Ladies' Week Part 3: Sally Stomberg's Pastime Passion

Karl and Sally Stomberg at Joshua Tree National Park	Route 66 near Joshua Tree National Park	The day they bought their Pastime Camper - January 26th, 2005
Sally at nine years old (far right) and her mother, sister, and brother	Karl and Sally decorated their camper for Ryan's homecoming	Sally's truck camper toy collection
Sally's sons saran wrapped their truck and camper as a joke	Camping at Spectacle Lake on their way to the Fintry Rally	Sally and Karl picking up their Fastguns from Rob Rapose and Jack Kay

Gordon and I met Sally Stomberg at the NATCOA rally at Fintry Provincial Park in Kelowna, British Columbia last September.  Sally’s passion for truck camping was evident from the beginning.  She just loves campers!

TCM: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sally: My first camping experience was to Colonial Beach, Virginia with my mom, sister, and brother.  I was eight years old and my sister and I stayed under a rope strung between two trees with an old army blanket as a tent.  My brother and mom stayed in the back of our station wagon.  Since then my family has camped in or owned just about every type of camper except a fifth wheel. My sister and I had a pup-tent.  Then my family owned a pop-up.  And when I was a teenager we got a travel trailer.  After I moved away, my parents got a Class C and then a Class A motorhome, so I’ve been in everything but a fifth wheel.  This is my first truck camper.

TCM: So, how did you get into truck camping?

Sally: We tent camped all over Washington and eventually got tired of lugging all of our gear.  I also got tired of not having a bathroom, so I talked my husband, Karl, into a travel trailer to get off the ground and to have our own bathroom. Within a year of getting the travel trailer, our Dakota truck started having problems and we ended up buying a new Dodge Ram. Karl likes to fish, but when we got our travel trailer, we had to leave Karl’s fishing boat at home. He said that wasn’t working for him, so we decided that if we got a truck camper we could tow the boat again.  Our truck is also our second vehicle.  So, when we’re not using it for our camper, we keep it in the driveway and use it for things like hauling wood.  We like that versatility.

TCM: When we were at the Fintry rally with you, we saw that you have a Pastime.

Sally: Back in early 2005 we went to the Seattle RV show to look at truck campers.  Our Dodge Ram is a one-ton short-bed truck, which limits the size of camper.  At the show we checked out the different rigs.  We didn’t really look at Pastime as we were walking around show.  On the way out, the friends we had gone with were in the Apache Camping Center booth.  We saw the Pastime there, so we went into the camper to take a look.  It had a potty and it was up off the ground.  For the price, it was a nice camper.  When we got home from the show, we found an identical unit on the internet that was two years old for half the price of the one at the show.  And it was near where we lived. We went to meet the guy and looked at the camper.  We liked it and gave him a deposit to hold it for us.  A couple of weeks later we went down and picked up our new camper.  So, within a couple of weeks of the show we had a truck camper.  All we had to do was get the tie-downs installed on the truck.   Our Pastime does its job and it’s been a good camper for us.

TCM: Did the previous owner of your Pastime teach you anything about truck campers?

Sally: When we picked it up he taught us how to load and unload the camper. There wasn't too much else to learn. Personally, I think all women should know how to load and unload the camper just in case something happens.

TCM: Do you drive your truck camper rig?

Sally: Karl is the primary driver because I like to look at the scenery. I have driven when Karl was unable to. Plus I can give him a break if he needs one. We will be going to California in the near future and that will require us to put in long hours on the road. I will be sharing in the driving duties for that trip. I've found it's very easy to drive and maneuver. It's much easier than towing the travel trailer.  Growing up, my mom towed our travel trailer up and down the East Coast. Then she drove the big motorhome. She was a good role model for us to show that women could drive RVs. She still drives her smaller motorhome all around the country.

TCM: Does your truck have any modifications?

Sally: We have air bags and we’d like to get SuperSprings to take some of the sway out.  We would love to get a slide-out camper, but we are not ready to spend the money.

TCM: How often do you go out camping being that you have full-time jobs?

Sally: When we first got our camper we were going out every month.  We've taken some nice long trips with it. But, most of the time we are able to just go on weekend trips.  This past summer, Karl broke his collarbone the day before we were supposed to leave for Ogallala and had to cancel our trip.  We ended up going to the Fintry rally up in Kelowna, British Columbia instead.  Also, our son, Ryan, is in the Marine Corps based in Twenty-Nine Palms, California.  He’s in Iraq right now and due to come home in the very near future.  The military doesn’t give us much notice with exact dates for homecoming. Having our truck camper gives us the flexibility to go down there at a moment’s notice.   We don’t have to worry about last minute airfares and hotels.  We just take it all with us and it only takes two days to get down there.  When we’re down there, we can drop the camper and have the truck to drive around and do things with Ryan.  We don’t hesitate to drop it and go.

TCM: Do you have any advice for people who are new to truck campers?

Sally: Do your research.  If you are fortunate to live in an area with lots of dealers go and really look at the campers.  Go to Truck Camper Magazine and read some of the articles about their manufacturer visits.  You can see how the campers are made.  Also, think about what do you want in a camper.  If you can, pick the camper first and then buy the truck that will carry the camper you want.  When we bought our Ram we weren’t even thinking about a truck camper at the time.  If we were, we probably would have thought about something different than a short bed. 
 
TCM: Living in the west, you must see a lot of truck campers.

Sally: One of my favorite things to do is to count truck campers while on the road.  I know I'm nuts, but it’s fun looking for campers and trying to identify what brand it is as early as possible when sighted.  It’s a little game we play while we’re on the road.  We’ve learned what the different brands look like from a distance.  We have a sheet we keep with little tick marks.  I started it when we went to Fintry this past September.  I’ve posted our camper count from that trip on the NATCOA site.

TCM: Do you have any truck camper hobbies?

Sally: I’ve gotten into collectibles.  I have a collection of matchbox size truck campers.  We keep them in the camper.  I also have truck camper jewelry, old ads, and postcards.  I found them on eBay and occasionally see them in storefronts.

TCM: How did you get involved with NATCOA?

Sally: When I first started researching, I saw a reference to NATCOA on RV.net.  In the beginning, I would read the forums and not really participate.  I saw that there was a rally at Camano Island, so we went.  We met a lot of great people there.  I also won a pair of Torklift Fastguns.  I wound up going to Torklift to have the tie-downs changed out and to get the Superhitch installed.
 
TCM: What do you do for NATCOA?

Sally: I met Paul Beddows at the Camano Island rally when he was the president of NATCOA. We don't live that far apart and he eventually asked if I would be interested in helping him empty the mailbox in Bellingham and with some membership duties. I took over maintaining our membership database, sending out new member information and cards as well as renewal notices.  After Ogallala there was an opening for a board member.  I really like club and how it promotes truck camping, so I volunteered for that.  Later they needed a treasurer.  It seemed like a natural transition because of handling memberships. I enjoy doing my part.  You might say I’m a little passionate about truck campers!  One day I hope that truck campers get the respect they deserve.