I arrived home yesterday morning from a two night camping trip to the west desert in my new camping trailer. That trip had two primary goals of roughly equal importance – bird photography and to work out any kinks in a trailer I’d never camped in prior to taking it on much longer trips where any failures in equipment or planning could result in anything from minor inconvenience to disaster.
I essentially failed in my first goal. I found few birds and none of them were particularly cooperative.
The success of my second goal depends on how you look at it. Yes, I found several “kinks” and one of them was about as major as they come so that purpose of the trip was fulfilled. But I’d much prefer to have not found any at all.
Electronics in modern camping trailers are complicated and prone to everything from quirky performance to downright failure. This is the control panel for utilities such as three water tanks (fresh water, gray water and black water), batteries, water heater, tank heater (so water systems don’t freeze up), lights, awning operation and furnace. This time of year when nights can be very cold it goes without saying that a properly functioning furnace is essential, especially for old guys like me whose tent camping days are far behind me.
Well….. the furnace worked but apparently the controls (the thermostat) did not. The furnace goes on when I turn it on but when the trailer reaches the temperature I’ve set and shuts down it won’t automatically come on again. I have to turn it completely off and let it sit for a while before it will fire up again – which makes it inconvenient during daytime but close to worthless at night.
The first night it got down to 31° F. both inside and outside of the trailer – way too damn cold for me so I got very little sleep. The second night was slightly better because it only got down to 35° and I got up several times to fiddle-fart around with the thermostat so I was able to get a few bursts of heat. I found a few other less serious kinks too so I’ll be taking the trailer in for a tune-up before my next trip.
If this had been one of our week-long trips to Montana we’d have been screwed. At the end of summer I’ve seen temps there as low as 11° and in the Centennial Valley we’re many, many miles away from any sort of repair facility.
I’d much rather find the kinks on a short trip close to home than on one of my much longer trips to MT, ID or WY!
I did accomplish one thing on this trip though. I added hundreds of pounds of mud to the weight of my trailer and pickup. It rained for days before we arrived at our dispersed camping site so the dirt roads were gumbo. Only one time in the past have I pulled a trailer on muddier roads than this. It isn’t any fun.
Don’t feel too bad for me though, we did have a good time overall. We saw lots of spectacular country including Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a beautiful area and we even saw a fair number of birds but at this isolated refuge most of them stay far out on the ponds whenever there are vehicles on the road.
And in many areas the desert floor was covered with a dense blanket of wildflowers as far as the eye could see – many thousands of acres of them. This may be a type of mustard but I don’t know the species for sure.
It was good to be home and sleep in a warm bed again but when I get my trailer tuned up I’ll be taking more and longer trips – you can count in it.
Montana is calling me…
Ron
PS – I also pulled a couple of real boners on this trip. I forgot to bring margarine/butter. Corn on the cob and sandwiches without butter leave a lot to be desired. And here’s some advice – don’t drop your only spool of dental floss in the toilet if you’re as addicted to flossing as I am. I won’t admit publicly whether I used it anyway. Or not.
First rule of bathrooms: lid down when not in use. 😉 Glad you found the thermostat glitch before you were out in no-other-people-ville. Even if you didn’t get a lot of birds, you sure got some gorgeous scenery!
Thank you, Marty but your first rule of bathrooms isn’t for me. At my age I usually have to get up to pee at night. Don’t want the lid down…
I am soooo glad that you had the shakedown trip. I suspect it was less than stellar past experiences which alerted you to the necessity.
I am also very glad that you saw the incredible heart balm around you.
Good luck on the fix, and the next shakedown.
“I suspect it was less than stellar past experiences which alerted you to the necessity”
That’s exactly right, EC. Ol “Murphy” ALWAYS comes along on camping trips.
Ron,
I have often wondered if a trip to that area was worth it for photography. Have you had better experiences (photography-wise) on other trips?
Stephen
Yes, I have, Stephen. But then it’s partly dependent on what type of photography you’re after. Birds are usually pretty slow out there but I’ve photographed, kestrels, Golden Eagles and a variety of other birds at Simpson Springs and Fish Springs.
It sounds like a local shakedown trip was a very wise move… especially since it’s 19° in Cut Bank right now!
Sounds like CB this time of year. If it isn’t cold, it’s wind. Or both…
I just checked with one of my service advisers at our Forest River trailer dealership and he confirmed my thoughts. Most likely and bad thermostat, but could be the furnace circuit board. Both easy fixes and would be under your new trailer Forest River warranty. Gary
Thanks, Gary. I’ll be visiting my service guy this afternoon to see what he thinks. Actually my trailer was a year old when I bought it but I also purchased an extended warranty. I’m just hoping if it’s the thermostat I’ll be able to replace it myself. I hate the inconvenience and trouble of waiting for an appointment time (it can be many days this time of year) and then hauling it down to the dealer and then back home.
BTW, I think you asked on my earlier post if I had two spare tires for the trailer. The answer is yes. Given the places I go I have backups for many essentials…
Having fond thoughts of that old Jayco? Just gotta rub it in a little, perhaps with a touch of mud.😄
Sorry about the sleepless nights; they can really put a damper on what otherwise looks like a a beautiful setting.
