hot rocks in the tent. Made quite a difference. Anybody going out, during the night, would take cold rocks out, throw some more wood on the coals, and bring in one or two hot rocks. Actually, if the tent was full, we had a steady stream of rock replenishers.
Actually, it was probably pretty cold in there, but it seemed warm and toasty. We referred to it as sissy camp or our ton and a half motorized tent, depending upon the conversational circumstances. Met quite a few jealous hunters.
Had no trouble with the gen-set, the tv, the leveling jacks, nor for that matter, the bathroom. The slide outs worked perfectly, every time. (Two man mountaineering tents.)
Ummm, this is the place for tall stories, isn?t it?
Ray D
