The decision to start camping

I guess this all started with my husband growing up camping in a family of 6. They had a pop-up camper and the 3 boys of the family slept outside in tents. Some of the best memories he has from growing up are the trips he took camping.

David and I have been married for about 8 years now. When we first got married, the only way we could afford to get away was to go tent camping. Our favorite vacation spot is pretty much anywhere in the mountains. Luckily living in Raleigh the mountains can be as close as 2 1/2 hours away to 4 or 5 depending on where you go. It was a very relaxing time for us and we thoroughly enjoyed it, not to mention it was cheap. Then in 2004 we had our first child, Bryce, and camping mainly came to a hault. I wasn't willing to put up with the stress of trying to appease my child just so he wouldn't cry and make others mad. Not to mention fires and walking babies do not mix in my opinion.

So this past year my husband started thinking about going camping again but now we have two children, Bryce is now 4 and Stacy will be 2 in August. If you know David at all, he has many hobbies and loves to do lots of different things. So after going through motorcycles, 4-wheelers, dirt bikes, a boat, cycling, hunting, some of which he still enjoys, he now wanted to buy a camper so that we could enjoy it with the kids and make family memories of our own. I was on board as I thought camping would be a great way to spend time together and be able to have an affordable vacation. Plus our kids behave so much better when they are outside.

One of his friends whom he met working back in college was selling his Ford F250 diesel truck, one that can pull a pretty large camper so David bought it with the hopes of one day being able to buy a camper of our own. So now we have a truck, but nothing to pull. For about one year we start the journey of looking for exactly what we want. We could start with a pop-up, but we knew it wouldn't be long before we would want something different. We went to a couple RV shows, looked on Craigslist for used ones and ended up deciding on a 5th wheel trailer because it would be the best fit for our family. The best layout and price was a new one and RV Wholesalers in Ohio had the best deal for us even with the gas prices being so high to drive there. So off we go to Lakeview, Ohio in March.