Hello, everyone. We are looking for reader feedback on your plans for getting away this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic. We realize that certain parts of the country have been hit harder by the virus than others, but some, more rural areas have hardly been hit at all. Are you planning on getting away in your truck camper this summer? If you are, where? And what type of camping and exploring are you planning to do? This feedback will be used in an article we are in the process of writing about truck camping (and RV’ing in general) amidst the outbreak. We are planning to quote several responses in our article. Please provide your responses either here in the comments section below or via email to tcadventuremag@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Mike
Great write ups Mike! Your site is my “virtual escape” for the time being. Love to read about campers stories and their travels. Our State is still under lockdown. Just can’t wait until this pandemic thing is over and done with! You’ve listed some interesting gadgets/gear on your site I sure would like to try out as well, once I’m camping!! Stay safe and safe travels wherever the roads may take you.
Great write ups Mike! Your site is my “virtual escape” for the time being. Love to read about campers stories and their travels. Just can’t wait until this pandemic thing is over and done with! You’ve listed some interesting gadgets/gear on your site I sure would like to try out as well, once I’m camping!! Stay safe and safe travels wherever the roads may take you.
This has been a crazy spring for us. We have lots of travel plans beginning with 10 days in St. Augustine in the state park waiting for it to warm in the West. Then Florida closed their state parks and refunded our deposit.
Next up while heading home to Tennessee we had reservations at Myrtle Beach where we were going to check on the fifth wheel we keep there. Bingo, the campground is closed and our money is refunded.
From there we were going to be heading West about now and wander until mid-July before heading to Minnesota for a wedding in the family. Now that is up in the air also.
So we have done some house remodeling and along the way I designed a mount of the 28″ flat screen we installed in the bedroom and rewired our Northstar so the battery disconnect is now right inside the door rather than on the dinette seat. I have a new thermostat coming for the furnace next week to hopefully improve on the original equipment.
For now we are treading water waiting to see how things settle.
For us, this year has been a challenge. Our original plan was to visit the state park in Anastasia, Florida while we waited for it to warm up out West. We really like the Old Town there. Then Florida closed the state parks and cancelled our reservation.
Our next intended stop was 10 days at Myrtle Beach, S.C. to check on a fifth wheel we keep there, before heading West on May 15th. Then the state closed that and the campground cancelled our reservation.
We are now treading water, trying to decide what’s next. We were going to wander until mid-July and then head to see family in Minnesota for a wedding, but that is now up in the air.
To pass the time, we did some house remodeling and I designed a mount for a 28″ flat screen in our Northstar and did some rewiring so we now have a battery disconnect switch right inside the door rather than on the dinette. This morning I am planning the garage for our Northstar and truck.
We’re still up in the air about heading West. We find it more challenging to get away from everyone here in the Tennessee.
Steve, I live in Debary Florida and the state is opening quickly. Of course the media is all over Orange county because that’s where the hardest hit area was. But the rest of the state is opening! Today is 5/17 I did get an email from the park we stop at in Ft Meyers and it said that they are open and the city is slowly opening as well. Just passing on some local info.
Joe
Hi Mike,
Beginning in June, the wife and I plan to “boondock” our way across northern New Mexico and Arizona into the eastern Sierra Nevada/White Mountains region. Planning on a trip of 6-7 weeks, some of which includes a couple of backpacking trips of short duration (4 days) into the High Sierra. We have a Hallmark Cuchara, an F-350, and we boondock almost exclusively. Will keep tabs on potential restrictions as our departure date nears.
Mike,
Rita and I were fortunate enough to enjoy the Truck Camper Adventure Rally in February and a fantastic trip to Death Valley in March just before the novel coronavirus affected all of us. We have already canceled two planned camping trips. We had planned one trip to the eastern Sierra’s (Lone Pine area) and another extensive camping trip to the Northern Arizona, Southern Utah and Four Corners areas.
When conditions stabilize, we look forward to rescheduling the trips. In the meantime, we may schedule short trips where we can remotely camp without the need to resupply on the road.
Thanks for providing this forum. We’ll use some of our downtime reading TCA.
I’ll be trailering a gyroplane behind my truck camper. I plan to sight see the places I grew up all through southern Missouri. The camper is my mobile home base. I hope to expand my tour given enough time.
We usually go camping/exploring for 3-5 weeks in the spring and fall. This spring we are staying put on our rural acreage landscaping and vegetable gardening. We have nearby trails to hike, also.
We had considered venturing out for several short midweek trips into the North Cascades but the Seattle hordes will probably have the same idea so we may stay put.
What we will do this fall is debatable depending on government edicts. We were planning an Idaho, Northern Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana to rockhound, hike, explore for 6-7 weeks. We were in Montana and Wyoming last fall for 7 weeks and want to return. The places we visit are remote and we usually disperse camp. The only problem would be getting groceries and fuel and one stop to dump our black tank and refill our fresh water tank. If we stopped at larger towns for groceries and smaller ones for fuel, it may work. We will of course, bring sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, and our own tp.
