Come laugh at the Newbies....

[cdrn1]

We have never camped. Ever. A few weeks ago in a weak WTH moment, we bought a travel trailer. We parked it at a little campground 15 minutes away, thinking we will get our feet wet and see how we like it. Our truck isn't big enough to pull it, anyway. So...we had a couple absolutely fabulous weekends. We're lovin it. Dreaming of our first FW vacation. Looking at bigger trucks.
Today the campground owner leaves a message on our voicemail. We had a LOT of rain today. Guess who forgot to lower the awning yesterday.
So....it's buckled right in the middle. Any guesses on what the next stupid newbie moment will bring?
Any and all suggestions welcome.

 

[Kurby]

ok - i'll play

leaving the door open and getting a phone call that says there's a family of raccoons that have taken up residency in your trailer

 

[RvUsa]

Welcome to the wonderful world of camping! LOL I personally still have an awning laying on the side of I80 in OH somewhere.

It's all part of the fun, this will make a great story to tell around a campfire in a couple years!

My suggestion is when you are looking at trucks, get the next size bigger than you think you need! If you are going to be towing a lot, the better the truck the easier it is to do, and the better you will feel at the end of a long drive!

Also, when you pick a hitch, look around and weigh your options, and go with the best you can afford (see explanation above) LOL I personally would not tow another trailer without a dual cam sway control type hitch such as this one.

Well, I am sure more will be along with words of wisdom! Have a great time, and glad to meet you!

 

[AuburnJen92]

I'm with John here. In a weak moment, my husband (on a trip THANK GOD I was not on) let my father drive the Tundra with our former TT. He cleared three lanes of traffic on I75 because we did not have a dual sway bar. From the stories I have heard from the occupants of the truck, most of what was said revolved around, "We are all going to die!"

 

[disney4dan]

First time taking the family out we rented a truck and trailer, and the truck rental place told us we probably would not need the electric brakes because it was a 3/4 ton diesel, big truck with not too heavy trailer. I was glad I insisted because the highway was being paved up in the mountain pass outside Garden City UT and the trailer brakes kept me from having the trailer push the truck around on the gravel hairpin turns!

 

[DaveInTN]

My newbie moment when we bought our first TT resulted in a LONG weekend of cold showers...NOT a great thing for DW and 4 DD's. I knew nothing of water heater bypass valves and couldn't figure out why my water heater wouldn't stay lit. It was bone dry! Luckily I didn't damage it, and a return to the dealer found the issue. I'm sure they mumbled "idiot" under their breaths...but if you ask me THEY should have turned the valve when testing the water system for leaks before delivery.

It's not MY fault!

 

[homebrew2]

My newbie moment when we bought our first TT resulted in a LONG weekend of cold showers...NOT a great thing for DW and 4 DD's. I knew nothing of water heater bypass valves and couldn't figure out why my water heater wouldn't stay lit. It was bone dry! Luckily I didn't damage it, and a return to the dealer found the issue. I'm sure they mumbled "idiot" under their breaths...but if you ask me THEY should have turned the valve when testing the water system for leaks before delivery.

It's not MY fault!

Dave....Dave....I want you to repeat the "Possum Lodge Man Pledge"

I'm a Man....but I can change....if I have to......I guess.

 

[owensmama2007]

We've all been there!

Even as experienced camper, we have all had our moments. Just ask my DH about one trip when our bike rack broke (never use a bike rack that mounts to the trailer bumper!) and our bikes fell off the back while traveling done the interstate! Bad thing was we didn't even know it until a car pulled up beside us and a kid kept yelling "bikes, bikes, bikes!" at DH.

And there was the time where our camper became unplugged from Dh's truck and we lost all lights and turn signals and didn't know it until we pulled into cracker barrel. By then, the plug had been dragging the ground for miles and was in bad shape. Luckily, we were right next to a Camping World but it took a few hours to fix!

That doesn't even mention the time when DH forgot to put down the antenna!

Shall I keep going...lol...

 

[RvUsa]

OH yeah, the plug being ground down to a nub is always fun! Hasn't happened with the new style we have, but it has happened with the older round style with out the little nub on the side! LOL Hours and hours of rewiring in a truck stop parking lot SUCKS!!!

