Vintage Camping in the Fall

We managed to get in one last camping trip in October before it was time to winterize the trailer. It has been such a rainy fall we wondered if we would be able to. And it did rain on us some, but not the whole weekend.

But before I get to that, I wanted to show you a few more small things I’ve added to the little vintage trailer we are in the process of remodeling. It turns out fall was the perfect time to find the woodland animals and colors I’ve decided to go with for the interior.

I found the chevron-striped fabric I wanted for the curtains at Wal-Mart. I also found inexpensive sheets in the light teal color I’m accenting with. They sell flat and fitted sheets individually, as well as pillow cases by the pair. This way I was able to get a double fitted sheet for the mattress, 2 or 3 flat twin sheets to use as fabric for making seat cushion covers, regular pillow cases for our pillows, and the king-sized pillow cases were perfect for the back cushions.

I even found a vinyl fall tablecloth that has the cute little forest critters on it. We bought teal paint for the bed frame. I had stripped the ’80’s-style wallpaper off the kitchen wall, so we also painted that teal. I bought 4 wooden letters to spell our name in the Wal-Mart craft department and painted them to match. I thought it all came together nicely, at a price I was willing to spend.

And so, we went camping on a damp weekend in October. We went to Farragut State Park again, as it is nearby and still open for a couple months after Labor Day. We would actually rather go further out into the Forest Service campgrounds, but most of them are closed for the season after Labor Day. Besides, we still need to get new tires for the trailer, and Lyle didn’t think it was prudent to take the trailer very far away yet in case we have tire trouble.

I enjoyed the brilliant gold of the tamarack tree across the road from our campsite. The gray, misty day really made the color pop.

We sat around the campfire most of the weekend… reading, writing… and yes, some of us were still tethered to our phones. Well, one of us mainly, but she shall remain nameless.

And napping. Some of us also got in a good bit of napping. Especially the floppy-eared member of the family who insists on having her own camp chair. But she’s SO cute… which, I guess, explains why we let her get by with stuff like that.

Then there’s my favorite part of camping… having Lyle do the cooking. He made pork chops and fried potatoes over the fire. I made a salad. That was my contribution to the meal. It was all so delicious. The wood smoke adds such a yummy flavor.

When it rained, we sat around the fire with our umbrellas. When the sun came out, we set them aside to dry.

It was a lovely family getaway. We look forward to more outings with our vintage trailer next summer.