Our ¾ truck with Hallmark pop up truck camper is self-contained. We have 400 watts of solar and two lithium ion batteries to power us up for weeks at a time. The groceries we bring from home would last us at least a week or more.
We are hoping to do this fall trip as we are not getting any younger.
Last year I didn’t get away because I was rebuilding the landing gear from my camper. Not a DIY job unless you have a machine shop. In late fall I discovered I had a water leak so off came the bottom.I wasn’t able to go south due to repairs needed. The fridge needed some attention as well. I also discovered a pile of unknown “furry” sludge debris in my water tank so it has to be removed for adventurous exploration. Yesterday we had some light snow flurries and when I awoke there was frost all over the place and the flowers that I do have coming up are now wilted. Welcome to a non existent spring and another 2 months of winter. Screw Canada. I might be able to get the problems associated with my rig fixed and have a couple of weeks available to drive around the block due to this yet another dreaded disease that originates in Communist China. By the way …..They are laughing their asses of f at the west while they take over the world without firing a shot.
We plan on camping in our home state of Montana only this year do to the virus. Montana has a 14 day quarantine order for visitors to the state. We hope everyone will stay safe in their own states this year and not pass the virus on by visiting other areas.
Hi there. Do you know how long the quarantine will be in effect? How is it implemented? We were planning a trip to rockhound along the Yellowstone in September. Thank-you.
Good day all , Well we have been loading up the camper and trailer for a couple days now and going to head out this am for a 3-4 hr road trip into the mountains south/west of us here. Here being Edmonton Alberta . It looks like it might rain and/or snow but whatever, thats all part of it. First trip for the new pup as well.
We have a ram diesel dually and a lance 855, pull a flat deck with a ranger we use to ride about the many trails and see all sorts of wonderful things, being spring should be some bears out and some big cats.
No big plans for the season just our usual stay in our comfort zone sorta close to home (3-6hrs that is)just to get out ans away and enjoy our beautiful country
Anyways stay safe and have fun out there
For many years we have made a trip to the great plains in the Spring and early Summer to shoot Varmints and travel. We just replaced or 2006 truck(185,000 miles+) with a new Chevy 2500HD; we put our old reliable and well travelled 2006 Pastime 850 on it. We have linked up with a couple of groups of shooting buddies each year; they normally motel it; we stay in our truck camper. The trips usually span 4-7 weeks including other travel to see the country and visit friends in WY and ID.
This year, and the time is closing in, we plan to travel west as usual, but since our pals are not travelling our plan is to head out into the prairie and spend much of our time alone with just the Heeler dog as company. It’s pretty easy to avoid folks with the truck camper as a mobile base; we can spend up to 7-9 days boondocking without re-supply if we’re careful with water management.
We normally travel later in the year with the better half but this year may be different and then again, maybe not. We’ll see.
We made plans last fall to explore New Mexico this spring. We had planned on spending at a minimum, April and May there. Obviously, those plans have been put on hold. We had also planned on attending the Moto America Superbike race scheduled for August at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event coincides with a planned 40 year reunion of a race team I used to be a part of. It’s a large group with people coming from GB and Europe so that event may also be cancelled. We made reservations for a campsite at the track just outside one of the main gates.
However, due to the regular motorsport race cancellations, the Indy 500 has been rescheduled for that August weekend and the bike race moved back until October. While we find that agreeable, it does diminish our ability to plan a NM trip in the fall.
Planning aside, we have no desire to be amongst the throngs of releasees unless the health data is secure and verified. We have no problems kicking back and waiting till next spring if we have to. If it’s safe to camp in the fall, we do have local National Forests with campgrounds and waterfalls roughly an hour away so weekday trips of 3 or 4 days may be in our future.
Here in north Georgia, there is very little “public land” with almost no opportunity to get away “in the boonies”.
We are staying here until fall as we avoid summer anyway. We are also in the Sierras, near Yosemite. We had zero cases until a few weeks ago when a lady decided to go out of county and bring the virus back infecting her husband,daughter,Grand kids then neighbors, for a grand total of 15.
We are planning Utah parks and monuments, and some backroads.
Well we did have our next adventure planned to start in late July. We were going from MA out to My Rushmore, then Yellowstone. After that we hoped to work our way down to the Grand Canyon. However given all that is going on, we have cancelled the trip. We have seen how too many people flock to outdoor spaces now and are afraid the national parks will be overrun this summer.
We will be camping in British Columbia and maybe the Yukon in early fall, as we live here no border to cross, I think as long as the virus is with us we should all stay and spend our money in our own country.
We have (had) big plans for a 3 month trip to Alaska from Virginia. We were originally suppose to leave tomorrow (5/15) but with the US/Canadian border closed we are in a wait and see situation. They are scheduled to update the status next week and if they open the border we will go. Having our Hallmark camper allows us the freedom to “social distance” in very remote places without interacting with people for at least a week at a time.
If we can’t go this summer we will try and go to Utah this fall if possible.
