First long trip with the TM

[inghamm]

We are heading out tomorrow on our first long trip with the TM. 31 days. Couer d'Alene, West Yellowstone for 5 nights, Twin Falls Idaho for 2 nights to see our nieces, Willard by State park in northern Utah, Cannonville for 5 nights to explore in and around Bryce NP, 6 nights in St. George to explore Zion NP (and see an outdoor musical - Peter Pan at Tuacahn) , Oak Hills, 4 nights at Newport Beach (one day for Disneyland and 2 days for visiting friends at Laguna Woods), 2 nights at Carpenteria State Beach (our first boon-docking try), Mammoth Lakes, 3 nights in Sparks visiting friends, Crescent Lake and home.

[TrailManorMan]

Enjoy your trip, sounds really nice

[Gwenne & Len]

Originally Posted by TrailManorMan

Enjoy your trip, sounds really nice

Sounds great! enjoy! I'll be interested to see how the boon docking goes.....haven't tried that yet......we're going to Zion in the spring.....beautiful there!!

[inghamm]

First day on the trip was not really smooth. First thing Wi-Fi transmitter for the rear view camera would not power up . It started working after we stopped at the first rest stop. We ate lunch at the Carl's Jr. In Moses Lake , then went to drive by our old house. (we lived in Moses Lake for a while) On the way out of town I noticed the lights weren't working on the trailer. We pulled into a gas station and discovered that the bargman cord that connects the SUV to the trailer had been dragging on the ground and most of the 7 wires inside had been frayed through. A little background: When we bought the trailer used, we noticed the bargman cord had been patched. After quite a few attempts to get the trailer brakes working consistently, finally looked at the patch and found a mess. So I had it re-done professionally. We did end up with extra wire however, which I didn’t mind because our bargman connects on the left side of the TV rather than the middle, so when we turn right it has to stretch, but then when we turn left it sags. So I had it held up with a bungy cord to the propane tanks, and that worked fine. Before heading out on this trip, I added a propane tank cover, and took the bungy cord off, and then (obviously) didn’t get it back on correctly.
After the initial panic wore off, we went to a nearby LOWES and bought some connectors and a wire cutter stripper crimper. Half an hour later I had all the wires reconnected. Then while testing the right turn signal didn't work. The connections all seemed fine. Redid some, looked on the Internet for information on which wire it should be, seemed fine, but it re-did it anyway. Then swapped the bulbs and then they both worked. So we were about 2 hours later than expected getting to Coeur d'Alene, but everything else was fine.

On the way after Moses Lake we stopped at a Cat Scale. Our TV is rated at 3500, and we had packed more stuff in the TM than ever before, so I was hoping we weren't over. TM came in at 3520, so a little bit over, but I think I can live with it.

[inghamm]

Our second day of the trip went much better than the first. We got up before 7 because we knew it would be a long day and we would lose an hour going into mountain time. Had lunch at 5 guys in Missoula and made it to West Yellowstone just before dark around 7:30.

[inghamm]

Good day in Yellowstone today. Got down below freezing during the night. We had our electric foot warmer on high underneath our sleeping bags, so our feet were toasty. We had two 1100 watt heaters going much of the night, so we stayed in the mid 50s in the trailer. We had to disconnect our water before we went to bed. Slept in 'till 8 and then headed off to Old Faithful area. After viewing that we had hoped to see Grand Geyser go off, but after waiting and hour got impatient and went on down the trail. We saw some things we hadn't seen before, Grotto Geyser erupting, Daisy Geyser erupting, morning Glory pool and Riverside geyser erupting. It was over 70 degrees in the sun, so more than a 40 degree change in temperature. Did a bike ride around West Yellowstone after dinner.

[momto4girls]

Enjoying your trip report! Thanks for sharing.

[BradS7535]

Originally Posted by inghamm

2 nights at Carpenteria State Beach (our first boon-docking try).

Doesn't Carpenteria have full hookups?

Also, it seems a lot of people use electric/ceramic heaters...do you only use these with hookups or how do you get them to run?

[B_and_D]

Carpenteria has some electrical sites, others are without. If you want to use a ceramic heater you need hookups, unless you want to run your generator all night. We have stayed there several times.

[fairweatherfisherman]

Thanks for the nice report. I'm enjoying it.