Faith-manor Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) I have scheduled my first solo. Due to cold, I will be sleeping inside my Equinox. Dh will be out of town October 7-13. Parent's weekend at our rising senior's college campus is Oct 8, 9, 10. I am going for the 8th and 9th to do a lot of fun things with ds, and then checking out of my hotel (decided to stay in one with a nice indoor pool and do some lap swimming before bed time), and driving to Porcupine Mountain State Wilderness Park to camp for three nights. All.by.myself. And hike to the overlook. Due to my ankle being somewhat weak in cold weather, I won't be taking any trails that are more than two miles from camp and will report my hikes to the ranger on duty. Thanks, Ottakee!!! Edited June 16, 2021 by Faith-manor 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) You be careful! (And have fun.) Edited June 16, 2021 by MercyA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Have a great time. It sounds like it will be a wonderful 2 days of solitude! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Faith-manor said: I have scheduled my first solo. Due to cold, I will be sleeping inside my Equinox. Dh will be out of town October 7-13. Parent's weekend at our rising senior's college campus is Oct 8, 9, 10. I am going for the 8th and 9th to do a lot of fun things with ds, and then checking out of my hotel (decided to stay in one with a nice indoor pool and do some lap swimming before bed time), and driving to Porcupine Mountain State Wilderness Park to camp for three nights. All.by.myself. And hike to the overlook. Due to my ankle being somewhat weak in cold weather, I won't be taking any trails that are more than two miles from camp and will report my hikes to the ranger on duty. Thanks, Ottakee!!! Have fun, Faith! But why aren't you taking your converted Sienna minivan? I remember you posted that you and your dh converted it so you could use it for camping and it sounded so nice! I hope you can post some pictures of your camping setup! I am not a camper myself, but I love living vicariously by looking at vanlife pictures! Edited June 17, 2021 by Catwoman Forgot to ask for pictures!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 20 minutes ago, Catwoman said: Have fun, Faith! But why aren't you taking your converted Sienna minivan? I remember you posted that you and your dh converted it so you could use it for camping and it sounded so nice! I hope you can post some pictures of your camping setup! I am not a camper myself, but I love living vicariously by looking at vanlife pictures! When we aren't camping, my mom drives it. She needs it that week. My brother is borrowing her other vehicle to go to Tennessee for a conference because hers gets way better gas mileage than his. I do have photos. Let me post a few. The 2nd one is of dh setting up the tail veil. I didn't have all of the curtains up in the 1st photo. The last one shows the bed platform without bedding so you can see the storage under it. The two cubbies in the front are hinged so that even with the mattress on (it is pretty light weight) I can open them and retrieve our clothing and bathroom supplies. When we get to camp, the tail veil goes up and our lawn chairs, and cooler etc. is stored there. It attaches pretty water tight to the van or equinox, but is also free standing so we can close the hatch, unhook it which is super easy peasy and drive off. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 That is awesome. I just got back from an overnight almost backpacking trip with a friend. We drove to the campsite but other than a cooler with a pop and water and 2 hot dogs, I carried everything else in my pack. I like the camper can idea. That would have been so much easier with my 08 Honda mini van. My newer one doesn't have removable 2nd row seats. Have fun. I heard that area is beautiful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 Bumping this so Catwoman can see the photos I posted of our van conversion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 Also Cat, besides the fact that my mom will be using the van the same week I want to go camping, I have been interested in the logistics of solo camping with the Equinox because she gets really great gas mileage. She isn't long drive enough with the back seat folded down for dh to sleep in her because he is 6ft tall. But I am 5'4" and can do it. I love driving my Equinox. The seats are more comfortable for me since my back has never been exactly right since the car accident. Dh and his brother want to make it a tradition for the two of them to spend a week sailing every year so I thought that minimalistic, solo road trip for me sounded like fun. The sienna gets 22-23 mph while my equinox is giving me 30 around town and 33-34 on the highway. Being smaller, it will be easier to keep warm in for cold weather camping. The Porcupine Mountain trip will put me on Lake Superior in October and that far north, 30 degrees at night, cold wind off the lake, and possible snow is a thing, and without dh to cuddle with (he is my heater when it gets cold at night in camp), a more snug fit where my body heat is likely to keep the car just a little warmer sounds good. It will hopefully be a good experiment. