After much anticipation and a little frustration, we have
finally taken our first excursion in our new Adventurer 86FB. This was just an overnight, close to home to
give us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the rig – get things set up the
way we want them and just see how it is to go from a huge fifth wheel to a
slide in.
A little about us – we are both in our early 50’s and have
been camping for many years – in everything from tents, van conversions, Class
A and travel trailer and then onto our fifth wheel. Now the fifth wheel is more of a house in the
woods than camping – what with four slides and two fireplaces. Could we go from that monster down to an 8.5
ft slide in camper and still be “comfortable”?
In just a few words, you bet! The
reason for this purchase is to explore the country in comfort but not have the
cumbersome set up and take down of our fifth wheel. We are amateur photographers and look for
opportunities wherever we go.
Now just a little more about our camper. The Adventurer/Eagle Cap Campers are sister
companies and the Adventurer is made in Yakima Washington. We expect to get up there one of these days
and take a tour. We did a great deal of
research before determining that the Adventurer 86FB was a good match for
us. While less expensive than other
brands it has loads of standard features – plus many extras that are very
desired. Less expensive does not mean
thrown together – this is a well thought out unit and it shows.
While this rig is certainly not our fifth wheel – it has
many of the same features and more. Ok,
there is no fireplace, but where would you put one anyway? This unit is fully self contained and with
generator and air conditioning, a huge refrigerator for a camper this size –
much larger than all the other campers we looked at before deciding on
Adventurer for our new travels. The wet
bath is just that – there is even a special toilet paper holder to keep your TP
dry. What is also impressive is the
amount of care taken by the factory to not leave wires and other things exposed
as we had seen on other models. Are
there things I would do differently? I
think a few and I will bring those up later.
There is a nicely sized dinette with a new style drop down table made in
the great old USA of course! Love the
shoe storage under the dinette. Add to
the mix a queen size bed, a mirrored wardrobe and a great Stereo, TV and DVD
player from Jensen. The TV I will admit
has not yet been used, but we will use it on one of those cold and rainy nights
in the future with a bowl of popcorn from that microwave I mentioned
earlier. The Adventurer can be ordered
with just a cook top and microwave or you can also add the oven. The
model we have has the oven and we tested out my fabulous biscuits and gravy and
it worked without a hitch. Speaking of
hitches… well not a hitch per say, but the step bumper on this unit is a
beauty. It is great for setting down the
groceries and then loading up the rig. The generator started quickly and easily
powered the microwave so I could have warm milk for my coffee in the morning.
What would I change?
I would add a self closing screen door, a place to hang your keys, maybe
a pop up counter top extension and the most needed item is another step up into
the sleeping areas. I am not a tall
person and getting into the sleeping area is a bit of a challenge for me. Even if the step was on the left of the main
step up it would be a great improvement.
Adjustable shelving in the cabinets would be good to have – I will be
adding some wire ones to get the most of my storage.
So our first trip out was to a local campground operated by
Washoe County. Just south of Reno,
Nevada on US 395 you take the Bowers Mansion exit and head south to Davis
Creek. Situated in the tree line below
Slide Mountain, there is not a great amount of room for really large rigs – but
those 30 feet and under should have no issues in the RV Sites. This nice little campground has 62 sites and
as of this writing is only $20 per night – all dry camping, but they have fire
rings so you can roast a marshmallow and tell stories by the fire. One couple nearby took their boys out on a
camping scavenger hunt! Now when I say
dry camping I mean no water at individual sites, no electric and hot showers
can be had by using a coin operated system.
So save that change when you go through Reno for the showers! They do have a pay dump site as well before
you leave the park. I cannot express how
pleased we were that this campground is so clean and well maintained. Bring your own firewood – they do have
firewood for sale by the main gate, but we wanted to be prepared in case they
had run out. We are members of a large
organized camping chain which has let us down greatly in the past few years, so
this place was a real treat. The grounds
and restroom facilities as well as picnic and pond were well kept. The hiking trails were loads of fun too. We took our cameras and explored the
Discovery Trail and will have to go back when we are in better shape to do the
almost 8 mile hike and 3400 foot elevation change on the Ophir Trail. The views from the top of that trail are
breathtaking – and not just from the altitude of 8600 feet!
Now the set up at the campsite was pretty darn easy – they are
a little sloped as this place gets more than its fair share of snow in the
winter and the slope allows for easier run off with less damage to the
sites. We used our sturdy locking blocks
on one side of our truck and easily leveled it with our remote Happy
Jacks. In no time at all we were setting
up our chairs and putting out our electric awning. The awning is also another great feature on
this model – easy to use, it will even release on one corner if it accumulates
too much rain water!
We had an ice cold beverage in our hand within just a few
minutes. Folks walking by commented on
our beautiful new rig. Even the Park Ranger
remarked how nice looking it was. The Jensen
stereo sounded great on the outdoor speakers while we cooked dinner on our BBQ
and while we enjoyed our evening campfire.
As I write this the weather is getting ready to turn soon
and the lovely Aspens will change colors and create a gorgeous color palette
for all to see. We can’t wait to get out
there again and explore this wonderful country of ours and take some additional
photos to share.
Till then,
Laurie and
JP
The Cruisin
Campers
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