Where to on a grand inagural trip?

[dprvashon]

Greetings all.. it's Spring and warming up. We, along with many others on this forum, have bought our first AS. Now it is time for our inaugural trip. My question is where did you go? Staying close is advisable but I also want to drive a while to test out TV and measure gas mileage.

We live in Seattle so our plan is to head to Cape Disappointment then down to Nehelam Bay then to Champoeg SP and sip some wine. 2 nights slated for each location, all with full hookups. We are looking forward to working with all the systems but have a good time. How does this plan sound? Any suggestions?

[renderit]

I don't know about staying at Cape Disappointment. Sounds like you couldn't have a good time there...

[dprvashon]

Cape Dissapointment is on the WA side of the mouth of the Columbia River. They call it that because of the treacherous navigation into the river across the bar. I have not been there but have been on the OR side. The park reads as though it is very scenic and fills up quickly so reservations are almost required.

My questions are:
Did you camp within 5-10 miles of home for your first trip?
Did you stay near a city or near the dealer?
Or did you venture far?

[John&Vicki]

It would be important for me on my first trip to get out of the wet. I spent 25 years on the wet side of the mountains in Oregon before moving to Bend, so I have webbed feet. But a big part of camping is to be outdoors a lot of the time - and I sure enjoy that more when it's not raining. I'm not that familar with Washington, but if the passes are good maybe head over to Central/Western Washington.

Poppy

[aftermath]

Lake Easton on the top of Snoqualmie Pass is an easy drive with freeway all the way. It might be a bit early right now so your plan to head south might be the best idea. Having full hookups on your first outing is a good idea.

Steamboat Rock SP north of Coulee City is a good place this time of year. Lincoln Rock just out of Wenatchee is another good spot.

Our first outing was to a state park right on the edge of town. It was a good thing because we found that our batteries were dead within hours and later learned that our converter needed to be replaced. We stayed close, very close, to home and I was glad that we did. Of course, we purchased a used trailer so really couldn't count on much of anything working correctly.

Good luck and enjoy the trailer.

[Pick]

When we first got our coach, over 10 years ago, our first trip was to the Kinzua Dam in Pennsylvania, 4th of July weekend. It was around 100 miles or so, from our house. There were no hookups, and we had to fire up the furnace, as it was below 50 on the first morning we were there. I had brought an El Cheapo 2 cycle 500 watt generator, to keep the batteries charged, but could not get it started. So we left the TV connected.

[SeeMore]

Our first overnight was a state park about 15 miles from home. It was basically a systems test with and an easy bail out plan. Two nights gave us the chance to work through everything and discover a few issues we needed to cure before heading out on a longer voyage. Once setup and connected, we disconnected shore power to learn our energy consumption as though boondocking, knowing we could reconnect if we drained the batteries too quickly.

[spenfolder]

My first trip was overnight in the back yard! My Bambi was 2 years old when I bought it and had never been used. I found out I needed a new battery and I had a short in my power jack. My 2nd trip was about two weeks later at a nearby state park. That's where I practiced backing into a site (always stressful the first few times), leveling, unhitching, and dumping my waste on the way out. That's where I learned that cheap latex gloves were a really good idea.

I would mostly suggest giving yourself plenty of time to try things, and don't do it in the dark!

StanI
Salt Lake City

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Airstream Forums mobile app

[Bill M.]

sounds like a very good plan to me. I like the idea of hookups and reservations for the first trip. I love the coast. You also could not plug it in one night and try all the systems on battery to see how it works. You probably already know Cape Dissapointment is spectacular.

[Stefrobrts]

Our first trip was to an Oregon Unit rally, as the folks we bought it from were members and invited us to join them. Our first trip on our own was to Cape Disappointment - I don't recall it being disappointing at all

[orange kayak]

We did something similar last fall after buying our 19 FC. Used hookups and dry camped. Had our owners manual, newbie guide book, airforums on the android, and the dealers number in case we had any issues. All went well and we had a blast. I'm sure you will too!

