Fourth trip done....more lessons learned

LauraRey

Let's get this straight.  You will want to laugh.  I know that.  Go ahead.  I did when it was all over.  We still had a great trip.

I took my daughter camping at Long Point Provincial Park last week.  It was an end-of-the-school year celebration of sorts.  We made the drive with no issues and set up camp.  After getting the stabilizers down, I opened the windows, turned the fridge back on, and flipped on the pump.  Life is good.  As I step out of the trailer, I gaze about the row of campsites and then back at ours.  Then back at the row, in both directions.  Then, I realize I've set up on the site next to the one I've reserved.  Deep breath.  We climb in the truck and drive back to the registration office in hopes of simply switching sites.  Nope.  It is reserved.  Ok.  I send the kid to the campground and proceed to hook up the trailer (after raising the stabilizers, unhooking the electric, removing the locks, etc) and literally move it to the other side of the electrical pole....which is now on the wrong side of the trailer.  I drive around the campground, and come into the site from the other direction.  There.  Done.  Oh.  I'm way too far over and the firepit is way too close to the trailer now.  I drive around the campground again, re-park closer to the pole, and finally am done.  Whew.

A couple of hours later, I went to wash my hands and noticed we had just a trickle of water.  Weird.  The pump worked when we left home.  I opened the pump area in the bathroom and discovered the pump was on and it was incredibly hot to the touch.  I turned it off immediately and let it cool.  After checking things out, I determined it had simply lost its prime.  So I unscrewed the intake hose, sucked on it a several times until I heard water gurgling, and reattached it.  Voila!  The pump worked.

The next night I went to cook dinner and realized my little green canister of propane was almost empty.  No problem!  I have a propane hose and I went to attach it to my large propane tank on the trailer.  I blinked.  The gauge said it was empty.  WTH?  It should have been 3/4 full.  That can't be right.  I detach the hose, remove the worthless gauge, and reattach the hose.  To test it, I went in and tried to light the cooktop.  And tried.  And tried.  Ok, then.  I guess the tank leaked and the gauge isn't worthless. 

Broke camp the next day in rain...but, that is just life when camping.  On the way to our next campground, I stopped at a gas station that refilled propane tanks.  A nice young man came and helped me get the tank out and then looked at me.  Why was I getting propane?  The tank, by his feel, was probably 3/4 full.  -blink-  Turns out that there was a lot of air in the hose after I attached it to the tank (after removing the gauge), and I should have kept trying the cooktop.  argh.  Oh well...no big deal.  Next stop: a KOA for my daughter.  I then drove two-hours in a downpour, but it cleared up by the time we got to the KOA. Yay!

It was a lovely drive through back country roads.  And, look!  There's a Tim Horton's with a large parking lot next to it!  Time for a coffee break.  I turn in and start heading toward the back of the lot where there is access to the larger lot next door.  Except, as I pull through, I see I can't get through as there is a drop-off and a fence.  Now, I'm stuck in the narrow parking lot...thankfully, I had pulled over enough to let the drive thru traffic get by.  However, this had to be the busiest Tim's in rural Ontario.  There was no way I could back the trailer out of the lot the way I came.   Car after car came by to the drive-thru.  I kept waiting for a gap so that I could figure out how to maneuver the trailer out of the lot.  Finally, a nice man pulled up next to me in his jeep, rolled down his window and said, "Your best bet is to just go through the drive-thru."  I cringed and explained that I didn't think it was wide enough.  He thought it was and, to be honest, I didn't see another option.  So, I took the T@B through the drive-thru.  It took 4 or 5 tries to get around the curves...I had to back up slightly and re-position several times.  Then, I bought a coffee and a donut (raspberry filled with sprinkles on top) to celebrate stupid choices and ways out of them, and made it through with car and trailer intact.  My pride and ego?  Smashed.  

However, for future reference, it is -possible- to take the trailer through a drive-thru.

We arrived at the KOA and when we got to our site, we discovered it was literally a lake.  Some of the water was over six-inches deep.  We returned to check-in and they moved us to a different site.  It was a pull-thru site and I was so thrilled that I failed to notice that there was no way to hook up the sewer hose because of the size of the site and the location of the hole.  Oh well, no problem.  I'll just dump on my way out.

