Hello,
Just back from our maiden voyage in Tex. We joined 5 other families at Lakeport State Park on Lake Huron just north of Port Huron, Michigan. DH and I were excited and apprehensive about pulling and backing in the AS. Our only trailering experience had been with our pop-up.
Wednesday we had our Equil-i-zer hitch adjusted at the local RV dealer. We had a GREAT technician who drooled over our 'coach' and gave us a mini-walk through of the systems and went over common 'newbie' problems.
Friday morning we caravaned with three of our buddies (SOBs all of them
) and felt comfortable with safety in numbers. It was great when my hubby stated that Tex pulled 'like a dream'. Even with semis going by or passing he tracked right behind us!
We arrived at the park and went to the ...drum roll...sanitation station to take on potable water. Tex's clean water tank was reading red before the trip. My buddy showed us how to fill the tank and it was pretty quick that the water was peculating out of the little run over hole to the right and lower than the hole to stick the hose in. Hmm...got to the site and the tank was no where near full.
FIRST QUESTION: What did we do wrong while filling up our tank? Does the tank need to 'burp' and then we put more water in? Did I run the water in too quickly?? Any advise is appreciated.
We pulled into the park and it was beautiful.
We were on site #37 which was really close to the trail to the beach. We had a nicely wooded site and Tex stayed nice and cool with the windows open and the fan on. At night we were cozy with just closing up the windows.
Backing in was a bit of a white knuckle event but another buddy talked to the hubby so we could remain married in good standing....
We aren't all set up here but REALLY happy to be in a 'good' spot on our site!
This is the whole family (DH and I with our new LIG AS shirts). It may be the only trip with all four of us with college in August for our sons and work schedules.
Getting ready to find needed camping goodies (I think DH is digging for an extension cord, DS#1 is helping!) You can see how nice and grassy our site is. Notice our camping sign with the pop-up? We need to find a classy AS one!
DH first modification - a David Winick door gaurd:
Friday I had three families/couples stop and stare at Tex. I talked with them and gave tours. It was really fun to see people walk by and just stop! The weather was wonderful.
QUESTION TWO: Went to get hot water for dishes Friday night. It was warm but definitely NOT hot. Didn't matter how long it ran. The heater was getting propane and we felt the 'hot' air discharged out. We took a good look when we got home. When we looked at the manual it seemed that there was a valve that wasn't properly turned. In our front curb side storage compartment there is plumbing with hot water pipes on the top and cold on the bottom. The one that runs north and south between them had the valve open. The manual said this is open to winterize, closed for regular use. We closed this N/S valve. Do you think this was our problem with the warm water?
Made up the dinette and couch into beds for the boys. LOTS of room for them. Little area to walk by the couch pulled out for us. Do-able though and it didn't take very long. We stored the curved cushion under the dinette. (DH figured that out). When DH and I got up in the morning the boys went back to sleep on our twin beds and I set the living area back to normal. The shower is a good place to store sleeping bags.
Saturday we had another fine day. Spent the entire day at the beach. Nice sand, but Lake Huron is rocky. Remember your water shoes!
Returned to give two more twilight tours to passers by. The boys loved lounging in the twin beds reading or playing games. (OK, they're 18 and still camping with their folks....not going to sweat a bit of Nitendo DS time!)
About Lakeport State Park:
- nice big sites. Some full sun but most with good shade.
- a camp store with soft-serve ice cream and lots of goodies
- great park for biking
- one AS in the park this weekend - ours
What was GREAT this weekend?
* We were camping in an Airstream!
* We had our very own bathroom
* We didn't need a cooler as we had a big fridge!
* We survived our first trip to the Dump Station...has some apprehension about that too.
* We could make sandwiches for lunch
after packing up the camper and our gear. You can't do THAT with a pop-up!
Lessons learned:
The fridge doesn't work so well on propane while traveling if you have the battery set for 'storage' WHOOPS.
The stove fan vents much better when you open the flaps outside under the awning...
As an adjunct to the above - the smoke alarm is really loud
CAREFUL getting your awning put away - ask me how I know. It looked so easy on youtube.
Keep the AS tidy - people love to take a peak!
Funniest comment of the weekend: DS#1 and I ran to town for gas and a paper. Driving back I asked him what he thought of Tex. "It's a great camper for an aging couple" he says!
Then he tried to back-peddle saying 'I wasn't old but dad was...oops that didn't come out right either...better stop now'. No worries, I remember thinking my folks were old as dirt too when I was 18!
Next trip: A week at Burt Lake State Park about 30 minutes south of Mackinaw City in mid-July.
If any of you are still reading - here is a very contented aging AS owner!