A122 Delivered - at last!

[ExTenter]

Originally Posted by Yukon Don

Graeme, I'm glad to hear she FINALLY arrived. That was quite the wait.
I'm sure you guys will have a great time in it -and you're sure in a great place to be trying it out in!
Be sure and send pics.
Maybe we'll bump into each other out your way this August.

Thanks Y.D. So will this be the ghost towns and gold creeks of southern BC tour? If so, do you have a general itinerary yet?

It would also be interesting to know how you approach the trip in terms of booking sites ahead, particularly in August when it seems at least a third of the trailers, motor homes, tenters, etc. from the metro Vancouver area and everywhere else pass through here headed into the interior and beyond. We stopped tent camping regularly more than few years ago, before the online reservation systems really kicked in, at least in the BC provincial parks. It's a great resource but just confirms how booked up things are in high summer season.

While most (all?) BC provincial parks set aside first-come-first-served sites, is that something you'd consider using? Given only 7 provincial parks have site electrical service, are they even in your plans or is it a mix of private & provincial. Provincial parks were always our preference when tenting but I do realise a generator or solar power might be in our future if we want to keep it that way, at least for any extended stays.

Anywho... I know I have to do some research myself but I would appreciate what you and anyone else (do I even need to add that? ) would care to share on this.

[Yukon Don]

That looks like a beautiful spot you stayed at Graeme.

I may well do the ghost town thing this August. I never really know for sure where I'm going until I get there. I'd like to spend a few days on Highway 37 doing some serious photography. Plus there's a promising looking loop of highway in the Yukon, south of the Al-can that's supposed to be quite beautiful.
And, as always, Dawson City beckons...
But I have from August 4 to Sept 3 off this year and I can cover a lot of ground in a month.
The closest I come to keeping an itinerary is here (comment #3):
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...yle-34186.html

I was away from using parks for the longest time while I lived in northwestern Ontario because there was such a network of old logging roads and great places to camp -all on crown land- that I never bothered with parks. It's just the last couple of years that I've gotten into the long-haul road trips again.
I've never booked a campsite in advance. I just don't travel that way.
That may bite me on the backside at some point but I've been lucky so far.

I am partial to provincial parks as opposed to private c/g's and I rarely bother with electricity (I like to think of my A-frame as an 1,800 pound fibreglass tent on wheels ).

I'm slowly building up a list of good camping spots as I meander around the north west...

[ExTenter]

Thought I'd post this follow-up mainly to provide some feedback on the Dometic awning/screen-room that came with our A122.

Trip #2 was our first stab at putting up the awning. For this trip we thought we'd venture a little further from home to Larrabee state park, WA. Not an auspicious start. The park was infested with tent caterpillars and while we did find a site for that first (and last) night that was canopied by evergreens, which those miserable creatures do not like, not that site or any other like it that was 'clean' was available from thereon in for our stay. So the awning didn't go up. Larrabee, in spite of the caterpillars and the occasional freight train, is a nice, if small, park but wouldn't be our first choice.

Packed up the next morning and headed north back to Birch Bay S.P. where we stayed our first trip. This time only an unserviced site was available but that was fine as we had our recently acquired Champion generator with us. Picked it up at Costco for under $500 which I think for the specs ( 73534i (CAN) - Champion Power Equipment ) is good value. Started and ran just fine. Coffee maker, toaster & microwave were run in sequence for a good breakfast then just long enough to top up the battery.

But I digress from the awning set-up for trip #2. We had a similar experience as others did with their first go at it. I'm not sure if other owners with this feature got their unit the same way, but ours had the velcro tape already installed. So there goes that excuse for the amount of time it took us to do the set-up despite having watched the video and with the manual at hand. When eventually it was up, it was all worthwhile. What a great addition to space and convenience. Others have done a nice job of adapting other awnings to the unit but the Dometic fits so nicely and is so well integrated it feels like you've doubled your trailer's size. The removable panels, translucent privacy covers, screens and clear upper 'windows' make it a very flexible addition.

Trip #3 was to a provincial close to home and our second go at the awning. A much better experience. We had it all set up within 40 minutes which was considerably less time than the first go around and that included the leveling and stabilizing. Might even get better at it but what the heck, that's still not bad and it really isn't a race. I must say, though, kudos to folks like ko777 who do this as quickly (or faster) by them self.

