The environment is nice and the parking compartment is quite nice! The author’s car is a Honda N-VAN +STYLE FUN, which has a fold-down front passenger seat that allows the floor to be flat except for the driver’s seat. Therefore, a flat floor of about 2.6m long appears on the passenger seat side, where you can lay down on a mat with plenty of room to spare. The width of the interior is also approximately 1.3 m, so there is room for luggage. The interior floor to the ceiling is also about 1.3 m, so it is convenient to walk around the cabin without having to bend down so much. Now, I visited RV Park Nanasatogawa with my N-VAN, and while there are many unique RV parks, this one is just such a type of facility. RV Park Nanasatogawa is located on the side of Nanasatogawa Valley, which runs southeast of Kimitsu City, and is surrounded by the low mountains that are common in Chiba, making it a scenic location. There are few houses nearby, no train stations or shopping spots, and no roads leading to other tourist attractions, so it is a very quiet environment at night. Another attraction is the starry night sky, which is beautiful depending on the age of the moon. All three sites are well maintained and the parking areas have concrete reinforcements to ensure stable parking. This is not only to accommodate heavy campers, but as you can see from the picture, it is also very important to be able to clearly see where you are going to park so that you are less likely to park at an angle. In such adjacent lots, it may be difficult to use the lot you are renting, depending on how the car using the lot next to you parks. However, since the cars are not overflowing into the lot, it is not possible to ask them to move their cars. The next point of special note is that, although this is an overnight facility, tables and chairs can be set up outside the vehicle and tents can also be used for overnight stays. This is on the level of an auto campground. Furthermore, if you follow the designated procedures, you can build a fire, so you can realize your dream of “I don’t have a tent, but I wanted to build a fire at night at a campsite. Many people look forward to eating when they stay in a car. In order to keep food and drinks at the right temperature until mealtime, a portable refrigerator is necessary. This type of gear can be powered by 12 VDC and 100 VAC, so it can run on DC power while traveling, but the problem comes when you arrive at the destination. The rule in RV parks is to stop the engine when in the zone, no matter how big the RV park is. Therefore, to keep the refrigerator running after the car is parked, another power source is needed, but RV parks have AC power in every compartment, so we can use it. Incidentally, auto campgrounds also have power supply sites, but the fees are generally higher, which makes RV Park Shichirigawa’s fee structure more reasonable.
I stayed at the second site. Now, after introducing the main facilities, I gave my impression of using the plots. Perhaps because of this, only the second site was open that day, but even so, there were eight plots and only two units were available, so I was able to use the site in a relaxed environment. We rented “Lot No. E,” which is a corner lot. It is said to be one of the most popular lots at Site 2, as it is easy to use and has a good view. First of all, it is spacious enough to park a large camper, and there is enough space for a tarp or tent, so there is plenty of room for an N-VAN. Also, there is a coniferous tree planted as a blindfold between the site and the neighboring plot, which gives it a nice private feeling and makes it even more cozy. Incidentally, coniferous trees do not lose their leaves even in winter, so this effect remains unchanged throughout the year. There is one more thing about the tree planting in the plot. There are broadleaf trees planted on the south side of the plot to provide shade from the sun from early summer to summer. And the broadleaf trees are placed with the idea that they will be deciduous in winter, so that sunlight can be secured during the cold season. Although the interview took place in mid-April, the temperature rose to about June and the sun was strong, so the shade was a great help. After the sun went down, we started a bonfire. It was a hot day, but since it was only April, the nights were still quite cool, so the warmth of the bonfire was still pleasant. The temperature in this area is a little cooler than in Tokyo, and there are no structures around to store heat during the day, so even in mid-summer, the nights are quite comfortable. If we were staying in a tent, we would probably have dinner at the same time as the bonfire, but since the theme of this trip was to stay in the car, we decided to eat dinner in the car. However, since we do not want to use fire in the car as much as possible, we use an “electric pot” as our cooking utensil for overnight stays in the car. In the cold season, I sometimes make ramen with it, but since ramen also produces a lot of smell, I decided to make a pilaf and a retort hamburger steak for dinner this time. Incidentally, I am not interested in food in the first place, so I have no problem with this kind of menu. Some people may think it tasteless, but I enjoy eating in the car at night in a strange land, so please forgive me. Now, the main event? As I mentioned before, RV Park Nanasatogawa is a quiet place, and on the day of the interview, there were only solo guests, so it was really quiet at night. So there was no problem in sleeping there. However, that would be too tasteless as an article, so I would like to write about one of my thoughts. It is about bedding for overnight stays in a car. No matter what kind of car you drive, sleeping overnight in a car is probably not as comfortable as sleeping in a regular bed, so you want to make sure that the bedding is a little more comfortable than usual. In particular, the mat and pillow on which you lie down are directly related to the comfort of your sleep, so I feel that you should pay particular attention to these items. As for sleeping mats and pillows, they are directly related to the sleeping conditions, so it is better to be particular about them. An inexpensive, lightweight sleeping bag is fine for this time of year, but the problem is from fall through winter. When the outside temperature drops, it gets as cold inside the car as it does outside, so during these seasons, you need to have the same level of equipment as you would need for staying in a tent, including protection against the cold bottom of the car. However, a sleeping bag for midwinter is expensive, so it is not something that can be easily purchased. In such cases, it is possible to bring a futon for use at home, or use an electric blanket since there is a power source available. The most important thing when staying in a car in winter is to take measures against the cold so that you can sleep, so warmth is the priority, not appearance. Another thing is that it is difficult to turn off the lights in the high position after getting into the sleeping bag because you have to get into it. On the other hand, it is also inconvenient to turn off the light before getting into the sleeping bag. What is convenient is a type of lantern that can be turned on and off with a remote control. After getting into the shrub, a quick flick of the remote control darkens the lamp and makes it easy to turn it on when getting up to go to the bathroom, for example. I would recommend this lantern. That concludes my report on the RV Park Shichirigawa. In summary, this facility offers a lodging experience comparable to that of a high-standard auto campground at a reasonable price, which is only possible at RV parks. The location is also good, about 100 km from Tokyo, which only takes two hours to get there. However, as such a facility, reservations for weekends fill up early, so those who want to try it out should make their reservations as early as possible. If you want to experience “a night alone in the mountains” as I did this time, you should take a weekday off. The latter is my recommendation.
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