The Weekenders
Harvey, North Dakota
Senior Member
Joined: 12/10/2006
View Profile
 Offline
|
We have been living in our fiver 5-6 nights week since May at our little "private" RV site at our radio station transmitter/tower on the south edge of our town. We try to get out of town to other parks about twice a month. It makes going to work a little more bearable. It has been a fantastic season!!! 
* This post was
edited 08/24/08 08:08pm by The Weekenders *
Every meal is a feast, everyday is a parade and every paycheck is a fortune!
Winter is not far off, the misery begins
Rick & Sheila's RVing Album
Rick's Facebook
2004 Ford F350 6.0PSD
2008 Keystone Montana 3585SA
|
Robag
Regina, Sask, Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 03/28/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
There is no cost associated with the knowledge that my children are filled with extreme joy and enthusiasm every time we go camping be it for a 2 night stay or the 18 nights we rolled up in the northern US states this summer. We ended up with 31 nights this year in our camper. We usuaually get about 20 - 23 nights a year. Unfortunately we are done for the year as work and kids extra-curricular activity take over.
Me(68), DW(70), DS(96), DS(98), Savage The Dog (04)
07 Shamrock 23B
04 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Sport! And Yes, It's A Hemi!
|
wvojak
SW Washington State
Senior Member
Joined: 05/05/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Sadly we have not had the chance to go camping as much this year, as previous years. we had a big family reunion this year and it was held at our house... 8 visitors staying with us for 5 days. So preparing for that sucked up a lot of camping time. We have also had a cold, wet summer this year.
we also have various friend who we go camping with and they were not able to go this year due to schedules, and in one case, a dead engine in their RV. 
Still we managed 9-10 nights so far. We have at least another 7 planned. Fortunately we actually own some property at the beach (Pacific Coast) that is set up for camping so we can go there on a whim, without needing reservations! We really enjoy being able to get away with our little camper.
My girls really enjoy the whole camping experience. We do pay a minor fortune every month in payments because we had to buy both a camper AND a tow vehicle at the same time. We bought the camper new, and the Suburban used. But on the flip side, the property we bought fro camping has tripled in value so we are on the plus side of the equation. And the Suburban will be paid off in another 1.5 years.
Camping is generally NOT a cost effective thing to do with your money. But neither is buying a $2,000 Digital SLR, custom golf clubs, personal water craft, or any of the other thousand ways you can spend money on entertainment.
But unlike many hobbys, camping does create lots of family time and memories for our two girls. I'm sure when my wife and I are long gone our girls will still talk about the fun times they had when "Mom and Dad took them camping at the beach every summer."
* This post was
edited 08/25/08 10:54am by wvojak *
Bill Vojak
SW Washington State
2001 K2500HD Suburban LT w/Autoride - 6.0L/4.10 - Eaz-Lift w/WD
2006 Kodiak 214 Hybrid TT
|
ccand4kids
Berks County, PA
New Member
Joined: 07/12/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
The way I look at it, the times spent camping alone and with friends is priceless. The interaction with our kids is totally on a different level when we are camping and most definitely high quality. My kids so much look forward to our yearly week long trip to the beach. I love our camper, it was a great pick for us, I wish we had more time to camp! We average 20-25 nites a season, this year we are shorter than usual as we went to the Outer Banks, NC with my extended family and rented a house.
Now to put the $ issue into perspective, we divided the price of the house per person and with 4 kids for a total of 6 in our family, that came out to $2500 alone for our share of the house, which is more than a year's worth of loan payments on our camper! That is why we camp, it is a much more economical event for us. Paying $40-50 a nite for full hookup is cheaper than taking my family to the movies for the nite and the camping season of April through October is like 6 months of mini vacations! Food cost is a wash because I would be shopping and cooking if we were at home.
Gas may add to the cost, but if we weren't camping we would be driving around anyway going to the possibly going to the movies and such, when we camp, we are usually at the campground for that time and don't drive anywhere. The only time we leave the campground is when we camp in the fall and stay local, just so we get out camping, but our kids can still play in their soccer games.
Cindy 
DH,2DS,2DD
2008 Suburban 1500 Active Fuel Management
2006 Coyote 23CS
|
dpdpete
corinth, tx
Full Member
Joined: 05/18/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
In response to the edited question, our trailer is definitely worth every penny. Our trip to Yellowstone this summer was probably a trip of a lifetime experience and that alone paid for it. All the little weekend trips away from work and just hanging out with our family is priceless and I hope my kids will have fond memories with their families as they get older. I try not to let our's sit too long as we have really enjoyed it. I think the first night that we were having a big rainstorm and you could get up and use the bathroom and stay nice and dry and warm, Priceless!
