Camping fiasco

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Uncle Stretch

Uncle Stretch

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Feb 9, 2008
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Well we made our first real trip camping last week. Went to the Guadalupe river state park. A couple hundred miles from home.I found out dont trust mapquest and that my wife cant read a map. The new chevy van pulled like a dream. Downshifted out of overdrive on the steep hills but the v-8 did its job....10 mpg eeekkk. Wasnt planning on that. Oh well. Got to the campsite and being during the week it was pretty deserted. Maybe 5 other campers. The sites were so secluded you couldnt see the other campers. The river was really clear but only a foot deep....big drout. The water they have is filtered river water....the little tablets i put in the black water tank had a reaction and smelled like beer or egg gas. The air conditioner thermostat quit and we froze or burned up your choice. the fridge had problems and you had to keep resetting the circut board to make it run. Sometimes it lasted for two hours and other times 10 hours.Built a fire and tried to cook some meat and it was so hot it burned everything...quick. Finally got mad and beat on the thermostat and the points were stuck so it snapped and started working again.
We got so lonesome we headed to another state park. Its called Palmetto. Really nice. No clear water even though its the same river but had a 40 acre lake with paddle boats,canoes and fishing. Still not too many people but real friendly. Less seclusion. Dumped the bad water and the smell went away and the air worked perfect. Much better experiance. I figured with the $9000 trailer and the $13000 van I could probably have stayed at a really nice hotel and had a limo pick me up and carry me to the park each day and really saved some money. Well we are going to head down the coast on our next run and try some saltwater fishing somewhere around Corpus Christy. Since this weekend is memorial weekend we will try it again next weekend. You know you would think a woman would know if you stand behind a trailer waving your arms the person in the truck cant see you.Go figure. :?
 
The only time my wife and I "argue"..is when I"M backing the trailer up.........She always stands on the wrong side (can't see her) waiving and yelling TO me..................Or I hear "THUD".......Your to close to that tree!
 
The joys of camping at the unknown. My worst fiasco with my Popup trailer was the torsion axle broke on the way to go camping. Still went camping and piled in brothers tent and trailer. I figured I would deal with the trailer on the way home. It was vandalized- lights broke, tires slashed, propane/toolbox stolen, and door bashed in. They left the kids toys alone. I ended up having a tilting flat bed pick it up. I had the trailer dropped off in a town 20 miles away from Boise because the horse trailer shops are much cheaper than the "big city" RV stores.
 
I sat and thought ...you know its a 2008 trailer and it only has 4 major appliances in it and i'm haveing problems with 2 of them . I made a decision if the air broke then the trip was cancelled. I can do without alot of things...wifi...cable tv but I draw the line at being hot in a box away from home. :roll:
 
I rode my bicycle (tour bike) to Hammonnasset State Park last night with an old friend and we camped. 63 miles round trip. It was great, there was almost no one there. I have not done a fully loaded bicycle camp ride in 15 years and I forgot how much fun it was.

Only problem was the ocean was really noisy (some people like that), and there was some crazy bird or very large insect making a ticking noise in middle of night that kept us up. We ended up laughing about it, making up stories of what the noise was.

I am sore from head to toe from sleeping on the hard ground.
 
I wonder what it is about campers that makes them susceptible to so much trouble.

Seems like my Dad had a bunch of trouble with that small RV he had that time.

I hope the dealer you bought it from is going to fix all of that stuff.
 
Rat Rod said:
I wonder what it is about campers that makes them susceptible to so much trouble.

Seems like my Dad had a bunch of trouble with that small RV he had that time.

I hope the dealer you bought it from is going to fix all of that stuff.
Click to expand...