Lyle, I’ve had fond thoughts of the Jayco since day one. In many ways I like it better than the Rockwood. But it was getting old and needed to be replaced.
An English couple, My mother’s friends, had a modest RV…I remember Frank saying how much he enjoyed it, “…but, you have to be a master mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter, engineer, and problem-solving genius with the patience of a saint, to survive in one!”…Sheila added, “…and LOTS of tools!”…
Patty, I carry more tools than you can shake a stick at. I don’t use them all that often but when you need something it always seems to be the tool you don’t have.
I led ski trips for HS and MS kids…spent many an hour in the cold workshop tuning skis, sharpening edges, p-texing ski bottoms, adjusting bindings (listening to problems), etc. Our bus broke down on way home…miles from nearest town, no help in sight. “I could probably fix it if I had a tiny little wrench about 1/2 -2 inches long”, the driver sighed. “Ask Mrs.C”, one of the kids piped up…”She probably has one in her tool box. She has EVERYTHING in that box!”…I did. The amazed driver was able to reattatched the wire—and we were on our way!
The flowers are delightful. Sorry about the cold nights and glad you did not get stuck in the mud. That old lake bottom mud is both slippery and like tar all at the same time.
Yes, that mud is extremely slippery. Most of the time I had to drive very slow to keep from slipping off.
Very wise to work out the kinks close to home! I carry multiples always – a stick of Burt’s bees in the car and in the purse and in the backpack and in a pocket and I do have dental floss in the car as well!! Completely neurotic? Sure! Why not!
I had to look up “Burt’s bees”, Nicky – never heard of it.
Dental floss in the car. I haven’t gone that far, yet.
Ha-Ha!! Great post! So smart of you to work out the kinks first. What gorgeous country!
Yes, it sure is. Thanks, Joanne.
Wow! you must have spent a couple of hours at the trailer wash after all that mud. Such a funny coincidence about the floss. That just happened to me earlier this week for the first – and hopefully last – time!
Actually I washed most of it off on my driveway. A bit of a mess.
Funny coincidence indeed, Brett!
Great fun Ron. At least for us reading about it. So the Rockwood Mini’s shakedown took you down. Good thing your years of experience told you that a shakedown was a must. If the answer on the floss was anything other than NO, I’m dropping out of the blog. 🙂
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
I won’t give you a definitive answer so you can stick around, Everett! 🙂
OMG the flossing comment. PROFESSOR! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Glad you are smart enough to do a shakedown cruise. Here’s to a working furnace. Now you know to take a backup floss!
Arwen, IF (that’s as far as I’ll go to an actual confession) I actually used it I washed the floss first… 🙂
Yup, been there, done that, with many stories to tell, but I’d rather do that around a warm campfire. Suffice it to say I understand completely. At least you are still camping and I hope you’ll take it on a couple of short trips before going to Montana for a week. Once you think the kinks have been repaired, I learned the hard way, not necessarily the case! So, April is Mud Month in Utah?
Great shots, and those wildflowers had to be a sight to behold!
Thanks for sharing.
Dick, I actually came home yesterday morning, after two freezing nights.
April is often one of our wettest months but this April has been a doozy for rain here in the desert.
Good planning–glad that you found this major glitch in less than threatening circumstances…..I was interested in 1 of the control panel’s toggles===”scare” —–flashing
lights ? sirens ? What circumstances are common enough to warrant that inclusion on a trailer ? The Springs landscape is the essence of serene beauty !
Kris, I wondered if anyone would ask about that “scare” light.
That switch actually controls a string of small lights (they don’t blink) running much of the length of the trailer at top. It’s pretty handy when you need more light than just the porch light. When I bought the trailer the salesman explained the name to me but I can’t remember for sure what he said – possibly to scare off potential intruders???
GEEZ! Waking up cold is NOT amusing nor is having to screw with the darn thing to get heat again – for awhile – at least it would come on tho that’s minor comfort. I agree with Kathy on a 2nd shakedown being in order. Centennial Valley is NOT forgiving of such things…….;) Hopefully that can be fixed in short order and tested at home. No, corn on the cob and sandwiches aren’t that great without butter and floss in the toilet…….. It does look like a beautiful area on the plus side….. 🙂
P.S. Joe opines it’s a thermostat issue. His “town job” for years was working on these puppies……..
“Centennial Valley is NOT forgiving of such things”
Boy, ain’t that the truth! You get it, Judy.
And yes, I’m almost positive it’s the thermostat. The furnace itself actually works and I took the trailer in for service several weeks ago and they checked the furnace and said it was set to factory specs and operating properly.
I HATE the cold, Ron!! One of the big reasons I moved to Florida so I really feel for you with no heat. I probably would have headed home right then – LOL!! So smart to do a short trial run with a new camper. You were definitely in some beautiful areas – loved all your landscape captures even though the birds didn’t cooperate!!
Thank you, Jo Ann.
Fun , fun, fun! At least your objective was reached. I know what you mean of trying to sleep when cold…nada! I tend to think there will be another ‘shake down cruise’ before the big trip after you bring it in to the dealer for the furnace error. Should be warmer weather at least for that.😏
You may be right about a second shakedown trip, Kathy. I’m still shivering…