Ken Harris: Kissing the Fifth Goodbye |
| Angela White | Monday, 07 September, 2009 | |||||||||||||||
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In part one of our "Ditch the Fifth" week, Ken Harris shares his story of how he and his wife, Ina, ditched their fifth wheel for a truck camper. So long fiver!  Poor fifth wheels. They're big and roomy, but they just can't compete with truck campers when it comes to verstility and fun. Obviously, we're preaching to the choir. We hear from more and more readers who are ditching their fifth wheels for truck campers. As it turns out, this has been going on for some time. Ken Harris and his wife, Ina, ditched their fifth after an exciting truck camping adventure in Alaska. Since that trip, they've been fifth wheel free and truck camper fancy. How did this happen? And what lead them to ditch their fifth for a truck camper? Ken Harris tells us their truck camper story, and something about a lot of kissing, and mud.
TCM: How did you get into camping? Ken: Even as a kid I loved the outdoors. I remember getting together with the neighborhood boys and sleeping out, as we called it. I had an old canvas army tent that we would use some of the time, but if the weather was nice we'd sleep out under the stars. Occasionally, my friends might get scared, slip away, and leave me. I'd wake up and be the only kid there. But, I didn't mind. My faithful dog would stay with me, regardless. TCM: That's a good dog. What kinds of camping did you do as you got older? Ken: I was in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid and enjoyed planning and participating in the scouting campouts. When my wife, Ina, and I got married we began camping together. She had never camped before, but fell right into it. TCM: That was lucky. Ken: Yes, it was. We would go on weekend trips and a week long trips each year while on vacation. Our camping slowed down when our children were teenagers, but we never got completely out of it. When the kids got older, we got back into camping more seriously and began traveling more.
TCM: How did you find out about truck campers? Ken: For us, a truck camper was originally a means to an end. A long time dream that we had was to take a trip to Alaska, so when I retired, we began planning for the trip. At the time we had a relatively new fifth wheel camper but didn't want to tow it over the Alaska Highway. We had read stories about how brutal the highway can be on vehicles. We decided a truck camper was the way to go and began shopping for a used truck camper. We found an ad in the paper for a Shadow Cruiser truck camper, located in Virginia, about an hour drive from where we live. We liked the camper and purchased it for the trip. The plan was to use it on the Alaska trip and when we returned home we would sell the truck camper and return to our fifth wheel. TCM: So what happened? Ken: Well, we fell in love with the truck camping concept. Although the Shadow Cruiser didn't have a shower or a water heater, it still worked great for us on the more than 12,000-mile trip. When we got home there was no way that we were going to stop truck camping. Instead, we began shopping for a larger truck camper. We purchased a new Lance 1121 and sold the Shadow Cruiser to seventy-five year old man. That just shows you're never to old to take up truck camping!
TCM: What was it about truck camping that hooked you? Ken: It just grows on you. Compared to our fifth wheel, truck campers are a lot more convenient and maneuverable. If you want to go somewhere, you go. Almost anyplace the truck will go, you can take the camper. We went to overlooks with our camper that you wouldn't even think about going to if you were towing a fifth wheel. We sold the fifth wheel camper in December 2007 and now only have the Lance. TCM: That's the spirit! Tell us about how you got into the Guinness Book of World Records on you first trip out with the Lance. Ken: That happened at the Great North American RV Rally in Perry, Georgia, in March, 2001. With thousands of RVs in one location the rally was quite interesting and entertaining. One unusual event that we were involved in was "The Big Kiss." The event made history as the longest kiss, for twenty-five seconds, by the most people, 3,557 couples, in one place ever recorded. Our kiss is recorded in the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records. That was one event that I had absolutely no problem participating in. We had rain, mud, wind, cold, and sun during the rally, but had a great time. It was so muddy in the fairgrounds where we were camped that we had to put Walmart bags over our shoes to walk to the activity area. When the rally ended many motor homes, fifth wheel campers, and travel trailers had to be towed out to dry ground with large tractors. With our truck camper, we were able to drive out without assistance. TCM: Lots of kissing and mud. That sounds like quite a rally. Where have you been with you truck camper that you couldn't have taken your fifth wheel? Ken: With a truck camper, you hardly need to think about where you are going to camp. Like I said earlier, if the truck will go there, the camper will go. For example, there's a campground at Meat Cove, Nova Scotia that has beautiful scenery. It's located on a dead end gravel road high up on a bluff and I don't know that you could turn around anything there larger than a truck camper. I wouldn't think of towing a fifth wheel there. The Dalton Highway in Alaska is another place that I wouldn't tow a fifth wheel. For over four hundred miles the road is either dirt, gravel, or mud. There's also the sixty-mile Atlin Road in British Columbia that is gravel. If we would have had our fifth wheel there we wouldn't have taken the road and would have missed out on some of the most beautiful scenery in Canada. Also, in Alaska, the ferries would have cost much more because they charge by the length of the camping unit. A few other places we've taken our truck camper are the Canadian Rockies, the New England coastal towns, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Pacific Coast highway, the Maritime Provinces of Canada, numerous National Parks, and the Baja peninsula of Mexico. They're all great places to visit with a truck camper.
TCM: Tell us about the Mexico caravan you went on. Ken: It was supposed to be a Lance Camper only caravan down the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, but the caravan organizers didn't get enough Lance owners interested. To fill out the caravan, they invited other RV types as well. In the group we had six Lance campers, three fifth wheel campers, and eight motor homes. While in Mexico, we traveled over 2,200 miles and had a great time. Picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, whale watching in Guerrero Negro, clam digging and a clam bake in Mulege, pot luck suppers, and incredible sunsets while beach camping along the Pacific were all part of our Mexico trip. We have fond memories of the Baja as we made new friends in the caravan and met some friendly Mexican people. Although we had a great time on the trip down the Baja Peninsula, caravan travel is really not our cup of tea. It is too restricted. There were lots of places that, had we been by ourselves, we would have stopped to enjoy the gorgeous scenery and to take pictures. There are caravans where you don't stay together during the day, but meet up at a designated campground at night. That might be a good way to do it, but we'd really prefer to travel alone. I guess we're a little too independent.
TCM: We can relate to that. The whole idea of a truck camper is going where you want to go when you want to go there. Do you think you'll go back to Mexico? Ken: We would like to. This time we would go by ourselves. Based on our experience, I don't think we would have any problems. Things can happen any place, here in the United States or Mexico. Traveling to Mexico would require more planning, but it can be done. TCM: Where have you not been yet that you'd like to go see? Ken: The Northwest Territories of Canada is an area we would like to visit. There are national parks in the United States we haven't been to such as Big Bend, Canyonlands, and Death Valley. We would like to visit the northwestern part of the state of Washington and go to Olympic National Park. We would also like to see the Vancouver area of British Columbia, as well as many other places. TCM: The National Parks are amazing and you can see a lot more of them in a truck camper. Thanks for the interview Ken. Keep in touch. Ken: You're welcome. And we will. If you liked this article, check out: Don Schwanke: Fifth to Camper in Ten In part two of our "Ditch the Fifth" week, Don Schwanke tells us why he took his fifth, sold it, and upgraded to a truck camper. Don's decision took less than ten minutes. |
