Scamp Photo Album 2014
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The
beginning of six years with the Scamp and still
enjoying every bit of it. Our first outing of
the year for 2014 was the second weekend of
April. After a long and cold winter, we were
not sure when our first outing would be. We
had a wonderful time at Dolliver Memorial State Park
in Iowa, and the weather was great.
The
only problems we had with de-winterizing so far this
year was the water pump. RV antifreeze was run
through the system this year, but turns out that the
extreme cold weather did take its toll on the pump.
I ordered a different type this year and will post
our experiences with it.
Also, it's always a
good idea, regardless of what camper you have, to
check all screws, fasteners, seals, etc for wear and
or leakage. The only other thing I would
recommend is to check the inflation on all of your
wheels, including the spare, and if you really feel
ambitious, rotate the trailer tires to even out the
wear pattern. This will help them last longer
and get better performance out of them.
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Our
second outing of the year was down to Lake McBride
State Park in Iowa. Turned out to be a
beautiful weekend with only a touch of rain during
the night. While our car still did a wonderful
job pulling the trailer for five years, I am really
liking the truck for the towing job. It is
easier to maneuver the trailer into the sites,
easier to see around when backing the Scamp in, and
a much easier pull in
all driving conditions. Just a note about the
first picture; the trailer really is level.
For some reason the camera was tipped just a bit.
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Second weekend of May, we were back at Dolliver
Memorial State Park in Iowa. Most of the
weekend was pretty nice weather, but we did get
rained on off and on. The photos are of the
last day when we had the most rain. That is
why the photos looked a little gray. The first
three I tried to clean up with software, but the
panoramics are untouched. I am going to start
experimenting with an anti-fog solution for the
windows in the Scamp and will post the results here. I do
not mind sitting in the Scamp during the rain, but
it would be nice to see out the windows without
having to crack them open; however, I will say that
the awning type windows do work really nice for
ventilation during inclement weather.
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Believe it or not, this is still May. I was
hoping that the leaves would have popped out a bit
more, but with the cold winder, nature is a little
slow in responding. Thankfully it was not too
hot and we had a nice breeze. The solar panels
did a great job keeping the trailer battery charged
as well.
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I
took the photo above as a friendly reminder about
Camping Etiquette. The campsite above is of
one in a free county park. While the rules
about occupying a campsite for more that two weeks
still applied, there is a bit of an unfortunate loophole in the camping rules, especially when it comes
to free campgrounds. This tent was set up for
more than a week and a half in a prime campsite and
the only time it was occupied was for two nights.
It sat empty for a whole weekend which prevented
anyone else from using it. I know that it can
be difficult to get a campsite sometimes, but it is
not really fair to claim a site for such a length of
time and not use it. If you are going to set
up a tent, or other camping equipment, it is best to
occupy it while it is there. Not only for the
safety of the equipment, but as a courtesy to other
campers.
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We
were back at our usual site for Memorial Day
weekend. We did camp at a different site this
year from the past years, but it worked out really
well. The open field allowed the solar panels
to keep the battery fully charged, and despite the
lack of shade for the camper, we managed to stay
fairly cool. Just something to point out, the
tunnel looking feature in the right of the second
picture is part of the dog coursing that Lisa is
setting up for Sammy.
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We
took our first major trip of the year to the South
Shore of Lake Superior during the second week of
June. The photos above are of Copper Falls
State Park in Wisconsin. We did not stay long,
hence the barren looking site, but the Scamp proved
to be of good use here. We arrived late at
night or early in the morning, whichever way you
look at 2:30 AM, and it was a damp situation.
It was nice hot having to worry about too much set
up. When we left a few days later, we had to
get going early in the morning and it was easy to
pack up and get on the road.
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The
third leg of our trip took us to Jay Cooke State
Park in Minnesota. The photos above continue
to show how versatile setup can be. The site
we stayed in was laid out so that the door of the
camper was on the opposite site of the main living
portion of the site. I was able to maneuver
the trailer with the truck on the site to make the
best use of it. We did have to use quite a few
leveling blocks on the front of the trailer, and we
needed the bigger chocks on the trailer to keep it
from rolling down hill, but it worked nicely.
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The
two pictures above are a couple of fun ones.
The first is of us pulling the Scamp down some back
roads trying to avoid a detour. (The photo was
taken by others in the group that we were camping
with.) That was an interesting drive to say
the least. The second is of a Scamp that
passed us while we were stopped along the North
Shore of Lake Superior. It was a sixteen foot
Scamp, without the air conditioning unit, being
pulled by a vehicle like our station wagon.
