First outing with the Niagara (pics)

[Hackker]

Okay, so it was just a short local trip (tues/wed) but figured that it was a good way to find out what else we needed to equip the PU with.  Which turned out to be a lot of little things with either forgot or needed to buy, filled up a entire page of stuff we need for next time.  

Definitely a huge step up from tenting!  The bathroom is an incredibly useful feature with the kids.  As is the sink, huge fridge, stove, and pretty much everything else.  Even needed to use the AC during the trip and used the heat strip at night to warm the PU up.  And had exactly zero problems with the Niagara too.  

All setup at Maumee Bay State park in NW Ohio.


Interior shots of the PU.  These were taken at the dealership, so thats why everything is so clean & uncluttered. haha






Kids (Zack & Sydney) enjoying their new beds.  Think they kept laughing, playing, and giggling for like 2 more hours before they finally went to bed.


All hooked up and ready to go home.  TV is a 2005 Nissan Frontier Nismo 4x4, did a great job towing the PU.  

[dcampbell1969]

Congrats on the trip.  We love our Niagara!  Just put in our 5th trip since bringing ours home 2/28/07.  

Only permanent mod has been storage hooks in front outside compartment for tools and battery connectors changed on battery so I could easily swap to back-up battery on dry camping trips.  Worked great.  Over the door hooks at walmart are perfect for hanging storage on the outside of the bathroom wall and bathroom accessories on the inside, also outside over the front hardside door.  Also used a tarp over the slide out side for sun shade on this trip.  Took a little while to figure out how to string it up best, but now I'm going to use hooks, nuts and washers in the roof rack tracks to anchor it and tent poles with guy lines to hold it up.  A little improvement over this weekend with ropes, poles and all, which worked great already.

[kwatson51]

Looks like a couple of happy campers there  :tent:

Good lookin' outfit, and nice layout. Always wanted a Niagra, but none were available used when we bought our Starcraft.

Don't know if it gets windy where you are, but if it does, get a strap and tie that awning down. It only takes a small gust of wind to do some serious damage. I know this by experience! You can see my strap in the pic below -- it ain't pretty, but keeps my awning in place in Colorado winds.

Happy Camping!

[pricerj]

Straps? Unless the winds exceed the tensile strength of the rope what advantage does straps give you? Since I plan on camping 6 days above Estes Park next month in the Colorado wind, I am all ears....

2 Days in Zion, 2 Days at Colorado National Monument, then 6 days for a Colorado family reunion.  I can't wait.

Rick
2006 Fleetwood Sea Pine
2004 Honda Pilot

[wavery]

Glad all worked out well. :sombraro:  Nice looking rig.... :-()

As the kids get a little older and may like to have their own space, you can make a curtain to hang from the Shepard's hook (the brace over the bunk) to divide the bunk. That's what we do when we bring our grand kids. They really like that.

[daldricht]

When I first started camping with a popup in Florida, we bought a used popup (I should say my wife did) and the first time setting the popup in our driveway discovered that she had never asked that it be opened. The screens were almost totally held to the canvas with silver duct tape - none of the zippers worked, did not have bathrooms in them back then or if they did wife never researched enough to know they did exist. I always got woken up at night to take her to the ladies room - so finally started saving my Maxwell House coffee cans (with lids) and the first time I handed her one of those cans, is where the Roman Empire started to fall.
Not married to the same person, but have bought a 2002 Niagara that had been used maybe 6 or 8 times - was in pristine condition thanks to the owner - and this is our 3rd summer going out once a month for 3 or 4 day weekends. Many of the camping areas are WiFi so was able to telecommunicate where ever we were with camper. Many of my clients never knew I was in the middle of the woods!
We are looking at possibly upgrading to a 2007 or 2008 Niagara or Sequoia or the 16-footer - whichever has more comfortable seat/benches.
Question - Has anyone used the oven? Does it totally heat up the inside or does it disapate fairly quickly?
Thanks in advance for any info of the Highlander series!

