Things learned on our maiden voyage!

[Mrs.Shockley]

1. Turn off the battery when you park her, or it dies.
2. How to bypass an electric tongue jack and hand crank it.
3. Buy any necessities before the day you are supposed to leave.
4. There’s always a Wal-Mart within a half hour’s drive.
5. Other drivers suck.
6. When buying used, flush all the water lines – thoroughly.
7. Pre-cooling a fridge and freezer with jugs of frozen water really helps – and also gives you good drinking water when you buy a used trailer, do not flush all the water lines thoroughly, and your water smells like sulfur.
8. Turn on the campground water for a few minutes before you attach your drinking water hose and filter.
9. Run lots of water through that hose – even brand new – before you hook it to the trailer! (Thankfully, I did this as black nasty gunk came through.)
10. Even ducted AC is loud.
11. Camping is fun. Camping with air conditioning is more fun.
12. No matter how many times you say you're not going to watch TV and post on Facebook when you're camping - you will watch TV and post on Facebook.
13. A heated mattress may sound nice for fall and winter – but memory foam sounds way better!
14. Even on the best, heavy stoneware pan, turn the biscuits half-way through cooking or eat black-bottomed biscuits.
15. If you don't run the exhaust fan when cooking, you will set off the smoke alarm.
16. Tank sensors are just guessing and they aren't very good at it.
17. Get a good checklist for set-up and break-down that says things like...
18. Raise the tongue jack before you start driving!
19. Furrion backup/observation cameras only work if you turn your headlights on.
20. Sanidumps LIES! Verify before you leave.
21. Dumping your tank isn't nearly as bad as I expected.
22. Those sewer hoses do NOT fit in the bumper.

[str8t six]

i drain the water heater after every trip. keeps the water from going bad between trips.

as for 14, you can buy a airbake sheet and place it on the bottom to disperse the heat evenly and minimize burning your food.

[Bama Rambler]

I gotta say, #16 is my favorite!

[Mrs.Shockley]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

I gotta say, #16 is my favorite!

I found it kind of fascinating how in less than 48 hours the black tank went to 2/3 full, then 1/3 full, then empty - while we were using it of course. The gray tank went from empty to 1/3 full to empty again. And the fresh tank went to 1/3 full - when we were hooked to city water.

[sugarray40]

This is awesome. Thank you for this. Glad you had a great trip. Next time will be much easier. Go again soon!!

[Craig and Carol]

Enjoyed your comments...
We just came back from our third shakedown adventure (2 nights) before our big one next month (3 weeks). I've learned that...
1. The television setup/reception isn't too hot when you aren't near a tv tower. Seems that I ran the channel scan countless times before getting back home and researching with youtube videos, which are really great for learning about just about anything. Have now downloaded apps that will tell us which direction to turn the antenna from our location.
2. Camping World gets a bad rap on some things, but I really like their dump station: hoses are connected and ready, and it's three miles from home
3. Grassy sites are great unless it rains and then you find all of the dirt that has now turned to mud, especially with dogs.
4. Air conditioning is one of the greatest inventions ever.
5. Fellow campers are pretty nice folks and drivers on roads aren't.
*****Leave earlier and NEVER arrive at a new campground in the dark.
We are having a great time with our POD and traveling in no great hurry on the journey...be well on yours.

[pamMJR]

Welcome. Love your comments. It's so important to take it all as an adventure.

[GalsofEscape]

Pretty accurate list and gave me a smile to read it - memories of our newbie years came to mind, but our sewer hose does fit in the bumper. Just have to rotate the end so the hooks are in the corners and it slides right in.
(and we really don't watch tv or post to Facebook while camping - but then I never post to Facebook, ever ).

Glad you had a successful trip, it only gets better.

[Mrs.Shockley]

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

Pretty accurate list and gave me a smile to read it - memories of our newbie years came to mind, but our sewer hose does fit in the bumper. Just have to rotate the end so the hooks are in the corners and it slides right in.
(and we really don't watch tv or post to Facebook while camping - but then I never post to Facebook, ever ).

Glad you had a successful trip, it only gets better.

We might have gotten it in...but it would have been a really tight fit on those ends. May be the brand we bought?

