Trip 12 - Mahoney State Park

We really didn't anticipate our first trip of 2009 to take place in January but we were having a terrible case of CABIN Fever. After a several emails between Valerie and I on Friday afternoon, "should we", "I dunno", "maybe", "could be fun" etc. etc. etc. we decided what the heck, we were game for adventure. I don't really thing people who don't have a trailer or do much camping really understand but, its kind of like a "sickness", this camping thing, and you can only go without the antidote for so long until you gotta get your "Fix". I'll forgo all the details but its not just as simple as hooking up and taking off especially when spontaneity is involved. Our destination was a mere 30 miles away and we started working on making it happen late afternoon and finally backed into our spot at 9:30pm Friday night, then there's quite a bit left to do after getting parked but NONE THE LESS it was all worth it.

I didn't "unwinterize" due to the fact that I didn't want to have to "re-winterize" it again but that wasn't really a problem as we picked a spot close to the modern restrooms where their were showers and toilets, oh sure a little inconvenient, but not a big deal at all.

I was really surprised how warm the camper stayed, I mean granted the nights were only going to get into the high teens or maybe low twenties so I guess in retrospect I really wasn't that surprised. We used a couple of electrical ceramic heaters and it kept it REAL toasty in the camper. We have a propane furnace that works well but since we were hooked up to electrical why waste the propane. We did run it to help quicken the warm up process but once it got up to temp it was maintained with the space heaters. Propane also causes a LOT of condensation inside your camper and with electric that wasn't an issue at all.

This was our first pull out of town with the new F350 and I REALLY REALLY REALLY am happy with it. We set the cruise on 65 and many times going up some of the hills on the way to the park the truck never even downshifted at all. The power that thing has is OVERKILL for my trailer but how great is that. The old CHEVY did okay and at the time I thought it did a great job but looking back it was like a YUGO at the INDY 500. There was a point on one of our trips last year into a headwind where the CHEVY really struggled and I got down near 7MPG. No struggling here and although I didn't figure mileage cause we really didn't go far enough to get an accurate reading I know it isn't much worse with the trailer than it is without it. I know exactly what people mean when they say the towed something and "didn't even realize it was back there."

We didn't do a whole lot during this trip, we didn't have a big agenda, sat around the campfire a lot of the day on Saturday, Valerie and Alyssa played a couple of games, we napped, went sightseeing in the park, had a HERO's season TWO movie fest and really relaxed and it was very peaceful and excellent.

The Phillips 19" flat screen SANTA brought the family worked very well in the camper and really turned out to be a BIG space saver. Counter space is at a premium in the camper anyhow so we are very glad to have it. Just need to figure out how and exactly where to mount it IF we mount it.

It's kind of ironic, Santa also brought me a new air compressor specifically to take camping, and we had a low tire on Sunday morning. "WOW BOSS, I get to put the new compressor to use already!!" low and behold I had everything I needed except for the correct chuck to fill the tire. I had taped it and put it onto a quick release valve a couple of weeks ago and set it on my workbench at home, never making it back to the compressor or into the camper. Fortunately it wasn't ANY lower or I would have had my first experience with changing a tire on the camper. We made it up the road to the Flying J and all was well again.

Winter camping has a many advantages compared to camping in a FULL park in the Summer. There were a grand total of TWO of us in both campgrounds (over 100 sites) and the other guys was a full timer in a motor home who had been in the park since October. I guess there aren't as many in this neck of the woods who had the same thoughts as we did and in all reality they missed out on a great weekend of camping.

Photos from our first trip of 2009...

Happy to be there... :-)

New small flat screen - Thanks SANTA :-)

Our Site - Little Creek Campground #46

Hanging by the Campfire

Marina

View from Lakeside Campground

Ice Skating Rink - (Probably 75 people skating)

Lower shady part of the campground

Was still a LOT of snow where the sun doesn't shine directly

Marina

Solar powered facilities including washer and dryers

YES, Sam and I had a good time too...

UNTIL next time.........

PS: OH YEA, our trip to the MASTERS will be here before you know it. :-)

Topper Added

Last Monday I found a topper that I couldn't pass up taking a look at. It was on a 2004 Ford F-250 and it was white. The price listed on CRAIGSLIST was $100 so even though I saw a picture I wasn't expecting too much. Well it took me all of 30 seconds when I arrived to say SOLD, so we have a topper for the new truck and are pretty stoked about it. Its not a PERFECT fit but so close that I am really satisfied. Just so happens that my mileage went up this trip to the gas station, we'll see if thats a fluke or not next time. (See the charts on the right)

Now if spring would just get here we could do some camping...

Until next time - B

Our New Honey - Ford F-350 6.8L V10 Short Box Dually

Now that's a mouthful.

We had a truck in the back of our mind's for next summer but as things turned out I was made a deal we couldn't refuse and therefore we have a new TV. 24,000 miles on a 2005 is pretty nice. The previous owners did pull a fifth wheel with the truck but parked in unless they were camping so therefore the below average miles. (or so the dealership says)

I pulled the TT to the storage facility on Tuesday night and WOW, I mean WOW. The 1500 worked fine but this is a MONSTER. Really its hard to tell you are pulling anything and that is VERY cool. Mileage in the 1500 ranged from 8 to 13 towing but the engine usually had to work pretty hard, especially in the hills. The ease of towing and power associated with this truck means it wont have to work so hard so I fully expect to get at least 10 to 13 with this truck if not a bit more. I've heard from some of the guys on the RVNET forum that claim to get 12 to 16 when towing so we will see. Driving style is the biggest factor in maximizing MPG anyhow. The one time I did get 8 (actually 7.5) was going 75mph down the interstate into a head wind and being in a hurry (really does nothing for mpg)

A few things that are taking a little getting used to.

A. Duallys make the back end exactly the same width as my TT. SOOOO, no curb checks yet but my driving habits have changed a bit and I drive it just like the TT is behind it. (NO MORE FAST FOOD DRIVE THROUGH BUT THAT CAN'T BE A BAD THING)

B. You don't sit down into it, you climb up into it. In the silverado I could get in and sit without using the running boards to get in, NOT ANY MORE.

C. The BLIND spot on the passenger side is REALLY a blind spot. A lot of cars are shorter than the back end of the truck and are HARD to see even looking over your right shoulder. I've got blind spot mirrors built in so that helps a bit but I have to be very careful. I actually almost took out a little Honda Civic who was traveling right in my blind spot the second night I had the truck.

Anyhow, I know I'm a geek but I am pretty excited, and the best thing to boot is that my truck payment went down almost $100 a month although now I have 60 months left instead of 8. Insurance is only up $150 for the entire year, better than I expected.... YAY

Until next time...