Introduction

We are Cagney and Brittany Clark. We have known each other for most of our lives. We were married in 2008. We were born and raised in rural Southern Indiana and reside here still. We were both raised to enjoy the outdoors, in one way or another. We have two children. Our son, Cash, who is just about to turn 11 years old and our daughter, Evelyn, who just turned 3 years old this past January. We are raising them to enjoy, appreciate, and respect the outdoors and everything it can provide.

Our favorite activities are camping, boating, kayaking, fishing and hiking. We spend most of our time at our local State Parks and recreation areas, which provide plenty of campgrounds, water and trails to keep us busy. When we first started camping together, we had a very small 2-person tent and a plastic tote full or our camping essentials. It was rough and it almost always rained, but these were some of the most memorable experiences we have together.

Our son came into the picture a couple years later and we put off camping for a few years. When he was 4 or 5, we started tent camping again. We purchased a larger tent, updated our camp essentials tote and began camping again. Over the next couple years, we would camp a few times a year. Almost always during a storm, though. We endured heavy rains, thunderstorms, and flooded tents. We would always wake up the next morning and look around at all the RV’s and say to each other, “why don’t we have one of these”?

Soon after that second year of tent camping with our son, we decided that we really wanted to commit to this lifestyle and decided to invest in our first travel trailer. It was a 29’ long Salem Cruise Lite. This was a very basic rig. It did not have any slide-outs, outdoor kitchens, or any other fancy add-on. It was simply a way for us to “escape” our everyday lives, one weekend at a time.

A couple years later, we were blessed with our daughter. We really reduced the number of trips we took that year, but still went a few times. The following year, we quickly learned that our trailer was not nearly as big as it used to be. Our family was growing, and we needed a trailer that could accommodate.

We did a lot of research online and planned to attend the Indianapolis Boat, Sport and RV show to get hands on with all the models we have researched. The plan was to find “The One”. That is exactly what we did. We started the deal at the show with Modern Trailer Sales out of Anderson, Indiana and on February 29 we traded our Cruise Lite for a Forest River Vibe. The Vibe was not just 10’ longer but also had three slide-outs and a bunk room for the kids. This was the perfect camper, or so we thought.

This year, with COVID-19, we could not use our camper much at all through the early spring due to a state-wide mandate closing all state parks. By the summer time we were able to get out there and enjoy our new rig. We quickly decided that this thing was HUGE! It was very awkward to back up and was just extremely LOOOOONG. So in December of this year, we decided it was time to upgrade to a fifth wheel.

We started with a ton of online searching and looking at every floor plan we could. We then went to our local RV dealer to begin our search. Due to their limited supply, we decided to head to Camping World to check our their massive selection. The lot was full of hundreds of choices. It was a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, we knew the Make and Model of the rig we wanted to see. Unfortunately, they did not have our exact model on-site. We began our negotiations on the deal and they evaluated our 9-month trade-in and tracked down our fifth-wheel with all our options. Fast-forward 3 weeks and the deal is done, kind of.

Being the first time we have owned a fifth wheel, we had to add the correct hitch equipment in our truck. Due to the make, model and year of my truck (Ford, F-250, 2020), the parts were not yet on the shelves and had to be special ordered. After waiting three weeks for the hitch adapter brackets for my truck, we found out that the capture plate on the camper was not correct. That was today, that we received this news. Now we another special order part that has a 1-3 week lead time. We have owned our camper for 3 weeks and it is still sitting at Camping World, with my truck. Tomorrow, we are heading up there (about 1.5 hours away) to pick up my truck and come back home to wait for the last part to arrive.

A photo of our rig on the day we closed the deal. Hopefully soon we will have her home.

We built this page to share our outdoor adventures in our new rig. We wanted a place to document all of our experiences and "journal" our time with our family. We hope that we can share information that may be of benefit to someone out there. Happy Camping.