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 4 hours ago, Faith-manor said: Bumping this so Catwoman can see the photos I posted of our van conversion. Thanks, Faith!!! I was picturing one of those minivans that people have converted into tiny little RVs, and it looks like such a big project. I see that you designed yours as just a place to sleep, and if that’s all you need, it’s probably a lot more comfortable than a lot of the other conversions I have seen! Thanks for posting the pictures! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 4 hours ago, Faith-manor said: Also Cat, besides the fact that my mom will be using the van the same week I want to go camping, I have been interested in the logistics of solo camping with the Equinox because she gets really great gas mileage. She isn't long drive enough with the back seat folded down for dh to sleep in her because he is 6ft tall. But I am 5'4" and can do it. I love driving my Equinox. The seats are more comfortable for me since my back has never been exactly right since the car accident. Dh and his brother want to make it a tradition for the two of them to spend a week sailing every year so I thought that minimalistic, solo road trip for me sounded like fun. The sienna gets 22-23 mph while my equinox is giving me 30 around town and 33-34 on the highway. Being smaller, it will be easier to keep warm in for cold weather camping. The Porcupine Mountain trip will put me on Lake Superior in October and that far north, 30 degrees at night, cold wind off the lake, and possible snow is a thing, and without dh to cuddle with (he is my heater when it gets cold at night in camp), a more snug fit where my body heat is likely to keep the car just a little warmer sounds good. It will hopefully be a good experiment. You are way more adventurous than I am! I am not a camper, though. I wouldn’t mind spending the day outdoors and doing the s’mores thing around a campfire at night, but then I would be heading back to my hotel with the running water, the toilet, the shower, and the room service! I hope you have a great time — you seem very excited about it, and I think it takes courage to do a solo trip like that, so I hope it’s everything you’re expecting and more!!! YAY for you! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Catwoman said: You are way more adventurous than I am! I am not a camper, though. I wouldn’t mind spending the day outdoors and doing the s’mores thing around a campfire at night, but then I would be heading back to my hotel with the running water, the toilet, the shower, and the room service! I hope you have a great time — you seem very excited about it, and I think it takes courage to do a solo trip like that, so I hope it’s everything you’re expecting and more!!! YAY for you! I used to be much more of a hotel person, and my inner leaning has always been that way. But, so find that I am craving more time outdoors, more simple black to nature, and more travel. Camping without the cost of expensive rv's and trailers, being able to pay $20-30 a night for the campground vs $75-125 a night for the hotel, cooking all my own food (the wheat allergy makes things interesting), the higher gas mileage of not taking a big rig equals more travel because of the lowered costs. So I am making the adjustments to embrace it. I also find that my frustration with society these days wanes, and I am more relaxed if the great outdoors and I commune together. Mark had always been a camping, fishing, sailing, nature man. Many times he has set that aside for more traditional vacationing for me, so I also consider being willing to do this with him a gift back to him after sticking with me through the nightmare my parents put us through. He has for darn certain earned it! I took my mom for a picnic on Lake Huron to one of the more secluded roadside parks that I enjoy. I sometimes really have a hard time mentally forcing myself to do things with her because forgiveness for throwing me and my family under the bus when my dad went bankrupt and attempted suicide has been hard, really very hard for me to manage. I told her to pack something simple, and kind of gritted my teeth. She packed a lovely, simple, nourishing lunch, and I drove her around the scenic way. We walked the beach, talked about some of the family vacations we took when I was a kid. It was actually really nice, surprisingly pleasant, probably very good for the both of us. I was home by 2 pm and able to start some laundry. I think that nature is important to my happiness quotient. This is the area where we were today, the view. It isn't my photo though. I left my camera in the car. Grrrrrr 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Catwoman said: You are way more adventurous than I am! I am not a camper, though. I wouldn’t mind spending the day outdoors and doing the s’mores thing around a campfire at night, but then I would be heading back to my hotel with the running water, the toilet, the shower, and the room service! I hope you have a great time — you seem very excited about it, and I think it takes courage to do a solo trip like that, so I hope it’s everything you’re expecting and more!!! YAY for you! You and me both! You ladies are really awesome! I hope you have a great time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Oooh, you may be inspiring me to look into getting some equipment to camp out of the back of my old SUV. I am also feeling the pull to be in nature more as I age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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