It was Barking Spider’s fault.
We bought our FWC Hawk new in 2003. We always camped but the amount of camping increased several fold with the convenience of our camper. Because of it, we discovered Wander the West. Because of Wander the West, we have made many new friends. Not just acquaintances, good friends.
Like most FWC owners, we made a number of modifications over the years. We recently got the camper to what we considered complete. From here on out we would have no camper projects, just fun times in it. The last thing on our mind was to get rid of it.
We went camping for a beautiful weekend at Salt Point with the Barking Spiders. We enjoyed some fishing, hiking on the coast, watching big surf, and sharing wine in their camper. Their camper that he had just converted from a couch to a side dinette. We liked sitting by the window as opposed to having our back to the window when on our couch.
“It is easy” he said, “It only took me three days. You can do it.”
Yes, but we would still have the small water tank, the low top over the bed, the older heater that is noisy and less efficient – all those things the new campers had that we could not mod on ours.
“Well then” he said, “You’ll just have to start over. You can sell yours for almost what you paid for it. Get a new one.”
We have watched with amazement how much our campers sell for used and knew he was right about selling it for a good price. And I had read the recent thread about camper financing where rayct77 mentioned refying a vehicle for a loan. Never heard about that before. Mrs. Ted and I drove home from camping discussing the idea. We talked to Stan and Mike at FWC and they patiently answered our questions over a couple of weeks. We talked to our credit union.
That was two months ago. We were actually a little emotional as we watched our 2003 go down the road with it’s new owners. But our 2014 new baby is home. We got another Hawk. Options include new legs, solar plug on top, the 110 liter fridge, furnace, powered roof vent, front opening window, awning, Yakima tracks, rear wall steps, exterior down lights, auxiliary battery system with two batteries, gas strut roof assists (more on this later), side dinette, and outside shower (without the water heater).
The very first modification. Knew I have been saving that sticker for years for a reason.
Some of the things we really like about the new camper:
The new cabinet layout – heater no longer located below the fridge. Doors as opposed to the sliders that FWC used to use (I hated those). We are able to use the stove while the bed is still set up (I usually get up before Mrs. Ted). And three drawers instead of one.
Notice the extra bed cushions can stay on the bed even when the top comes down. And there is room for our bedding. This was a huge plus for us. Before we always had to break down our sleeping area before dropping the top. On multi-day/multi-location trips or when getting up early to go see wolves in Yellowstone this was a time consuming PITA. Plus storing the cushions, sleeping bags, and pillows took a lot of space. Now we can leave all of that up top saving us time and storage space.
We bought our FWC Hawk new in 2003. We always camped but the amount of camping increased several fold with the convenience of our camper. Because of it, we discovered Wander the West. Because of Wander the West, we have made many new friends. Not just acquaintances, good friends.
Like most FWC owners, we made a number of modifications over the years. We recently got the camper to what we considered complete. From here on out we would have no camper projects, just fun times in it. The last thing on our mind was to get rid of it.
We went camping for a beautiful weekend at Salt Point with the Barking Spiders. We enjoyed some fishing, hiking on the coast, watching big surf, and sharing wine in their camper. Their camper that he had just converted from a couch to a side dinette. We liked sitting by the window as opposed to having our back to the window when on our couch.
“It is easy” he said, “It only took me three days. You can do it.”
Yes, but we would still have the small water tank, the low top over the bed, the older heater that is noisy and less efficient – all those things the new campers had that we could not mod on ours.
“Well then” he said, “You’ll just have to start over. You can sell yours for almost what you paid for it. Get a new one.”
We have watched with amazement how much our campers sell for used and knew he was right about selling it for a good price. And I had read the recent thread about camper financing where rayct77 mentioned refying a vehicle for a loan. Never heard about that before. Mrs. Ted and I drove home from camping discussing the idea. We talked to Stan and Mike at FWC and they patiently answered our questions over a couple of weeks. We talked to our credit union.
That was two months ago. We were actually a little emotional as we watched our 2003 go down the road with it’s new owners. But our 2014 new baby is home. We got another Hawk. Options include new legs, solar plug on top, the 110 liter fridge, furnace, powered roof vent, front opening window, awning, Yakima tracks, rear wall steps, exterior down lights, auxiliary battery system with two batteries, gas strut roof assists (more on this later), side dinette, and outside shower (without the water heater).
The very first modification. Knew I have been saving that sticker for years for a reason.
Some of the things we really like about the new camper:
The new cabinet layout – heater no longer located below the fridge. Doors as opposed to the sliders that FWC used to use (I hated those). We are able to use the stove while the bed is still set up (I usually get up before Mrs. Ted). And three drawers instead of one.
Notice the extra bed cushions can stay on the bed even when the top comes down. And there is room for our bedding. This was a huge plus for us. Before we always had to break down our sleeping area before dropping the top. On multi-day/multi-location trips or when getting up early to go see wolves in Yellowstone this was a time consuming PITA. Plus storing the cushions, sleeping bags, and pillows took a lot of space. Now we can leave all of that up top saving us time and storage space.
