coolfeet
Mark Keeler
My wife and I are planning a 3 week road trip from the Bay Area in California to Tennessee and back this July 2015. I traveled the Appalachian and Ozarks as a kid, but never as an adult. I do remember that the evenings were hot. We traveled a lot of back roads in the Ozarks and Appalachian mountains in Kentucky. I loved it!
I am looking for pros and cons of camping in the south during the summer. I have not been to the 'Zarks or Appalachia in 30 years. Can I still experience that special slice of rural America for wife and kids?
I am looking for stealthy free/low cost camping ideas. We travel in an old Ford Club Wagon that looks like every other white cargo van on the road. Plain ordinary vanilla with a lot of dents and wear. It's got only 105k on the clock and runs like a champ. We usually disperse camp in the national forest, blm land, or pull over on gravel roads with little or no traffic. I am talking about the open west where land is wide open and few people. Never have attempted this in more crowded areas east of the Mississippi.
Is the weather going to be too hot to camp inside the van? I plan on installing a Fantastic Fan roof vent. We have camped in this rig for 3 years without the fan in high elevation cool areas like Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, etc. Not much of an issue.
We sleep 2 in the back and 2 in the front on folding platform beds. All the gear goes under the beds. It's not pretty, but it sure is functional. Both beds are easily removed.
I am looking for pros and cons of camping in the south during the summer. I have not been to the 'Zarks or Appalachia in 30 years. Can I still experience that special slice of rural America for wife and kids?
I am looking for stealthy free/low cost camping ideas. We travel in an old Ford Club Wagon that looks like every other white cargo van on the road. Plain ordinary vanilla with a lot of dents and wear. It's got only 105k on the clock and runs like a champ. We usually disperse camp in the national forest, blm land, or pull over on gravel roads with little or no traffic. I am talking about the open west where land is wide open and few people. Never have attempted this in more crowded areas east of the Mississippi.
Is the weather going to be too hot to camp inside the van? I plan on installing a Fantastic Fan roof vent. We have camped in this rig for 3 years without the fan in high elevation cool areas like Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, etc. Not much of an issue.
We sleep 2 in the back and 2 in the front on folding platform beds. All the gear goes under the beds. It's not pretty, but it sure is functional. Both beds are easily removed.
Last edited: