It all began in August 2012 in Symco, Wisconsin, a small town about an hour west of Green Bay.
Scott and I met while tent camping at Bear Lake Resort. Scott has always been a classic car buff, and he had heard about a car show called Symco Shakedown. Since we were camping nearby, he decided to check it out. I have always loved camping in just about any form, so I was happy to be outside and around a campfire.
That first night at the resort, something felt different. Over the years, while camping with my sister and my sons, I was usually teased for falling asleep early. But that night, Scott and I were the last ones to call it a night. We talked for hours by the orange glow of the campfire. The same thing happened the next night.
When the weekend ended, we went our separate ways, and I was not sure I would ever see him again.
A couple of months later, I signed up for another group event: a haunted hayride and bonfire. I saw that Scott had signed up too, and I wondered if he would remember me. He certainly did. We laughed with friends, enjoyed the cheesy hayride, shared a little wine around the fire, and started dating soon after.
The following year, Scott invited me to go with him to Symco. I was not especially interested in classic cars at the time, but I wanted to spend time with him. If it was something he enjoyed, I wanted to experience it too.
When we arrived, I was amazed. The event is held in Unionville, a recreated vintage town that feels like a step back in time. Dusty roads wind past a general store with old-fashioned candy and pie. There is a working blacksmith shop, a sawmill, and a saloon filled with laughter and the steady flow of PBR. The bandshell hosts pin-up contests, club awards, live music, and raffles that support good causes.
There are rules about which vehicles can be part of the show, and our 1955 Ford F-100 made the cut. We were directed to park near the Little Wolf River, where the vintage campers were set up with period-correct displays and owners dressed to match.
That was it. I was hooked.
The colorful displays, the laughter, the rustic setting, and the cool old trucks pulling those campers into place completely won me over.
A couple of months later, I returned home from a girls’ weekend and found that Scott had bought a 1965 vintage camper. It was painted two shades of green house paint, and the moment the door opened, it shared its musty aroma with everyone nearby.
My first thought was, “What did you do?”
Then I realized he had done it for me.
Little by little, we started poking, prodding, and learning what the camper was made of. She still had plenty of life left in her, including several more trips to Symco, but as we peeled back the layers, it became clear she would eventually need to be taken down to the frame and rebuilt almost from scratch.
Being new to vintage camper restoration, we did plenty of things the hard way. In the end, it took twice as much time and twice as much money as it probably should have to get her roadworthy again.
Our advice to anyone starting a restoration is simple: learn as much as you can before diving in. Find reliable resources. Study how these trailers were originally built. Do not be afraid to remove the skin if that is what the trailer needs.
One of our biggest decisions was whether to restore her back to original or customize her for the way we wanted to camp. Would she be used for a few shows each year, or would she become part of our regular camping life?
One thing we knew for sure: we wanted the warm glow of birch walls and ceiling.
Anyone who has restored a vintage camper knows how hard it can be to find good birch. Luckily, our small local hardware store, less than a mile from home, was able to get it for us. That became our starting point.
We believe a vintage camper can have classic style and modern comfort. We kept the warm birch interior but added updated touches that made the trailer easier to use. We installed LED lights, USB charging ports, Fantastic Fans, VCT flooring, dog bone laminate, chrome trim, and a retro-style refrigerator. We removed one closet to create a more open feel and added counter space. We also took out the gaucho bed and chose a full-time queen bed instead.
Little by little, she became the camper we had imagined.
Of course, the camper was also the perfect companion to Scott’s 1955 Ford F-100. He has owned the truck for years and has touched nearly every inch of it. Along the way, he has updated the fenders, added custom wheels with baby moons and mirror-like trim rings, and completely refreshed the interior with clean finishes and a two-tone bench seat cover.
The truck is not just good-looking, either. Scott loves working on the mechanical side, and the Ford 302 now runs like a champ.
Together, our classic truck and vintage camper have brought us more joy, pride, and friendships than we ever expected. Someone once asked if this was our “thing.”
We smiled and said, “Yes, it is one of our things.”
After four and a half years of rebuilding, learning, laughing, and sometimes wondering what we had gotten ourselves into, we officially became one big happy family: me, Scott, the ’55 Ford, and Emmy Lou, our 1965 Friendship Vacationaire built in Friendship, Wisconsin.
