Converting a CR-V into a Camper

Over twenty-five years had gone by since our last camping trip, and I had been getting the itch to try again. Our daughter was grown and married, and our camping trips in our younger years had been fun and full of adventure.  I knew my husband would not be interested in buying anything new, so I fooled around in Pinterest when I found it:  Convert Your CR-V into a Camper.

I searched the internet and found several articles.  I read all I could find, and then approached Bob with the idea.  He listened, but I could see he had a hundred reasons why this wasn't going to work. I shared articles about it, and at some point, I could see he was a bit interested.  We started talking about some design models for the bed in the back.  I didn't want to spend much money, so when we found the bed that was made from a set of heavy-duty shelving, a set of which we had in our basement, an idea was born.

Bob did the measurements, made the cuts, and started assembling the bed. The shelving part went well.  The cutting of the plywood went well, but we found we couldn't get the sheet in.  So back to Lowe's for piano hinges which did the trick.

We have completed the "camper" portion of our car.  We plan what we will need and how to pack the CR-V to get everything in the car and to be able to store it while we sleep. Many hours spent this planning and making sure that we have just what we need. We plan our first adventure to Mark Twain State Park.

We drive to go to Mark Twain State Park to explore the lake and to spend two nights at the Ray Behrens Campground. By this point Bob is calling the trip “One and Done” and my nickname is “Cramping” (being cramped up while camping.)  When we get to our spot, I surprise Bob with a charcuterie platter, one of his favorite things!

We set up camp and the site is gorgeous.  We walk around, see the water, relax by the car.  We are enjoying the peace and restfulness so much! I have dinner planned, foil packet dinners!  It was something we loved to make when we camped in the past.  (By the way, recipes will be published in future posts!)

At this point, we both realize we are uncomfortably warm. It’s not the campfire, it’s the temp. So we pull out our fan and that does the trick.

We are now in bed, full bellies, empty bladders, and ready to sleep. Soooo..with the Reflectix in the windows, the windows up, and a fan going (on low though, which we didn’t figure out) we were sweltering. At midnight we were still awake and drinking tons of ice water. At 1:00 the sheets were sticking to our skin. Bob can’t roll over. At 2:00 we both need to pee badly so it is a 15-minute ordeal to get Bob out of the car. We walk to the bathrooms again. By 3:00 Bob has had it and is now sitting in a chair outside the car. I get back into my seat, roll down the back window and open my car door. This is when I discover that the fan is on low. I crank that baby up, get it situated to draw cool air right on me. Within 15 minutes I am sound asleep. It’s about 4:00 am. I wake up around 8:00 am and have our breakfast of cereal and milk. We decide to go about our day but not spend a second night.

We look back on it and laugh, now, but during the night we weren't laughing too much!  We did realize how much we loved camping and talking about things that we might have done to fix the situation.  I have learned about teardrop campers, but I haven't shared that information with Bob.  Look for our next post which will be the recipe for our foil dinner!