First Trips

[COLORADO_CAMPER]

Hi all!

Took the new Bambi (I named her "Lucy") to Custer State Park in S.D. over the 4th of July weekend. I am towing her with a 2003 Nissan Xterra. The Nissan did pretty admirable w/the supercharged V-6 but a couple more cylinders would have made it a little easier on her. I'm using a WD hitch with single friction sway control. The rig was very stable and didn't even wiggle in the Wyoming crosswinds or when the big rigs passed by. No trouble maintaining 55-65 mph but gas mileage was horrible (7-11 mpg). The supercharged V-6 doesn't get great gas mileage to begin with.

The trip was very enjoyable and uneventful. Stayed in Blue Bell campground (only A/S in the CG) and was very pleased with the layout, cleanliness, etc... No hook-ups. Partially refilled fresh water tank once during the 3-day visit from the water spigot in the campground. Had to drain off some gray water once. Black water was barely 2/3 when I dumped at the station near the park headquarters on the way home. Ran a Honda EU2000 generator a couple of times to top off the batteries but never had any power issues.

Relished watching other campers cooking traditional camping fare in the BBQ pits or on gas grills while the Bambi oven turned out fresh baked muffins, pizza, etc... Stove and oven work great and the oven temperature settings seem to be right on the money. Nice not to have to live out of a cooler, too.

Also nice to have my own shower instead of using the community showers. Shower worked great, too.

All in all a great trip and I LOVE this little trailer. I'll post some pics asap.

[Rickk48]

Sounds like a great trip you had. We feel the same about our Bambi, especially having been tent campers a number of years. We also have the EU2000 and find running it about 2 hours a day takes care of all power needs even in winter when the furnace runs throughout the night to keep us warm and cozy.

[crazylev]

Sounds like a great trip. I was curious to find out how much heat the oven gives off in the Bambi. Was it tolerable? I know this would not be a problem in cooler weather..your thoughts are appreciated.

Jonathan

[Stefrobrts]

Sounds like a great first trip. We also recently spent a weekend in the no-hookups tent section of Ft Canby State Park here in WA. We enjoyed watching all the tenters getting whipped around in the windstorm while we relaxed, secure and warm inside the Caravel

How did you like Custer State Park? Is that close to the battle field? We are planning a trip back that way next summer, and I wondered what it was like.

[dtbw]

Crazylev,
We have used our oven quite a bit and with the AC on, there is NO issue, without the AC, we just turn on the Fantastic Fan with an open window or door. Without some kind of power ventilation, the heat might build up some, but just opening the roof vent should pretty well keep the heat buildup to a minimum (as the heat rises, it will escape out the roof vent). The ventahood on our Bambi is SO loud that we NEVER use it (I need to install a series power resistor to slow it down and lower the noise factor), but it would be another way to remove heat from the oven. BTW, the top burners put off a LOT more heat than the oven sheds during use.

[COLORADO_CAMPER]

The oven does put off some heat but mostly out of the vent at the rear of the stove top. The door seems to be insulated very well so there is very little appreciable heat radiating from the front. I just had the Fantastic fan running and the vent window to the right of the stove opened. Didn't get too warm in the trailer at all.

Stef,

Custer is a beautiful park. It must get a considerable annual rainfall because everything was absolutely lush green. There are animals all over the place so you do have to drive cautiously. We saw Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, wild Burros, wild Turkeys, and, of course, the wild Bison. In my opinion, the BlueBell and Legion Lake areas offer the nicest camping. Legion lake was as calm as glass and deep, deep blue. Its a good sized lake and you can fish or rent paddle boats. I'm not sure how close the park is to the battlefield (Little Bighorn, I think?).

Anyway, would recommend Custer State Park to anyone and suggest that you plan at least one full day to take the widlife loop drive and see some of the sites.