Potty/Shower Privacy Tent

I am so excited!  I just solved the problem of not having a private bathroom/shower in my pop-up camper like the big rigs have.  I don't really need it when I'm alone (I store the pottie outside and just bring it in to use it) but I'll soon be taking my grandson camping, and I sure am NOT going to sit on my little portable pottie in the camper in front of him, nor ask him to step outside in the rain or freezing cold while I "go"! 

I've been going to bed every night trying to figure out how I might attach a tarp to my awning, build a privacy screen, etc.  I went to Ace Hardware yesterday to see if they could advise how I might build a light-weight screen that would fold down into practically nothing for storage.  The guys over there are pretty helpful.  My salesman de jour said they sell a "privacy tent" at the Bass Pro Shop but they are expensive.  So-o-o-o-o-o, now I have the nomenclature!  So-o-o-o-o, as usual I did a Google search on Privacy Tent and came up with the pictured item for only $69!  I saw it for $79 on another site, so I ordered the lower priced one immediately.  With shipping it comes to $80, about half the price of elsewhere even on E-bay, and the color will match my blue and white camper just perfect.

Besides which, I'll be 64 years old in 10 days, so I'm giving myself another birthday present.  (Pretty much everything I buy in October or November tends to become my birthday present!  It makes me happy and relieves my husband and my mom of having to pick out something for me -  except a card or three.)  We're all happy with this system.

Here's the description:

"Use as a shower room, outdoor toilet, changing room, hunting blind, or privacy shelter. KWIK Silver mechanism and unique frame that sets up in 5 seconds! Just pull 2 ropes and the tent just pops right out instantly. It can also be taken down in just a few seconds! Dome cover and mesh roof panel and 3 windows for air ventilation. Privacy window flaps, inside storage pocket and carrying bag (7" x 7" x 28.5" packed). 4 stakes for anchoring or 4 weight pockets if stakes are not used. Heavy duty frame weighs 7lbs. 6' center height 4' x 4' sq. foot floor space. 1 year limited warranty."

One thing I love about camping -- I used to backpack into campsites, like to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for 5 days, canoeing on the Buffalo River in Arkansas for 4 days, the Grand Tetons, the Smokies, the Rockies -- is you have to pare your belongings down to the bare essentials. You quickly learn what is vitally important and what is optional.  You learn to travel light, to live richly without "things".  Then everything extra you add becomes a great luxury. So you can imagine, I am about as excited with my new $80 Privacy Tent as someone else might be adding a third bathroom onto their house! I can hardly wait to set everything up in Lake Charles for the upcoming agility trial and get some photos.

My portable pottie.  Line with a
kitchen trash bag inside a 1 gallon
zip lock bag, use a few times,
fold, seal, toss. No need to purchase
 those expensive chemicals
or Doobie Bags.
The legs fold up to make a
compact little box. Purchased
at Wal-Mart's camping dept.

It's also why I love my Pop-Up Camper.  It affords me the bare minimum 60+-year-old camping luxuries of a Memory-Foam mattress (which my back can no longer live without), a counter-height gas stove (no more cooking over a camp fire or starve because I can't bend over very long), Air Conditioning, cabinet space for full size pots, pans and dishes, a tea pot, a drip coffee pot, a sink with running water, a power plug for my computer, a cooler on wheels for ice, cold drinks and fresh food (can't function on granola bars and dried fruit any more), X-pen for the little doggies, a flexi-leash for Lucky, and a portable pottie.  And now, a private outdoor bathroom!

P.S.  In case you forgot, or don't read this blog so you don't know about my pop-up camper and all the creative work I've done to make ours really cool and livable, my Pop-Up Camper blogpost is here.

Upwards and onward! Here we go.