Our Rig

 Our little red pop-up hitched up for the first time.

Growing up our camping experiences were limited to boy scout and girl scout trips. I spent a week each summer in middle school at a religious sleep away camp (which was more about looking for cute boys than it was about religion or camping). For a long time I was a little fancy about vacationing and never left home without my hair straightener. We went "down the shore" for most vacations but as an adult I began to lose interest in the shore- the crowds and traffic are not for me.

About ten years back my husbands family started renting a fully equipped home on a local campground one weekend in October each year. This "camping" weekend is always highly anticipated. It became a fun to time make memories with the family. Who can resist pumpkin carving contests, pie eating contests, site decorating contests, and costume contests. Oh. I forgot to mention- the family has a competitive streak. We love to win- anything. My husband and I wanted more. Once we had the kids and saw what campgrounds had to offer we knew this would be a great option for vacationing.

                                          Our first annual pie iron creation contest at the rental.

My husband and I started to ease into things. We rented cabins at several local campgrounds. We spent time walking the grounds and admiring all of the great set ups and camping options. We trolled the internet for other campgrounds with cabins and fun activities for the kids. We started thinking about really doing this "for real." 

A pop-up seemed like a good entry level camper for us. We rented a pop up in the spring to test it out and had a great time.We have a small SUV- a 2007 Honda CRV. We visited the camping show in Oaks, PA. We looked online. We trekked to a few showrooms. We had a big let down. Our CRV really couldn't tow the campers we were looking for. Once you added the weight of the humans and all of our gear it just wasn't going to happen.We were crushed!

Not wanting to give up the dream we considered purchasing a new car- but that idea was a bummer and didn't make much sense for us financially. The CRV is a fine car with no payments. We continued exploring for other options. We found it! A very light weight pop-up. The Livin Lite Quicksilver 10.0 www.livinlite.com. The Livin Lite was an incredible 1020 pounds. You could pull it with a Honda Civic. All aluminum, no wood that would rot or get stinky. This was it. The problem was FINDING one.

We located 3 QS 10's at a Camping World store in Hershey and took a trip out there to check them out. We figured if it was no good we could at least have some fun visiting Chocolate World. We climbed inside and it was a great little camper. We could see ourselves using it often. It was simple and well built. We hoped to drive away with it that day but Camping World (although they claimed they needed to sell it fast) was not willing to budge much on the price. My husband really does his homework and knew that they were selling for less elsewhere (when you factor in the fees, taxes, etc.).

Over the next few days we did more research and made some calls. While visiting Kutztown University (class of '99 and '01) we got the call we were waiting for. We sealed the deal while standing in front of the Golden Bear statue. It was meant to be. Our Rig was waiting for us to pick it up at Camping World in Berkeley, Massachusetts. A seven hour drive from home, but the price was right. We'd save enough money to make it worth the trip- a real adventure.

We took our son with us to Massachusetts the next weekend. From our part of PA we traveled up through New York and stopped in Mystic, Connecticut for some pizza. Yes, Mystic Pizza! What a great little town. We can't wait to get back there when we have more time to explore. We got to Camping World, hitched up our new baby and were off! We arranged to stay at a campground on the state line about an hour from Camping World to be sure there were no issues with our new camper. That hour drive was nerve-wracking since my husband had never towed anything much less with a CRV. We made it! We easily set up and enjoyed the new Rig that night. Driving home was looooong and painful.

                                               Set up for the first time in Rhode Island.

Rear of the camper.

I had some concerns about where we would park the QS 10 once we had it home. But my husband and his father were able to back it up our STEEP driveway and into a paved nook on the side. For the winter we will store it in the garage. It's not terribly noticeable in the driveway with the bushes and trees. Hopefully our neighbors don't mind so much.

 The camper in the driveway nook.

So far the QS 10 has been everything we hoped for. It is very easy to set up and breakdown. The space works for our family. Eventually the kids won't want to share a bed, but the dinette area turns into a bed when needed. It tows easily, the CRV does not appear to be straining in any way. We don't see a difference in miles per gallon of gas. There was a learning curve, especially for backing up with the Rig attached. My husband seems to have it all down now. Each time we take it out we come home with ideas for how to improve the experience. The Livin Lite campers are supposed to last a very long time and be very low maintenance. We would highly recommend this camper to anyone with a smaller/ fuel efficient vehicle. We can't wait to keep on exploring!

  

Christmas in July at Sun Valley Campground.

Set up at Lake In Wood Campground.