The Maiden Voyage of Tater

OK, I can hear you now: “Who, or what in the heck is Tater…?” Well a long story short: that is the name we decided to call our new 2720SL. It is a stuffed animal character that is so ugly it is cute we found at Baby Land General Hospital (Home of Cabbage Patch Dolls in Cleveland, Georgia) that was named this so we decided it would be our mascot and then became our TM’s namesake. OK, to the story: WOW! What a first trip and a taste of some extremes; 50 mph wind gusts, sleet, rain, set-up in the dark at “the wrong place” as it had no power and the battery was drained from the reefer and reefer fan…I LOVE IT!

We two RV virgins pulled our new 2720SL into a never been to before campground in the dark with blowing winds (35 – 50mph gusts) and sleet. The campground map the manager said was permanently affixed to the office door had been “lifted” by a prior camper with a bad memory so we headed-off for lands unknown and a campsite for the weekend. (The”office” closed this time of year at 2pm.) We selected a very nice secluded and “dark” spot in the back and began our set-up procedure. Backed into a “tight” spot perfectly with much assistance and I might add through only the use of a flashlight and walkie talkies. The TM battery had been totally drained by the reefer and fan earlier in the day (left on their own for far too long before we sailed-off onto our weekend adventure….Lesson #1 of many to come) After setting-up the bare basics perfectly leveling and stabilizing our unit in the blowing wind and sleet (using headband flashlights) I plugged-in to shore power and quickly surmised there was no power. After much double-checking of our predicament we broke camp and headed for another spot.

The next most promising spot (The first one I found!) was a “pull-through” (I had had enough maneuvering for one night) heading in the direction back towards the entrance; I quickly jumped-out of the TV and plugged-in the power first, then unplugging the TV (Remember the TM battery was dead…) we selected the outside light just above the cord storage area and it lit!!! We were more than excited as you could imagine!

So arriving at the campground at 7pm we were finally snuggled into our unit at 9pm with a lesson learned the hard way and never to be forgotten. (After visiting the office the next morning to settle up we found-out the first area we had selected was available exclusively on a “for sale” basis only and that was the reason there was no power.)

The first night additionally was a little unnerving as a “weather front” blew through even into the next day with steady 20 – 30mph winds and in quite faithful intervals 35 – 50mph gusts. WE WERE LUCKY in the fact that the pull-through site we had selected was end to end directionally “west to east” as the western winds hit us on end rather than from the front or rear but still buffeted our little unit; but coming from the west at least lessening the degree of a rollover danger. Saturday the winds did not lessen but the clouds were gone at least for our location so it was sunny. The heavy storm clouds were trapped in the mountains directly to our north where we had planned to travel on a Saturday day trip to visit our trusted “primitive” camping tent area. A good two inches of snow was on the ground and more was still falling.

We both had thought there was quite possibly an area for Tater we had remembered near our primitive site so we planned a trip to "drive it" and “measure it” as a potential site for us to take “Tater” (All our primitive tent site’s were too small or tight for any RV) The area was beautifully blanketed in snow and if not for the second move of the weekend already I would have suggested we pull up stakes and bring “Tater” here but the unimproved ghastly bumpy, pitted gravel road combined with the overall tightness of the site was more than I wanted to play with this weekend. (That is why we selected an RV campground and drove here with just the Jeep to measure) We found it is only: 44’ deep X 35’ wide. It is an elongated deepened wide spot in a curve of the road overlooking a precipitous drop in the Southern Appalachians accessible only via a Rangers fire road.

We came back home to Tater after a long drive through the mountains and stop-off at the Baby Land General store and enjoyed a nice relaxing balance of the weekend watching DVD’s and listening to the wind howl. “Tater” was absolutely a joy to have and we both had wished we could have stayed indefinitely but the weekend was over. We had many “little” set-up and take down boo-boo’s but they were nothing major, just the kind of things you have to endure to learn the ropes and call yourself a TrailManor Captain. I look forward to my first set-up and take-down without a single hitch no matter how minor! “Oh wow honey, the antenna is still up….” “Honey, aren’t you supposed to put the stairs up first…” “We have to disconnect Tater AGAIN so we can close the rear cargo door of the Jeep, etc., etc” All in all playing in the backyard with our new home away from home prior to setting-out for ports unknown was invaluable but the TrailManor forums were worth their weight in GOLD! As I have already said so many times before thanks to all of you for your assistance, it made this “maiden voyage” a positively joyous occasion for my wife and me.

The amenities of the TrailManor and even the “RV” lifestyle in general were a very nice change for two primitive campers. Heat, Bathrooms, Reefers OH MY!!

