Truck Bed Camping: Beebe Bridge Campground, Chelan WA

“Caution: Inflate and assemble the tent at least once before you go camping.” A bit too late for that, given that I read those words on the instruction manual of the new Crua Culla tent at the campsite, having just opened the packaging. How hard could it be? The tent has no poles; the support structure is inflatable. And the Rivian has an on-board air compressor. Should be plug and play!

Ten minutes later, we’ve repacked the Rivian and are on our way to the nearest hardware store to buy air compressor adapters for the Boston valves on both the tent and the inflatable mattress pad. Like all newbie car and tent campers, we learned that for the first trip, it’s important to be within a 10 minute drive of a Walmart.

And yet the inaugural Rivian truck bed camping trip was a success! We spent a weekend (arriving Friday afternoon, and leaving Sunday morning) almost in our own backyard, at Beebe Bridge Campground near Chelan, WA. Car camping is a far cry from campervan glamping: no private toilet and shower, no sink with running water, and so many bags to unpack (and repack!). We can do it, though, with things we already own. And there are dozens and dozens of inviting campgrounds within an hour’s drive to explore, most of which are nearly empty by late September and October, when the children return to school.

The Rivian (her name is Evie) has battery power for days, and can power the electric kettle, the CPAP machine, the air compressor, the phones, the tablets, the Kindles, and probably much more. We brought an extra Ecoflow battery bank, but will probably leave it home next time. If we camp in an RV spot, Evie can stay plugged in, and we have limitless power.

We ate Mountain House freeze-dried meals this trip, but Evie could easily handle an Instapot and refrigerator in the future if desired. Freeze-dried food has come a long way in culinary achievement though, and hot damn if that chili mac and cheese wasn’t the best I’ve ever had while camping.

Here’s the amazing part: we did nothing on Saturday. Once we had the inflatable tent and mattress pad set up, we were loath to move. So we didn’t. Multiple cups of piping hot coffee, outdoor blankets stuffed with down, rocking camp chairs, and a good book is all I needed. As the sun dipped over the Western hills, we fired up the kettle for a dinner of Shin ramen, then climbed into the inflatable tent for the best sleep I’ve had in months.

September 24, 2023