[kwatson51]

Straps? Unless the winds exceed the tensile strength of the rope what advantage does straps give you? Since I plan on camping 6 days above Estes Park next month in the Colorado wind, I am all ears....

Odd that you should mention Estes Park...It was on the other side of RMNP that a gust of wind caught our awning, flipped in onto the top of the camper, poking a hole in the roof and breaking a leg on the awning. I had the strap then...just hadn't had time to set it up yet. Now I put the strap on as I put up the awning.

IMHO, tensile strength has little to do with actually holding down the awning. I was just following the lead of our experienced camping buddies, and glad I did.
 I think it is more a matter of being able to anchor the strap/rope to the awning and ground sufficiently to accomplish the job.  The strap just seems more sturdy to me -- but then I have been accused of over-engineering

We have never been bothered with wind all that much near EP, but we have camped on the south side of town in the trees. Nevertheless, when we are there, we either do not use the awning or we strap it down. After all, this IS Colorado!

Best wishes...have a great trip!

[Hackker]

Over the door hooks at walmart are perfect for hanging storage on the outside of the bathroom wall and bathroom accessories on the inside, also outside over the front hardside door.  

Thats a really good idea!

[Hackker]

Glad all worked out well. :sombraro:  Nice looking rig.... :-()

As the kids get a little older and may like to have their own space, you can make a curtain to hang from the Shepard's hook (the brace over the bunk) to divide the bunk. That's what we do when we bring our grand kids. They really like that.

Eventually we are going to split them up - figured we would alternate them between the big bed and the dinette (so one can't complain they always get the small bed!).  Never thought diving the bed with a sheet, slick idea.  

[dcampbell1969]

Question - Has anyone used the oven? Does it totally heat up the inside or does it disapate fairly quickly?
Thanks in advance for any info of the Highlander series!

Our only time using it so far was for garlic bread.  That did just fine, but I hardly consider that a good test.  Hopefully over the next trip or 2 we'll try a premade casserole and throw it in the oven to bake.  I'm thinking it'll do fine, but I'm sure we'll have to adjust somewhat on times or heat.

Oh, and to answer your question, We used one of the bunk fans to blow the heat through the front screen.  You could tell the oven was on, but the fan makes a very big difference.  Once you turn it off, it cools off fairly quickly.

[cndlzrus]

Eventually we are going to split them up - figured we would alternate them between the big bed and the dinette (so one can't complain they always get the small bed!).  Never thought diving the bed with a sheet, slick idea.  

My son(11) and daugher(10) right now sleep that way... My daughter sleeps on the dinette area, my son sleeps with dad and I get the back bed to myself!  We thought if we get a Niagara, we would split the bed with a sheet divider or put girls on one end and boys on the other...

[MomboTN]

NIce rig.
We always take ours out to the local koa for the first trip of the year.  We can then make a list of how many flashlights need replacing and chairs were removed during the off season.  The heat strip must be nice.  Our Niagra came with the gas heat but it burns through it.  The tank will always hit empty in the middle of the night so we freeze until morning.  We have started carrying a small electric heater to save the gas, and not wake up cold.
Ours did not come with an oven but we have a portable oven/toater/microwave that we bought for the house while we were waiting for our oven to be fixed one time.  We use the microwave more than the other two options.
Our youngest are 10 and 12 they sleep on the same end in sleeping bags.  No problems yet.  We did 7 weeks and 10,000 miles when they were 8 and 10.

[daldricht]

We took the advice of a RV camper that has been at this for some time. Since you have paid for electric at a campground, plug in the ceramic heater cube (a good rotating one goes for about $35.00) and the electric blankets (found them on sale on a website for $60 each for king sized during the summer months). We used to run out of propane in the middle of the night also and it is no easy trick getting your hand into the tank area when you have a Niagara - where the bed slides over the tank area and leaves about 1/2 inch of knuckle area - which you do not have when done switching over to the other tank. Come morning - depending on the season - you might have a slightly cool nose, but the rest of you will be toasty and you will still have propane for cooking? Sure makes a hot pot of coffee or hot chocolate feel good!