As we were leaving two days later, I stopped at the dump station....only to discover that again, I was facing the wrong direction.  I drove around the KOA and re-entered from the other direction.  Then, I got out, put on my gloves and pulled the hose out of the carrier.  It snagged a bit, but eventually came free.  Without one of its ends.  Thankfully, I had a second hose in my truck.  Problem solved.  I'll get the hose end out when I get home.

We left and for the first 30 minutes, had a lovely drive.  Then, a storm system blew in with 70 kph winds, hail, and torrential rain.  This was exactly ten minutes before I was supposed to go over the Burlington Skyway bridge.  Transport trucks have tipped over due to the crosswinds on the bridge.  They close the bridge periodically due to wind.  There was no way I was taking my tiny trailer over the bridge in a storm.

I stopped to let the rain subside.  Then, I re-routed through Hamilton.  Hamilton is a huge industrial center and I know this because I drove my tiny trailer through every little side street in it.  The roads were horrible and I found that things had fallen in the trailer when we got home.  But, we GOT HOME.  

Camping is an adventure.  Enjoy it...and when things go wrong, breathe and have a jelly donut.

DINDAnLAN

Wow, what a trip! That's a trip that you will look back and laugh about for years to come. 

foxden

And thanks for sharing the "adventure".  Newbies like me can really learn from these stories.  Mostly we can learn that if you keep a good attitude about it (like you do), it just becomes part of the fun! (If sometimes only in hindsight).

ericnliz

@LauraRey, , YEP, 'ya made me laugh! I'm thinkin' that all of us that have camped have had similar experiences, hence part of the laughing was at myself because you reminded me of some my own past episodes. The "remember when's" will keep you laughing for years to come. The good part is that no one got hurt (except feelings & pride...been there on that one more than once!), and in the end you had fun. Makes me want to stock up on jelly donuts!  

Newfisher

Oh the joys of getting outdoors! I have had very similar experiences, we all have at one point im sure. The best is when you get set up in the wrong space, ask to swap spaces, get "jts reserved sorry" , move everything and then no one ever shows up.

Photomom

Just watch out for the drive thrus with low hanging obstructions. When I called our insurance agent to get a policy on our new T@B, she told me a cautionary tale about another client who drove his brand new motorhome through a drive thru and peeled the whole top off.

ericnliz

@Newfisher, That one just adds insult to injury. Makes 'ya wonder if it's a running joke with some of the folks running the place!  

rkj__

That was an entertaining read, thanks for sharing.

You're getting out there, and making memories!

We've certainly been getting some very unsettled weather this June.

Happy Camping. 

Ratkity

OMG Laura! What a trip. I have done the "ugh! my site is a lake!" scenario - TWICE! The first one was ok, the park ranger said they'd had a lot of rain and she thought my site was affected. If it was, come back and she had a better site. I had to go back, not a big deal except turning around was sorta iffy at the ranger station. The dump station was the best way to do a round-about. Fortunately, it didn't have someone using it.

The second time, I *woke up* to a lake. It was a nice level site (a little grassy) when I parked. Didn't unhitch. Totally level. I was leaving for an appointment at Pleasant Valley (now NüCamp) the next morning. It was nice listening to the bit of rain during the night and going to sleep. Except... I woke up to a LAKE. Had boots, mucked through the 3-6" of water and mud to the truck. Mud? No worries. I have a 4x4. Uh... I was stuck. totally stuck. The T@B had sunk into the mud. I didn't put stabilizers down. I can't imagine what would have happened if I did. Some very nice people woke up their hiking leader and he came over and put an *iffy* tow rope on the front hook of my truck and the ball of his truck (osha would have had kittens). He just gave a little tug and I was out. I don't travel now without appropriate tow ropes in my truck. Have used them already for another non-camper situation. 

I think I put the 2nd experience somewhere on the forum.. the mud puppies of Atwood campground. LOL. BTW, the rangers at Atwood were very sympathetic and gave me another site on the same loop that was above water and nicely graveled. 