In our defense of TV - we were trying everything out and if we hadn't turned on the TV we might not have known the antenna doesn't turn like it's supposed to - something for the dealer to fix. And we know the DVD player works...and I got bored when the husband did the 20 minute each way drive to Wal-Mart for more of the stuff we forgot. (We bought the DVD on the first trip.)

As for Facebook - well how else am I supposed to brag about my new toy to all my friends?

[brewjaz]

Thanks for sharing your "things learned" list. Pretty accurate!

[CGK]

Yep, that sounds like a great trip - no accidents, no natural disasters, no unintended trip extensions due to mechanical challenges. Hope the fun - and good fortune - continues. And thanks for the humorous "walk down memory lane" - we've all been there, but for some of us it was quite a while ago and easily forgotten.

[gbaldwin]

RE 22.... One end of sewer hose must go into bumber first. One with smaller end. Then larger end can be twister just right to fit.... This is in mine and by brothers case. Might check it out next time assuming you issue is diameter and not length.

[rlh1957]

Never had an issue with keeping water in the HW tanks all season. Everyone does it different, everyone has their successes. Some things are system detrimental and others are just preference. Water left in HW heater not a detriment. No Water in HW heater when power is restored big detriment and lesson learned... it wasn't me.

[Springerdad]

Thank you Mrs. Shockley! That was fun and a good reminder of our first trip. We brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate and forgot to bring a corkscrew!

[RVBuff]

A few things I learned the hard way...
--If you plug in your rig at home, be sure to unplug it before you drive away.

--If you camp on even a slight slope, be sure to chock the wheels before unhooking.

--When loading for the trip, think about where everything will land when you hit a hard bump.

--Take some extra dry shoes to wear when your others get wet.

--Expect the weather at your destination to be different from home.

--Take a list of your internet passwords.

Happy camping!

[Philkaty]

nice list. every time we go out I seem to learn something new...

[rlh1957]

Ouch opening a bottle of champagne with a corkscrew? That could be dangerous. Now I do admit to having shot a cork through a window from a champagne bottle before.

[Mrs.Shockley]

Originally Posted by CGK

Yep, that sounds like a great trip - no accidents, no natural disasters, no unintended trip extensions due to mechanical challenges. Hope the fun - and good fortune - continues. And thanks for the humorous "walk down memory lane" - we've all been there, but for some of us it was quite a while ago and easily forgotten.

Not only uneventful - but our site was perfectly level! We walked around and saw some rigs that had more blocks under the tires than we own! But we still have that to learn later.

Originally Posted by gbaldwin

RE 22.... One end of sewer hose must go into bumber first. One with smaller end. Then larger end can be twister just right to fit.... This is in mine and by brothers case. Might check it out next time assuming you issue is diameter and not length.

Both ends were awfully tight. Just, we'd have to squeeze it in and then hope it didn't break off pulling it back out! Seems a tote is easier x 2.

Originally Posted by Springerdad

Thank you Mrs. Shockley! That was fun and a good reminder of our first trip. We brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate and forgot to bring a corkscrew!

We bought a corkscrew - and now we need another since ours broke and it's only because my husband has muscles we got that cork pulled.

But I'm puzzled...you don't use a corkscrew with champagne.

Originally Posted by RVBuff

A few things I learned the hard way...
--If you plug in your rig at home, be sure to unplug it before you drive away.

--If you camp on even a slight slope, be sure to chock the wheels before unhooking.

--When loading for the trip, think about where everything will land when you hit a hard bump.

--Take some extra dry shoes to wear when your others get wet.

--Expect the weather at your destination to be different from home.

--Take a list of your internet passwords.

Happy camping!

Nice tips!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Shockley

We bought a corkscrew - and now we need another since ours broke and it's only because my husband has muscles we got that cork pulled.

But I'm puzzled...you don't use a corkscrew with champagne.

NO!!!
Champagne is a sparkling wine and under pressure.
You simply work the stopper out of the bottleneck.
And don't point it at anybody.
You've never seen a movie or tv show where they pop the cork?

[mjones12]

We use a plastic bin with lid to store all sewer accessories and keep them segregated. Our bumper holds the telescoping pvc that keeps the sewer hose level when in use.