The Official Camper and Camping Thread
- Thread starter hickslawns
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We did Cowan Lake this weekend. Weather sucked and I had a to borrow a truck, but we still managed to have fun. Without knowing when I'll get my truck back, we're thinking about dragging the camper over to Paint Creek this afternoon so it will be on site for the next two weekends.
Am I the o my one getting out?!
Am I the o my one getting out?!
Not alone Dave, keep urge fingers crossed next weekend is better than this one! Hope you get the truck back soon. Fixing it after the deer collision?
We were able to get into the campground where we are doing seasonal this year back in the middle April. Spent two weekends whipping the site into shape. Previous owners were there for 18yrs and I think every plant they ever planted was still there. I leveled the stones next to the concrete pad then tamped where the block stacks for each corner jack and the front jack would be. Ripped out all the landscaping, pulled up the fire ring and planted grass in the new bare spots then overseeded the rest. Laid down the 4x4's and pounded in the end poles for the firewood stack behind the camper. Hauled 1/2 cord and stacked it.
Put the camper in place the weekend of 5/1 and we camped the last two weekends. Took the golf cart over this past Friday and the final outside furniture will make the trip over next weekend. The site is small compared to most on the grounds but they only had 3 openings this year. It was the driest and most sun. My BIL and 4 other family friends families are there and I can tell already the beer consumption will be exceptionally high this summer lol! It's just far enough at 35mins from home. The in laws farm is only 10mins away, the lake 2 mins north, aunts boat 6mins down on Catawba island, and the islands a short boat ride away. Definitely looks and feels like we'll use the camper even more this year and that's the intent. The more we go the more the wife is getting comfortable about going over and using it during the week with the boys. Just makes me nervous she'll forget to turn off the water, roll up the awning, or make sure the heater/AC is off lol.
Just need to get the my fire ring design confirmed in my head and wrap it up this weekend.
I just got my BG tractor pull camping package in the mail. I might not use the camper pass this year Dave, let me know if you are interested. I use a site up past the crick with family/friends. Decided I wanted to be on the list so when the boys get old enough we'll be close to electric and water. I would let the camper pass go for $50 and then you would just buy tickets. Cheaper than an entire camping package if you decide you want to bring the camper.
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Thanks for the offer, we already have a site. My buddy does it every year and sold his camper earlier this year to fund the concrete in his new shop. So he will be dragging it to the site and I will be dragging it home.
Hit a drunk a couple weeks back and it's turned into a hell of a mess. Went to pick it up Friday and it was having all kinds of electrical issues. I got pissed and went and picked the truck up and I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow.
Hit a drunk a couple weeks back and it's turned into a hell of a mess. Went to pick it up Friday and it was having all kinds of electrical issues. I got pissed and went and picked the truck up and I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow.
JOHNROHIO
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With the weather being so shitty this year, I have yet to get mine out. I'm ready, the boy and I are heading up to east harbor Thursday for a couple days. I figured I better get the first run of the year out of the way to check it over. We will be heading to cape cod with it later this month though.
Catawba Island? We love that area, not sure we will make any trips this year though. This summers weekends filled up pretty fast.
JOHNROHIO
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Yes, I don't think the campgrounds are great but , the park as a whole is nice. I agree, it is a fun area to go up too.
Those are pretty close to my original stomping grounds. I've never really been to any of the campgrounds honestly. We just went home at the end of the night/day.
We've gotten 7 nights over 3 weekend under our belt so far. All three trips have been to Indian Lake State Park. Stayed close to home for the first few trips in case of issues, with it being our first camper. Been smooth sailing so far, we are really enjoying it. IL State Park booked again over Memorial day weekend then we plan to hit the road and try some new spots.
:smiley_clap:, keep on keeping on Drake! Great to hear the truck and camper are doing well. Any surprises on the new camper? I hope not, but it's always interesting to hear what did or will go wrong with these things.
JohnR, safe travels and PM me if you want to connect over the weekend as you'll be right down the road. My wife will be heading over Thursday morning, I'll be over after work. I'm looking at taking Friday off before heading out of town next Monday. I don't want to take time away from you and your boy, but if you're interested in checking out Tall Timbers as another campground option, want to drink a cold one and finally put a face to a name just let me know. No worries if not.
So far so good. This past Saturday night it was down around 40 degrees so the boys went in and watched cartoons right before dark. I have them playing off of a USB drive, with a USB player. They came out and said the TV and player went off. I figured I had a fuse blown, but after a quick check at the panel that wasn't the case. Some troubleshooting indicated that none of my outlets in the camper were working. I went and did a check on them one by one and found the GFCI outlet had tripped in the bathroom right by the sink. Reset it and we were good to go. That outlet is kind of close to the sink, so most likely some water/moisture from there tripped it. It did it's job though and only took a few minutes to figure out.
I'm also a firm believer in the Equalizer hitch. We had 25mph winds with gusts above that on Sunday morning coming home. I was in an open area with a cross wind and had no trouble at all keeping it on my lane on a country road. I had a trailer in front of me that was all over the road. Highly recommend for anyone hauling a heavy load.
We are getting a pretty good system down when it comes to setting up and tearing down and I dedicated a wall in my garage to all of the stuff that goes in the truck when it's time to load up to head out.
Hose gaskets are one thing that never came to mind when packing the camper w/ tools/fuses/etc. At the dump station yesterday the hose was leaking all over because the gasket had fallen out. Couldn't spray without getting drenched. Guy in the other lane had a pack in his camper and was kind enough to give me one to use. I bought a pack yesterday that I put in with our sewer water stuff. Run into a lot of good people when camping, that is for sure!
JOHNROHIO
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Will do man! I'll play it by ear and see what Levi wants to do. No real plans fugging off and fishing is all I have on the books. Might drag a couple kayaks up for the harbor. Wish I could bring the boat to fish out of, but can't bring the camper if I do that so we will be stuck to shore fishing.
I made a mistake this last weekend...TWICE! When I go to leave, I just pull the cap off the fresh water and put it in my cup holder. Well...being that my truck has been in the body shop, I didn't have it with me. I will be buying another one to keep in the camper.
Are you guys talking about the rubber gaskets that go in garden hoses or 3" sewer hoses? I am not familiar with any gaskets on the dump hoses....
Sounds good John, like I said, absolutely no worries if not.
Drake, great to hear on the Equalizer. I have yet to come across someone who does not like it. Outside of how well it performs, the simplicity of the design is enough for me. No chains to break, extra clips, etc. Just BEEFY steel on steel for friction control
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Sounds good John, like I said, absolutely no worries if not.
Drake, great to hear on the Equalizer. I have yet to come across someone who does not like it. Outside of how well it performs, the simplicity of the design is enough for me. No chains to break, extra clips, etc. Just BEEFY steel on steel for friction control
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Using what's there. 2 out of 3 weekends the gasket was missing in 1 of the 2 stations. Not a huge deal just get a little wet that's all.
I actually picked up a fitting that connects to my sewer discharge hose, the other side screws onto the garden hose and cleans out the inside of the sewer hose.
Still nice to hose everything down with a spray nozzle afterwards though.
loose_is_fast
Junior Member
Are you draining your black water first and then flushing it out with the grey water? Just wondering the need to rinse the hose afterwards.
Even then i like to rinse out the hose. I have yet to come across a dump station that had a sprayer attached. I just use it wide open to flush then my thumb to break up the stream if needing to wash down the pit.