[Janet H]

Our first trip was in the driveway as well, I learned a lot. Going to an Airstream rally provides a great safety net as well. There are lots of helpful and knowledgeable folks around to help if you need an assist of some advice and... we're fun people

[renderit]

(I was joking above). Our first was a 3 day weekend in Fredricksburg TX about an hour from home. It was in an RV Resort pretty much on the edge of town so we had everything we needed/could need pretty close at hand. Didn't need much (most the stuff like flip flops that we forgot were to be had in a grocery store 5 minutes away). The Airstream worked.

[norcal bass]

Your plan sounds great. Just take your time setting up and taking down ... check and double check before pulling away. Even without power, batteries, etc, being in your new Airstream with nothing but flashlights would be wonderful. Enjoy it!

[webspinner]

Welcome to Airstreaming! There are as many ways of celebrating a new Airstream as there are different Airstreams and their owners.

Our first trip was about 200 miles, to a gathering on a friend's place in hilly wilderness. We took our "Tin Pickle" down a steep (12+%), narrow, twisty dirt private road with cut on one side and steep drop on the other. Parking was no easier. We found a spot sideways to the slope, but the only way we could level the trailer was to park the downhill wheels on a rock, supported by a couple of boards.



We'd done enough work on the trailer to have new axles, brakes and lights. The fresh water tank and pump still worked, as did the stove. But for the rest, we had an airbed, an ice chest and a nearby privy. After that, anything was easy!

(We've since redone the entire interior and our camping is downright cushy now.)

So if anything goes remotely amiss, just raise another glass of wine and say "It could be worse. We could be on the side of a hill, and with no amenities." Enjoy!

[dprvashon]

Greetings.... we are back from our maiden voyage and what a success it was! We had no major mishaps over 7 days and even found sunshine on the coast of Washington! We averaged 14.7 MPG towing with our Nissan Frontier and came back from Oregon with a case and 1/2 of wine (stored under the bed). Below is a link to our blog which has many of the pictures and one as we wait for the ferry home. This Airstreaming is a blast! Where to next?

Blog: Maxwell's Tours | "Looking Out (Our Airstream's) Back Door"

[bc_seattle]

Hi Maxwell,

Welcome... glad to hear the first trip was a success.

We're very part-timers on Vashon (house currently rented) and just downsized from a 25' EB to a '08 16' DWR. We're headed shortly to Deception pass for a shakedown on our "new" trailer.

Hope to run into on the road. Pictures from last year at Deception Pass:






BC

[jbroedlow]

We're on our maiden voyage with our new 27FB as I type. I'm sitting at the table looking out our panoramic windows watching the sun rise over the Illinois river. The lights of the town across the river can be seen flickering in the morning twilight. I'm feeling really guilty about being only 20 minutes from home. Don't you have to travel 4 or more hours to be camping? Where should you take your maiden voyage? My suggestion would be close to home in case you forgot anything important. Secondly, I'd want to be close to a town for supplies you've forgotten. The reason we chose this time and this place is that it is close to home for the above reasons and secondly there is going to be a small regional rally here this weekend. After we've spent a few days alone with our new trailer and questions arise, there will be other owners here this weekend we can talk to and get some of those questions answered. For instance, our grey water tank indicator says 20% but the fresh water indicator still says 100%. Why? Somewhere I read that there are supports for the pull out platform for one of the beds but I don't see any. Why? Another person told us never to travel with water tanks full because he's a "trucker" and knows the damage a tank of water can do as the water sloshes around during the trip. True? The L.E.D. display on front of the refrigerator says 3.2. What does that refer to? We have the refrigerator set on 5 and that's the best we can get out of it. Everything seems cold. The ice cream bars are firm but not hard. Are we expecting too much? See the questions that arise? Hopefully they'll all be answered this weekend. Otherwise, we've loving this experience. Have the next two months "booked" for adventures in the midwest.