Scamps continue to be one of the few light weight
campers that can be pulled by smaller, more fuel
efficient vehicles. (The popup and truck on
the side of the road belongs to the other group we
were camping with.)
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This
series of photos is from Temperance River State Park
in Minnesota. This was the third campground
that we stay in this trip. We were here in the
fall of 2013 and thought it would be a good site to
use since we were traveling in a group this year.
The sites were close enough that we could go back and
forth easily enough, but far enough to give each other a little
space.
I
would like to take time to mention, that when we
were here the previous fall, we did have a bit of an
issue trying to keep the battery charged. This
time was a bit easier since it was a shorter stay,
the sun was out and the solar panels managed to
charge the battery better, and we had a full set of
LED bulbs for the interior lights. Depending
on your electrical load, Scamps are great for using
non-electrical sites. I have shown a little of
this in the past, but I will be doing a post that
will be dedicated to camping off grid in the future.
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For
the last campground of the trip, we returned to Jay
Cooke State Park. Once again, the size of the
Scamp really helped us this time. I had
decided to go ahead to the next campground while the
rest of the group did some touring of local sites.
(I was dog sitting since Sammy was not allowed in
the places the rest of the group were visiting.)
We had two campsite reserve, one for us and one for
the other party in our group. When I got on
site, someone was still camping, from the night
before, in the site we were going to use. The
other one was available, so I set up there instead.
I noticed, after I got setup, that there was not a
lot of room and the other camper would not have fit
in this site too well. You can tell by how I
have the truck parked in the first and last picture.
The other site was a bit larger and fit the other
group better. For this site, the Scamp fit
perfectly though, so it worked out for the better.
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We
spent the Fourth of July at Wyalusing State Park in
Wisconsin this year. It was a little unusual
for us to be here at that time of the camping season. We
usually do not hit Wyalusing until late fall, as the
early winter storm pictures from last year will
show. We usually try to reserve campsites with
electricity for the Fourth of July, as well as most
of July and August, since this time of year it is
pretty warm. This year we were
fortunate enough that the weather was very
comfortable and did not require the use of the air
conditioner; however, we still needed to use the
screen tent for the small bugs and for a bit of
shade. I have been thinking about the awnings
that come with the Scamp, and from time to time I do
regret not having one. I would suggest that if
you are on the fence about getting an awning, just
do it and you will not be disappointed. I
still may have them put on on, or order it myself
and put it on.
Also, something else we will be adding is a receiver
hitch for our bike rack. If you have your
Scamp at the manufactures, have them install it
while it is there. While we are capable of
doing it ourselves, it would have been simpler to
just have them install it. I will show photos
of that project as it is completed.
You
may have noticed that I took a few more panoramic
shots of this site than previous sites. To explain why, I first
need to say that from time to time, we like to stop
and look at some of the larger campers at various RV
dealers. We are always awed by the size, the
comfort they provide, as well as the windows for
enjoying the various environments you may choose to
camp. However, we also realize that in order
to take full advantage of all of the features
provided with the larger units, you tend to have to
camp in places that are more accommodating to them, and may not get to enjoy the wonderful
view out of the larger windows. The campground
we stayed in for this trip, while is useable for
larger campers, it is more difficult to maneuver them
around on the smaller winding and rolling roads, harder to back
them into the campsites, and you may not have enough room
at the site to fit some of the slide-outs, and still
have room to enjoy the outside.
With
the Scamp, we are fortunate enough to fit into some
of these smaller, yet scenic sites. It is also
easier to pull the Scamp down some of the narrow
winding roads. And as you can see in the
photos above, we had quite a bit of room outside the
Scamp, had a bit more privacy, and truly
enjoyed the wonderful outdoors that nature provided.
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I
have not posted any pictures of the interior for a
while, but not a lot has changed since the last
ones. What I thought about doing was taking
some larger photos using the panoramic software that
I have been using. While the pictures above
came out pretty well, I am still struggling with
capturing larger pictures of the interior. I
tried to do a 360 degree shot as well, but I did not
have the proper tripod to get those images. I
have a plan to try to get it done, but that will
have to be done at a later date.
I
do want to take a little time and point out a couple
of things. First, the reason I was took a
couple of the sleeping area is because the view out
the window was really nice. I tried to capture
that in the photos, but the difference in the
interior and exterior lighting was making it
difficult. The end result did show a little of
what I wanted, and gives you a good idea of what the
sleeping area would be like. In the last of
the two pictures, you will notice that the floor
covering we have been using has changed. We
went with a long runner carpet and two pieces of
rubber: one larger piece of rubber for the front
door and a shorter one for the kitchen area.
