Well, ready with a trip report. Make some coffee, it’s a long one!
Bit of backstory: I’m a divorced 40 something woman living in the FL Keys with my roommate and my dog Foster (the best dog in the world). My boyfriend owns an eco-tour company so is always off on an adventure somewhere and leaves me to my pup camping, which is much more my thing than his. This week he is off in Alaska so I was really on my own on this trip. Also pertinent: i have had significant back surgery which really limits a lot of what I do, but I can pop up and down my pup on my own about 30 minutes each way. Unfortunately I dislocated a shoulder a few weeks ago so that REALLY limits things and I had to rely on my roomie for set up, and she is new to pop up set up. I used to work on robotic systems doing repair so I’m pretty comfortable troubleshooting and fixing most things, which comes in handy with a used pup.
OK, so we arrived at the park to get set up and even though I’d practiced (not much though) I had a bear of a time backing in. Note to self: Spend some GOOD time practicing, not just quick like before the next trip. Luckily an angel named Marci came along and helped direct me. It’s not so much the backing that’s the issue its that I can’t see at all, I’m thinking a set of trailer mirrors is in order.
Got in the spot finally and she got to setting up while I supervised (directed). Did the bunk ends but unfortunately the poles didn’t fit in correctly and snugly- This comes into play much later in the trip. I was double checking as we went but underestimated the significance of that.
Got the rest set up, slow but sure. Once again had a terrible time with the door, I’m not even sure what to do about that. I forgot my BAL leveler so we were leveling a touch with the stabilizers (I KNOW but I didn’t have any choice!!) and it threw the door off of course. Used a bungee to get through but vow to get this all worked out before the next outing because the unlevel door makes me insane.
Camping was fun!! Beautiful days but VERY stormy nights- this is the first time I was in a pop up with the wind really blowing and it was unnerving. It held up just fine though, I reminded myself that we weren’t broadside in it and despite the shaking/vibrating that you could feel, we weren’t in danger. LOADS of rain though and happily everything stayed dry. The best part of sleeping was that my bunk faced the ocean (Long Key State Park has all of their sites directly on the water so it’s outstanding) and we had a HUGE full moon, so the light just reflected off the water so nicely. I could hear the waves lapping the shore and wow, talk about lovely. My roomie likes the AC cranked at night for sleeping but I couldn’t bear not to have the window unzipped so we compromised and ran the AC and put a fan on her as well. Worked out great. Below was my first morning view from my bunk. WOW.
Days were spent sitting in the water in our chairs drinking cocktails and evenings we had campfires and toasted marshmallows. The park was so empty it was great, NO neighbors at all, so total peace and quiet. Below is the new crab friend I made (SO cute) and Foster enjoying a nap on the sand at my site. No dogs allowed on the grass OR beach/water so that worked out perfectly- Foster hates the water with a passion, no worries there.
Unfortunately the second night during one of the storms, mary leaned over to her window to look out and the misplaced poles shifted- the bunk went dangerously down and we knew we had a problem. It was the middle of the night and pouring, so we made the bed by my bunk and she slept there. You want weather? We got weather. From pouring rain and wind all night to a HUGE waterspout during the day. We nearly took shelter from that one, it was the biggest I’ve ever seen!
The next day we could survey the damage and it wasn’t good- the rail piece (male) attached to the bunk had hopped the bolt that is supposed to be a stopper and slid all the way out. I removed the bolt and with some SERIOUS shoving, we and a neighbor guy got the bunk in past that point and I thought all was going to be well. I could see that the piece was actually twisted a bit though, so I should have anticipated that there would be more problems later. She continued to use the bunk next to mind instead of the end bunk.
We continued the trip, headed down to Key West for the day and had a great time- Another friend came down and spent the night (my first “house guest” and my doggie (Foster) was so happy I couldn’t get over it. No running out the door when we opened it, just very mellow and relaxed this trip- it helped that I had him in it most of the time I was working on it at home and he just thinks of it as his fort too. He was a delight to have along as a camping buddy.
Below: Funny sign at the bar we went to (Krawl off Duval, very fun) and a Key Deer that we saw on No Name Key where we stopped for lunch at the No Name Pub (of course). Their shrimp pizza is to die for.
I was able to use my new grill multiple times and it worked great- I am the grill MASTER!! Also if the thought of dealing with firewood drives you nuts (it’s very hard to find down here in the Keys, all of the trees are protected so it’s very hit or miss or crazy expensive) do yourself a favor and order a case of these:
http://www.duraflame.com/products/roasting-logs
They are fantastic- each “bundle” has 4 sticks, you stack them like a teepee, light the paper and 5 minutes later you have a great fire that you can even cook on. No muss, no fuss- burns itself out in about 2 hours.
Critter count: Yellow crowned night heron that lived nearby, loads of gulls, terns, heron, egrets, GIANT land crabs, hermit crabs, black racer snake, and fire ants (which I found on day one. With my foot.) And I swear to all that’s holy I think we saw a croc swimming by our last evening there. I’ve seen my fair share of gators and crocs swimming and they are hard to mistake. I cannot imagine what else it could be if it wasn’t that because DAMN it sure moved like a croc. Crazy. Decided against midnight skinny dipping after that.
So came time to pack it in yesterday and we realized we still had a problem. That bunk was NOT going in no matter how much I tweaked, cajoled, cursed or sweated. I have no power in my arm to pull or push and Mary couldn’t really get any leverage on it. We were able to flag down a couple of rangers (which I loathe doing but you gotta do what you gotta do) who busted out some tools and the one (Built like a BEAR) managed to finally get it in. Wow it was looking bad for a while there! Got everything else done and packed and pulled out not 5 minutes before it started to downpour for the rest of the day.
So an exhausting day yesterday but a fantastic trip- Long Key is such a great place to camp- lots of privacy, clean bathrooms, convenient to stores and stuff to do and not many kids because there’s no pool/playground- just NATURE all around. Highly recommended!
So next week’s to-do list- have my handy buddy take a look at the camper and decide if I need to order a whole new rail for it or if it can be fixed as is- I can’t have it any more difficult to put up than it already is, so we shall see. Also I had a leak over the winter and need some ceiling repair so he will do that as well and I will finish painting inside and hanging my new curtains.
OH, side note: I did have one morning where we were sitting around having our Bailey’s and coffee (as is tradition when glamping) and all of a sudden: No power. Nada. Checked the main box, all is well, found the power panel inside, no tripped breakers (there are only 2) and yanked the fuses- one blown. A trip to the nearby store got me 2 new fuses, I replaced them both and voila, perfect power! So before you head out, take 5 minutes and locate your power panel, see what kind of fuses you have (I had a 15 and a 7.5) and grab a few before you go. Tape them right inside the panel. Also, HOLY cow I must have said 10,000 times that week how much I needed pliers. I had a leatherman but I really needed a set of good needle nose pliers. I’m picking some up this week. I am woman, hear me roar.
Keys Camper 
Glad the trip went so well.