Congrats on the 3rd!
We also have 3 kids 10,7,5. We almost always been tent campers. But man does that beget a ton of gear...big tent, bedding, chairs, coolers, clothes. I resorted to hauling stuff in our yard trailer....
We started our youngest camping in the NC mountains when she was about 5 months old.
We have a large oval cabelas heavy duty guide tent. I got soaked at a Land Rover rally once, and swore never to have a inadequate tent again...
It came in handy at Expo East this past year when it was cold and rainy during the tropical storm....
The couple camping beside us had a Fleetwood Evo1. It is more robust than the average pop up (metal sided, and lifted)
A funny story....sat in the tent at 3:00am listening to the intense rain and decided I wanted a pop up. We had driven from Wilmington to Asheville already; I bought a EVO1 camper that night off ebay. Drove back another 5 hours toward home and dropped off the kids and dog. Drove from NC to Boaz Alabama thru the night; during the storm winds and rain.
My wife and I met the guy Sunday to buy the EVO1 and drove the camper back to Wilmington....but had to detour to Charlotte as South Carolina was flooded....
So, our next trio was the fall.... we went back to the NC mountains in the pop-up......
My experience was that 5 people in the camper wasn't perfect either....it still didn't have a head or shower still; The heater didn't work in the mountains and it was friggin cold without it. We tried to go electric heater and electric blankets, but it kept blowing fuses in the house we were getting power from.... I had a hard time getting the kids to settle down vs a tent....not sure why; but that might have just been one to many smores.... It just seemed louder vs a tent....I know that sounds silly to say, but getting 3 kids to sleep and then having to shut a metal door in a tin can makes a good bit of noise and tended to awaken the kids....
I got into a home renovation and sold the camper to help fund things; and also the storage of the camper wasn't fully thought thru. I about 8 years ago I had a old 1967 Shasta camper that I left at the river at our farm; once the mice take it over, it is never the same.... I didn't want the popup in the yard and our new house has a smaller garage.....
I conclude in each system has its drawbacks
I am building a expedition/travel trailer at the moment....I will use it to haul the tent etc and will borrow a RTT from a friend and see how that goes...
I am thinking of RTT for my wife and I; and rigged the inside of the trailer for the kids to sleep in it. Its a M101a1 so its a bit wider than a m416...
or put them or some of them in the annex is an option....
or you can just get a motel...lol
We also have 3 kids 10,7,5. We almost always been tent campers. But man does that beget a ton of gear...big tent, bedding, chairs, coolers, clothes. I resorted to hauling stuff in our yard trailer....
We started our youngest camping in the NC mountains when she was about 5 months old.
We have a large oval cabelas heavy duty guide tent. I got soaked at a Land Rover rally once, and swore never to have a inadequate tent again...
It came in handy at Expo East this past year when it was cold and rainy during the tropical storm....
The couple camping beside us had a Fleetwood Evo1. It is more robust than the average pop up (metal sided, and lifted)
A funny story....sat in the tent at 3:00am listening to the intense rain and decided I wanted a pop up. We had driven from Wilmington to Asheville already; I bought a EVO1 camper that night off ebay. Drove back another 5 hours toward home and dropped off the kids and dog. Drove from NC to Boaz Alabama thru the night; during the storm winds and rain.
My wife and I met the guy Sunday to buy the EVO1 and drove the camper back to Wilmington....but had to detour to Charlotte as South Carolina was flooded....
So, our next trio was the fall.... we went back to the NC mountains in the pop-up......
My experience was that 5 people in the camper wasn't perfect either....it still didn't have a head or shower still; The heater didn't work in the mountains and it was friggin cold without it. We tried to go electric heater and electric blankets, but it kept blowing fuses in the house we were getting power from.... I had a hard time getting the kids to settle down vs a tent....not sure why; but that might have just been one to many smores.... It just seemed louder vs a tent....I know that sounds silly to say, but getting 3 kids to sleep and then having to shut a metal door in a tin can makes a good bit of noise and tended to awaken the kids....
I got into a home renovation and sold the camper to help fund things; and also the storage of the camper wasn't fully thought thru. I about 8 years ago I had a old 1967 Shasta camper that I left at the river at our farm; once the mice take it over, it is never the same.... I didn't want the popup in the yard and our new house has a smaller garage.....
I conclude in each system has its drawbacks
I am building a expedition/travel trailer at the moment....I will use it to haul the tent etc and will borrow a RTT from a friend and see how that goes...
I am thinking of RTT for my wife and I; and rigged the inside of the trailer for the kids to sleep in it. Its a M101a1 so its a bit wider than a m416...
or put them or some of them in the annex is an option....
or you can just get a motel...lol
