Sweet Annie

First of all, full disclosure: I know Josh Yerton from NokeVanCo. from an earlier life where his generosity of spirit, strength of character and inspiring family were an important part of my journey as a professional social worker serving the families of our community. I was a lifelong fan before NokeVanCo. even existed. So, there’s that. Second of all, Justin vanBlaricom and his wonderful wife are courageous entrepreneurs who I ALSO met before; while they were trying to bring a cool coffee shop to our own neighborhood and having to face two petty, manipulative, dishonest NIMBY’s willing to very much die on a proverbial hill (and drag our city council down with them) to keep a rat-infested, slowly collapsing, abandoned shack in an otherwise thriving public park unimproved and disintegrating right next to a main thoroughfare for no reason other than selfishly preferring the park to be underused. So, I’ve been rooting for them since early 2022 as well. I’ve been chomping at the bit to rent from NokeVanCo. for at least a year since I saw a demo model at GOFest and a showcase at Fishburn Park last year. They look stylish, fun, functional, inventive and cool AF. They FINALLY released a reservation link in late December 2023 (one of my favorite holiday miracles), and I was literally thrilled to snag the “Sweet Annie” for an adventure down to the Cherokee Nat’l Forest to mark my 50th birthday this March. We chose Sweet Annie mainly due to the Queen-sized Bed and the Movie Projector w/drop-down screen that set it apart from the Colonel Taylor, which has a different configuration including an awning, inside toilet and outside shower. Both of the currently available campervans have functional kitchens with fridge/freezer + induction stovetop + efficiency sink, large batteries, solar panels, dining tables, couches, sound system, ample storage and backup cameras. Also, all are pet-friendly which was icing on top of icing for us, we could bring our family dogs and cat with us instead of leaving them home and missing them/wondering if they are okay for the whole trip! Our adventure with Sweet Annie was EPIC. She drives very much like my dad’s former work van, a 1980’s Astro, except with better handling & horsepower. It was NOT difficult to orient to driving a longer, wider vehicle on a truck chassis (this was why we went this route instead of a full-length camper or a towed model). All the driver’s features are modern, like Bluetooth, multiple USB ports, steering wheel media controls and of course cruise control. We loaded (too much) food into the fridge and stored (too much) camping & entertainment gear in the cavernous storage under the queen bed, loaded our pets in the spacious living area and we were off! The drive was perfect, Sweet Annie is not a gas-guzzler and we made it down to our campsite in western NC on less than a tank, with much fuel to spare. After an introduction to the campsite, we chose not to park her next to the water & power hook-ups kindly provided for our use, but instead to take advantage of Sweet Annie’s excellent batteries & solar panels to park streamside and be able to walk right into the creek from the back doors if we chose. On our four-day camp her battery level (very conveniently displayed digitally inside the camper) never dropped below 80% and I chose to run the engine for an hour to top it off only once, after we spent a second entire night running the heater, the self-deploying fan system and an overnight light at the same time to manage an unseasonal cold snap we experienced. We cooked several delicious meals on the efficient stovetop, so be sure you know how induction burners work. I thought I did. (Narrator: he did not) but I learned quickly. We listened to the sounds of our waterfall-adjacent campsite for a full 2 days and then played bluegrass/folk through the excellent LED-enabled Bluetooth speaker system on our 3rd & 4th days. The fridge worked perfectly; everything was cold & fresh when we needed it. The freezer also worked without flaw; keeping our one-pan skillet meals preserved until we were ready to cook! The plush couch & adjustable/multi-configuration dinner table allowed us to eat our meals & feed the cat in several convenient positions. We didn’t take full advantage of the big cupboards at the foot of the bed (pro-tip: use them) because we had already started living out of our packed bags stored in the front seat & when we realized there was an easier way, our stuff was all over the seat & we were too relaxed to re-organize it all. Next time we’ll pack stuff there first. We intentionally booked a campsite that provided a shower & bathroom so that we could snag the queen-size bed that Sweet Annie offers (2 people, 2 dogs and a cat in the same bed every night. We def made the right call). This magic/memory/space foam bed is PERFECT. It was soft, warm, comfortable and unexpectedly cozy for a campervan mattress. Pair that bed with 3 verifiably safe, snuggly animals, a toasty floorbed fan-blown heater and adjustable crisp airflow from the linked vent fans across the van; and you get the best sleep I’ve ever had while camping. The ceiling is not so low that you bump your head getting out of bed and the gorgeous woodcarved mountain touches on the bedframe, the kitchen backsplash and the ceiling itself just adds even more beauty & character to an already wonderful and unique experience. My sole regret was that we did not think to download any movies to our devices before we set up camp in a gorgeous, somewhat remote area with extremely limited cell service. We did not get to use the clever projector and sound system as we had planned because we had nothing to project onto the roll-up screen in the kitchen. (pro-tip: def download a few favorites in case this happens to you). I caught up some on my massive backlog of books downloaded to a reader device, and my wife brought several library books, so we did just fine. Neither of us would have traded that wild country waterfall for 5G. 😊 The reservation, pickup and return processes are easy and functional. The staff are made up of amazing humans, as I mentioned above. The vans are really fun, innovative, intuitive, stylish and visibly beautiful with custom art on the outside (and inside). A 10/10 experience that I am telling everyone I know about. We are hooked on the campervan life and are already planning our next excursion… I just hope this amazing company doesn’t blow up so fast we can’t snag a reservation soon! Oh, they also MAKE CUSTOM CAMPERVANS TO ORDER = My retirement plan is to have one made in time for us to travel all over the country together as a family. Check out their DELICIOUS Fishburn Perk Label Coffee from Gladheart when you get the chance, too!