 

[jriae2000]

Dave....Dave....I want you to repeat the "Possum Lodge Man Pledge"

I'm a Man....but I can change....if I have to......I guess.

Where is my duck tape? Mt guess will be the birds nest in sewer discharge from not replacing the cap.

 

[Tigger1966]

OH yeah, the plug being ground down to a nub is always fun! Hasn't happened with the new style we have, but it has happened with the older round style with out the little nub on the side! LOL Hours and hours of rewiring in a truck stop parking lot SUCKS!!!

Just changed one of thoes for a customer last week
I have seen people use a small bungie cord to keep the plug from draging if it came out. Guess they learned that from experience

 

[motherwild]

Life lesson we learn the best are by the mistakes we make.
First time I hooked up PU and towed it learned safety chains go under yoke not over yoke. It broke a wire. While setting up hit the wire with the metal support creating lots of smoke. The way my daughter told my husband on the phone. Mommy set the camper on fire.

 

[Rhonda]

Speaking of fires -- this has nothing to do with campers, but it's a stupid camping story! We were in the screen tent one evening, making dinner, when a wasp got in there. Well, being the calm, down-to-earth, normal person that I am, I started screaming and running in circles! Then, I started spraying bug spray at it -- all over the inside of the screen. But, it wouldn't die!! I just managed to soak down the screen with bug spray!

So, DH came running in there to help, and he took a grill lighter to the wasp to kill it. The wasp was sitting on the screen.

The whole side of the screen tent went "POOF" and it was gone! Just like that! No big fire or anything! Just "POOF"! No more screen tent!

I'm pretty sure, at that point, I heard the wasp laughing his little wasp butt off as he flew away into the trees.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

All these fine folk have some great ideas and tips,,you'll learn a lot from their experience,and absoltuely from YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES.
BUT one horror is gett'n to the campground and then discovering that you forgot to pack your fishing equipment !!

 

[DaveInTN]

Ok, Rhonda...you win!

That was hilarious!

 

[BRDof3]

Ok, Rhonda...you win!

That was hilarious!

I agree. I was going to use my story about forgetting to take out my new, homemade roto-chocks before pulling out of the campsite, but I can't compete with the wasp. I concede.

 

[Disney Bunny]

We are far from nubies and it still happens.

Last year, DH put some stuff in the truck bed that shifted and pulled the electrical connection out for our fifth wheel. Integrated system on our F-250 let us know we had a problem. No sweat, we pull over DH fixes the problem and we are on our way again. We pull into a rest area several hours down the road and DH discovers he left the tailgate open and we lost a sneaker and several of the blocks we use to level the camper.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I asked him if he had turned the propane on as we were setting up on our trip. For some reason, after he turned it on, he came in and decided he needed to change the fridge setting to gas from electric. Which would have been fine IF he had opened both gas valves. However, he decided to just open the one that turned out to have been just about empty. The next morning, I opened the freezer and everything in it was defrosted and everything in the fridge was hot. Trip to the grocery store anyone?

 

[Disney Bunny]

sorry.....double post.

 

[3gr8kids]

ITA ~ Rhonda and the wasp takes the cake! Way to go, lol
Our first (ahem) "mishap" happened in a rented a class C when DH forgot to put the outside step up and bent the heck out of it on a curb pulling out of the Grand Canyon. d'oh!

 

[thegooftroopfla]

whenever you turn water on remember to turn it off. just a couple months ago i turned the water on inside the camper when i was setting up. i do this everytime i set up the camper so we do not blow any lines incase there is air in the lines. however before i was done setting up i had to rush off. came back around 7 hours later and couldnt wait to get in bed. alls me and my wife could talk about was we forgot to turn the air on and it was gonna take a little while to cool down. however when we arrived back at the camper we opened the door and water came pooring out. the water was still running and the grey water was closed. oops. forgot to turn water off and we were dry camping. needless to say we were up most of the night with towels, fans and even borrowed a shop vac to try and vacuum up the carpets and vents.