Our first trip...FINALLY!!

[rollscanardly]

So, after all this...

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...vy-125403.html

...we went camping for the first time. DW and I went with another couple who had been going to this campground for the past 15 years...

https://www.nhstateparks.org/visit/s...tate-park.aspx

This place has no hookups. Just bathroom/shower facilities, and water stations (unthreaded, so no hose hookup...).
I filled our water tank before we left home.
Our friends were in a small SUV (Santa Fe), and brought a tent.
We reserved these spots many months ago.
So, off we go. We communicated by walkie-talkie while traveling.
About 5 miles from home, a pickup truck pulls up beside me, and signals for us to pull over.
He also pulled over, to tell me that our escape window was flapping up and down. I thanked him, then went inside the camper to re-secure the slide bar handle.
Of course, the window was now has a single, diagonal crack in it. Bummer.
Off we go.
Some time later, I was compelled to look up in the rear view mirror to check on it.
IT WAS FLAPPING, AGAIN!!
This time, I closed it, and zip-tied the latch. The window was now more broken. I had taken some military grade 2" wide tape with us.
I taped the cracked, broken window.
The rest of the trip went very well, about 3 hours.
After being guided into our spot, we leveled the camper. I built this steel contraption to aide in leveling, and was curious to try it out.
It's basically a tube that spans across the 2 axles. I can jack the tube up until the camper is level, then place the wedges under the tires.
It worked like a charm. No trial and error, no driving involved.












Nice spacious site..about 2 acres...


That tent to the right are our friends...





The site went right down to the lake...








Bottom of the hill, our kayaks...





...more to come...

[rollscanardly]

There are these islands that you can kayak out to. So, every day, we packed some food and drinks, and went to various islands to relax.

On the first day, as we returned back to the camp sites and went back into our camper, DW says "Uh-oh...we've had a visitor..."
A squirrel had jumped up onto the spare tire, ripped through the window screen, and tore into a Zip-Lock bag of blueberry muffins. There was muffin debris all over the counter.
I took the picture mostly after DW had cleaned up the mess. I was way worse that the pic shows.









So...that window remained closed the rest of the trip...


Here's the window that flapped on the highway, and broke...








I've already bought a replacement for it...


Aside from those window adventures, we had a great time. The weather was perfect.


One night, we decided to take a kayak ride to see the sunset from the water...

[rollscanardly]

Parting shots...


Phil standing on the "underwater island"...







DW...





Some of the islands...











A couple of wild turkeys passing through...





So, all in all, we did pretty good. DW and I used our bathroom and took showers in the camper vs. using the public rest rooms.


Of course, because there wasn't any dump station, we had to use a local dump station at home.



The ride home went well.


So, we certainly learned a lot. Especially how much work was involved!


Until next time...


Rich and Gail

[Dozagirl]

Great 1 down and many more to go! So sorry you had those few issues but it looks like you went to a great place.

[crunchman12001]

Congrats on your first trip. I think we all have been waiting for this to happen for you. Enjoy!

[rollscanardly]

Thanks, folks. I guess if that's as bad as it ever gets, we'll be lucky.


We really enjoyed the seclusion and quietness of the place.


That being said, we are also looking forward to a trip with hookups, too!


Rich

[dblr]

Congrats on a well deserved first trip with your camper, glad you enjoyed it and only had a few little issues. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!

[mwdilday]

Glad to see you got the trailer all fixed up and are starting to enjoy it. Looks like you took the mishaps in stride!!! May want to check on jacking the RV on the tube axle. Most I've seen say no jacking on the axle cause it can bend it. Enjoy your adventures!!!

[Librarianocnj]

Great pics.

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by dblr

Congrats on a well deserved first trip with your camper, glad you enjoyed it and only had a few little issues. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!

Thank you. aside from those mishaps, the rest of the camper's amenities worked great. The fridge (on propane) was nice and cold, including the freezer. Ice was rock hard!

Originally Posted by mwdilday

Glad to see you got the trailer all fixed up and are starting to enjoy it. Looks like you took the mishaps in stride!!! May want to check on jacking the RV on the tube axle. Most I've seen say no jacking on the axle cause it can bend it. Enjoy your adventures!!!

Thanks...we're glad, too! I'll have those windows fixed in short order.



As far as jacking on the tube...I get it. If someone jacked from the axle center, the axle may bow.


But, I was jacking from about 8" from the end of the tube. Being an industrial metal fabricator for over 30 years, I feel as though no harm was done.

Originally Posted by Librarianocnj

Great pics.

Yeah...like someone's first-born child...take a picture of every waking moment.


We took LOTS of pictures of our first camping trip after a lot of hard work on the camper.


Rich

[old40ford]

Congratulations!!! I like the leveler you made, looks like it saves a lot of frustration.

[rollscanardly]

It really works well. I mean...yeah, I gotta get under there and pump the jack, but I don't mind, at all....keeps me young! ..



The pros outweigh the cons.


Rich

[camper70]

Congrats! on your first camping trip after all the work on the camper. There always seems to be some little things that happen. You did not let them ruin your trip. Safe travels.

[rollscanardly]

Originally Posted by camper70

Congrats! on your first camping trip after all the work on the camper. There always seems to be some little things that happen. You did not let them ruin your trip. Safe travels.

Thank you. The mishaps just adds adventure to the stories about the trip...


Rich

[Jay2504]

As much work as you have done on that camper that nice place you went to for the first trip was perfect IMHO. Glad to see you finally get to use it. Jay

[rollscanardly]

Thanks, Jay.


I'll be honest with you. After going there, and enjoying all the space, nature and quietness, I don't think that I'd like some of the tighter, hectic campgrounds that I've checked the websites of.


There's a trade off, though...no hookups.


Rich