Stupid Newbie of the Year Award

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Well...if it really is holes in the head, it must be heredity and contagious. My dad bought his first trailer when I was 12 years old, had me towing it when I was 15, and I bought my first one when I was 26.
I love this disease!

dzn, hey! That's not fair. You had a privileged background.

I was driving a farm tractor at 15. Unfortunately, John Deere does not make travel trailers.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

dzn, hey! That's not fair. You had a privileged background.

I was driving a farm tractor at 15. Unfortunately, John Deere does not make travel trailers.

I've seen some with "awnings" though!

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

I've seen some with "awnings" though!

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

But that was before cabs, air conditioned cabs with stereos, TVs, and GPS autopilot!

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

But that was before cabs, air conditioned cabs with stereos, TVs, and GPS autopilot!

Those privileged backgrounds again.

The John Deere had a seat, four tires, an engine and PTO. But I thought I was really sumthin'. Queen of the sodbusters!

[tpi]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

tpi, I've decided to pack only protein shakes and not take any food on this trip so I don't have to worry about blowing myself up trying to light the oven or range. Not only will it prevent the campground from burning down, but I'll lose weight.

It's a win-win situation.

But thanks for the tip. "Stoves" etc. will be dealt with on trip #2....if I make it to trip #2.

Yes just the one thing burning the stove for a minute before lighting water heater or gas fridge is it purges air out of the gas line and makes lighting these appliances faster.

[Scott J-24]

Fly,

I found a great digital book called "The Newbies Guide To Airstreaming" by Rich Luer. Very entertaining read and a lot of interesting information. I highly recommend downloading a copy or getting a hardcopy from a local bookstore. Just remember it isn't rocket science, relax and have fun.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

tpi, I've decided to pack only protein shakes and not take any food on this trip so I don't have to worry about blowing myself up trying to light the oven or range. Not only will it prevent the campground from burning down, but I'll lose weight.

It's a win-win situation.

But thanks for the tip. "Stoves" etc. will be dealt with on trip #2....if I make it to trip #2.

Unless you've used only electric stoves all your life, the stove is quite convention in its operation. I'm guessing your newfangled model might even have electric ignition, but it'll still light with a match or lighter even so. The first time I lit the gas for the 'fridge was the only time I had to read the directions 2x to be sure what I was about to do, and if I had one as new as yours it would be even easier, though perhaps require a bit more trust in technology.

[ROBERT CROSS]

FAN,

On the h2o heater...have the dealer show you the procedure for Winterizing. Important to have the by-pass valves in the "use" mode before lighting.

Ask me how I know....1st AS, 1st Winter, 1st Spring, 1st leak.

Bob

[summerkid]

fly, PLEASE tell me that trip #1 or trip #2 will bring you down the central Oregon coast? I'd love to have you visit. Your big rig would never make it into my mountain hidey-hole of a driveway but there are plenty of places to park it at the foot of the hill & I have a feeling that we would have a grand old time.

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by Scott J-24

Fly,

I found a great digital book called "The Newbies Guide To Airstreaming" by Rich Luer. Very entertaining read and a lot of interesting information. I highly recommend downloading a copy or getting a hardcopy from a local bookstore. Just remember it isn't rocket science, relax and have fun.

Scott, I think I need that book! Thanks for the lead.

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

FAN,

On the h2o heater...have the dealer show you the procedure for Winterizing. Important to have the by-pass valves in the "use" mode before lighting.

Ask me how I know....1st AS, 1st Winter, 1st Spring, 1st leak.

Bob

Robert, thanks for that anti-leak tip!

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by summerkid

fly, PLEASE tell me that trip #1 or trip #2 will bring you down the central Oregon coast? I'd love to have you visit. Your big rig would never make it into my mountain hidey-hole of a driveway but there are plenty of places to park it at the foot of the hill & I have a feeling that we would have a grand old time.

summer, I'll visit you on one condition: you are a hot-water expert.


Kidding.

aaaah.....the smell of salt in the air....would love to take a spin down that beautiful coast some day. Thank-you for the invite; I will look you up if I make the trip.

