Urban Camping

[lostnot]

I am soo happy with my fwc!!! We have been camping in the camper in a parking lot in Anahiem this week while it rained and rained and rained. We were dry and warm while the wind blew and the rain no longer was pitter patter on the roof but the sound of a waterfall upon the roof. We even drove 5 miles with top up to the grocery store while the rain did it's thing.

Yeah, love my camper

 

[simimike]

Ha! I thought I was the only one that drove around with the top up. Welcome to the club.

mike

 

[John D]

Fellow campers laugh at me for using a parking garage to "urban camp". Put the top down for entry. Watch your hatch cover because it is the highest point. Once inside, find a place to pop up.

 

[mtn-high]

We're currently popped up in the driveway @ our house in Socorro, NM. (my son''s college pad)

Such trips were the reason we originally bought the FWC. After staying @ the Worst Western for a few nights on our first trip we knew we needed something different. Figuring in the $80 or so it costs per night to "hotel it" and seeing that my kid will be in school for 4-5 years made the 15K outlay for the FWC a no-brainer. Top that all off with the basic fact that hotels are a drag in more ways than one....and boom....new FWC!

It was a good decision being that we average about 20 nights a year popped up here...

In the end, "sub-division camping" is far better than no camping at all.

Wal-Mart is calling you.... Now go pop up!

be safe, all

mtn

 

[Hittheroad]

We also find the fwc isn't just for camping. During our first two years we have put-up over flow guests at the house or avoided hotels and motels. Net return on investment, ignoring the times we go camping, has been about 20% per year based on avoided hotel and restaurant bills. In short you can't afford not to have one.
We have also logged about 12 weeks camping over 2 years but I am not counting that in my 20% return.

 

[Barko1]

Last Fall on my way to Newfoundland we camped in a friends drive in the suburbs of Chicago. I had three dogs and did'nt want to lay that on a friend and these days not many motels want dogs much less three of them. It was strange in the cmper listening to the freeway traffic a miles or so away and the planes headed into O'Hare Sometimes being a driveway guest is better than being a house guest.

 

[craig333]

You aren't kidding. I was just a houseguest and would have much preferred sleeping in my camper. Hopefully this was the last time I have to leave my truck at home.

 

[lostnot]

You aren't kidding. I was just a houseguest and would have much preferred sleeping in my camper. Hopefully this was the last time I have to leave my truck at home.

 

[lostnot]

The very first place I used my camper was at the sale jan 1 at Fry's. Instead of sitting in chairs with blankets we just backed up to the line and spent the night.

Monday night we stayed at walmart in Cedar City Utah. There was another fwc on a ford 3/4. Must of been stealth camping or working there 'cause the top wasn't up nor did it move all night.

Another interesting thing, because of the rain in California I had some moisture that froze. It was a suprise when I lifted the top. I almost couldn't do it. On the plus side when I let the top down It didn't puff out so didn't have tuck the canvas in.

 

[Yukon]

Urbun camping indeed. Great stories. I camped in my Friends driveway this Christmas day (we stayed overnight) and just loved listening to the wind blow (friend lives on an Island in Washington's San Juan's). Also, when I came back from a big Alaska trip a couple of years ago we camped in a RV campground right in Seattle while I was doing job interviews in the big city. What a gas.

 

[KK7OQ]

Last summer, I was able to take a two hour nap in the mall parking lot while my wife was shopping!

 

[highz]

Not exactly urban camping, but related...

I bought my fwc for three reasons: 1) to go on camping/hiking/fishing/X-C skiing trips (the best reason, of course), 2) to get to my piece of 4WD-only property in the mountains, and 3) for work.

On my job, I often have to work nights - 14 to 16 hours at a stretch, and sleep during the day. I take my dog with me on those long shifts, but no dogs are allowed in the observatory dorms. The FWC has been a great solution to this problem. On weekdays, I drive down the road a short way to a USFS dispersed camping area to get away from dayshift noise. On weekends, when the staffing is minimal, I just pop up in the parking lot. Easy.

Now, I need to start using it more for reasons 1) and 2) and less for 3). I'm still working on that one.