Fall Camping, Function and Fashion

Cooler weather has me dreaming of fall camping. Who says bundled up doesn't have to be pretty?

1. Leather Blanket Carrier by Pendleton Woolen Mills
2. Vintage Southwest Wool Cardigan by Dirty Birdies Vintage on Etsy
3. Holga 'Jack Edition' Camera by Lomography
4. Wood LED Flashlight by Curiosity Shoppe
5. Classic 2 oz Stainless Steel Bottle by Stanley
6. Adlay Shearling Rain Boot by Hunter
7. Grey Barn Wood Flask by Liquid Courage on Etsy
8. 8 Cup French Press Coffee Maker by Bodum
9. Yakima Wool Camp Blanket by Pendleton Woolen Mills

Hey! We're on Pinterest!

Not only do we have a whole new look, but we're on Pinterest now!
Follow the Camping Well boards here.

Swedish Wallpaper, American Camper

I love the idea of wallpaper inside a hard top camper. These images come from a Swedish wallpaper company to showcase their line. Not only do I want the wallpaper, I'll take one of the campers too.

 Check out DecorMaison here

25th Annual Family Campout

Every year, we go camping with my dad's side of the family. Year one (shown above) started with just 10 of us. This year, we had 44. We've been all over Wisconsin, and to some unfortunate Illinois locales (I'm looking at you, Jellystone). Even after 25 years of broken bones, almost tornadoes, collapsed tents, multiple cart crashes (golf cart and go-kart), and intense teasing, it's still the one family event that cannot be missed. So much so, we've had someone break up with a boyfriend over his lack of desire to attend.

Here's to another 25 more.

DIY Tiny Trailer Dollhouse

For little ones who want a trailer all their own, this Miniature Travel Trailer from Greenleaf Doll Houses makes home anywhere they roam.

Greenleaf's trailer design is inspired by "a simple, less hectic time and a desire to preserve vintage Americana", and is completely to scale. The trailer is all wood, made in the USA, and has an open top and side that gives little hands easy access.  It even comes with a shelf  to make one of the windows into a counter, so your trailer becomes a food truck!

At $19.95, this miniature trailer is super affordable. And it comes unassembled, making it the perfect DIY Rainy Day project.

Camp Review: Turkey Run State Park

Taking advantage of the July 4th weekend, we decided to open the camper up for a longer haul and took a weekend trip to Turkey Run State Park in Marshall, IN. We picked Turkey Run because it was a bit farther than we had traveled before with the camper, about 3.5 hours from Chicago, and was somewhere we've never camped. Years before, I had gone there for a tubing trip and always wanted to go back.

The Goods
Park Entrance Fee
We stayed at the Turkey Run State Park Campground, which is about a mile down the road from the state park entrance. The $7.00 entrance fee to the campground (in addition to the normal reservation fees) got us in and out of the state park all weekend long.

TREES
The trees were incredible. We got a site that was full shade, with trees standing at least 30+ feet tall. The temperature all weekend was in the 100's, but given the tree cover, it stayed a comfortable temperature all day, and surprisingly cool at night.

Canoeing, and tubing, and hiking, oh my!
There are a ton of activities at Turkey Run- canoeing, tubing, horseback riding, hiking, and swimming to name just a few. The park is a stark difference from the rest of Indiana- the flat corn fields are replaced by deep gorges, sharp ravines, and over-sized trees- giving an entertaining backdrop for any activity. You can rent a tube or canoe directly across the street from the park and campground- half day or more for less than $20. And the pool entrance fee is 2 bucks. Awesome.

Bonus! The campground store has a Slush Puppie machine, there's a great park, and the showers were some of the best camping showers I've seen.


The Not-So-Goods
Privacy
Because of the thick tree cover, there's not much ground growth. This translates to little brush and wide open camp sites. You can see what your neighbor is up to. And, by that I mean, you can see what he's eating for breakfast. And maybe his gold tooth, too.

Travel time from Chicago

There's really no direct way to get to Turkey Run. Google gave us 3 different options, and none of them were nice, direct highway routes. We ended up picking the path that took us through Lafayette (home of Purdue University) because it had the least amount of turns. It was a bit slow moving, and kinda boring, but at least we got to see the wind farm outside of Chicago.

