Passing on the RVing experience to their children
This couple has very fond memories of camping when they were young
Deborah Srubowich loves her Palomino Yearling pop-up trailer. She would not go camping any other way. Deborah and her husband Steve purchased their tent trailer based on the three Cs: compact, cost-effective and a complete unit. Their super light 14-foot trailer is economical to tow, with little wind resistance, and expands to 22 feet—equal to the size of many trailers.
The Palomino Yearling has almost every amenity that a hard-walled trailer has and includes a lifetime warranty. The trailer has a queen bed on one end and a double bed on the other, dinette, furnace, roof fans, port-a-potty, stove inside and out and a refrigerator.
Deborah loves that the trailer is user friendly and says that they "have never gotten wet or cold. The material for tent trailers is not like the old canvas ones that leaked.”
She has gone on trips with just her and the kids and is extremely happy that the trailer only takes one person to set up. Deborah feels that the only downside to that the trailer is that "it does not have a freezer, so we really have to plan our meals well to accommodate thawing times for foods.”
The four Srubowichs are extremely busy from October to May with school activities, ringette, hockey, dance, karate and of course their day jobs. They can only camp during the slower summer months. The Srubowichs usually go camping about three times a month in the summer, with each trip ranging from two to ten days in length.
Being an active family, the Srubowichs plan their recreational activities to align with the places they are camping. They enjoy hiking, swimming, kayaking and photography. Their downtime activities often include board games and baked pies or s'mores around the campfire.
Making memories
Deborah and Steve wanted their family to experience RVing because both of them have very fond memories of camping when they were young. Both Steve and Deborah are nature lovers and even camped during their honeymoon. Deborah loves that “camping is a cheap holiday where you can enjoy the rustic outdoors.”
Steve and Deborah love that RVing for them means being unplugged. No plug-in sites, no electronics. The family gets to connect and bond with each other by doing simple things such as cliff diving or watching the stars together.
Favourite destinations
Up until last summer, the Srubowichs all time favourite place to RV in Alberta was Waterton National Park. Now their number one place to RV is Jasper National Park. Deborah said that Jasper is their favourite place to RV because “itt was our first time there as family. It has been many years and years since Steve and I have been there. We fell in love with the park and its atmosphere.”
However the Srubowichs still love to visit Waterton National Park on a regular basis because it is a quieter park with great hikes and plenty of wildlife.
The Srubowich family’s all time favourite RVing destination is south of the border at Yellowstone National Park because the park is massive.
"You can go to all the touristy where there are lots of people," said Deborah, "but a short distance later you will see no one and are off the beaten path.”
They enjoyed swimming in the Boiling River and downstream of Old Faithful. There were plenty of hiking trails and photo opportunities of amazing wildlife. The family saw bears, bison, elk, deer and wolves.
Deborah’s advice is to “never buy an older second-hand trailer because of all the things that can go wrong with older trailers. Where you can spend most your trip fixing things rather than enjoying the surroundings.This takes the fun out of camping!”
She believes that two things make for a happy camping experience. The first is investing in a new or relatively new unit and the second is proper trailer maintenance.
