Home Sweet Home

In 2019, not long after Jen was diagnosed with cancer we decided life was too short to always play everything safe,  Sure we had a nice house, nice cars and took fun vacations.  But we both had a few dreams that were big purchase items that we always put on the back burner for one reason or another.   Time to make some of them come true.

I have always loved camping.  My parents had a truck camper and despite being cramped it was always fun to camp and fish.  I was also in scouts so there were many weekends camped out under the stars.  It was only natural that I wanted to pass my love of camping on to my kids.  We did the tent camping for a number of years, it was fun, but honestly it was a lot of work.   Jen's idea of camping was staying at a Holiday Inn and going hiking, returning to the enclosed pool and hot tub later.  I think the only reason she agreed to two week camping trip around Lake Superior was because she knew she was getting a ring out of the deal!

I had been wanting a camper for a while, however Jen always had visions of the campers from the 70's and 80's where they were dimly lit and packed in like sardines. It wasn't until we visited her friend at a campground that had recently purchased a camper and realized that, while not a Holiday Inn, they were pretty nice.  A few weeks later and we had a similar model.  

We got a 30ft Keystone Hideout.  It was a bunkhouse model but was pretty spacious for a travel trailer.  While she didn't fall in love with camping, she did join us for dinner and s'mores if we were local and the girls and I did convince her to go out with us once or twice a year.  In the end this was daddy/daughter time and we all enjoyed it.

We really liked this camper and it worked well for our weekend trip exploring Iowa and the surrounding states.  With this camper, along with Iowa we visited Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska.  The later were trips Jen joined with.

For as much as I liked our camper I really did not want to pull a bumper pull 8000 miles and through the mountains.  Not only is a 5th wheel easier to tow but it also has more storage room, something we would need a lot of for a 2 month trip!

Looking at floor plans, I was continually drawn back to Keystone.  They had an identical floor plan in two different lines.  One in the Cougar line and the other in the Arcadia.  Luckily my local dealer had both of them on the lot.  The main features of the floor plan I liked was the opposing slides in the main living area and the rear bedroom with a loft for the girls to sleep in.   The bunks in the last camper just did not work out as well as I thought they would, hopefully a full bedroom with actual beds will work out better.  Instead of more reading I made a little video tour of the camper.  I hope you enjoy!