This past weekend we joined in with the 9-5’rs and headed out of town for the holiday with the truck and trailer. My folks have a lakefront cottage an hour away from us in Grant, MI and - since they are long-term RV owners - Dad’s got the place setup with full RV hookups.
While we’ve had the truck & trailer hooked up a few times now and have driven around town this was our first experience getting out on the highways and driving a while. It was also our first more or less true overnighting experience in the trailer. We weren’t exactly on our own - with the lifeline of the cottage and qualified RV help at hand it was a nice “safe” way to do a bit of a shakedown run.
Overall the weekend went well - we diagnosed a burned out electrical heating element in the water heater, had to resolve a popped GFCI plug that killed half the electrical outlets, and we had a chance to cook both in the convection oven and on the burners.
We never really got fully “moved in” with our stuff - so the usage of cupboards, shelves and drawers needs more thought before I look to start adding shelves and dividers, etc.
We do know:
- Our mattress isn’t bad as far as RV mattresses go (and nice that it’s heated) but won’t work long-term for MsBoyink with her back issues
- We’ll need an electric fry pan or propane-powered cooktop to use outdoors rather than the inside one on a warm day. It took awhile to purge the heat it created.
- The small table that hangs on the outside is a handy dude - we might order a second one for that spot.
- The ceiling fan is a wonderful thing.
- The internal couch and dinette aren’t comfortable for much - if anything. They’ll be replaced no matter what.
- I’ll need some storage within reach of the door for keys / wallet / sunglasses etc.
- I need some permanent exterior-mounted levels for use while setting up.
- I’d like a more designed system of blocks for leveling out than the scrap lumber approach.
- We should get new rubber all-around. The truck is in definite need of new tires, but we should probably replace the trailer tires just based on age. My brother in law had a blowout on his trailer coming up and the damage it caused was something I’d rather avoid.
- We’ll need additional fuel on-board somehow. We knew the truck’s fuel mileage would be low - and it only has a 26 gallon tank.
So - lots to think about. But for the next couple of days I need to ignore the trailer again and get some work done. The 90-degree hot and humid weather is making that easier to do…