First Camping Trip A Success!!

Hi all - well we did it! We went to Panther Creek State park (in TN) and survived for 3 days in our TM - it all ended way too soon and we can't wait to go again.

As first time campers, everything didn't go perfectly - we made quite a few mistakes - but nothing devastating and had a wonderful time.

Mistake one: When we arrived and started to set up, we realized that we hadn't brought a single one of our 6 keys to the trailer with us :-/ Fortunately, all that meant was that we couldn't lock up the trailer when we walked away from our site and we couldn't open up the outside shower door. Luckily we hadn't locked the end exterior 'closet' when packing up so we could still get at our lawn chairs, etc.

Mistake two: We hooked up the electric and water and then went inside to check and make sure eveyrthing worked - thought our ceiling/roof vent fan was broken because it just wouldn't start up. (Didn't realize you needed to open the actual 'vent' lid above it first.) Discovered that in mistake four :P

Mistake three: Thought the lights under the end cabinet at front end must have burned out bulbs. Checked the bulbs in another ceiling light and they worked just fine. Hmmm, . . . opened manual and discovered little button in ceiling by skylight/vent that controls forward interior lighting.

Mistake four: Cooked our first evening's meal on stove (fryed up some chicken fajitas) and discovered that our smoke alarm works great!! P.S. Open vent above fan and turn on fan (it works great when the vent is actually open - duh!!)

Mistake five: My husband assured us (wife & son) that he'd read the manual and knew how to charge up our toilet. We checked it out and 'yes' it was working great! Three or four flushes later - it stopped working. Poor Daddy had filled the tank (and added chemicals) to the 'red area' on gauge (thinking that was the charge line) - toilet was full and inoperable!! :'( We had to use the bath house (just below us fortunately) for the next two days!! Made a note to purchase one of those handy 'blue boy' tanks on wheels for campsites without sewer connection.

Mistake six: Cooked up wonderful garlic pasta meal on second day and stored left overs in fridge. Quickly made a note in my book regarding 'overwhelming' odors in small confined spaces - each time fridge door was opened, the entire trailer smelled like an italian eatery!! ;D

That's it, everything else went like clock work and the whole trip ended way too soon. Not too bad for first timers, was it  ??? Just know this . . . we're already planning our next trip!   8)

Thank you to everyone for all of your help getting us ready!!
Mark, Lesleyanne and Jared - hoping to meet you out there!!

[Civil_War_Buff]

Great first outing TNLAW!! On our trip in February to Olema, we got all set up and I asked Veronica where the trailer keys were....she said that she thought  I had them, and vice-versa.  So it can happen to any of us...as soon as we got home, I had another set of keys made and put them in the TV so we will always have an "extra" set of keys handy.  

All in all it sounds like a great first trip, and it was just  the first of many memorable ones I'm sure.  

Welcome to the TM family and keep in mind each trip gets better and better, no matter what happens.

Larry

Hi TNLAW

Congrates on your first trip.  My wife and I made quite a few mistakes the first time also.  As far as the keys are concern, we too could not leave the campsite becauseon our first trip we left them behind.  Our solution was to keep a set in the glove box of our towing vehicle.  This way we never forget.

Speaking of Tow vehicles, I notice that you are towing your TM with a Honda Odyssey.  I know it has the 3.5 240 HP engine.  I was thinking of replacing my towing vehicle and have been investigate various SUV's

I have looked at the Pilot which has a 3500 towing capacity, and 4500 capacity for a boat ( I really dont know why there would be a difference....maybe someone would know).  Since the Pilot is based on the Odyssey, are you satisfied with the performance of the Honda in towing your TM??

Although I have a 2619 with a dry weight of 2500 lbs, I understand that when normally loaded it is closer to 3200lbs and was wondering if the Honda pulls it well up hills etc.

Again good luck and hoping to hear from you


George
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TNLAW,

Congratulations on making the classic mistakes for new TM owners!  I think virtually every owner has believed their front lights were burnt out before they found that little black know on the vent.  And out smoke alarm works great too, after several cooking incidents, none of them serious, however.  The good thing is that these are mistakes you are unlikely to make in the future.  (And I never knew the toilet would actually stop working if completely filled -- good to know!)

I think you've had a very successful first time out.  

Congrat's on your purchase and successful trip.
I'm so happy to read about all those who have overfilled the toilet. Our first few trips my wife did that particular job. The first time I did it, I went till the toilet was just about full. We then emptied the contents of the toilet, since it was just water and chemicals into our blue tote, and filled the toilet properly. I then had to go lug water to fill the tank again after using it all up !
Welcome aboard!

You are all so kind, especially to admit you've made some of the same mistakes.  Rest assured we've now put a spare key in our car's glovebox and we feel ten times smarter already!  :

I think there's a whole topic on pulling TM's with a Honda Odyssey -  but in answer to your question, we've not had any problems at all so far - but then we've only towed it 3 times (home after purchase and to and from this first camping trip).  I will tell you we made a mistake with our hitch before picking up the trailer originally.

We first got the hitch installed and told the installer that we'd be pulling a 'folding camper' or a light weight boat.  Great, got a beautiful hidden hitch nicely installed with this cute little four prong (vertical) plug.  ($160) Then found out we'd need a different kind of plug (round 7 prong type) in order to operate the trailer's brakes, etc. - back to the installer for a new wiring job and the funny little black box for the electric brakes. ($175)  Then, we happily go to pick up our TM (bought used - albeit only 5 times - through this site) - well, we were able to tow it home easily - but were not able to use the anti sway/load equalizer attachment because it fits on a class '3' trailer hitch.  Back to the installer for a new hitch - (no refund and another $160)

Ah well, it's only money?  

The TM towed great with our Honda on the original hitch without the sway/le but we did notice that the rear of the Honda was riding quite low with the tongue weight and we feel a whole lot more secure with the upgrade and the sway/le attached.  We look great driving down the road now.  Live and learn - hopefully you won't make as many 'costly' mistakes as we did getting set up.  I hear the 'Pilot' is a great vehicle.

Thanks again to everyone.  I love reading your posts and check in often.  You'll be hearing from us.  

Happy camping.
P.S. We charged up our digital camera for the trip to take pictures and guess what - we forgot it on the table with the trailer keys!   :-[

Sounds to me like you are doing a little better than par. I heard a story about a family that kept forgetting their pillows every trip they took until they had a closet full of pillows at home.   (Was that Chris?)

[Carol]

Hi!

Another thing to do before you close up the TM is to make sure your Fan Tastic fan vent is tightly closed. We had the unfortunate experience of it popping open when traveling on rough roads (interstates in Colorado and Texas). When closed gently, it popped during travel. Luckily it didn't rain or I imagine that the interior would have gotten wet.  Giving it another turn to make sure it was tight did the trick and in Oklahoma, it didn't pop, even though those roads were bad as well. This trip was in the fall of 2001, so maybe the roads are better now!  

We also put electrical wire home made twistums through the latches to keep them from popping on the rough roads. That worked!  

Congrats on your first trip!! We just returned from our longest trip (6 days) and we forgot our trailer keys too!  Oh well, we just left it unlocked and had no problems (stored anything valuable in the Sequoia).  

Our other little mishap was that just as we were loading up, my husband noticed the Sequoia had a flat tire!  Sure enough, there was a big nail in the tire -- so, of course he had to go get it fixed.  As my dad always says, "We're off....like a herd of turtles!"   We had a great trip, and came back with a list of improvements I wanted to make (see my post under "Where to Put All Your Stuff&quot.

It's a fun learning experience and this board makes it so much more enjoyable -- you never feel alone w/your fun and frustrations!

~Teresa