camping on 2 wheels.

why  get a tent on wheels

After 20+ years of tenting, my tired bones were just getting fed up. The straw that broke the camel's back was a camping trip in 2007 to Shediac NB. Great campground, bad weather. We got hit with a big downpour at least once a day for the entire length of our stay of 10 days. I had to dig trenchs around the tent to drain the water away. since the site was a sand base, the daily downpour turned the whole site into a nice muck. Since we had a shelter over the picnic table, the rain itself was not a problem. The muck was a whole different story. Anyway, that was the tipping point. We decided to get a pop-up tent trailer on the trip back. We researched the topic to death and found the following reasons to get a  pop-up.

• readiness; you prep it once a season and are ready to go at any time
• more room; both in the towing vehicle and in overall storage
• convenience, you can really bring everything AND a kitchen sink!
• bedding; your site can be as rocky and root ridden as you want, your bed will be nice and soft. Your back will thank you.
• warmth, a 16000 BTU furnace can be a godsend when the temperature dips.

Now the die hard tenters will say that you don't need all those conveniences. It's true, you don't NEED them, I know I used to say the same thing. But I really enjoy having them now....God, does that mean I'm getting old?!!!

so which trailer do you get?

This will depend on what you want. If you love the tent feeling, but want a bit more conveniences, get a pop-up tent trailer. If you just want the camping experience but don't care about hearing the chirping birds in the morning, get a travel trailer. If you want more luxury or you want to use the same site for an entire season, get a fifth-wheel. The number of people and/or amount of gear will dictate how big the trailer should be.
We decided to get a pop-up because we really enjoy the outdoor feel. We also wanted to go further away from civilization, this meant larger water storage, toilet and more propane storage. It also meant getting a "off-road" type with a front deck. This way, we could bring everything we wanted anywhere we wanted. We checked all the makes and models in this type. We settled on the Starcraft 11RT. We really wanted the  Coleman E2, but the tongue weight was too high for our 4x4. The 11RT was a good compromise.

banned places 

There are some places that a pop-up is not allowed to go. High end campgrounds and deep woods in bear country. I can think of any good reason to ban pop-ups from high end parks/campgrounds other than just plain snobism. So be it, let the snobs have their place in the sun. But I also know a rolling home will never make it to where we go, so balance is maintained. As for the other banned places (bear country). It seems that bears could not break in to a rolling tin can. HA! If they sniff out food, their getting in. A thin sheet of metal back with insulation and plywood are nothing for a 10 inch wide paw with 3 inch nails. I can understand rangers wanting to "protect" us from bears, but a well maintained campsite will not bring bears in. You have to be less appetizing than all the other camps and bears will leave you alone (but not the others).