Scared to Death

[Itsthetwoofus]

Originally Posted by Nigels

Make the list as you go along and choose a campsite not too far from Wallmart, thats what we did!

We arrived from Portugal with two suitcases of clothes, we collected the RV, parked it and headed for Wallmart, we had to buy everything from scratch, from tools to bedlinen.

There are some checklists for setting up camp somewhere on this forum.

Nigels, you and Bev did the unthinkable and came out smelling like roses. Glad to see you here and still roaming around having fun. See if you can make Sundance1 RV resort in Casa Grande next winter. Geez it would be fun to spend more time with you guys and no better place then AZ in the winter.

[Nigels]

Originally Posted by TrailerMacKenzie

Ok that is one load of check lists...thanks...we should be all set now!!!!

Very important!!!!! Don't forget to make a "BIG LIST" of all the checklists that you have so that you don't leave the most important one behind

Hope you have a great time.

[Nigels]

Originally Posted by Itsthetwoofus

Nigels, you and Bev did the unthinkable and came out smelling like roses. Glad to see you here and still roaming around having fun. See if you can make Sundance1 RV resort in Casa Grande next winter. Geez it would be fun to spend more time with you guys and no better place then AZ in the winter.

Hi guys, glad you think we smell okay We would love to be in AZ this winter but we would be over our 6 months quota for visitors to the US. We are thinking about 2012 though 6 months Canada and snowbirding 6 months in the US that would work for us and would give us the opportunity to catch up. We are leaving for WA in the morning. Keep in touch and GB.

[photog]

Originally Posted by jimh

that is a good check list.
what i would add is connect the water and make sure u have water in the hot water heater before plugging into shore power. open the relief valve and make sure u have water there before u apply electricity.
that would be the only change i would make to the list. after ur first trip, the list is excellent.
i usually kill the breaker to the hw heater before i leave the campground and don't turn it back on until after i am fully set up. the hw heating element was the first thing wrong with mine. the trailer had been in a show and somewhere along the line was turned on without water. they don't don't last long.

I would not open the relief valve but open a hot water tap inside the trailer until it runs smooth, that tells you that the hot water tank is indeed full.

[fixer58]

I would make sure your first camp site had wireless so you can get back on here. Smart Phone apps can be hard to work with poor signals.

[jimh]

Originally Posted by photog

I would not open the relief valve but open a hot water tap inside the trailer until it runs smooth, that tells you that the hot water tank is indeed full.

the reason behind opening the relief is if the water heater had been inadvertently left in winterize mode. when u open the reilef, u know for sure u have water in there.
on my first trip, i didn't check that and didn't know abt it until recently. luckily, even thought it was dry, the water heater was not blocked in.

[TrailerMacKenzie]

Thanks for all the great help. We made out just fine last weekend on our first trip. We purposely camped closed to the dealer as it is a 3 hour drive from home. Had a leak in the kitchen sink, the outdoor fridge wouldnt work and a couple other minor things so we left it at the dealer for the week and will pick it up again this weekend. It was such a different experience camping with bad weather...rained all weekend, compared to the pop up...we could actually escape one another! We didnt blow any breakers, had lots of hot water and even cleaned out the stinky-slinky like a pro...funny how the kids disappeared then!!!
This forum has been a wealth of info, especially for first-timers.

Thanks again.
The MacKenzies

[rockin'ray]

Glad to hear you made out fine on the first trip. It only gets easier from here.

Really sucks with the weather we have been having here. Between the weather and our work schedules, the wife and I have only been out twice this year.

Most weekends if not camping, I can't even hardly get my bike out for the rain.

[TrailerMacKenzie]

Ray...we were on Parlee Beach last weekend...only ones there...go figure!! I cant believe the forecast for this weekend again! It's only 9 out there tonight!
It can only get warmer!

[rockin'ray]

Wow. We have never been there but from what I have heard about it, if you were the only ones there then that was not good.

I am actually starting to think about just camping at Walmart on weekends if my wife is working and the weather is nice. At least then, she would just have to run across the parking lot as she works as a greeter there anyway. LOL.

Now that we had already decided to scrap plans to go camping and celebrate our anniversary this weekend, we won't have a chance now to get out until the middle of July.