what we learn from our first trip?

[eseeweb]

Just come back from our very first trip spending overnight at a park only an hour away. Lots of fun and not busy so we have lots of space for ourselves. Weather is cold so end up turn furnace on all night, seems noisy but ok. Also have an electric blanket that turn out pretty handy.

These are what we learn as a newbie (still lots to figure out).

a) Not enough food - me and my wife calculate all our meals and drinks. Didn't realize that we eat more than what we plan. Next time will bring extra.

b) Stuck in mud when backing up to our site - park have rain the day before and certain area is muddy. It was a shock to us when we got stuck and panic for a minute.We end up need to engage on 4x4 to get ourselves out.

c) Big surprise (and our mistake) - surge protector is not working. We got a Progressive Industries 30 amp model, never expect it is defective. So, never try out at our home. Plug it in at the site, found out one has no metal contact.

d) A outdoor desktop grill turn out to be very useful, cooking inside is limited with our little trailer and feel so much better when u can eat while cooking.

Next trip is a two night stay over at another park an hour away from home. I thought I will use these summer to do mini-trip to get ourselves more comfy with our trailer.

[Jmkjr72]

You may be surprised how many times you will use 4wd. We are set up ona preseason special so we don’t need to take our camper home for 3 more weeks. But there was snow on the ground 2 weeks ago when we dropped it off. Knowing things could be soft and snow covered we went in 4 high but needed to use 4 low locked. We found a tree stump with the front of our tv and the camper tires got hung up on a pile of ice..
That’s not even counting the need for 4 low the get it out of its parking spot at home

We have learned when on shore power a space heater works great compared to when we had our pop up it’s quite and heats the camper nicely

I can count on 1 hand all the time in the pop up and in the travel trailer how many times we have cooked in the camper. We love our table top gas stove and we bring an extra 20 lb tank just to hook up to the stove

[debit]

We use an oil filled portable heater, at the 900 watt setting to remove the chill in our early camping. You might find it very helpful and it does not make any noise.
..................................
Ram2500 diesel 4x4 / FR Surveyor 251rks

[3boxerss]

We use a small ceramic heater its pretty good at keepin the chill off. We only use the furnace when its really cold. Take a notepad with you and write stuff down you forgot or will need next trip as you tend to forget some of it after you are home.. We tend to eat alot more when camping than at home. We have yet to cook with anything inside but the microwave and crockpot.. Most all of our cooking is outside...

[Nancyc7]

Your surge protector couldn't be tested out at home unless you have 30 amp plug, so that is not your mistake. Talk about mistakes. We towed our Subaru 60 miles with parking brake on.
We have a little electric heater, it is not silent but much less noisy than furnace but works very well and it's small so it fits.
We did the same thing several times, 2 nights close to home to learn all the systems. Lots of fun.

[quicky06]

Hell I have to use 4x4 pulling my 32 footer out of my yard ( it’s up hill) half the time. You will get used to it. I engage 4x4 auto on my 16f150 as soon as I get off the road and until I get back in it.

I still have the option of locking th rear diff and full time 4x4 if needed. Just makes turns more difficult.

You will get a list of things that don’t work as expected.

I do as much clocking as possible outside. Even out a quick connect propane fitting on the trailer so I can just plug the grill in.

[Mainframe]

4x4 auto in wet grass, mud or hilly grass, also when going any distance in grass like if you were at a fair grounds or you friends farm etc.

Just makes it a lot easier, my 23ws has a large cooking area with o good exhaust fan, I cook in it way more than I thought I would, also the pans I bought have matching lids so I cover things a lot, but the hybrids are easier to "air out" after cooking so that is a factor.

[mjones12]

Backing a trailer uphill into a gravel site, with front wheels turned: 4x4 comes in handy.

[rsdata]

as mentioned a small cube heater does a good job of heating a small camper I even use another small fan just to get the warm air circulating off the ceiling... this works as long as you have electric if not then look at a Big Buddy propane heater...

I hardly ever cook inside... always outside with Coleman stove or 12" charcoal grill...

[satdog01]

Best thing on our Flagstaff is the outside kitchen when it comes to cooking! I carry a tabletop pellet grill as well. The very few times during a heavy rain we have cooked inside, we use a tabletop induction stove, no radiant heat from it. The last thing you want to do is fire up a stove in a rv in summer!

[Philkaty]

Originally Posted by 3boxerss

We use a small ceramic heater its pretty good at keepin the chill off. We only use the furnace when its really cold. Take a notepad with you and write stuff down you forgot or will need next trip as you tend to forget some of it after you are home.. We tend to eat alot more when camping than at home. We have yet to cook with anything inside but the microwave and crockpot.. Most all of our cooking is outside...

That is right make sure you write things down so you can prepare for the next trip.

[eseeweb]

To me, it seems looking at the numbers on paper, our trailer dont need much towing power as it is only 3000 lbs dry. In reality, I am glade that I opt with trading out our minivan and get a 4x4 truck. I can't imagine what we can do if we stuck in wet mud and grass and can't pull ourselves out.
Also, lesson learn is to write down a list like what you many of us adopted to so we don't miss out.

Just wondering, what do you do with your sewer hose when you arrive back home, do we try to hang dry or leave it in the compartment in the trailer, also, do we keep some water in the black tank at all?

Right now, we drain everything out and do a quick black tank flush before leaving camp ground. Is that good enough? Just wondering...

[Jmkjr72]

Some store it in the bumper.
Myself I have a tote that is only for sewer. Gloves drain hose hose with back flow on it to rinse and spare cover

After I get it drained and rinsed if I can rinse it. I dump 5 gallons in the black with a mix of laundry soap and calgone. Unless I’m putting it away for winter

[mkekflyers]

Originally Posted by eseeweb

To me, it seems looking at the numbers on paper, our trailer dont need much towing power as it is only 3000 lbs dry. In reality, I am glade that I opt with trading out our minivan and get a 4x4 truck. I can't imagine what we can do if we stuck in wet mud and grass and can't pull ourselves out.
Also, lesson learn is to write down a list like what you many of us adopted to so we don't miss out.

Just wondering, what do you do with your sewer hose when you arrive back home, do we try to hang dry or leave it in the compartment in the trailer, also, do we keep some water in the black tank at all?

Right now, we drain everything out and do a quick black tank flush before leaving camp ground. Is that good enough? Just wondering...

I dump the black tank first, followed by flushing until output is clear. Close black valve then run gray out. The multi flushing followed by the gray water pretty well cleans the hose. I still run some fresh water through it and shake it down to the drain so it drains well. Use a dedicated tote and put the locking end caps on the hose to keep it from draining into the tote. Also, with the sealing end caps, you can compress your slinky really tight before putting the second cap on. It seals it up so it won’t expand and you can get it into a smaller tote...

[Briyoung]

It's amazing what you learn the first few times out,lol. I did what 3boxerss said and took a few notes our first few times out and still forget to do things. Like many, we use a sweet electric heater that actually keeps it decent in about 40-50 degree outside temps. As far as cooking, I hate it when we have to cook inside like we did this past weekend, our new TT now smells like chocolate chip cookies and tacos! We always bring our Blackstone griddle...love that thing!

[68 Whiskey]

Congratulations on your first trip. As you have found out RVing is a learning experience. But as you can see there are lots of great people to help you out. Welcome.