By Shari Valenta
Ray Reeves, owner of Adventure Camper Rentals, hands Lena Lippert the keys to a Fleetwood Tent Trailer to visit Grand Lake.
Ah, moving day! Everybody knows the drill; especially since your college-age children seem to change apartments every six months when the lease is up. Friends and relatives all pitch in to stockpile stereo equipment, TVs and vintage couches into the hatchbacks of their cars. Numerous trips are made and most of the moving crew can’t see out their back window crammed with garbage bags full of clothes. Why not save time driving back and forth and especially damage to your vehicle by renting a truck instead?
Adventure Camper Rentals is a smart place to go because it’s three businesses in one for your moving, towing and hauling needs. It rents moving trucks through Penske Truck Rental and cars, pick-up trucks and minivans through Xpress Rent-A-Car; Adventure Camper Rentals even rents Fleetwood/Coleman campers.
These campers are great for families who want to experience the outdoors but not sleep on the ground, or just need a bigger car to take on vacation. View floor plans, specifications and pricing for the recreational vehicles at www.adventurecamper.com. This versatile rental company moved six months ago four miles west of Centennial Airport from its original location located near East Iliff Avenue and South Parker Road. The new location brings Adventure Camper Rentals closer to their customers who tend to be families from Aurora, Parker, Highlands Ranch and Southwest Littleton.
“It’s a nice location,” said Ray Reeves, owner. “I think people feel safe coming here, plus there’s plenty of room and lots of space for the campers and trucks.”
Penske truck rental consists mostly of commercial business.
“FedEx and UPS rent trucks and sometimes local businesses need a delivery truck, or when their truck is in the shop for service,” said Reeves. “We also rent locally or one way to families that are moving.”
Adventure Camper Rentals has been in business for about 10 years.
“I started out renting trucks, then I branched off into camper rentals five years ago, which brought me into the car rental business,” explained Reeves. “I have lots of people that fly into DIA and need to tow a camper. However, most of the major car rental companies won’t rent vehicles with hitches. So, one thing led to another and now I rent cars too.”
The fun part about the business is the camper rental. Reeves himself is somewhat of an outdoorsman.
“I’m a Colorado native and I love camping myself,” Reeves smiles. “I like to go backpacking, although not as often as I’d like. My family, particularly my wife and daughter, prefer using the tent campers, so I do that too.”
He only rents one type of camper, Fleetwood Tent Trailers. That’s because it’s one of the most efficient campers for gas mileage and also easy to use.
“Even our biggest tent trailers are very light and easy to tow,” assured Reeves. “Any kind of pickup truck, SUV or almost any kind of a minivan is more than enough to tow our trailers. We do not at this point rent full-size RVs because they only get about six to eight miles per gallon, which would make a trip to Yellowstone very expensive.”
The store offers a half-hour class for first-time trailer users to learn how to set up and operate them. There are two hot lines to call—24 hours a day, seven days a week—in case a customer has a problem. Reeves says he has the hotline because a lot of customers have never used a trailer before. Some people are trying the campers out for the first time to see if they want to buy one.
Adventure Camper Rentals only rents one type of camper called Fleetwood Tent Trailers because they’re so easy to use.
“There’s a little bit of a learning curve when you’re using an RV,” said Reeves, chuckling. “Sometimes you just have to laugh with the customer; as long as you keep the customers laughing, that’s all that matters. One customer came back after he had the camper for a week. He said, ‘I can’t believe you have this camper; the stove didn’t work at all.’ So I set up the camper, walked inside, turned on the propane and I could hear the gas coming from the stove. So I lit a match and it started right up. The guy looked at me and said, ‘What did you use the match for?’ I said, ‘It’s a propane stove; it needs a flame to start.’ He said, ‘My stove at home doesn’t need a match to start it. So I said, ‘Yeah, you have an electric stove.’ So we both laughed because this unfortunate guy and his family ate cold food for a week, just because he didn’t strike a match.”
Besides the laughs, why stay in a camper when you can stay in a hotel or a lodge in the mountains?
“If people want the experience of being out in the mountains, such as going camping or being near a river, they should stay in a camper,” remarked Reeves. “The difference is you’re not going to hear the wind blowing through the pines in a hotel. It’s also less expensive because you can cook your own meals.”
Whether you want to enjoy our beautiful Rocky Mountains in a Fleetwood/Coleman camper or just want to make moving day one easy trip, visit Adventure Camper Rentals to rent a vehicle.
Adventure Camper Rentals is located at 15603 E. Freemont Dr. For more information, call (303) 680-3670 or visit [http://www.adventurecamper.com].