You see, Sweet Melissa still needed to go through the 'what would it be like to actually spend the night camping in her' exam.
In Kansas the state parks and lakeside campgrounds start shutting off the water supply this time of year, so we opted to make our first foray into camping together an 'urban camping' experience. Not too far from civilization, but somewhere we could set up the camp kitchen, test Sweet Melissa's refurbished heating and electrical systems (and insulation!) and simply get away from home for a weekend.
So we chose Salina KOA, a friendly place ninety miles from home, and headed up the interstate in search of adventure.
Here's our review of how camping in a vintage camper went at this KOA location. We hope it helps folks on the road near Salina, KS feel good about choosing this spot for an overnight stay.
First things first: the facility. This KOA is located adjacent to I-70, first exit east of the I-35 interchange. It's tucked back behind a hotel and a busy truck wash, so the road in can be a little congested. The campground offers tent sites, cabins and water/electric or full-hookup RV sites. (They're closed the month of December this year to upgrade more sites to 50 amp, if that's important to you.)
What was important to us, camping as we were in a no-potty, fifty-five year old canned ham camper, was how close we could camp to the restrooms! We are pleased to report that these restrooms would pass muster with the fussiest housekeeper--clean, well-lit, only accessible with the key code given at check-in AND there are three private showers with dressing rooms in each restroom.
Camping Confession #1: We hadn't brought along the portapotty, so we giggled our way through the campground together at 3 a.m. to use the facilities. Ahh, the memories!
Overall impression of the KOA in Salina, KS: Pros: easy to access from the interstates, close to restaurants and shopping if you need them, clean, well-maintained facilities, friendly, helpful staff and easy-to-navigate campground with all pull-thru campsites. If you're not into trailer or tent camping, the cabins looked plenty comfortable, equipped with outdoor grilling kitchens and patios.
Cons: traffic noise from I-70.
Now on to our travel report for our first-ever camping experience in Sweet Melissa.
To this blogger, there's nothing quite like a meal cooked outdoors, so it was important to me to get the cooking facilities set up first thing. I mentioned in an earlier post that we'd purchased an Ozark Trail Camp Kitchen and this was its trial run, away from our driveway.
I'm pleased to report that the kitchen served its purpose well. It's compact and easy to stow and the Hubs set it up in less than five minutes. It's also plenty sturdy, meant to hold a camp stove on one end and provide a food prep surface on the other. Here's a pic of what it looked like, complete with our evening meal of Dutch oven chili and coffee brewed on our Coleman camp stove coffeemaker.
Did we mention the temperatures plunged into the 30s overnight? That became important an hour after sundown when sitting outside, even in our cold weather Ozark Trail camp chairs, became uncomfortable.
We opted to hang out together in Sweet Melissa's cozy dinette, reading and talking and relaxing away from television, work and other distractions.
At bedtime we cracked a window for ventilation and lit the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy catalytic heater. The camper, I'm happy to report, stayed toasty warm all night.
Consumer tip: if you use this heater with small propane bottles, you'll have to change the bottle after running it six hours on low heat. At some point, if we decide to do a lot of cold weather camping, we'll hook it up to a larger bottle.
Early the next morning, we set up the Coleman stove again and cooked breakfast in the great outdoors. Was it chilly? Yep, but it was also fun, and we followed it up with a stroll around the campground to gaze at RVs big enough to hold Sweet Melissa in their kitchens.Then it was a quick trip through those squeaky clean showers and then off into town to check out the local attractions. We can highly recommend Jalisco Mexican restaurant, straight down Ninth Street from the campground, just past the Central Mall--friendly service and great food.
We'd chosen to pay for an extra night so that we could hang around after the 11:00 a.m. checkout; still cheaper than a hotel room and it took the pressure off of us to dash home midday. We wandered back to the KOA late afternoon and broke camp. Headed back down the highway to Wichita by the light of the rising super moon, ready to plan our next camping excursion.
We learned a lot this past weekend, what not to pack next time and what we forgot, quicker ways to set up and break down camp and how long it takes to cook a meal on a camp stove.
We learned that the checklists we'd created for safe set-up and break down of camp were not obsessive but necessary. We also learned that we love camping together.
And here's what we've decided after camping overnight in the city limits...it's a comfortable, less expensive alternative to staying in hotels when there's a city we hope to visit. With KOA campgrounds (and other 'vintage friendly' possibilities) spread across the country, we love the idea of taking along our 1961 Mobile Scout on our adventures.
We aren't locked in to being urban campers, lake campers, national park campers or 'off-the-grid' campers, but we hope to experience all those kinds of camping in the coming years.
We're leaving our options open to all the ways we can enjoy Sweet Melissa as we travel.
See you next time!
Mark and Kate
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