08'Jayco 23B
03'Dodge 2500 quad cab diesel
Prodigy Controller
Reese Hitch
|
|
|
2009Roo23SS
AL
Full Member
Joined: 06/09/2008
View Profile
|
hotel or cabin or lodge room sanitation versus our own sanitation on the Roo = priceless value. black light even a high-end $300 plus a night room sometime and it's easy to justify the expense unless you have a very high tolerance for the yuck factor ;-)
We would like to be full-timing but until we can, we're happy and feel personally justified even at only 28 nights camping (doesn't include camp yard or camp driveway) in the 2009 Roo so far. 46 nights camping so far (not including yard or driveway) since January 1, 2008 so far. Guess it is a matter of what you like to spend your time and money on- some people gamble, some people drink a lot, some people go to concerts a lot, some people buy clothes, shoes, jewelry,whatever - us, we consider our camping/boating our major vice and where we put our free time and much of discretationary spending. In our minds, we could justify it after one night for that reason theoretically ;-)
Married 50-somethings
^2009 Rockwood Roo23SS ^^2008Trailblazer w/Equalizer 1000/10000&TekonshaProdigy90185^^2008 Toyota Tacoma^^2008 SouthBay 925CRTT-EXPi/oPontoonboat^^2007TrackerNitro750Bassboat
http://community.webshots.com/user/Our2009RockwoodRoo23SS
|
dadmomh
Jackson, TN
Senior Member
Joined: 01/21/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
We're at 26 right now and will add 4 more over Labor Day (we'll be breaking our "NO CAMPING ON HOLIDAY WEEKENDS" rule for the first time). We should be able to get several more weekends in before Thanksgiving, so would expect to be able to get really close to that #40. And we haven't even done "camp driveway" this year. We love our ROO and the time we spend together.
2006 ROO 23SS
2003 F-150 Super Crew with stabilizers and Prodigy
Sam, World's Best Yellow Camping Lab
7 "stay-at-home" K-9s
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
|
PUCampin
Castaic, California, USA
Full Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
|
From my sig you can see we don't get out as much as we want too. Our lives have been extreemly busy the last couple years (3 kids in 30 months  )not to mention we remodeled our kitchen ourselves, lots of other interior projects as well. But the TT is there for when we can get away. It is a spare refridgerator for when we have big gatherings, a guest room when the inlaws stay over, and our emergency provisions and water store (we live in earthquake country!). Our TT was a price leader, so our payment plus insurance is about $150 a month. To me it is worth every penny.
2007 Expedition EL 4x4 Tow pkg
2006 Pioneer 180CK (No more pucampin!)
Nights in 07  : 4 (But our new kitchen, is SO nice!)
Nights in 08 : 6 (Gotta change that!)
Me DW
DD 6/14/06 DS 11/27/07
OMG!! We're WHAT?! DD 11/26/08
|
mister_d
Livonia, MI - hardly qualified to be a
Senior Member
Joined: 09/17/2006
View Profile
|
mike_mn wrote:Edit, After all the responses...I need to reask the quesiton...
I guess I was on a different frame of reference when considering justification of the cost...not looking at it from a per/night cost, but a satisfaction level. Am I satisfied with the number of nights I have camped vs. how much I have paid for the camper? For me, yes the cost is justified. How many nights does it take you to feel like it isn't a boat anchor sitting in storage or your back yard that is depreciating everyday you have it?
How many camping nights per year do you think justifies the price you paid for your trailer? I realize this is something each person needs to decide, I am just wondering what others think.
For me, we are at 18 nights so far this season and have 4-6 more nights planned before winter. I feel very good about how much we are using the trailer.
If we didn't get out in ours at least once a month (May-October), I'd feel like it wasn't worth having. All the posts of "one night of camping memories are priceless" are touching and make me feel all warm inside.
2007 Rockwood Roo 23ss
Derek '77
Tina '78
Brianna '04
Dominick '07
Maximus (slobbering camping buddy)
|
mnlawyer
St. Cloud, MN
New Member
Joined: 01/25/2008
View Profile
|
Every day is worth whatever you paid.
Or, you can look at it like I did. With the new camper and tow vehicle, it cost me $4,500.00 per day of camping this year. But next year it is all free!
|
|
|
|
