This is what you get when you shine a flashlight on a purple flower in the middle of the night.

Those are great questions, Larry, and are pertinent to what's going on in my life right now, and therefore very interesting to me.

The Palomino's do look nice, but if you look at the price of the new ones, they cost roughly half as much as most of the other pop-up slide-in truck campers. Reason being is from what I can see; they're made very cheap. Waferboard and particleboard abound, and the foam upholstery that covers the seating area is somewhat thin and not firm enough to keep you from feeling the Waferboard underneath.

I could go on, but in general, everything about my little Bronco camper is done on the cheap and would not appear to last if given any more than a few weekends a year of use. But like I said, there roughly half the price of the better brands like the Hallmark, and just like most things in life, "you get what you pay for."

I was interested in the Alaskan pop-up camper also. But, they have a somewhat awkward and wonky method of raising and lowering the top, which almost guarantees every bug in the neighborhood will end up in the camper with you. And when you consider the amount of biting bugs infesting Alaska during the summer, Alaskan seems like a rather odd name for a camper that will expose you to hordes of mosquitoes as you raise and lower the roof.

Yes, the little Bronco does have a wet bath, or more accurately, DID have a wet bath.... With wet being the operative word here. Due to the plethora of Waferboard and particleboard used in the little Bronco's construction, and that type of wood's affinity for dissolving anywhere near water, I decided having any chance of water splashing around inside the little Bronco was a not a chance worth taking.

I kept everything so I can put it back in if I want to, but the shower took up too much room, uses too much water, and too much gray water storage space. So I'd rather take a birdbath in the sink, or I can use the outside shower if no one is looking.... And believe me, no one will look more than once.

Since I removed the toilet and the shower in an effort to gain more storage space, a cassette toilet is the way to go. A cassette toilet takes up way less space, can be stored in various places, and offers several ways of dumping instead of the usual method of trying to find, and hooking up to a dumpsite.

I have four 100 Watts solar panels on the little Bronco right now, with room for two more if need be. This appears to be enough for boondocking on my mini-vacations but whether it's enough for full-time living, where due to weather conditions I may get little to no charging for three or four days, remains to be seen.

I've never been satisfied with just boondocking, I want to boondock long term, and I want to be comfortable while doing it. The way I've set up the Arctic Fox is perfect for that purpose, but I don't know if a small, easy to manage, more nimble camper is capable of achieving that.

Your last question is the one that gives me more concern than any other and I believe will be the most difficult for me to deal with. The Arctic Fox is great for parking next to my daughter's house and living in every day almost as if I belong here. But living in a slide-in truck camper, especially the smaller sizes that I'm interested in, might be challenging to live with.

I fear staying here for the summer in a truck camper; I will look even more like a homeless bum than I already do. And I'm pretty sure the very sight of me living in the yard will lower the property value considerably, possibly for the entire neighborhood.

I guess the good thing is I could sell the Arctic Fox and the little Bronco, so there would only be one RV in the yard, so my daughter's yard won't look like an RV dealership anymore.

                                Theboondork

It looks weird, but it tastes good in just about anything.

Another quiet day today; I think there's not much going on around me because folks are saving their time, money, and energy for the 4th of July holiday next weekend. I'm doing something similar myself in preparation for the 4th. I'm stocking up on food and water just in case there's a shortage and putting sandbags around the perimeter of the Arctic Fox to increase its ability to withstand whatever comes my way.

My current location is only 2 or 3 miles from a major Colorado state park. Sometimes, the celebratory nature of the folks at the park can spill over into surrounding neighborhoods, so I have to be prepared for any eventuality.

My biggest problem will more than likely be the noise and inherent danger of fireworks debris raining down on my location. This neighborhood in the past has shown itself to be very patriotic, which often manifests itself in a plethora of fireworks being launched into the sky not only by celebrating neighbors but the State Park itself, which has a large fireworks display on the fourth.

And the neighbors here are not satisfied with your typical "legal" fireworks. The folks around here have no problem driving the 80 or so miles up to the Wyoming state line where there's Indian land on which they're allowed to sell "real" fireworks like back in the good old days when I was growing up.

 It's evident that since it's a national holiday, I can't run from it;  there's simply no way to get away from the festivities, which means my only choices are to hunker down and hide under the kitchen table, or go out and join the holiday revelers. I'm not totally sure which one I'm going to do yet, but at least I've got plenty of time to relax and think about it.

                                                           Theboondork

I've been giving some thought to what I should do this upcoming fourth of July holiday. Seeing as how it's the busiest and most popular holiday of the summer vacation season, I feel it needs a lot of thought to make sure I handle it right since doing it wrong could have a far-reaching impact on the remainder of my summer. So I've spent a lot of time today relaxing in my easy chair with a cup of coffee, giving serious consideration to multiple scenarios, and have narrowed it down to these three.

One thing I could do for the holiday is hitch up the Arctic Fox, tow it to Los Angeles California, and boondock on the streets of LA to see if I can get an accurate count of the homeless bums that reside there. And try to determine the effects global warming is having on their lifestyle. This should be fairly easy since I blend right in with most homeless bum populations. Local authorities in Los Angeles say they have no idea how many homeless bums live on the streets. And the United Nations has yet to publish any information on the impact of global warming on this fragile yet essential segment of California's population. I figure if I hurry, I could get there and back during the 4th of July long weekend.

Another fun thing might be to make a quick trip down to Yuma, Arizona, with the little Bronco truck camper instead of the Arctic Fox on the 4th of July, just to see if it's really going to be 110° like the weather forecasters are calling for. I could carry some eggs and bacon just to see if I could actually fry them on the hood of my black truck. Who knows, this might lead to an Internet cooking show hosted by theboondork showing various quick and easy recipes that can be prepared on the hood of a black truck... While you travel.

But seeing as how I'm getting old and geezerly, I'm not sure if I have the enthusiasm, ambition, or even "the Right Stuff" for traveling adventures like that anymore, so maybe I should stick with what works and do what I always do..... hunker down, shelter in place, and self-isolate, until the time is right, the worst has come to an end, and I can finally unlock my camper door, and step outside into the sunshine when the 4th of July is finally over.

                                                Theboondork