I was scheduled to ship my overland vehicle out of Galveston, TX to Cartagena, Colombia to start a 1-2 year expedition through South America. It is fortunate that I was still home when the world changed. At this point, I’m thinking South America is at least a year off, so I’m thinking about some other kind of trip in my small or large rig. I would like to tour northern Canada and Alaska (again), perhaps wintering in Arizona BLM areas. The Canadian border is closed, so it’s not knowable whether my plans are viable. At the very least, I’ll find a place up near the Canadian border near Glacier NP or thereabouts to endure the summer heat.
I’m heading to the Hells Canyon area to hang out with grandkids in my 4×4 3500 Laramie Longhorn with 920 NuCamp rigged out to the hilt. I’m staying in Boise, ID for couple of weeks then head to the high country for a bit for a quick trip to see my brother in Cutbank, MT, then back to swamps and beaches of coastal Alabama where I live. Was planning a 3 month road trip, but that got cut back to 3 weeks. I’m new to the RV world, so everywhere I take my rig is an adventure! LOL!
All Cheeseheads are NOT alike.
Truck camping for us seems to be a great way to “socially distance” while still doing what we love…..that and fishing. We read a lot of great stories about the south west and serious boondocking some of you folks do in desert and mountain areas. Looks fun! Our geography is a bit different up here in the Great Lakes area of the US. One of the reasons we bought our 1st truck camper about 4 years ago is that we can pull a boat. We also have a pretty long 5th wheel that we mainly use to snowbird in Florida in the winter, but it is too long to pull a boat, and we also can’t get the 5th wheel into most of the campgrounds we love to go to and fish in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. The snow has finally left us and we are heading out for our first truck camping and fishing trip of the season next week. The campground is open and the crappies are biting!
Stay Safe Everybody
Mark and Gayle
“Cheesehead”
2019 Northstar 8.5 Adventurer
2018 Ram 3500 6.7 Cummins Diesel
Going to spend as much time as I can in the Florida keys. It used to take me three days to get there now only 7 hours. The hotter the better! Florida is opening back up quickly so I’m thinking a June 15th start up travel date. I can’t wait… My Lance is already packed and ready. LOL
Thanks, Joe
Our county, Nevada County CA, not in Nevada, has been one of the seven rural counties to open in California. Nevada County has had a reported 41 cases of the Wohan Virus with 40 full recoveries and one death of an 80 year old with vulnerabilities. What are our plans for the summer? Normally we don’t do TC-ing in the summer, but this year may be the exception. We’ve already been out for short 2-3 day camps and since we are retired, we will let the landscape of the Virus dictate our plans. Whatever transpires in the next few months will be taken advantage of in our normal, “swim upstream when everyone else is swimming downstream” paradigm of travel. Our off-road truck camper allows us even more opportunities for remote travel. We are so lucky to live on acreage on the West Slope Northern Sierra Nevadas. jefe
Jefe, We are in a similar situation. Our county Volusia Florida was not greatly affected by the the Virus. They closed the tourist traps to the east for obvious reasons but very little else changed beside the stay at home order. Restaurants were doing takeout and such but most people worked from home. I say this because I think I did more fishing in the last month than ever before. No one and I mean no one was on the river or lake, St Johns and lake Monroe, Now it’s packed. I did notice the campgrounds stayed fairly full on the coast though but I chose to stay put to feel out the virus. The smaller campgrounds on the ICW saw the usual traffic but the so called resorts were empty. Take into account this info is from me driving by in my truck. All of this virus stuff has gotten old to me and I’ve tuned out. Anyway, I thought I’d reply and say hi.
Thanks, Joe
Us older folks in northern Wisconsin do not want people coming here. Our counties have publicly stated that if you come and need medical attention for Covid-19, don’t count on our few-and-far-between hospitals to be able to take care of you. For ourselves, we have local acreage and we will spend some time there. For everyone, become acquainted with the nearly-dozen symptoms of Covid-19, and use your fever thermometer and pulse oximeter regularly. Wear a mask to PROTECT OTHERS because you won’t know that you are contagious until you’ve exposed everyone you’ve been in contact with for the previous week or more.
Thanks for the useless information that has nothing to do with truck camping.
Anonymous, I’m not quite sure who your caustic comment is aimed at. If it’s us older folks, take a hike and get it off your chest. If it is aimed at Mike, he’s doing a fine job with the best, most informative Truck Camper site around. Until your comment TCA has been known for a smooth and fraternal operating style. I do hope you have a better day.
jefe
Definitely not aimed at Mike as it was clearly a reply about the poster who told readers not to come to HER state. As stated before her post has nothing to do with the question asked by Mike for truck campers but a rather lengthy diatribe about the VIRUS which we can get info on from any news outlet or press conference. I will have a great day!!
Thanks, Cheryl.
Mike,
The last four years I have focused my travel on a few National Park trips per year and either camping in the parks or just outside. Usually the parks are busy but manageable but I think this year the parks are going to have a tough time transitioning and balancing crowds which may lead to openings and then closings or restrictions that make a trip hard to plan. This year my trip frequency and travel distances will not be impacted but I will be seeking out lesser known locations that still offer the views I crave, opportunities to relax and hike. It’s great to have an RV that allows me to be flexible when making plans and doesn’t limit my choices.
Thanks, Bob.