As I mentioned above, others have done nice additions with other awnings but if you can get this made-for-Rockwood by Dometic at a reasonable price or as part of a package deal as we did, I'd highly recommend it.

You might notice in the photo that we didn't peg down the skirt or put up the guy ropes. Don't think it's always necessary, particularly the skirt pegs, but that would depend on your camping site and conditions - like bugs.

[thehamguy1]

Oh man, Graeme. You make me wish I'd gotten the add-a-room myself. Though it wasn't available until the year after we got our camper. When I asked the dealer what it would cost to get one, the quote was something like $800 plus freight. Getting one as part of the deal IS a deal!

And I like it that your genny is black, it'll be easier to camouflage. Mine is a bright yellow and screams come and get me.

[ExTenter]

Yikes, Lee, $800! Nothing is 'free' even when bundled with a sale but when I figured out the value of the sale at the time compared to what the A122 was going for elsewhere with no options (mine also has the electric tongue jack) I wasn't paying anywhere near that. Although I initially had doubts about spring RV show 'deals', I believe it was in fact pretty good value. Still, a bit hard to compare taking into consideration both price & convenience, particularly for us folks north of the border. As far as that goes, the bigger the rig the bigger the savings can be in the U.S. but for our cool little units, I don't think it's that much of an advantage. That all depends, I suppose, on local conditions across the country.

Hondas are red, Yammies are blue, mine might be black but yellow's OK too.

[K1050]

Originally Posted by ExTenter

Thought I'd post this follow-up mainly to provide some feedback on the Dometic awning/screen-room that came with our A122.

Trip #2 was our first stab at putting up the awning. For this trip we thought we'd venture a little further from home to Larrabee state park, WA. Not an auspicious start. The park was infested with tent caterpillars and while we did find a site for that first (and last) night that was canopied by evergreens, which those miserable creatures do not like, not that site or any other like it that was 'clean' was available from thereon in for our stay. So the awning didn't go up. Larrabee, in spite of the caterpillars and the occasional freight train, is a nice, if small, park but wouldn't be our first choice.

Packed up the next morning and headed north back to Birch Bay S.P. where we stayed our first trip. This time only an unserviced site was available but that was fine as we had our recently acquired Champion generator with us. Picked it up at Costco for under $500 which I think for the specs ( 73534i (CAN) - Champion Power Equipment ) is good value. Started and ran just fine. Coffee maker, toaster & microwave were run in sequence for a good breakfast then just long enough to top up the battery.

But I digress from the awning set-up for trip #2. We had a similar experience as others did with their first go at it. I'm not sure if other owners with this feature got their unit the same way, but ours had the velcro tape already installed. So there goes that excuse for the amount of time it took us to do the set-up despite having watched the video and with the manual at hand. When eventually it was up, it was all worthwhile. What a great addition to space and convenience. Others have done a nice job of adapting other awnings to the unit but the Dometic fits so nicely and is so well integrated it feels like you've doubled your trailer's size. The removable panels, translucent privacy covers, screens and clear upper 'windows' make it a very flexible addition.

Trip #3 was to a provincial close to home and our second go at the awning. A much better experience. We had it all set up within 40 minutes which was considerably less time than the first go around and that included the leveling and stabilizing. Might even get better at it but what the heck, that's still not bad and it really isn't a race. I must say, though, kudos to folks like ko777 who do this as quickly (or faster) by them self.

As I mentioned above, others have done nice additions with other awnings but if you can get this made-for-Rockwood by Dometic at a reasonable price or as part of a package deal as we did, I'd highly recommend it.

You might notice in the photo that we didn't peg down the skirt or put up the guy ropes. Don't think it's always necessary, particularly the skirt pegs, but that would depend on your camping site and conditions - like bugs.

Welcome to the family. We enjoy the extra room the screen room adds. There was a learning curve for us at set up. The directions we have say to leave it connected at the roof line when folding down the camper. We have tried it once but not really sure it's easier since it makes things bulkier inside when you need to step inside. We also have not used the ropes but weather around here doesn't usually need it. Enjoy!

[ExTenter]

You've confirmed what I thought reading that bit about leaving it on when folding up, K1050. It's just not that much extra effort to remove and stuff away is it? Then you've got the option of using it or not next trip. Plus at home we keep our A122 in the open position in the garage and it just wouldn't work with the screen room attached. I'd have to park the motorcycle in the screen room. It would just get silly.