Itinerant Air-Cooled

I haven't been able to post much lately because time has been soaked up with the two "new" little people in our lives. We did have our first four-person camping excursion last weekend and for the sake of tradition, here is a quick writeup and some photos.

Mirror Lake is a quiet, lesser-known state park near the overly-touristy (to me) Wisconsin Dells. It's an easy <1hr drive from home for us, which is perfect given the circumstances of hauling tons of extra "kid stuff" coupled with the fact that they (the kids) would see no benefit from camping further from home just yet.

After stopping for breakfast at a family diner along the way, we rolled into the campsite and proceeded to unpack the numerous child-based oddities that we had no concept of even two years ago.



My parents arrived a few hours later and it was a pleasant way to spend the Father's Day weekend.



Aside from some rain on Saturday, the rest of the weather was beautiful. It was clear that the kids had an overwhelmingly great time and I have no doubt they will grow into avid campers as the years progress. We all slept in a tent for the added floorspace but the bus is just too vital to leave home. We did end up driving two vehicles to fit all of the 'gear' - but I think next time we'll try to eliminate the nonessentials to fit in just the bus again.

It felt like we spent a good 45% of the time either preparing, eating, or cleaning up after meals. Kids sure do eat frequently. I find myself adjusting to their patterns and when I return to the regular workweek I'm starving for lunch by about 10:30am.



All in all a very happy weekend. Not much to describe other than a welcomed extended-outdoors event with plenty of sunshine. Looking forward to the next planned trip in a few short weeks.

Lovely family. The kids will be 12 before you know it.

Looks like it was an awesome trip. I was also lucky enough to get in my first bus camping trip with one of my sons on Fathers day weekend as well. FYI, that's not me in the picture.

Where'd you get that bike rack? It's very nice.

Looks like a great trip. Keep up the good work with the kids too. Good looking bus but something just isn't right about the mini van/bus photo ;-). You'll have to work on lightening the load and leave the mini van at home next time. I find less is more. I bring bikes. No extra tents or bedding stuff, just what we use in the bus. We are a family of four and kids at 6 and 9 and we are still fitting fine. There is a finite amount of stuff you can bring and as the kids get older, the closet gets tighter. But my wife is on board with packing minimal stuff too and it helps.
Great trip though and you'll get your system worked out to where you only use that mini van in the worst of weather. ;-)

We are all packed and heading to Glacier Nat Park tomorrow. 2 week road trip!

We are at a tough stage now because the kids are too young for the cots in our early bay. The double stroller eats a lot of space too. We'll figure it out, I'm not worried.

Ah yes, the kids seats take up room too and your looks to be almost the same age when I started mine! They still love the bus trips.
My daughter has slept in the cot over the front seats since since she was 1 or so. I find that they really don't roll out of it. It always sucks them to the middle. I thought I would rig up a curtain or net to keep her there but it wasn't needed. I still have both of them sleep there if I can't pop the top up but there's not much more time for that as they are growing fast!

And that bike rack is a fiamma. You can get it from bus depot. I have one and they really are the way to go for the westys. Can still get to the engine bay and open the rear hatch with the bikes removed. Pretty easy on the hatch and paint too. I can carry two full sized mt bikes on it with no problems. I throw another one or two bikes up on the luggage rack just laying down, kids bikes work well up there.

Yes, the Fiamma rack is very nice. It wasn't cheap, but we've used it many years now and the time, damage, and frustration it has saved has been worth every penny. I'm sure our son (19mo) could sleep in the front cot (he did last year), but then we'd still have to figure out something for our daughter (7mo). We do co-sleep when necessary, so that might be an option. Once the boy can use the top cot, maybe in two more years, I think we'll be good to go for sure since she can use the front cot.

Haven't camped at Mirror Lake in years, but it is a great place. Excellent option for a close to home getaway.

sped372 wrote:Yes, the Fiamma rack is very nice.

I've been considering the Fiamma rack but I have heard of others having problems with water seepage where it connects to the hatch. Have you had any issues with that?

Love those early Bays! 50 more years!

THall wrote:Haven't camped at Mirror Lake in years, but it is a great place. Excellent option for a close to home getaway.

sped372 wrote:Yes, the Fiamma rack is very nice.

I've been considering the Fiamma rack but I have heard of others having problems with water seepage where it connects to the hatch. Have you had any issues with that?

We *thought* we did but I'm 99% certain it was actually a coincidentally dried-out-shrunken rear window seal. Replaced the rear window seal and things have been dry but I do still tend to remove the rack in the event of inclement weather while camped, maybe just because of superstition.

I can definitely relate to a lot of your camping trip. We were in Governor Dodge SP for Father's Day. I'll try to post a report.