First time RV camping

[CaptainAmericaRob]

Last November we took our new to us TT to my folks in Tucson on a shakedown trip to see how the truck and TT did. This past week we took it on our first camping trip to the local mountains here in San Diego. William Heise County Park just outside of Julian.

We've done exclusively tent camping for the past 20 years, so we're new to camping with an RV and we thought staying local with a town nearby with supplies if needed would be prudent. We also happened to pick the hottest days of year so far (97° ?).

We had power and water hookups at the campsite, so no need to test the PPOB on this trip.

A few things we learned:
-Grey water tanks can fill fast! Despite our efforts to conserve water going into the shower and sink, it still filled faster than I anticipated.
-The Dometic AC in our TT is a champ. Kept it on the lowest setting and our teenage boys both said they were too cold.
-Our dog isn't into camping much. Her two favorite things were sleeping in the TT or taking dust baths.
-Bacon, eggs and biscuits for breakfast never gets old.
-Pro Trailer Backup Assist for newbies is great, no matter what seasoned truck drivers claim. I didn't have too much of a difficult spot to back into, but backing in went much quicker than if I tried to do it manually.
-My grey water dump valve is leaking, internally, bad. ? Went to dump when leaving the campground and grey water started pouring out as soon as I opened the cap! I confirmed the valve was closed, but water kept flowing. Thankfully I had my hose ready to go and quickly hooked it up, opened the black tank valve and dumped it before the grey water was done draining.
-You can't make s'mores if you leave the chocolate in the fridge at home. ??‍
-The small fridge in our trailer gets really cold. The eggs were partially frozen by morning #2. ? We defrosted them in the warm sun and all was well.
-When your 5 yr old daughter wants to help with the dangerous jobs, you figure a way to let her help (she saw her older brother chopping wood and wanted to try. I had her help with making some kindling with me holding her hand on the hatchet.)
-A day in the outdoors beats a day in the office.

Now for some pics:

excellent, lol nice job. hit up the Jayco forum for other tips. On the PPOB... i recomend setting it up and trying it out in your driveway, or wherever you store your RV, to make sure you have the process down.

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[Bigguy214]

Nice trailer we have pretty much the same camper except ours is a forest river product.The dinette slide out is worth every penny for more space in the camper.Good luck with it and enjoy your camping trips.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Last November we took our new to us TT to my folks in Tucson on a shakedown trip to see how the truck and TT did. This past week we took it on our first camping trip to the local mountains here in San Diego. William Heise County Park just outside of Julian.

We've done exclusively tent camping for the past 20 years, so we're new to camping with an RV and we thought staying local with a town nearby with supplies if needed would be prudent. We also happened to pick the hottest days of year so far (97° ?).

We had power and water hookups at the campsite, so no need to test the PPOB on this trip.

A few things we learned:
-Grey water tanks can fill fast! Despite our efforts to conserve water going into the shower and sink, it still filled faster than I anticipated.
-The Dometic AC in our TT is a champ. Kept it on the lowest setting and our teenage boys both said they were too cold.
-Our dog isn't into camping much. Her two favorite things were sleeping in the TT or taking dust baths.
-Bacon, eggs and biscuits for breakfast never gets old.
-Pro Trailer Backup Assist for newbies is great, no matter what seasoned truck drivers claim. I didn't have too much of a difficult spot to back into, but backing in went much quicker than if I tried to do it manually.
-My grey water dump valve is leaking, internally, bad. ? Went to dump when leaving the campground and grey water started pouring out as soon as I opened the cap! I confirmed the valve was closed, but water kept flowing. Thankfully I had my hose ready to go and quickly hooked it up, opened the black tank valve and dumped it before the grey water was done draining.
-You can't make s'mores if you leave the chocolate in the fridge at home. ??‍
-The small fridge in our trailer gets really cold. The eggs were partially frozen by morning #2. ? We defrosted them in the warm sun and all was well.
-When your 5 yr old daughter wants to help with the dangerous jobs, you figure a way to let her help (she saw her older brother chopping wood and wanted to try. I had her help with making some kindling with me holding her hand on the hatchet.)
-A day in the outdoors beats a day in the office.

Now for some pics:

Looks like a great trip! Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

[madsend81]

For those interested, I swapped out the old grey water dump valve with a new one this afternoon. Took about 30 min. I discovered two reasons why it had been leaking:

1. The downstream pipe edge was not cut cleanly. A burr was left on the edge against the seal so it likely caused some external leakage
2. In a past attempt to rectify that leak, someone tried sealing the slip joints of the valve body to the pipe. Cement got into the blade track of the valve and prevented the valve from closing fully.

I got my file out and made the edge smooth and installed the new valve without too much issue.

I also installed an extra downstream valve as a backup just in case the valve leaks again.

 

[Shooter56]

Nice post. We’re into season 4 with our 2021 Lariat PB with the 7.2Kw inverter and 21 foot Micro Minnie. Life is good with quiet dependable power in the great outdoors! Have fun with yours!

 

[Hobkvet]

What a great post thanks for sharing- Nothing better than campfire hot dogs-

 

[madsend81]

What a great post thanks for sharing- Nothing better than campfire hot dogs-

Actually, those aren't hot dogs. Those are smoked bratwurst and they are so much better than campfire hotdogs! ??

 

[akoza]

I have that exact model, it’s been great. We’ve been using it for 4 years with only basic maintenance. We are a family of 4, kids are still small but we’re starting to grow out of it. It’s tight for a rainy day stuck inside. It has everything we need, most features/ appliances are very basic, which isn’t the worst thing (cheap and easy to fix/replace). Great starter trailer, easy to tow, but a little snug.
I also have a 2016 Sprinter, and I’m converting it into a camper van. The full conversion took almost a year, and now I just need to update the interior by adding sprinter van cabinets and a bed. I can’t wait to finish it and head out on my first trip!

 

[madsend81]

I have that exact model, it’s been great. We’ve been using it for 4 years with only basic maintenance. We are a family of 4, kids are still small but we’re starting to grow out of it. It’s tight for a rainy day stuck inside. It has everything we need, most features/ appliances are very basic, which isn’t the worst thing (cheap and easy to fix/replace). Great starter trailer, easy to tow, but a little snug.

Glad it's working for you and your family.
Note my two teenage boys haven't been getting any smaller (6'1” and now 6'3") and it worked OK for our family. We haven't had an opportunity to take it out again as school and sports have occupied our weekends since we took that little trip last Summer. The wife and I have been talking about where we will take it next. But until then, baseball and high school tennis have our weekends booked through June.

 

[Calson]

A large awning greatly expands the living space when it rains. Only need to be careful when it is windy and best to retract it before hitting the sack.

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