We just got back from the maiden voyage/shakedown trip on our newly acquired '77 Excella 500 31'. We had barely a week with the camper before heading out from MD onward north to Maine. The PO (original owner since it was new) kept the trailer in pretty good shape so there wasn't much that needed to be done right off the bat.Tires and brakes were new, as were propane tanks and some other expensive goodies. We figured we'd deal with learning the systems as we went along.
We had one sunny day and the rest of the week was a monsoon! We stayed in 3 different campgrounds in CT and ME and 2 WalMart lots.
We did encounter a small leak at one of the side windows that needs to be dealt with. The awning seems to be seized closed...maybe we're just dummies but we had a few neighbors offering suggestions on geting it unrolled but nothing seemed to work. All in all everything worked to our satisfaction based on the limited time we had to go over stuff. The only major headache occurred at the dump station when handle for the black tank outlet valve broke, leaving us with a 1/3 full tank. We're really looking forward to making that repair :0.
The roads in NY and Mass are HORRIBLE and we bounced around so much that the pantry door hinge sheared off and down came the door. Some other stuff that was tightly stashed somehow managed to fly around.
We really like the size of the trailer for the 2 of us and our 2 dogs (German Shep and a Border Collie puppy). We travel pretty light so there's plenty of space. Our layout has 2 twins in the center and rear bath and the curbside goucho.
Here is a shot of the rig set up at the Sagadahoc Bay Campground in Maine (the foggy shot) and another at the Seaport Campground in Mystic CT (That is the Sunny Day shot).
Welcome aboard
Sounds like you hit the infamous I95.
Don't worry it gets funner, rather steep learning curve that we all have delt with. 
Wally's Law. 
Linear Mode
