What a fun assignment, taking a look back through the history of RV’ing. We’ve taken literary license to take you through that history based on our personal experiences.
We were both so fortunate to begin the camping lifestyle as children. Sue began with a homemade “sleeping bag”, a folded sheet and blanket stitched along the bottom and long side, sleeping on the hard ground, under the stars, along the side of the highway, on a sand bar by the Mississippi River, or wherever Dad thought would be a pretty setting. Facilities were the farthest bush or shrub-line. The evening meal might be trout caught on the nearby stream served with local blackberries picked alongside that same stream after making sufficient noise to scare off any snakes who also savored the sweetness of the berries. Meal clean-up and baths were with water hauled up from that same stream. Did I mention that my family did mostly winter camping?
As we got older, the family graduated to more modern forms of camping. The uninsulated Ford Econoline van with not so fond memories of waking up to icicles dangling from the ceiling as the moisture from the family’s breathing condensed and froze above us as we slept through the night in the higher elevations of Colorado without any heat in the van. The bed was a double mattress supported by black pipe fittings and a sheet of plywood. Below the bed were four large homemade plywood boxes which held the supplies needed by a family of four on a six-week excursion. Next came memories of a large tent. The stakes were never considered important enough to bring, after all, there were four of us, one to lay in each corner through the night to hold the tent securely to the ground during gale force winds at the Gulf.
Later I have memories of Dad bringing home the “camper’s Cadillac”—a soft side pop-up trailer. We actually had a water hose that would connect to the outside of the trailer to feed water to the tiny sink inside. At the time, the biggest drawback was that it smelled of old musty, wet canvas all the time. The family’s next upgrade was to the hard-side pop-up trailer, what an awful jig-saw puzzle to set up in the wind, but it had a sink with running water and a bag commode for those emergency calls in the middle of the night. The next better mouse-trap to appear on our doorstep was a crank-up hard side trailer, which, when going down the road, looked similar to a soft-sided pop-up. But once at the camp site, you would spend valuable play time cranking a ship-size wheel to raise the top half of the camper into the locked position over the lower half. This camper had the kitchen sink but also had a dormitory room size refrigerator which ran off a small 12v battery on the trailer. Dad rigged up a charging wire from the van to keep that battery charged while we drove down the road.
When Dad brought home our first hard side/ straight side trailer with kitchen and bathroom sinks, a “shower”, and a push peddle flush toilet, fresh, grey, and black water holding tanks, we thought we’d died and gone to camper heaven. So much nicer dumping holding tanks than a bag commode! I can remember Dad’s instructions as he taught my sister and I how to maneuver the van and trailer in the tight quarters of the gas stations.
Of course, my folks saved the best for last. Once my sister and I were in college, Dad brought home their first Class A gas motorhome, a 1970s something Windjammer. After several gassers, my truck driving Dad finally fulfilled his dream and brought home their first of many diesel motorhomes, complete with air brakes, air ride, air horn, separate living and sleeping rooms, a fully functioning kitchen with dining room seating, solid wood cabinets, queen size bed, closets, bathroom vanity with a mirror, shower with a seat, and more storage down below than he ever thought he could fill.
Jerry’s story is much the same, beginning with camping in sleeping bags and tents mostly in state parks, 4-H and church camps. His family thought they’d hit the big time when they bought a cab-over pickup camper, with a sink, an icebox…complete with a block of ice, and a self-contained commode. Of course, there wasn’t enough room in that pickup camper for everyone, so the kids still got to sleep outside on the ground. Jerry’s dad didn’t feel compelled to bring home quite as many camping upgrades as mine, the pickup camper was the ultimate experience for his family.
The years passed, Jerry and I found each other and began our lives of exploration, adventure, and travel together in 1988 (just three years after the formation of the Newmar Kountry Klub). We mimicked both of our families, beginning with a two-man pup tent in the freezing rain at Yosemite, cooking on a white gas Coleman stove. In 1993, we bought a used 30-foot tag trailer, what an upgrade! We purchased our first 34 foot Class A diesel pusher in 1996. Opening a window would leave knuckles bloody, the cabinets were not designed for anyone over 5 foot 5 to wash dishes at the kitchen sink. It was hopelessly underpowered, undercooled, and had no auxiliary braking system and no slideouts. But it had all the comforts of home. 2004 was our second Class A diesel, this time we graduated up to 36 feet with plenty of power, cooling, and braking, and this one had two slides. No more bloody knuckles to open windows. 2011 was wash, rinse, repeat, just with 40 feet and four slides. In 2018, we died and went to “camper heaven” when we purchased our 2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4369. Even with all our camping and RV experience, we realized how much more we had to learn. The Newmar was so much more technologically advanced, higher quality, with systems that we hadn’t experienced in any of our other motorhomes.
I wonder how our Dads would react seeing the beautiful Newmar Dutch Star we have now. Even before coming into the coach, they would be impressed with the amount of storage in the bays. The thoughtfulness of design that the pump is protected from freezing in a heated bay, the size of the holding tanks, a pump switch in the water bay, macerators. They would drool at the horsepower of the diesel engine, the stopping power of the air brakes and auxiliary braking system, let alone the size of the fuel tank (Dad was renowned for running out of fuel—even on his KW with dual saddle tanks!) Our Moms would admire the quality of the interior cabinetry, the functionality of the kitchen, and what’s this, a bath and a half?
We’ve been fortunate enough to have our coaches to 47 states (VT, ME yet to go, ok…we won’t get the coach to HI), Canada, and Mexico and most points in between. Every time we leave home, we continue to marvel at the many glorious sights, cultures, and the diversity our continent offers.
We feel privileged that we are able to share some of our experiences travelling and exploring with others in the Newmar family. While looking back through our history provides us with fond memories and warm feelings, we look to the future for the many adventures, experiences, and friendships still to come on the road ahead.
We wish you safe travels and look forward to seeing you on the road ahead. You can reach us at sargabrite90@outlook.com or 678-986-7122.
