I need a pep talk! How to Camp alone

Verna

But, the real question is.... Hey, Photomom, how did your weekend go?  Did you have fun on your first camping trip in your T@B?

Corbinpilo

Photomom, 

I'm not a girl camper but want to share a few thoughts. 

First, we all remember being nervous the first time we towed or camped. As you know, this site is a good place for questions and finding answers. 

My better half just finished her first solo camping trip. She was very nervous and considered not going because of a fear of towing our T@b through the mountains of WV. But she did go and now believes that towing is no big deal. 

Some things that helped her were the advice of a lady camper who encouraged her and said, "when backing your trailer remember you can always pull forward and try again" and "you're going to pull into the campground like a boss!" And my wife did! She even nailed backing in solo the first try. I'm sure there will be campers who will help your at the campground if needed too. 

Finally, my wife has been empowered and encouraged by a lady named Janine Pettit. She is a writer, blogger, and podcaster. Her efforts are focused on empowering women to go places and do things. Her Girl Camper podcast lead my wife to her first trip and joining several female camping groups like, Girl Camper and Sisters on the Fly. Now she has new friends and camping trips booked all over. It's been a wonderful thing. 

Here's Janine's website. You can play her podcasts from this website too. Remember that you will "pull in like a boss!" 

http://girlcamper.com

Photomom

Whew! Back home now and tired! It was a good weekend, was able to do some hiking and geocaching but it rained almost all the time so not much in the way of photography. It turned out I had a really bad site with a ditch across the front and very uneven with the middle higher than the sides. I was able to conscript a nearby teenager to help me maneuver the T@B into an acceptable location.  If the tire had been mounted underneath I would not have made it.

Really happy with the T@B - waking up to rain on the camper roof is SO much nicer than waking up to rain on a tent roof! BTW, I'll put in a plug for the Maxxair Deluxe fan - it worked perfectly in the rain. Everyone who custom orders should consider it.

ScottG

You're good to go, Photomom! If you're still smiling after a first trip in those conditions, the rest is a cakewalk.

I guess all that homework paid off.  :-)

Photomom

I have backpacked and kayak camped, and we have tent camped for many years. I'm not afraid of rain.

ericnliz

If you haven't camped in the rain, you haven't camped. In the Pacific Northwest, that is just a given, just a matter of when, how long, and how hard! Builds character!

Ratkity

(Story told with a Southern accent)

"There Ah wuz..... snug as a bug in mah Reverse TD....had to have been in 2010.... baby seester was a ground dweller back then. We met up at Shenandoah NP in Big Meadows campground. She had a nice tent with purdy awning. I had a great fyre going most the evening when she pulled up and set up her tent.

With the unpredictability of mountain weather, shure 'nuff, it started pouring not long after we jawed a bit over the embers. Not jus' pouring, but BUCKETS and BUCKETS. We retired to our respective sleeping quarters. I thought, any minute I'm gonna hear a knock on my TD door and she's gonna want in! I kept hearing great splashes of water hit the ground. Slept good, no knocks.

Next morning, there she wuz... I'd seen the same type black rings around the eyes of a raccoon. She had spent the night poking a sagging spot in her tent roof that was collecting gallons of water (the random water splashes!). Guess there's another use for the curved end of an umbrella! Baby seester is a trooper, though (like most seasoned tent campers). Undeterred, we set everything out to dry and she commenced to cookin' a proper breakfast without a blink of an eye. She stayed a ground-dweller for a long time after that too (and makes the best biscuits with white sausage gravy evah)."    

Fin.

Photomom

Okay, but the hot stuff you make with wood is pronounced "far". I grew up in East Tennessee.

We camped at Big Meadows a few years ago, and are thinking of a circuit of Shenandoah VA - Indian Boundary TN - Pipestem WVA next year. Either that or head north to the maritime provinces.

TerryV6

Photomom said:

Driving was fine but I was disappointed to get only 12.2 mpg through the Southern Tier of NY. Overall mpg up to 14.3 for the whole trip which still seems low. I kept speeds between 55-60. 

Backing was horrible but I was able to find a nearby teenager to help manhandle the trailer almost into the spot I wanted. Then I realized it wasn't level so I had to hook up and try again. Obviously need more practice. 

We did our first excursion this last weekend and I knew my mpg would be 10-12 miles to a gallon.  On the way home, about 30 miles out with my wife driving, she turned to me and said, our gas light just came on.  We looked for the next off ramp and the small community there had no gas station.  We stopped someone and they pointed down the road and said, 10 miles... We white knuckled it and pulled up to the pump with about a half gallon... Whew...

Nomad

"rain builds character" - Yep, last spring I had three weeks of rain and it turned me into a foul-mouth character all right.

Nomad

Terry - Know the feeling - Coasted into Moab with the light on and the guage on empty. Twas lucky it was down hill.

Photomom

My car has a computer that tells me how many miles I have left. I have had it as low as 15 before. The computer doesn't know whether there is a trailer though...

Nomad

Mine does also but I never pay attention to it. I'm usuall good at keeping it full - Been in places where you get gas when you can even if it's just a quarter tank. Headwinds did me in at Moab.

ChanW

There's character, and then there's PXL character... B-)

PXLated said:

"rain builds character" - Yep, last spring I had three weeks of rain and it turned me into a foul-mouth character all right.

ericnliz

PX, I never said what kind of character

Photomom

TerryV6 said:

We did our first excursion this last weekend and I knew my mpg would be 10-12 miles to a gallon.  On the way home, about 30 miles out with my wife driving, she turned to me and said, our gas light just came on.  We looked for the next off ramp and the small community there had no gas station.  We stopped someone and they pointed down the road and said, 10 miles... We white knuckled it and pulled up to the pump with about a half gallon... Whew...

If you have a smartphone with cell service, google will find the nearest gas station for you, and there are also apps like Gas Buddy. 

Verna

Love Gas Buddy! AllStay Camp and RV shows gas stations, too. 

jkjenn

+1 for Gas Buddy. My new TV has a similar app built into the system.

Nomad

Yep, they show you where the gas stations are and just how screwed you be.

TerryV6

And hindsight is always 20/20...

ericnliz

Long story short, when it gets to 1/2 to 1/4 of a tank, fill it up!

Verna

PXLated said:

Yep, they show you where the gas stations are and just how screwed you be.

You should live in Indy. Race weekend and the price jumped 25 cent between 10 am  to 1 pm. Love when they gouge the locals and the fans ;(

Nomad

ericnliz - Agree but it's only possible if there's a gas station :-)

ericnliz

Good point PX!

TerryV6

One of the many should haves...  Experiences are the best teacher ...  

kbrnr

I thought parking my new 320s at a campground would be easy, compared to parking the squirrely little thing in my driveway. Wrong!! First mistake was picking a site that had a muddy slope to navigate and not an rv site. After numerous entertaining fails, a young man showed up and said "I do this really a lot. Where do you want it?" I'm not one for the "Damsel in distress" thing, but, I thought he was sent from heaven!

lino

I am not a female camper so I can’t totally answer your question. But I will tell you it was not easy for me to learn how to back up either. I figured it out and now I feel comfortable but I still make mistakes

Sharon_is_SAM

We still struggle.  Practice makes perfect.  It has been an interesting study in discovering who communicates the best.

Photomom

I love it when these old threads get resurrected! After 3 seasons I still can’t back the trailer worth a hoot but I very good at directing my DH. I do need to learn this year since I’ve joined Sisters on the Fly and have a couple of campouts scheduled with them.

jkjenn

I get pretty good at it and then all of the sudden you would think I had never done it before....that usually involves some "helpful" person telling me which way to cut my wheels, lol.