Seasonal camping thread

[Jenner]

I was toying with the idea of leaving awning out strapped down cuz it is a pain to put up and take down the awning lights plus I thought it would protect the furniture we leave on the deck. Ive seen several people that leave theirs out but Im not sure if I wanna take that chance.

[Jenner]

What about changing the thermostat to a digital one? Anyone do that? Easy to do? The digital thermostat I bought doesnt have differnent fan speeds like my current one does but I read I can just cap or tape off the wires we dont use??

[lgray]

Originally Posted by KenHwy61

Glad to know we are not the only ones to drive what seems a ridiculous distance. We drive over 5 hours to get to our camper on lake Superior. We do it because there is nothing else like it in the area. The scenery is spectacular and the summer weather very pleasant. It is as close to being ocean front as you will find in the Midwest.
I like the fact you call it your "safe house" We feel the same about our get-way. Our camper is the place where all troubles are somewhere else!

Beautiful! Your signature line indicates similar demographics to ours, 10 years from retirement, in the meantime adult and near adult children…add in parent care and a "safe house", a good distance away is an absolute.

[Wiscampsin]

Originally Posted by Jenner

What about changing the thermostat to a digital one? Anyone do that? Easy to do? The digital thermostat I bought doesnt have differnent fan speeds like my current one does but I read I can just cap or tape off the wires we dont use??

On our previous camper I did the digital thermostat swap and installed a separate switch to control fan speed. Turns out we hardly ever used the low speed. Here's a pic of the one I did:


Don't know what kind of T-stat your doing but this link might help with the fan switch wiring.
Hunter Thermostat

My 2 cents from your previous posts:
Alot of people tie down their awning where we have our seasonal site. But that depends on their site location. Open sites are prone to more wind during storms than sites with trees to block wind. We have an electric awning and bring it in when we leave so as not to take any chances. I've seen awnings destroyed by high winds even after being tied down.

Grey valve question - We have 1 black and 2 grey tanks with 300 gal on site septic tank and close all valves. Open when only emptying the tanks as the grey water helps flush down the black water.

We are 2 hours from our seasonal site too. We're going on our 9th year and to be truthful the drive is getting longer every year.

Where is your seasonal site?

[grumpyoldman]

Originally Posted by Jenner

We drive 2 hours. That is our limit. We also just built a deck. We did as others suggested and built in sections. Our deck is huge but it also done in sections.

Is it laying on the ground or do you have it supported by blocks?

[Jenner]

Part of it is one inch solids and part is on legs.

[Jenner]

I will try to post a pic. Oh and we are at Maple Heights in Lakewood.

[Jenner]

Im not sure how to post a pic from my phone. Anyway, the deck was leveled use 1 inch solid patio block.

[Platokidd]

To avoid building permit$$ we moved a deck from another campsite. 10 x 28 deck cut into 3 pieces moved on a utility trailer. Wish we would have taken pictures of this process. It was a pain in the butt, all the thinking on how to dissect the deck and it didnt come apart easy.
Once apart the rest was easy with several strong camping neighbors. 6 of us would lift a section of deck and someone would back the utility trailer under. Drive to our site and set in place.
Did put a dent in my beer supply but it was well worth the help.

Drive 35 to 40 minutes to our seasonal spot.

[B and B]

We have 3 Tip outs on our park model that stay out all of the time. Our seasonal site is 5 minutes away. I drive by the park everyday and do not let anyone in during off season at all. We moved our permanant home to a small town and are selling our seasonal site now.

[crunchman12001]

What a difference a year makes. Gonna have to find something else to keep me busy at the site. Here is a pic from a year ago and one today.

[strut526]

Originally Posted by Jenner

I was toying with the idea of leaving awning out strapped down cuz it is a pain to put up and take down the awning lights plus I thought it would protect the furniture we leave on the deck. Ive seen several people that leave theirs out but Im not sure if I wanna take that chance.

I leave mine out, but down. (a couple feet off the deck, in the extended position) i have 2 eye bolts screwed into the side of the deck and use a tie down on each end for extra wind protection. been doing it this was since i went seasonal 3 years ago. It was also hard for me to put up and take down.
i also shut the water off at the spigot when we leave for more than one day.(when heading home), unplug coffee pot etc.

[strut526]

Originally Posted by Jenner

For those of you that have a separate grey tank for the galley - do you leave it open all the time? We have a 300 gallon holding tank that we dump into. Also, awning out or in when you leave?

we never leave ours open. we also have 1 black and 2 grey tanks. you need them closed, for dumping, to clean the pipes from the black tank! our campground cleans out holding tanks once a month for free. <3

[brokenaxle]

Well this is our second week at our seasonal campground in northern Mi. didn't have time to post because of setting up, and cleaning up after mice, and making repairs to the trailer. First time ever having mice in the trailer did no visible damage but left some acorns stashed and lots of turds in drawers and wife's slippers. I took a search for any access holes for them and hit them with some new pest resistant spray foam. During the search I found a couple of water leaks and had to repair them. one was the housing on the water pump was cracks which is odd because I only use it once a year to pump the pink stuff into my lines. The other was the shower drain which I have to re-tighten every year. This camper is never on the road so all i can figure is the hot and cold water makes it work loose. If anyone in Mi. is looking for a nice family campground Lost Valley Campground in Lupton.Mi. is where we are at and it is a family friendsly campground. Has both full hookup sites and water and electric only sites. this is the first year in several years they have several open sites. We lost a lot of older campers that were here for over 30 years. Some to death and some just getting too old to camp.There are families that have been here for several generations. They were late getting the water working this year but had well problems that they worked relentlessly to fix and then had to wait for testing and because of the Flint water issue rule have become much more stringent for testing. Used to be the Well company could submit the tests to the DEQ now it has to be the from the county health dept. only.