The rubber helps to keep the water away from the
rest of the floor, and the carpeted runner is easier
to dry and shake out, and it adheres to the floor
better and does not slip.
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This
was our first venture into Missouri's State Park
System. Weston Bend State Park, just north of
Kansas City, and a little east of Leavenworth,
Kansas, is a nice little park along the Missouri
river. As you can see, the Scamp fit in nicely
amongst the woods of North West Missouri. The
size of the trailer left plenty of space around the
campsite, though we did not get to utilize the site
as much as I would have liked. While it was
not necessarily as warm as I am used to, when
visiting Missouri in the summer time, it was a bit
clammy one day, and it was nice to have the AC to
take the humidity out of the air.
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The
picture above is of a little fun that I like to have
when camping. I have shown pictures of the
flag setup in the past, but I have decided to add an
additional flag to our site. When we are
camping out of state, I will fly the US Flag, our
state flag of Iowa, as well as the flag of the state
we are visiting. The state flag of Missouri,
on the right, is the first to be flown. I will
add pictures of the other state flags as I fly them.
Just a note about the order of precedence, the US
Flag is in the middle because that is the highest
point in the holder. Flag precedence states
that the US Flag will be to the left of the
presenter, or in this case the camper, and/or the
highest position on the left of the presenter.
The Iowa flag is the second in line of precedence so
it is flown to the left of the US Flag and just a
little below, while the third in precedence is the
guest flag, Missouri, is flown to the right of the
US flag and at the same height as the Iowa Flag.
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This
was our trip out west to Yellowstone this fall.
It was a wonderful drive through the mountains to
Madison Campground in Yellowstone, and a nice place
to stay.
One thing I really liked about the campground was the variety of RVs and
trailers that passed through the park. We even saw a Scamp or
two as well.
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This
was the second camping trip that I got to use
another state flag. This one was Wyoming and
the symbol of the Bison was very relevant for the
state's flag. I should mention that something
that we saw very little of were people enhancing,
or decorating, their campsites this trip. That
really surprised us.
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Camping in Yellowstone gave us the opportunity to
see a quite a few more camping rigs that usual.
While there were normal RVs, 5th wheels, and travel
trailers, this campground also hosted a large number
of lightweight, small trailers as well. I do
not think I recall a campground where I saw so many
Casitas, Scamps, Escapes, and Tear Drop style
campers.
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Stopping by the Norris Geyser Basin on the way out,
we discovered another Scamp in the parking lot.
I could not resist the photo op.
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The
photos above are from our trip out of Yellowstone.
We left by way of the North East Gate, since we were
on our way to Hardin, Montana. It was a
wonderful drive and we were extremely, but
pleasantly, surprised by the road and the pass
through the mountains. Nearly 11,000 feet in
elevation by the time we headed down.
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Our
second, and last, campground of the trip, was Grand
View Campground in Hardin, Montana. The
unusual part of this campsite was that while in
Yellowstone, we did use the furnace a couple of
times in the morning to take the chill off.
But by the time we got set up here, we actually had
to use the air conditioner during the day as the
temperature reached ninety-five degrees. Not
what we expected for late September, early October
weather in Montana. But still a very nice
stay.
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I
would like to take an opportunity to plug some of
the national RV rental businesses. While we
have not used them, or looked into the process of
renting one, I still feel they are a wonderful way
to introduce people to RV camping, traveling, and
exploring. We do see quite a few of these rigs
on the road, and in the last few years, it seems as
if the number has grown. Although the ones you
see pictured here are RVs, there are companies that
do rent camping units from pop-up tent campers all
the way to full size travel trailers and RVs.
So if you are considering some form of camping RV or
trailer and are uncertain about the whole assortment
of features, this could be a good place to start.
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So
far, this is our last camping trip of the year at
Dolliver State Park in Iowa. If at all
possible, I would love to try and get one more in
for the year, but with the snow falling, as well as
the temperature, that may not be possible. One
thing I would like to point out in the photos is the
patio mat. Using one of those in the fall
makes raking the leaves out of the campsite much
easier.
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If you would like better quality copies of the photos, or would like more
information about places we have been, please feel free to contact us
at
Information@dampenedenthusiasts.com
or
russ@dampenedenthusiasts.com.
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