Other Stuff

There's nothing else around there. Really nothing. We had to go on a 30 minute journey for alcohol. We passed the Rockville Women's Correctional Facility before we found a liquor store.

Speaking of Alcohol, that.

No alcohol is sold on Sundays, anywhere. Since we arrived on Sunday, this was not fun. Plan ahead.

Overall, I'd give Turkey Run two thumbs up, but whether i'd put it in the top 10 Midwest Campsites remains to be seen. The drive was long, but the State Park definitely makes it worth your while. Skip on over (with your beer in hand), pull into a nice, shaded campsite, and hike or tube your way through all the natural beauty, nestled in the farmlands of Indiana, that Turkey Run has to offer.

New Obsession: Cabin Porn

No worries, the only inappropriate behavior going on here is the drool from your mouth after looking at all these amazing cabins. NSFW blog name, totally SFW pictures. If you're looking for me, I'll be in the corner gawking at this blog for the next 3 hours.

Superthx to Christina for the share!

Curry Stuffed Peppers + Fixing Things

We took the camper out for its first full weekend trip, so we had plenty of time to enjoy it in its full glory- and do some updates. The two things on my list- new throw pillows and drawer pulls- are simple and inexpensive ways to change up a room (on wheels) instantly. Once I had the fabric picked out, the throw pillows were super easy to tackle (see The 5 Minute Pillow). After adding the pillows to the couches and doing some lounging around to test out their effectiveness (thumbs up!), the drawer pulls were next.

The pulls were brass, dated, and just really ugly. With $20 and a screwdriver, I switched out all the pulls to a simple and updated chrome- all in less than an hour. Some of the screws were really tight, so I would recommend using an electric drill, where possible. We didn't have one handy, so we just worked on the screws slowly to avoid stripping and were able to remove all the pulls with a little elbow grease.

As you can see, Ella was very helpful in the process.

With our work done, we set the table (breaking out our new tablecloth sewn from vintage fabric I scored at the thrift store) for a tasty dinner. We always hate prepping dinner when we're camping, so I came up with a recipe where all the work was done days before; it made cooking dinner was a breeze.

This certainly doesn't look pretty (what does when you're camping?), but it was so good and super easy to prep and cook over the fire.

Curry Stuffed Green Peppers over Campfire

Ingredients

4 Green peppers

1 lb Ground beef

1/2 cup White onion

1 (14.5oz) can Chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 cup Cooked rice

3 Tbsp Patak's Taste of India Mild Curry Paste

1 cup Paneer cheese or another mild cheese, like shredded mozzerella

Aluminum foil

Olive oil

Salt to taste

At home

In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain excess fat.

Add cooked rice and tomatoes. Stir in curry paste and salt.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Allow mixture to cool, then store in an airtight container.

Toss mixture in the cooler, and bring along peppers and other ingredients to assemble later.

At camp

When you're ready to cook, cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds and insides.

Stuff each pepper with beef and rice mixture.

Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap each pepper.

Pour some olive oil in the middle of the foil and place the pepper open side up.

Rub the rest of the pepper with olive oil and wrap.

Place peppers over open fire for 30 to 35 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

Remove from fire, let cool, and enjoy!

Make this recipe veggie friendly by subbing meat for a substitute or just adding extra veggies. Vegan? Just remove the cheese, too.

Wherever we are...

I'm (obviously) of the mentality that two people in a home on wheels is one of the more romantic notions.

Courtesy of Etsy Shop VOL25. Check out this print here.

Camper Love! Etsy Roundup

Turns out, I'm not the only one under the influence of camper love. Check out this roundup of handmade items from Etsy inspired by camper trailers. From vintage inspired birdhouses to a wooden laser cut (and reversible!) trailer necklace to a home on wheels for your four legged bff, these goodies can satisfy even the biggest camper envy. No storage required.

