My earliest RV memory is from a boogie van my dad owned in the 70’s. Almost annually we’d make a trek from Edmonton to the BC interior to the Okanagan valley. We had a family of 4, myself, my sister and my parents. None of us were really experienced RVers and I actually never slept in a tent until I was an adult. But my dad drove this van west to BC and we’d make 2 or 3 overnight stops along the way and sleep in the van. It had a little fridge, a bad in the back and two captains seats up front.
I remember my sister and I lying on our bellies on the bed while we traveled and we’d love to play “blow the horn” with truckers behind us. We’d do a downward arm motion like pulling the big horn and many times the truckers would oblige us and blow their horn for us. When you’re 10 or 11 that’s a great thrill. We hated when Dad put a window screen over the back window and our fun came to an end.
My favorite photo from that time period is one of my dad sitting in the driver’s seat looking back into the van. He’s wearing only shorts and sandals and we joked for years that he looks naked. Unfortunately I think my mom has that photo somewhere and I’m currently on a 6 month RV trip and don’t have access to it.
Submitted by Darlene Hildebrandt of Edmonton, AB as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.
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