Ratkity

Um, I have to confess that I've done the "drive-thru" scenario too. Except I wasn't stuck in a one-way dead end. I was hungry and forgot the popup was behind me. I drove a V8 350 1994 Chevy. You couldn't tell you were pulling a small camper. Apparently, I forgot. This was before cell phone cameras (phew) and those hairpin drive thru turns. I almost took out their order sign. No one was behind me and I had to backup into the grass with my back tire up on the curb as well - then I was straight enough to go forward. I'm sure the McD's people were surprised when I picked up my breakfast and saw the popup go by as I pulled away LOL. No picture, no evidence. Just smushed pride and a "OMG, I-can't-believe-I-did-that" story. LOL

Hugs to you! You aren't alone.

Michigan_Mike

Interesting read and reminiscent of things everyone of us encounters when hauling and setting up trailers.  But there is a flip side to all of it as "experience" and repetition make future travels easier and less eventful so far as obstacles, mistakes, etc.   I have had to move my trailer before after thinking I'd had the ideal spot only to find out the one across the street was more suitable and less chuck hole filled, etc.  I even had a lousy camp host out at Palmetto SP in Texas tell me I had to move my setup onto the site pad after he sat in his easy chair, watched me back in, set everything up and stake down my 10x10 Paha Que' screen room, lock bikes to a tree, etc.  Thanks pal!  

I've also driven through fast food lanes with the T@B, but cringe at the thought of possibly taking off the roof vent on a low overhang, but so far so good!   I was down in Southern Ohio one night while heading down to the Blue Ridge Parkway, pulled down a narrow dirt road with a teardrop buddy in tow behind me looking for a place to turn around as we'd missed our turn and ended up having to back out in the dead of night and no lights!   Oh, and don't forget to pack the stabilizer tool as it's not fun using the trailer without stabilizers!   

But hey, the survivalist in all of us kicks in when things head south and no doubt we could assemble and publish a great book on camping miscues, brain-farts and those items left at home!  

LauraRey

@Ratkity I don't travel now without appropriate tow ropes in my truck. 

That's an excellent idea. I know nothing about what quality tow ropes need to be.  Suggestions?

LauraRey

Michigan_Mike said:

I even had a lousy camp host out at Palmetto SP in Texas tell me I had to move my setup onto the site pad after he sat in his easy chair, watched me back in, set everything up and stake down my 10x10 Paha Que' screen room, lock bikes to a tree, etc.  Thanks pal!  

I would have been really angry.  What a jerk thing to do!

Ratkity

LauraRey said:

@Ratkity I don't travel now without appropriate tow ropes in my truck. 

That's an excellent idea. I know nothing about what quality tow ropes need to be.  Suggestions?

I purchased two tow ropes with the highest rating at the time in an AutoZone in OH while my T@B was being worked on.. however, the front tow hooks are huge and the safety hooks on the ropes wouldn't work (I still kept them). They have worked in a non-camper situation to pull something out of a barn using my "Walking-Dead" weight stabilizing hitch as the pull-hook (60# of shin-whacking steel that sticks out far enough to kill scary zombies). I recently found 4"x30 ft heavy duty straps that work on my two front tow hooks and can be used safely (Amazon or etrailer, can't rem which). Have two of those too. 

LauraRey

Thanks @Ratkity !

ericnliz

@Michigan_Mike, I'm tellin' 'ya, I think some of these Camp Hosts ( @Verna not included!) have a journal about "What I watched & made this guy do!". I've experienced the same kind of things happen, to not only myself, but other poor campers as well. Thank goodness there are more good Hosts out there than the ones lookin' to get their kicks at someone else's expense.

hymie

@LauraRey. Princess Auto (Canadian HF for ours friends south of 49) is the best local source for tow straps. They have the 4" transport straps which will do anything you need. Great to add to the ridgeline tool kit, with or without t@b. Very very handy.

SteveK

I think the best part of the trip is the memories and lessons you passed on to your daughter.  Overcome the obstacles and enjoy life.

LauraRey

@SteveK  I agree.  We got to have a long discussion about why some words shouldn't be said at school and how mommy used a few of those words.  She got to see me apologize to her too.