Top to bottom, left to right:

Modern Traveler Art Block Set by Red Tile Studio
The Trailer Birdhouse by KoolBird
 Vintage Camper Birdhouse by Jumahi
Laser Cut Reversible Camper Necklace by Vectorcloud
Reclaimed Wood Camper Sign by SlippinSouthern
3 Pack Airstream Mini Journals by Red Tile Studio
Handcut Vintage Trailer Card by HollerandWhistle
Doggie Trailer House by Shawn Monahan
Manner of Traveling Typography Print  by CornerChair 

DIY Done in 5

This throw pillow is so simple to make. To really understand how easy it is, I whipped out a stopwatch and timed the project from start to finish. It took 5 minutes and 38 seconds. Serious. Plus, you can remove the pillow and toss the cover in the wash, making this DIY project a perfect accessory for the camper.

Supplies: Fabric, Scissors, Iron + Board, Ruler (Rotary Cutter + Mat optional), Stitch Witchery, Pins, Sewing Machine, Pillow Form

Cut a piece of fabric  ½ - 1 inch wider and 2½ times the length of the pillow form.  

For a 14 x 14 pillow form, my fabric was 14½ " wide x 35" long (14" front and back +  7" flap).

On the short sides, fold down  ¾" and press. Cut a piece of Stitch Witchery the same length and insert into fold. Press 10-15 seconds until the fabric is fused. Repeat on other end.

On one side, fold your fabric down 7 inches (or ½ of the length of your pillow), right side in, and press. This is your flap.

Fold the other end of your fabric up, right side in, about 14" or the length of your pillow, and press. This edge should meet the fold of the flap you just made. Pin both sides. 

Sew up both sides with a ½ seam allowance. Trim the corners of your fabric, so the corners will lay nicely. Turn inside out, and insert pillow form.

Top Gear CamperVan Challenge

I watched an episode of Top Gear UK last night where the guys had to build their own motor home campers. Classic and, as always, super hilarious. Who knew you could put extra weight on a Lotus and it would still drive? This episode made me think three things:

               1) Camping in a camper trailer is totally a US thing.
               2) I hope I never want to roll my camper off a cliff.

And the more important question:

               3) Why doesn't my camper have a library?

Find a clip of this episode on the Top Gear site. (And check out this hilarious Lego reconstruction of Jeremy's camper design shown above)

Modern with a Retro Twist

With fabric on the couches, beds, and drapes, we decided to kick off the remodel at my favorite starting point- fabric. It's a relatively small investment- a bit of elbow grease, a sewing machine, and loads of fabric- that's bound to add some wow. 

The first challenge was picking our color palette. We wanted something that would make the inside more modern, but still stay true to the retro roots. After mixing a couple different palettes that seemed too bold, we looked to the camper for inspiration and were attracted to the original brown and orange palette. The neutral pumpkin and cocoa coloration is made fresh and new by adding a cement grey, a subtle cream, and buttery yellow. 

We started with the Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy collection for the inspiration fabric- the grey floral and polka dot leaves have just the right amount of retro for the drapes and pillows. A dark colored cocoa fabric for the beds should hold up well with use, while the iron weave design adds a large scale pattern to keep it from being boring. The pumpkin basketweave not only brings in texture, but is super durable and add some brightness. The upholstery weight chevron rounds it out with just a touch of modern cool. This mix of durable solids, geometric upholstery weight, and retro florals packed just the punch we were looking for. Time to break out the sewing machine.

1. Curtains- Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy Bouquet Grey 

2. Throw Pillows- Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy Leaf & Dot Grey

3. Beds- Maco Indoor/Outdoor Piso Texture in Cocoa

4. Throw Pillows- Premier Prints Indoor/Outdoor Zig Zag in Canyon Orange

5. Couch Cushions- Orange Belgium Basketweave- Upholstery Weight

Camper's First Night

After a quick stop at Mars Cheese Castle (Yes, it's actually a castle. Full of cheese.) for cheese curds and New Glarus beer, we pulled into Bong Recreation Area for our first camper trip. From Chicago, head north to Wisconsin, turn left at Mars, and go about 7 miles down the road. About 45 minutes away, it's one of the closest places to go camping and one of my favorite sites for a quick trip.

