New Trailmanor Owners

I discovered this Forum whilst researching my wife's and my new purchase. We are (well in 3 weeks anyways when we take delivery) the new proud owners of a 2002 3124 KS.

We are sooo excited. We cant wait to hit the road to try our new "toy". Thanks to all who posted (I read through nearly every post) because I feel I have a handle on the strengths and weaknesses of the trailer. We will also ben taking our camcorder with us when we have our familiarization run through from the dealer (thanks to this board). We are fortunate that our Trailmanor dealer is 40 minutes from our house, so if we have any "teething" problems it should be a snap to get them resolved.

Due largely in part to some peoples personal experiences we are going to plan our first trip at one of Illinois State Parks about 20 miles from the dealer. This will enable us to put her through her paces and still be close for tech support if needed. (A Grand Canyon trip is somewhere in our future, but I want to be sure we are up for it.)

Great Forum! I look forward to being a regular around here...

a big welcome to you. i think it is smart to do your test run near your dealer. that is what we did before embarking on our own. now we feel comfortable enough to take on the following trips this year: flordia keys/april
                                grand canyon/june
                                albuquerque balloon fiesta/october

hope to see you on the road. 8)

Welcome, Dan!

Good idea to try a short trip on your first outing.  Just remember to try everything at least once.   Like the water heater on electric or propane, or the reefer on propane or DC or AC.   Don't forget your owner's manual!

How long a trip will GC be for you?

Welcome, Dan!

Good idea to try a short trip on your first outing. Just remember to try everything at least once. Like the water heater on electric or propane, or the reefer on propane or DC or AC. Don't forget your owner's manual!

How long a trip will GC be for you?

We are about 2.5 hours from Chicago so I expect a few days travel (Mapquest says 1551 miles and 26 hours of drive time, although sometimes it estimates on the high side)  If we do 3 8-10 hour driving stints and camp on the way, it should be an enjoyable trip.  I have found (on the internet) it is best to reserve sites at the actual park well in advance of the planned date - so the wife and I have to decide which days we actually want to spend there.  We may take two weeks (to have 3 days down and 3 days back with a cushion) and spend a week or so at the campground.  

My wife has seen the Canyon before, but I never have and from what she tells me, the pictures never do it justice.  She is looking forward to going again.

It is a good idea to reserve sites at popular locations in advance, though there are some who would say that "kills" the spontaneity.  But there's nothing worse than driving all day to find that you can't camp where you had planned.

When we did our annual Cape Cod trip this year, we drove about 7 hours the first day, camped in Niagara, then took the last ten hours on day two.  With our two kids, that's about our limit, and we certainly wouldn't do that much on successive days with little ones.  And that much driving may take a toll on the adults, too!  

But your wife is right -- no picture can do the canyon justice, and just taking light walks around the rim is an incredible experience.  Good luck!

F. J. & Ellen

F.J. & Ellen, I was wondering where in Cape Cod you camp? I've been to the cape a number of times (it's our favorite location), but we've always stayed in a cottage or something. I've looked at campgrounds on the internet, but it can be hard to tell which ones are nice and which are not worth the price. When I am able to purchase a camper of some sort, I would love to camp on the cape. Thanks for your input!

[RickNewcomb]

I've been to Peters Pond in Sandwich, MA. This campground is very nice. The only negative is campfires are not allowed due to a local ordinance. Their webpage is at:

     http://www.peterspond.com/

I've driven through Sweet Water Campground in Brewster,MA and have plans to stay there in April. This campground is close to the Cape Cod Bike Trail. They do allow campfires. You can find a link to their webpage at:

     http://www.capecodtravel.com/camp.shtml

I would have given you the actual link but this discussion forum keeps changing "sweet water" as one word to sweetwater, thus changing the link address to an incorrect link address.

Superfly,

The only one in which we've camped is Sweet Water Forest in Brewster, where the Trailblazers in New England are going for their next rally.  We've traveled there over the years and stayed in cottages, and used the trailer for the first time last year.  This is a rustic campground in that it is a heavily wooded setting with lots of trees, though its not what you might call really fancy.  But, you're close the Cape Cod Rail Trail, about 8 miles from either Nauset or Skaket Beaches and many of the sites themselves are really beautiful.  I'll take that over fancy any day!

Two other ones that we may explore this year are Atlantic Oaks in Eastham (which focuses more on large RVs) and Shady Knoll in Brewster -- they're owned by the same company and focus more on smaller units and tents.  We may go to Shady Knoll this year because they have a washer and dryer on site, whereas Sweetwater Forest does not.  I don’t have their web links, but all three have web sites.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to inquire again!  We love the Cape.

F. J. & Ellen

[RickNewcomb]

Here's the link to Shady Knoll and Atlantic Oaks.

     http://www.capecamping.com/

Hi all, I'm a new Trailmanor owner myself. Just picked up my 1986 version of the 3023 yesterday. It's a bit old, and took it straight to the local RV shop for some repairs and a good going over, but can't complain about the price. I STOLE it off a guy for the $400.00 he had in it himself!   He had no clue about it! It was saved from being stripped to the running gear and use as a car hauler! Yup, it needs a little work, but overall, it's not in bad shape, the oven doesn't even look like it's ever been used! Before buying, I did do my homework and looked into the Nada value, and even found this place. I have to tell you all you guys are great! I've found so many useful tips and such here and have been saving stuff to two files, one for stuff for the RV place to check out, and another one that is all the handy tips. ;D

Bill -n- Karen