My late father worked for the Railroad and got 5 weeks of vacation time so he and my mother decided to buy a camper that fit on the bed of his heavy duty pick up truck. Their sleeping area extended out over the cab of the truck and the dining table folded down for my bed. It was all self contained with a bathroom/shower, refridgerator, stove, everything you needed in case you could not find a formal campground to “hook-up”.
They decided the first trip we would take was from our home in KY to Alaska up the Alcan Highway. Keep in mind this was 1970 and the Alcan was ALL gravel! To ensure that the rig was fully fuctional etc we took it for a test camp out to a lake in Central KY over a weekend. Well, as soon as we arrived the skies started to look very menacing and the winds really picked up and before nightfall we were under Tornado Warnings with 60 mile an hour winds and higher gusts! We rocked all through the storm with the rain beating down and even had some large hail pummel the camper! The next morning after we had weathered the storm they pronounced it “Solid” and “Trip-Worthy” and we took that trip of a lifetime the following month. My parents are both gone now but my husband and I are carrying on the Camping tradition with our family!
Submitted by Valerie O’Dell of Louisville, KY as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.
Do you have a favorite RVing or camping memory you’d like to share? Submit your favorite memory here!
Louella Giddings
We just went through the same thing in Dodge City,KS Oct.of ’08.One wind gust was 101 MPH and hail and rain left our slideout toppers looking like a machine gun had riddled it.It was blowing our 14 ft. slideout in at the top about 8 to 10 inches. It lasted from 11P.M. to 3A.M.The next time I tell my husband severe weather is headed our way I bet he won’t just rollover and say “we’ll be alright.”Now we know where the saying “Get the hell out of Dodge” came from.
Grampa Jim
Hey,,,,that microwave could have been useful in other ways. In that kind of wind, you could have hook it to the camper with a chain and set it outside to hold the camper down.
Liz Bard
A microwave back then was also very heavy. You put it in one spot and did not move it in your stix and brix. They weighed as much as a TV did. There definitely would not have been room in a TC.
Christo Le'Sharo
A microwave in 1970 would be quite a luxury that would cost about as much as the truck camper–or more. I think a micro back then was $400-$500 bucks. Adjusted for inflation that would be $2,800 bucks! I’m sure Valerie’s family got by just fine with out it.
Bill
The only thing I believe would be missing is a generator so you could run the microwave or make the coffee or even grill a couple of burgers on the old George Foreman.