First Camping Trip in our Overlanding Trailer

DISCLAIMER: We are not sponsored by any of the products I mention in these posts. We paid for all of it and are simply satisfied customers. If any of the companies want to talk to us in the future about selling to middle aged folk with creaky joints who don't backpack anymore, we'd be happy to consider an offer!

Now that we finally have cooler weather here in Arkansas, Dave and I took the Smittybilt trailer with the 23Zero Walkabout72 rooftop tent on its "maiden trip" to the Ouachita National Forest. Given that we didn't want to be too far from home coupled with our camping only one night, we decided to find a spot off the Winona Auto Tour north of Jessieville between Highway 7 on the west and Highway 9 on the east.

But first, we had to get out of our yard which was no easy task. This definitely was a "shakedown" trip. Dave had to fix a few electrical issues, but then we were loaded and off we went!

It was a beautiful weekend, AND it was bowhunting season, so we knew camping sites probably would be hard to come by. Our son and his fraternity brothers were camping somewhere in the forest, but we were very wise and did NOT look for them. We found a spot right off the auto tour and settled in for the night.

Here's the trailer with the tent open. We did not put out the awning because it was gorgeous and we wanted to see the sky. In the first pic, the back door of the trailer is open and you can see the Snowmaster. The right pic has the Snowmaster slid out on the left sliding door. We were REALLY lucky with that thing. Dave measured the height of the trailer opening but did not measure the width of the drawer. When the Snowmaster arrived, the pucker factor went sky high for both of us because we feared it would be too big for the drawer. God had mercy on us fools, and it fit perfectly. Had we measured it before we bought it, we probably would have bought a smaller one and not been nearly as happy with it as we are with this one. We decided on the Snowmaster because it has two compartments and both can be set to whatever temperature you want. So, our left side is the freezer and the right is the fridge. We put a box of sugar free popsicles in the freezer part, and food and drink in the fridge, and it was GREAT!

The spare tire of the jeep has a Camp Cover. It not only provides protection for the tire, but it has two large zippered compartments where we can keep our trash. That way it doesn't stink up anything we're sitting in, and the critters can't get in it and scatter trash all over the place.

A friend asked how we get up in the tent. We climb this ladder which is under the overhang part of the tent. Once you climb the ladder, the door opens to the second pic. Dark? Absolutely! Even with the windows open, this is an example of the light suppression technology of the 23Zero tent. If you've ever been camping and awakened at the butt crack of dawn because it was too light outside, then you would appreciate this light suppression tech. I took the right pic with the flash after I put the fitted sheet on the mattress. The tent is about the size of a king size bed, so our bags fit up there with us just fine.

We sat back and ate a late lunch/early supper. We didn't get our table out because we just didn't need it. We carry our dry foods in an aluminum ice chest sans ice, and that is what our drinks and chips are sitting on in the pic of the right with my handsome honey/best friend. The pic on the left shows the back compartment and the room it has. It also shows the great suspension the trailer has.

These Goal Zero collapsible solar lights are wonderful! I just put an S-biner on the handle and hung it from the ceiling of the tent. Each one of us had one a used it in our own side of the tent. Plenty of light for what we needed. We also had a Goal Zero Torch 250 that provided a lot of light in the tent.

I don't know what it is about being in the outdoors, but I always wake up so hungry! We decided to cook something warm because it was really cool. Since I was just going to boil water, I decided to use our little pocket rocket type stove on a butane "titty can" (as Dave calls it). I had 3 #10 cans of Mountain House meals, so we had a choice. Dave chose the creamy potato soup, and I chose the chicken and rice. Just pour in boiling water, stir, cover, and wait a couple of minutes and VOILA you have something tasty to eat. Cleanup was easy with the hot water left in the kettle and some Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap.

We use titanium mugs, kettle, long-handled spoons, kettle, and cook kits. Lightweight and durable. I have some aluminum as well.

Packing up was a breeze!

And just because I know Laura Robertson will say something, that's the bathroom, I snapped this pic after visiting; it's behind the tree. Yes, we packed out our toilet paper. Keep those sandwich bags after you eat. They're perfect for taking care of the "left overs" if you know what I mean. (No, not the poo; the paper. Poo stays in a cat hole and covered with dirt. After all, Leave No Trace is the policy to follow!)

So, our first trip with the trailer and tent is in the books and was a huge success! I'm looking forward to many more trips to come. I won't bore you with all of them, but I will be writing more of our overlanding adventures.

One thing before I go. We had one more build item to mention. We got with the Mud Connection guys in Little Rock, AR, and had electric lockers installed. These work great! We already have some other ideas for the Jeep, and it's the guys at Mud Connection that we'll be talking with soon. Go see them at their new location on South University!

Remember...play in the dirt!