Ron & Debbie

Wow! You took the hardships well and made a sport out of it. I love camping like that. It isn't so much fun when one of the campers panics. So congratulations. You will have many more great trips in the TM, I can tell. Thanks for writing.

[B_and_D]

Sounds like you had an adventurous and successful first trip out - what with setting up in the dark, wind, rain and all!

We too are looking forward to the trip where we fold down everything just right and don't have to go back and say "oops, I forgot to put that down", whether it be TV antenna, shelves over the sink, hatch, steps, etc. This last trip we took we kept looking in the rear view mirror and noticing the hatch above the fan flapping up and down. It was down when we left, but not tightened all the way down. On our last hookup and close down after staying at 4 different campgrounds in 9 days, we had it down to an art. But after not going out for 4 or 5 months, we do get rusty.

It is, however, getting better. It's nice to be able to sit in the TM and listen to the wind howling outside, and feeling warm and comfy inside. Having hookups is nice, too, in the winter. And I do love those pull-through sites; parked in one myself this past week!

Congratulations on your maiden voyage and your new TM! Whatever you encounter, it's at least an adventure.

We generally travel 4 to 6 hours when we camp. Our trailer is stored at home. Our practice is to hook up to shore power the night before we leave to get the fridg nice and cold. Then we load it up and go. I don't use the dc power or even the fan. It is well insulated so for trips of that length it works great.
Cheri

Originally Posted by 2bcs1jrt

We generally travel 4 to 6 hours when we camp. Our trailer is stored at home. Our practice is to hook up to shore power the night before we leave to get the fridg nice and cold. Then we load it up and go. I don't use the dc power or even the fan. It is well insulated so for trips of that length it works great.
Cheri

That is what I will do NEXT TIME! I chilled the reefer on A/C in advance from home on setting number "5" (we also store it at home) and then I changed the setting to 1 or 2 and switched to DC 4 hours before leaving on our trip, of course per the forum I had my reefer fan running. By the time I tried to hook-up to the TV the battery was dead. I need to check the fluid levels in my battery as well, I never checked since I took delivery of my TM. I did not think 4 hours would drain the battery however, was I wrong!

We also will charge our batteries (our TM has two) at home before we go. Even with our tent trailer, those trips weren't long enough to fully charge the battery with the TV.
I think I remember reading on this forum about disconnecting the TM battery from the TV even when stopping for meals when on DC so my guess is that DC can take you down quick if the TV isn't running
Cheri

I was already considering the 2 - T-105 battery set-up when either this single set-up failed me too many times or when it dies a natural death. My camping will be campgrounds (off season) and wilderness as much as possible and the "forest's" here would not allow me to consider solar so that is not an option. A combination of good batteries and generator. (Like the dogs by the way) Here is a pic of our dog "Kiki."

Originally Posted by rockerga

I was already considering the 2 - T-105 battery set-up when either this single set-up failed me too many times or when it dies a natural death. My camping will be campgrounds (off season) and wilderness as much as possible and the "forest's" here would not allow me to consider solar so that is not a consideration. A combination of good batteries and generator. (Like the dogs by the way) Here is a pic of our dog "Kiki."

Looks like Kiki is an A"kiki"ta. Such a pretty breed. I love my four legged kids.

We bought our TM quite used (1996) last summer. Our weekends consist entirely of Dog Agility trials right now. (Hope to add some plain old camping soon) Having 2 batteries has been great. Some of our shows are at fairgrounds with hook up but others are at sports complexes where the RVs are set up in a parking lot with nothin' in the way of hookups. All shows are 2 days unless it is a hoilday weekend when they are 3 days. We use a portable 12v battery for the the television/VCR to conserve but other than that, we use the TM batteries and have never drained them. In our tent trailer, we occasionally drained the battery and had to hook up to the TV and use flashlights.
Cheri

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

When returning home, the 110 is connected for a couple of days before removing the fuse....
hope this helps...

Here's a somewhat ignorant question. If I hook my old TM up to the house for a couple of days, are you saying it will charge my batteries without using a charger?

Cheri

Originally Posted by 2bcs1jrt

Here's a somewhat ignorant question. If I hook my old TM up to the house for a couple of days, are you saying it will charge my batteries without using a charger?

Cheri

Mine does, but you need to ask the question in the proper section of this forum to get help with your specific age vehicle. Mine states it has a three-way charger: BULK (14.4VDC), ABSORPTION (13.6VDC) or FLOAT (13.2VDC) I do not know what 13.2VDC will do over time so I plug mine into AC just before a planned trip to charge it up to max.