Last fall Kirk and I decided to upgrade our camping trailer. We loved our trailer. We would take it up to our mountain property every spring, leave it, and camp all summer in seclusion and beauty. It was a tough decision but the trailer did not function as well for us as empty nesters with a little Sidekick Suki.

I had a list of things that I needed for our new Camp Needs!

1 – First and foremost, a walk around bed. Our old camp trailer had a bed that was placed in the corner. I hated making that bed. I would have to crawl across the top to tuck in the blankets. I wanted to be able to walk around the bed to tuck everything in with hospital corners.

2 – A slide out living area. Our camping trailer was very cramped when we had visitors so I wanted to have more space for when all 10 of our children came to visit us while we were camping. We could more easily squish them all into a trailer with a slide out living area.

3. More storage space. The camping trailer was fine but there were only 3 drawers and one cabinet for the kitchen. I love to cook and I need lots of stuff to cook with and it needs to be stored somewhere.

4. A place for Suki. Well, Suki actually fits just about anywhere. She loves camping!

So the hunt was on. Kirk’s criteria was that it had to be reasonably priced and make me happy. We looked at so many campers, trailers and motorhomes. Some were so beautiful but not reasonably priced. Others were reasonably priced and not so nice. Then one day I saw a motorhome with a little chandelier in it. I told Kirk that I really wanted to look at that one. We drove to Salt Lake to take a look at it. The motorhome had been sitting for a few years and was dusty and needed a good cleaning. It had a walk around bed, a slide out living area, lots of storage, and a place for Suki. And bonus, a cute little chandelier over the table.

We bought a 1996 Allegro Bay. Sure it is old. Sure the outside is a little faded. But it was reasonably priced and had all the necessities we needed. Now it is so nice. We cleaned it, gave it a good tune up, and now that old motorhome is our favorite get in and go vehicle.

Here is my favorite part of the whole deal! There are 2 old televisions hooked up to an old VCR. Now I can watch all my old favorite movies while I am camping. If I feel like getting a new old movie I can usually pick them up at thrift stores for under a buck. Sweet!