Camper Door Modifications

We've made two modifications to the door to our fifth-wheel.  One was simply an install of a store bought item and the other would qualify as a "Macgyver".

In my opinion, one of the best mods we have made is to simply add a grab bar to the door.  I quickly got tired of pulling out the plastic, sliding middle piece that seems to come with all camper doors.  They are generally flimsy and I was always pulling it apart while trying to close the door.  The grab bar was purchased at Camping World and it has made a huge difference.

The other door modification came about because I am too short to open the door from the outside unless I am standing on the bottom step.  In addition, Rick didn't care for sliding the plastic door piece open every time you had to open the door from the inside.

Here is our VERY low-tech solution.

This is a piece of a wire hanger with a plastic tip on the end.  It goes through the side of the white plastic on the inside of the door and attaches to the door latch on the other side.  

I added a simple piece of twine to the outside latch so I could open the door from the outside while standing on the ground.  Before, I had to stand on the corner of the bottom step so I could reach the latch.

Here are some other camper mods we have made.

What Do You Do When You Go Camping?

"What do you do when you go camping?"  

The other day, someone asked me this question.  It got me to thinking that it would make a good topic for this blog.

When we go camping, we like to:

ride bikes

go fishing

walk

sit around a campfire

play games

cook outside

and just chill.

When we go to Oak Grove campground at Sardis Lake, most of the time there is a guy in a spot near the front who has one of the most elaborate set-ups for campfire cooking.  It reminds me of a chuck wagon set-up.



The main thing we like to do when we go camping is leave the "real" world behind (yardwork, housework, work work) and just be.

Oak Grove at Sardis October 2016

Yeah!!!!  Our first weekend of low humidity, early fall-like weather hit north Mississippi this weekend (Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2016).  Our camper has been sitting unused all summer and we were anxious to start camping again.  This weekend was an absolutely perfect weekend for it.




We decided to go to one of our favorite close-by spots, Oak Grove campground at Sardis Lake.  I have written about this COE campground the first time we camped here.  Previously I have had Fridays off which enabled us to camp on Thursday night-Sunday but I now have a full-time job so camping trips are a little shorter for me.  Fortunately, my husband was able to take Friday off so he set up camp, then texted me where to come after work.

This weekend, we stayed in spot #25.  This was a great spot on an outside loop with a large yard area with plenty of shade trees.  

With lots of mature trees come lots of squirrels, Sally Mae's nemesis.  She spent some time in campground "jail" (the pen) for running after the squirrels.

Right behind our spot was the driveway to the lower lake boat dock.  Just on the other side of the driveway is John Kyle State Park campground.  This is an unusual set up with a state park campground and a COE campground right next to each other separated by a boat dock.  




We never could figure out when "check-in" time was, but "check-out" time is 2:30pm.   

Each site has 20/30/50 amp and water.  There are no sewer hookups but there is a dump station at the entrance/exit.  There are 3 bathrooms with showers which are kept pretty clean.  The handicap shower has a showerhead with a hose that you can take off the wall.  




We really enjoy this campground and recommend it if you are thinking about camping near Sardis Lake.