First Time With Our T@B

GailandJohn

Last weekend we took our T@B out for our first time camping with it. We were well-prepared and organized, thanks to all the great info on this forum, and some other places online. We left on Saturday and spent about 24 hours at the campsite. We were at Lake Ray Roberts state park, Isle du Bois unit in north Texas. When we arrived at the park entrance, we had to park and go in to register, and as John stepped out of the van, a man was walking up to him. Guess why!....Yep, that's right, he wanted to know all about our teardrop trailer! There were several times in that 24 hours that we heard people say "What a cute trailer!" I was thinking to myself, "It's not just cute, it's awesome inside and out!" We were busy little bees, learning how to use everything and putting things in the trailer. We keep it in storage and it's not real close to our house so we hadn't put much in it yet. I think we still have some work to do with organizing our storage, but loading and unloading were pretty easy. It was the first time to camp for our pups and was quite an adventure for them. They both adapted well and really enjoyed sleeping with us, as they sleep in crates in our bedroom at home. Notice the green box on the front of the trailer. That's where we're keeping the dump hose and supplies. Friday, we're taking it to Texas A&M to see the football game and watch our grandson "step off" with the Corps of Cadets. We had reserved a hotel room, but then bought the trailer, so we were able to find a CG with an opening. We'll be camping in style, with sewer, cable TV and wifi. We're starting to plan a 3 night trip in late October to the Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle, the second largest canyon in the US behind the Grand Canyon.

We use these drawers for storage and we backed the van up next to the trailer for easy access. We store the drawers with the trailer, making for easy loading and unloading. I wish that I had taken a picture of our whole setup!

I filled this caddy with all of our cleaning supplies and it fits perfectly in the shower floor for travel, no sliding around.

John read a recommendation on a blog for getting a water filter, so we did. We were glad because the tap water had a funky taste, not uncommon in North Texas. The filter made it bearable, but next time we're going to bring a couple of gallons of drinking water...just in case.

I got this idea for spice storage from Pinterest.

We took the dogs for a walk along the lake at dusk. It's a nice lake and a nice state park, and less than an hour to get there, so we will probably go there again. We really loved being near nature and felt so relaxed after arriving home! I hope I did okay with resizing the pictures.

ericnliz

@GailandJohn, Thanks for sharing your adventure. May you have many more!!!

Ratkity

Thanks for sharing with us!! Soon you'll start adding stuff to the drawers and then taking lots more away. Then you'll have only one drawer and a sewer hose tote... then you'll mod that and ..... well... it's a process! Soon you'll call home and say, "Honey, pack up some food and grab clothes bags.. we're going camping!"

foxden

Nice set up.  I use the same two sets of drawers in the back of my tv.  One for setup (water hoses, filter, electric, drill, etc. and the other for cooking (dishes, cookware, etc.).  While at camp, the kitchen box comes out of the tv and lives under the camp table and the other one just stays in the tv.  Makes packing for a trip very easy.  Just grab the two boxes and some clothes and go.  You should plan a few trips to the hill country this fall!  I backed off on camping during July and August but am ready to head out again!

Sharon_is_SAM

We use the same system in our minivan!  

Homebodyatheart

How exciting for you both! I'm not sure one is ever done organizing our T@bs! It's a wonderful work in progress at my house. Great pics, too! Two things I did not see in your pics were a pressure valve on your water hose (I use a brass one), and a surge protector on your power cord. Both those things are a good idea and could save you money down the road. I also have a bike cable lock for the surge protector that goes around the pole to keep it from wandering off. It will be fun to follow your travels!

atlasb

Great looking set up.  We do like the ability to switch the filter elements and save the housing.  Did I not see a water pressure valve at the water hydrant?  that will save some problems at some camp grounds with too much water pressure.  They are real easy to find anywhere they have camping / rv supplies.  

ericnliz

It appears that there is in fact a pressure regulator on the trailer side of the water filter outlet. 

Verna

ericnliz said:

It appears that there is in fact a pressure regulator on the trailer side of the water filter outlet. 

But....is the arrow pointing the correct way on the regulator?....Hummm...I'm having trouble picturing it. 

GailandJohn

Thanks all for the feedback. Yes, the water pressure regulator is on the trailer side of the filter. John swears that it's the correct direction. About the surge protector, do they make them especially for RV's? Where might we get one, other than ordering online?

GailandJohn

foxden said:

Nice set up.  I use the same two sets of drawers in the back of my tv.  One for setup (water hoses, filter, electric, drill, etc. and the other for cooking (dishes, cookware, etc.).  While at camp, the kitchen box comes out of the tv and lives under the camp table and the other one just stays in the tv.  Makes packing for a trip very easy.  Just grab the two boxes and some clothes and go.  You should plan a few trips to the hill country this fall!  I backed off on camping during July and August but am ready to head out again!

Putting one set of drawers under a table is a great idea, but first we need to get some kind of awning. We haven't decided what we want yet. Yes, we definitely need to get to the hill country! Thanks for the reminder. I have a feeling that we won't do much camping next summer either. The only place to be when it's 100 degrees is in air-conditioning or in the water. I'm not sure our little air-conditioner would be able to do the job in that kind of heat.

GailandJohn

I forgot to mention that we now have a brake controller on the van so we're ready to take off safely for College Station tomorrow.

atlasb

Forgot to mention, we use the pressure regulator at the hydrant before our system hoses.  That keeps the line pressure on our hoses and filter regulated.  Lost a lifetime rv hose after it was in the Okla heat for several days and the camp pressure was excessive.  We just make sure when we unhook, to take the regulator with us.