Dry campers have a leg up....

We went camping this weekend in Branson to our favorite campground. I had called ahead, but didnt get anyone and left a message....no one called me back. My husband asked about it on the way up, but it didnt bother me. When I do call, he has the information and just says thanks and dont worry - so I figured he was busy, noted the name and just reserved our "favorite" site. No prob....

Well, our favorite campground was closed, actually the front office said it was closed, but we didnt realize it meant the whole campground..... We didnt care. We pulled in, grabbed a flier next to the door and went to our favorite spot. Campers are like that.... After unhooking and getting set up, a guy walked over and said that they were closed, but it wasnt a big deal. Campers are like that.... He came back over a little later and asked us to unhook our hose so their pipes wont freeze over night....No problem.... We gave the guy $20 bucks a night on our way out cash and of course, no problem....campers are like that.....

But it got me thinking - dry campers are going to be ahead of the game in regards to a grid down situation. Dry campers are amazing. They can take 50 gallons of water and a deep cycle marine battery and make it last forever....or at least make it seem like it. They know EXACTLY how many watts each of their items uses, how long to leave it on and how to recharge that battery. They know exactly how much gas it will take to run the generator to recharge or how much sunlight they will need for the solar panels to charge (and these solar panels are small compared to house panels) their battery.

They are experts on conserving water, cooking outside and making do or doing without. It is almost like a game. If you surf the RV forum sites, there is a peeing contest to see how long campers go without recharging, refilling or dumping tanks (black water or grey). It becomes addictive almost...

We are not dry campers - trying to get 3 kids, including a teenage girl, to conserve water would be laughable. I admire from afar and read all I can. I also intend to check out their solar panels - they are supposedly not too terribly expensive. If you have an RV, trailer, 5th wheel, I would suggest doing the same. If worse came to worse (which is what we are preparing for) moving the fam into the trailer would be entirely doable. I could feed and house my family with a semblance of order without being entirely back to nature.... But man, those full-hookup sites are really, really nice....