[brokenaxle]

Originally Posted by strut526

we never leave ours open. we also have 1 black and 2 grey tanks. you need them closed, for dumping, to clean the pipes from the black tank! our campground cleans out holding tanks once a month for free. <3

I leave my grey tanks open the traps in the drain will keep odors from entering camper and occasionally fill with bleach and laundry soap to flush them out to wash solids out of bottoms. always keep the black tank closed. When dumping my black I flush it every time I empty it. Sometimes a couple of times to flush solids out. since we are seasonal and never travel on the road to loosen stuff up I rely on running a lot of water through it. We've been seasonal going on 9 years on this site and never had any problems. Although we do have full hookups here. I also use the geo method not as a tank treatment but to clean my tanks. I put a cup of laundry soap, a cup of bleach and a cup of calgon. then fill the tank and then drain. refill the tank and drain again. This works to keep the black tank smelling fresh and odors down especially in the summer when the temps are hot and the tanks just cook and brew in the heat. I've walked into other campers trailer and they just reek mine never has any black tank odor. My wife wouldn't allow it lol

[brokenaxle]

Originally Posted by strut526

I leave mine out, but down. (a couple feet off the deck, in the extended position) i have 2 eye bolts screwed into the side of the deck and use a tie down on each end for extra wind protection. been doing it this was since i went seasonal 3 years ago. It was also hard for me to put up and take down.
i also shut the water off at the spigot when we leave for more than one day.(when heading home), unplug coffee pot etc.

I also leave mine out and strapped down to the deck with heavy tie down straps. Although if a bad storm or 50 MPH winds are predicted I will put it in. I have seen the wind actually blow an awning and lift a deck off the ground before. Bent the hell off out of the awning poles and shredded the awning. Last year we had a wind shear go through the campground and several awning were ripped to shreds. Most were tied down. I also take mine in if I am going to be away for a couple weeks. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also I just remembered that one of the awning strapped and the poles bolted to the deck last summer had the Awning pole pull out of the bottom pole and flip over the trailer causing damage to the roof and shredding the awning. I had pics but they are on a flash drive at home.

[Jenner]

Originally Posted by strut526

we never leave ours open. we also have 1 black and 2 grey tanks. you need them closed, for dumping, to clean the pipes from the black tank! our campground cleans out holding tanks once a month for free. <3

Our galley grey tank and pipe is completly separate from the other grey and black tank so Im not sure it would clean the gunk out from the black tank, unless I am missing something. That is awesome your campground pumps for free! The honeywagon costs $40 for us!

[Jenner]

Originally Posted by brokenaxle

I leave my grey tanks open the traps in the drain will keep odors from entering camper and occasionally fill with bleach and laundry soap to flush them out to wash solids out of bottoms. always keep the black tank closed. When dumping my black I flush it every time I empty it. Sometimes a couple of times to flush solids out. since we are seasonal and never travel on the road to loosen stuff up I rely on running a lot of water through it. We've been seasonal going on 9 years on this site and never had any problems. Although we do have full hookups here. I also use the geo method not as a tank treatment but to clean my tanks. I put a cup of laundry soap, a cup of bleach and a cup of calgon. then fill the tank and then drain. refill the tank and drain again. This works to keep the black tank smelling fresh and odors down especially in the summer when the temps are hot and the tanks just cook and brew in the heat. I've walked into other campers trailer and they just reek mine never has any black tank odor. My wife wouldn't allow it lol

How often do you clean grey tanks and how much bleach and calgon do you use?

[bpa098]

Recently i have been thinking about going from park hopping to seasonal. I like seeing different areas but get tired of trying to find and book sites i want. Also the wear and tear on the camper and truck from hauling. Plus i think i would get out more if it was all set up and ready to go. My only trouble is i love being on waterfront and never seem to find seasonal sites on the water in my area (central NY, between Utica and Rome). would like to stay with in 1 -2 hours from home.

I also dont like rules!!! sure i am considerate and friendly but i like making my own rules. So I think we shall keep park hopping till i find the right piece of land to buy.

[lgray]

When we purchased our site, the storage shed had already been torn down. Unfortunately, the campground rules/HOA require a stucco type uniformed shed, that runs about $2,500 to build by authorized builder. Came up with a work around…and within the rules. Purchased a 56 x 22 hitch cargo carrier, sheet of plywood for base and will mount this for beach chairs, outdoor chairs, grille, etc., allowing us fifth wheel basement storage for more important cargo like fishing tackle and surfboards.


45.5" H x 54" W x 32.25" D 66.5 lbs