My First Trip of the Year

[mlsa3]

Just got back from my first trip for the year. Went to Double Lake Recreation Area in Coldsprings, Tx. We used to go there for the day but never camped there. The last time I was there the lake was dry but this time the lake was full and pretty. They had catfish in the lake but no bass according to the camp host.

Wife got sick and had a doctors apt Wednesday in Houston so I made it an overnighter so that I could take her downtown. A one nighter is better than a no-nighter.

Other than the managers and camp host, there was only one other camper in the entire park...talk about peace and quiet.

It was strange because the only wildlife I saw was 5 deer....not one squirrel or raccoon. At Brazos Bend State Park, where I normally go, there are literally hundreds of squirrels running around plus herds of deer and gators.

The park is heavily wooded which was nice. Campsites not on top of one another. On one side of the loop the campsites were pretty level but on the other side there were some that were built on a slope. I would hate to have to level on one of those. The campsites were all paved and in good condition.

Lots of bike and hiking trails. The wind was blowing Tuesday morning and cool but just right for me. Rode the bike quite a bit and did some reading...other than that just sat around and enjoyed the peace.

Here are a few pics....nothing special but thought some of you that haven't had a chance to go yet might like to see some.

[DanM-AZ]

Thanks for sharing. I always love to see people's trip reports in their A-Frame.

[Steeljag]

Sorry to hear about your wife! The camping part sounds outstanding! Very little to no people......no noise!

Funny how that part of Texas looks so much like areas of Florida.

Thanks for posting!

[Loraura]

Double Lake is one of my FAVORITE places to camp! We ride and race mountain bikes, so we never miss a race there. If you had been there last weekend the park would have been FULL of racers (and some boy scouts, too).

The only thing I don't like about DL is that if you are not in one of the full hook up sites, you have to wait till someone in one leaves before you have a place to dump your tanks. There is no dump station. We always book a FHU site for that reason, which means we are on the front half of the loop.

I've been in that last spot on the loop once, and I just nearly ran out of tongue jack trying to get level!

Here are a couple of pictures from last weekend:

[chaviva7]

We camped there years ago. It's very wooded there and some great hiking trails too. You are right about the campsites too being more private than most places. The lake is very nice too.

[ziggy52]

Mlsa3 how do you like you a frame RV trailer? I am thinking of getting one and wondered how comfortable you find it. Are they easy to put up as I have seen videos to that affect. Any advice for a first time buyer?

[ziggy52]

any advice for a first time buyer of an A frame trailer. I am thinking about purchasing one.

[Terier]

Your first trip is kicking off your camping season. Thanks for sharing your pictures! I took a one night trip last year and it was just what I needed - a mini break.

[chaviva7]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Mlsa3 how do you like you a frame RV trailer? I am thinking of getting one and wondered how comfortable you find it. Are they easy to put up as I have seen videos to that affect. Any advice for a first time buyer?

We love our A-Frame as it makes you feel more secure because it's more closed in than the openness of a popup. Not that we didn't love our popup it took more work to put up and take down. The time it takes to set up the aframe takes seconds to a minute. Takes more time to do the stabilizers than opening the aframe. Plus the advantage of having this kind of popup is you are traveling down the road with less wind resistance in passing 18 wheelers, and driving in high wind. It is a dream to pull. Another advantage that we love is we now stay in RV parks when just staying over night somewhere on our way to someplace and don't even need to unhitch from our towing vehicle. Though the cons in owning one is less storage space but you learn to live with less. I'm okay with less as you don't have so much to pack up. You learn to improvise. Hope this helps. I'll share a picture of ours too. Oh the tow weight for our particular trailer is empty GVW 2670 or something like that.

[elchilero53]

Very nice! Thank you for sharing!!

[mlsa3]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

any advice for a first time buyer of an A frame trailer. I am thinking about purchasing one.

I love our aframe camper. For the type of camping my wife and I do it's perfect. We camped in tents for years and years. We usually camp for a weekend or even an overnighter at times. Once a year I do spend a week in mine at a Dulcimer Music Festival. Works perfect.

I hope this year we can start doing some traveling with ours and do more week long camping.

I can put the walls up in about 45 seconds. I'm a bit slow. When my wife is with me she likes for both sides to have the tables up. She gets one side and I get the other and then at nighttime we make them both into beds. When I'm by myself which is most of the time I just put one table up and leave the other into a bed.

We've never used our stove although I do turn it on usually to make sure it still works. We do all our cooking outside. We don't use our furnace although I again turn it on to make sure it works. We run a small ceramic heater and it heats it up perfectly. We DO run the air conditioner during the summer.

It tows great. With my Durango I got almost 19 miles per gallon on this last trip. I kept the speed down to 70 or below. Can't beat that for mileage.

If I was going to spend weeks and weeks on the road camping then I would probably go with a 5th wheel but for now the Aframe is perfect for us.

