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!