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A Couple Trip Reports
I've made two good trips in the A122BH recently. The first was to the Nebraska Star Party, which is a gathering of amateur astronomers in the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
I was camped in a big field at Merritt Reservoir with many others in tents and campers of all kinds, including two other a-frames. I was boondocking, though I did bring a Honda 2000 generator and ran my AC here and there. Otherwise I used my 100W solar panel to keep the battery charged.
Sitting around the camper in the middle of nowhere was a bit boring, so I ended up driving to town frequently (and even up to the Badlands).
Overall the camper performed very well. My solar kept everything pretty much fully charged the entire time, as there was no shortage of sun. I ran my fan most nights and during the day when I was inside. I also ran my lights, TV, and phone charger.
The only issue I had was that my fridge running on propane just wasn't staying cool enough. I ended up going into town and bought a wireless thermometer and a 12V fan. The fridge was near 50F, with the outside temperature at around 95F. I ended up throwing away some of the food just in case.
Simply removing the fridge panel helped a bit, but adding the 12V fan made a huge difference. The next night the fridge temperature dropped to near freezing and I was able to keep it below 40F the rest of the trip.
Yesterday I permanently mounted the fan and added a switch, and it's actually at 24F in my driveway right now, with an OAT of 78F.
Merritt Reservoir seems to be a good fishing destination, but otherwise it's a long way from anything. The nearest real town is a 45 minute drive.
The nearby Niobrarra river is nice for kayaking and tubing, though I didn't do that this year. I probably wouldn't go there again, except for the star party!
The second trip was to Mahoney State Park just outside of Omaha, with the family. It's a very popular place, and I had to make my reservations several months ago.
We were in Little Creek campground with a nice spot pretty near the shower house. All of the sites have concrete pads, and I didn't even need my BAL leveler. Our site was huge and had plenty of grassy areas, as did most of the other sites.
This is a great park for kids! They have a really nice water park with a good area for toddlers. They also had pony rides, paddle boats, a lodge with a restaurant, and lots of other activities. Nearby is the Strategic Air and Space museum and a drive through wildlife park with bears, wolves, elk, and more. My three-year-old loved it!
The shower house was usable, but fairly dated and not in the best of repair. Overall though, it was a great park.
Next up is the Iowa Star Party, where I'll be boondocking again, but will skip the generator this time.
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2014 Rockwood A122BH
2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee
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