Remember our beloved Beatrice? We introduced her last fall on our previous blog in this post. We had such beautiful dreams for her…remodeling the inside and decorating with vintage Lake Superior decor, painting her exterior powder blue, and pulling her to picturesque camping locations throughout the north. It was something I had dreamed of doing for years, and I was thrilled when we found her for dirt cheap on craigslist.
Alas, our lovely Beatrice was not to be. She sat in storage throughout the long winter and her work was to began in mid-spring. However, when the RV experts had a good look at her, they came back with two options. The first was to rebuild the roof and multiple other parts, with a price take of many thousands of dollars. The other option? Let her rest. In the end, we found a nice home for her with a gentleman who will be using her as a hunting shack. It took me a while to part with the idea of remodeling her. I had pretty fantastic plans and imagined us pulling into a campground and being the talk of the place. We’d roll out our stripped awning and set out our chairs under a string of bare lights. Honestly, letting go of her hurt.
Even with the change of plans, we didn’t want to give up the idea of camping altogether, so we searched craigslist again, and found a perfect little pop-up camper in Minneapolis that fits us beautifully. And guess what? She doesn’t need any work. We immediately brought her home, set her up in the driveway, and camped our first night in her. A week later, we tried her out for real at a wooded, quiet campground only about 30 minutes from home. This little guy has decided he likes camping!
Ella has loved camping, too, introducing herself to every person around us. This girl is all about new adventures.
Camping food always tastes amazing. We did all our cooking on our stove that can be inside or outside. We opted for outside. Maybe that’s what makes it taste so good.
Ella is really into games since turning five, which is a lovely fit for camping. High Ho Cherry-O, anyone?
Her daddy is already teaching her the ways of fire. Look out.
Did I mention that Ella insisted on naming this camper Beatrice as well? She was quite disappointed about not getting to paint this camper, as we had told her we would do with the first Beatrice. After listening to her sadness, I gently asked if she would like to keep the name for the new camper. That somehow made everything okay. And now, after taking Beatrice and Ella on an in-the-woods camping trip, the two have bonded beautifully.
We’ll be out with Beatrice again next week, and this time, we’ll be camping alongside Grandma & Grandpa Scott! We can’t wait!
I would have named the (smaller) pop-up “ramona” but that’s just me (have you read her those books yet?! Also, your son in the bed of the camper = adorable!
We haven’t done Ramona yet, but now we will! Thanks, Katie!
What fun it is to read about your experiences with Beatrice II and look at all the great pics you posted!! Beatrice looks just like the camper we had who, alas, was a “no name” camper. 😉 We used our stove outside most of the time which helped to keep the camper cool inside, but it was nice to have the option of bringing it in to use when it would rain. It’s great to see the newest generation of our family enjoying camping experiences. You are going to have such fun!!