[Hibby]

I will add my most recent newbie experience, and qualify it by telling you that this is our second year of owning a Sport 22. You would think I would have figured out this one by now, but no....

My wife and I recently brought our AS home from storage and joyfully parked it in our NEW third driveway, which has a water spigot and an electrical hookup. I was very excited that we would be able to "prep and load" over a few days rather than right before we hook up and go!

I had been having trouble with batteries not holding their charge while in storage, so I knew that having it hooked up for a few days would get them up to max capacity before we left. We also had a four hour drive to our boondocking site, so charging from the vehicle on the way should give us all the juice we needed for our four day stay.

When we finally hit the road, I switched the fridge to battery power and away we went! Upon arriving at our destination, and creeping down an old bumpy logging road for a mile, we set up camp and poured a celebratory cocktail!

As my wife stepped out of the trailer, she asked me what the red flashing light on the fridge meant. We very quickly discovered that the batteries were almost completely dead!

After returning to the nearby (220 miles away) Airstream dealer, he explained to us that the battery switch must be in the ON position for the batteries to take a charge.

We are now the proud owners of a Honda 2000i generator for our future boondocking trips!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Hibby,

Sounds a lot like us with our first, a 63 Safari. Thought we were all set 'til we got to our 3day camp with dead battery. Next purchase...1000w Yamaha.

Bob

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Oh lordy, the awning. I have decided to not even try to get that down until trip #3. If it's raining and I still want to sit outside, I'll just sit there holding my umbrella over the head. The head with the holes in it, that is.

Fly, setting up awnings can be tricky at first but the zip dee is much easier than many others. I am not particularly dull and I can figure out most things by simply looking or reading but my first awning was a different story. My neighbor explained it in record time and I was on my way.

I ran across some videos that explained many things Airstream. Here is one about setting up the awning. Hope this helps.

Zip Dee Patio Awning Operating Instructions For Airstream - YouTube

[A W Warn]

[QUOTE=aftermath;1040888]
I ran across some videos that explained many things Airstream. Here is one about setting up the awning. Hope this helps. QUOTE]

Thanks for posting the video. I learned something, an easier way, even though I have been putting my ZipDee up and down for a long time!

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by Hibby

I will add my most recent newbie experience, and qualify it by telling you that this is our second year of owning a Sport 22. You would think I would have figured out this one by now, but no....

My wife and I recently brought our AS home from storage and joyfully parked it in our NEW third driveway, which has a water spigot and an electrical hookup. I was very excited that we would be able to "prep and load" over a few days rather than right before we hook up and go!

I had been having trouble with batteries not holding their charge while in storage, so I knew that having it hooked up for a few days would get them up to max capacity before we left. We also had a four hour drive to our boondocking site, so charging from the vehicle on the way should give us all the juice we needed for our four day stay.

When we finally hit the road, I switched the fridge to battery power and away we went! Upon arriving at our destination, and creeping down an old bumpy logging road for a mile, we set up camp and poured a celebratory cocktail!

As my wife stepped out of the trailer, she asked me what the red flashing light on the fridge meant. We very quickly discovered that the batteries were almost completely dead!

After returning to the nearby (220 miles away) Airstream dealer, he explained to us that the battery switch must be in the ON position for the batteries to take a charge.

We are now the proud owners of a Honda 2000i generator for our future boondocking trips!

Hibby, I don't feel so bad now.

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Hibby,

Sounds a lot like us with our first, a 63 Safari. Thought we were all set 'til we got to our 3day camp with dead battery. Next purchase...1000w Yamaha.

Bob

Robert C., I wonder if they have battery chargers for the human equivilent? After wading through that manual in anticipation of this week's shakedown cruise, I'm exhausted! Worse....I still can't figure some things out.

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by aftermath

Fly, setting up awnings can be tricky at first but the zip dee is much easier than many others. I am not particularly dull and I can figure out most things by simply looking or reading but my first awning was a different story. My neighbor explained it in record time and I was on my way.

I ran across some videos that explained many things Airstream. Here is one about setting up the awning. Hope this helps.

aftermath, the video makes it look easy...even for a dumb newbie like me. I will be brave, and tackle the awning this week.
Thanks for the link.