Bong was originally set to be an air base for WWII (which is why it is named after Richard Bong- a jet fighter pilot), but the plans were abandoned just before the concrete was poured. Now it's 4,500 acres of prairie land, wetlands, and woodlands with 40 miles of trails, over 200 campsites, several fishing holes, and a beach. It also has plenty of electric sites, just what we needed for our one night test.

The camper was easier to set up than expected. We took video and notes of the process, but ended up not needing them. The steps were pretty logical- lock wheels, set stabilizer bars, pull out beds and lock with poles, use crank to raise the roof, and secure the canvas by zipping all the zippers and velcroing all the velcro. Plug camper into the outlet just as you would any other appliance. Done.

Interior and exterior lights flip off and on with a switch. The camper even has several plugs for anything else you need- christmas lights, phone charger, blender (camping margaritas, anyone?)

When we got the camper, the original owners included all the contents as well. We spent a good hour or two rooting through all the storage spaces, taking stock of what we had and organizing. When we were buying the camper, we were so focused on it that we didn't realize how much other stuff came with it. From cookware and silverware to vintage (and super cute!) plates and bowls to other tools like a hatchet and rope, it had everything we needed.

We were surprised to find the refrigerator is not electric, but propane. Hooked up to the propane tank, it kicks on once you ignite the pilot light (obviously you only want to do this when you're stopped and not while on the road). It took several hours to get cool and only had enough room for our beverages (see Mars Cheese Castle), but it chilled our champagne enough in time for our toast.

Now was time for the real test- sleeping. Surrounded by three windows, it was nice and breezy, and the bed was surprisingly roomy, bigger and more comfortable than an air mattress. Even after 25 years, the cushion of the mattresses and couches still had a lot of support. Definitely something I could sleep on night after night. Our non-camping bulldog even seemed to like it. She usually paces the tent all night when when we bring her camping, but in the camper, she slept soundly and all we could hear at night was her bulldog snore of approval.

All in all, it was more than I expected it would be. It was smooth to tow, pretty easy set up and take down, and a different camping experience all around. I think this means she's ready for the road. And I got some places in mind.

The New Addition: Finding a Camper

After searching on Craigslist for eons, we finally found the starter camper of our dreams. Turns out, it's a 1986 Starcraft Starmaster, and it checked all our boxes in it's vintage glory.

Under 1,500 pounds
We planned to tow the camper with our Honda CRV, but we didn't know if it even could. We just knew we wanted a camper. With a quick jaunt around the internets, we found our max tow weight.  It limited our camper search a bit, but we found most small soft-top pop-up campers were under our 1,500 lbs restriction.

Good canvas condition with no mildew
What the inside looked like wasn't a priority, especially since we plan to update it, but the outside condition was super important. If I believe everything the internet tells me, and I do here, canvas replacement runs about $800 to $1,000- that's just for the canvas and doesn't include shipping and time for installation. Replacing the canvas didn't seem like a worthwhile investment when you can just find a camper with good canvas for a bit more money. We could work with a few small rips, but mildew was a no-no.

Sleeps at least 5
Sleeps 5 = room for the two of us, our dog, and two buddies. Perfect.

Working refrigerator, sink, and stove
A camper without these things is just a tent on wheels. If we were going to buy a camper, we wanted it to be a tiny house on wheels.

Title
Campers need state registration, which means a title is required. Everyone hates the DMV, and not having the title would mean more time there. Also, if an owner didn't hang onto the title, it's likely they didn't take good care of the camper either.

This Starcraft camper had it all, and then some. It came with the original owner's manual  (which should come in handy) and amazing storage with a 3 drawer dresser, storage under both couches, and a wardrobe + vanity combo. To boot, it also has newish tires, a bike rack, and a full propane tank. They even threw in a french press for camp coffee.

We bought the camper from its original owners, and we could tell they took loving care of it. They happily shared camper memories over the 24 years, and much needed cleaning and maintenance advice. They had a lot of history with the camper, but were excited to pass it on to us. As we were pulling away, they stood in the driveway for a long time, likely saying good-bye to their camper memories just as we're saying hello to ours.