They are built pretty flimsy to save on weight including the appliances
 
I'm not sure what causes the problems because my neighbor has a 40 foot diesel pusher and its made really well and it has problems too. i think its from dragging them around hitting bumps and the vibration . Mine being used dosent come with a warranty :( Your tv will work for a long time. try bouncing it around in the trunk of your car several times and see how long it last. My sister -in -law goes camping all the time and will tell you its suppose to be done in a tent without all the extras. She says if you want a/c stay at home. Just differant views .
 
ifitsfreeitsforme said:
Only problem was the ocean was really noisy (some people like that), and there was some crazy bird or very large insect making a ticking noise in middle of night that kept us up. We ended up laughing about it, making up stories of what the noise was.
Click to expand...

I've never been to Connecticut, but I can at least spell it. 8) Sounds like tree frogs to me. Gary
 
Mmmm..... The wife and I just bought a brand new trailer... a 08 that was left on the lot... We got it for $6000 off the the $17000 asking price... When I went to pick it up they had just hooked the water up.... and it was running all over the floor of the trailer.... leaks in the holding tanks... leaks in the bathroom... had a steady river of water running out the front door...

I havent even picked the thing up and already the fun begins!! :wink: Needless to say they need a bit more time to get it squared away..
 
I think its pretty much all of them. This is one item where the extra extra extended warranty is a must. Dont leave home without it. I would think all that water would wipe out the flooring. It is usually what happens to all trailers. The roof leaks and then it rots out the wood and then the floor. Then they tear off everything and make a car hauler out of the frame. :lol: I think even at their best they have some problems. The best are airstreams and then people gripe about hitting their heads because of the rounded cealings ,if they are above 5 feet tall. There is a bad side to them all ,even discounting the problems. If you buy a small one they are small. If you buy a class c then you have to unhook everything if you want to go somewhere and if you buy the big 40 foot diesel pusher ones and tow a car ...where to park a gigantic box without paying a monthly fee when your not camping. The most popular seems to be a 5th wheel with a dodge dulley diesel truck.
 
Reminded me of some of my parents stories.
My folks have a trailer depending on what day of the week it is. They don't so much park at a lake and camp but use it to stay in as they travel around. They've probably owned a dozen or so in the maybe 10 year period they've been doing it. They always end up selling it once they are back home. For them smaller/simpler is better and have been a mix of the fiberglass 2 piece types and pop-ups. Most of them here.

On the way back to Kansas from Alaska while in Canada my mother was driving and watched in the mirror as the the distance between the car and camper got greater and then the camper took a turn and down into the ditch it went. The hitch part of the frame separated from the rest. This happened in front of a farmhouse. They told the people they could just have it if they'd help them get it out of the ditch and on to their property and they agreed.

Another time they drove from Kansas to Arizona to buy a hard to find little A frame camper. Spent one night in it on the way back and disliked it so much that the next morning they sold it to a rv dealer in whatever town they were staying in.

They bought another fiberglass one just a couple weeks ago as they re going back to Alaska for the forth time.
 
The Scamp or Cosita trailers are small and will fill the bill on a lightweight trailer to pull. mine is only 17' but a little more room and the inside is a little more plush. I saw a chevy van the guy built out as a camper and it was nice. Bad side is no standing room unless you could find one of the fiberglass top things and cut out your roof. Still alot of outlay on money and then the van is really tall. (wont fit under my carport). Then your pretty much stuck with a van that you cant use for anything else. Every park we have been to so far had really clean nice bathrooms and showers so that part is not a necessity. Everybody we ran into that used popup trailers really had fun. They are cheap and pull really great. The only downside is they take a while to setup. I can go from backing to watching cable in about 15 minutes. They will still be cranking and sliding stuff around.
 
Unc. Would it be wrong to point out that my 35 year old Airstream has none of the problems you encountered and only cost me $5000? :p

Just razzin' you. I did replace the fridge, but it was 35 years old. Everything else is tip top.
 
Just found out today my fridge is still under warranty....YES!!!!!! The Norcold people were really nice.. Will be dragging it to the repair guy tomorrow. I love things getting fixed on warranty. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

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