David

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by chaviva7

We love our A-Frame as it makes you feel more secure because it's more closed in than the openness of a popup. Not that we didn't love our popup it took more work to put up and take down. The time it takes to set up the aframe takes seconds to a minute. Takes more time to do the stabilizers than opening the aframe. Plus the advantage of having this kind of popup is you are traveling down the road with less wind resistance in passing 18 wheelers, and driving in high wind. It is a dream to pull. Another advantage that we love is we now stay in RV parks when just staying over night somewhere on our way to someplace and don't even need to unhitch from our towing vehicle. Though the cons in owning one is less storage space but you learn to live with less. I'm okay with less as you don't have so much to pack up. You learn to improvise. Hope this helps. I'll share a picture of ours too. Oh the tow weight for our particular trailer is empty GVW 2670 or something like that. Attachment 98310

Thanks for the information and photo. This is a great help.
Can you park your A frame in your garage?
If you make the table into a bed is it roomy enough and comfortable for an adult to sleep on it?
Thanks, Zig

[chaviva7]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Thanks for the information and photo. This is a great help.
Can you park your A frame in your garage?
If you make the table into a bed is it roomy enough and comfortable for an adult to sleep on it?
Thanks, Zig

This particular A-Frame 214 has a longer box (14 ft) because of the dormer total length is 21 feet. Doubtful it would fit in most garages. It's a 2016. But the other HIgh Walls are 12ft boxes and I believe the total length is 18 feet. Like the 192 or 194. The 194 is one we had that we traded for the 214 has a horse shoe shaped dinette that converts to a bed and has a shower/potty. We kept the dinette as a permanent bed. But the 194 HW has a dinette and a permanent bed that's a full size bed. Storage in any of these varies. I loved how much I had with the 194 compared to my popup. We added a 3 inch memory foam for the bed and slept quite comfy. The downsize to this A-Frame is it sleeps just 2. The 192 HW sleeps 3 with dinette converting to a bed. Here are some pictures of the inside of the 194 HW.

[mlsa3]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Thanks for the information and photo. This is a great help.
Can you park your A frame in your garage?
If you make the table into a bed is it roomy enough and comfortable for an adult to sleep on it?
Thanks, Zig

I kept my A128S in my double garage for the first year. It fit except for about 10" of the tongue. I couldn't push it any further in because we have a door it would be blocking so we wouldn't be able to enter the garage from the house.

Yes, the beds are easily big enough for one person...in fact you can sleep two in them unless you are really big. As far as being comfortable my wife ordered a piece of memory foam for her bed and I just put some egg crate foam on my side...works great. (We both toss and turn at night and keep each other awake so we have to have seperate beds.)

David

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by mlsa3

I kept my A128S in my double garage for the first year. It fit except for about 10" of the tongue. I couldn't push it any further in because we have a door it would be blocking so we wouldn't be able to enter the garage from the house.

Yes, the beds are easily big enough for one person...in fact you can sleep two in them unless you are really big. As far as being comfortable my wife ordered a piece of memory foam for her bed and I just put some egg crate foam on my side...works great. (We both toss and turn at night and keep each other awake so we have to have seperate beds.)

David

Thanks for info that is very helpful.

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by chaviva7

This particular A-Frame 214 has a longer box (14 ft) because of the dormer total length is 21 feet. Doubtful it would fit in most garages. It's a 2016. But the other HIgh Walls are 12ft boxes and I believe the total length is 18 feet. Like the 192 or 194. The 194 is one we had that we traded for the 214 has a horse shoe shaped dinette that converts to a bed and has a shower/potty. We kept the dinette as a permanent bed. But the 194 HW has a dinette and a permanent bed that's a full size bed. Storage in any of these varies. I loved how much I had with the 194 compared to my popup. We added a 3 inch memory foam for the bed and slept quite comfy. The downsize to this A-Frame is it sleeps just 2. The 192 HW sleeps 3 with dinette converting to a bed. Here are some pictures of the inside of the 194 HW. Attachment 98371Attachment 98372Attachment 98373Attachment 98374Attachment 98375

Thanks for the photos and your information. I am trending more towards the one with the full bed and no bathroom.

[tmfaulksr]

thanks for sharing.
from abbeville, this is not too far for multiple day camping
it looks great

[chaviva7]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Thanks for the photos and your information. I am trending more towards the one with the full bed and no bathroom.

Ziggy - the ones with no shower combo come standard with porta potty for those late night urges.

[Hobiegirl]

A few pics from our first camping trip of the season. Monongahela National forest in WV. My DH (kinnikinnick to you guys) caught several trout while we were there.

[Mountain Girl]

Hobiegirl...love your campsite and fish!!! The are where you camped looks very much like where we live and camp most of the time in the Smoky Mts. Have fun!!!