Newbie needs advice

[jendak760]

Welcome to the board, neighbor!!  How much time do you have for your trip from SF to Escondido?  Adults only, or kids too?  Is this a new camper or used?  Do you really care about food, or is a grilled cheese sandwich and a can of soup considered an ok dinner?  There are really only three things to consider:  a place to pop up, something to eat, and something to keep you warm at night.  We have found that the AAA SoCal camping book is pretty accurate.  You're gonna love it and think it's the best "tent" you've ever had!

Are you from North County also?

We are leaving on Friday afternoon and planning on returning home Monday. So we plan on driving on Friday ~ staying at a hotel that night and then picking up the trailer Saturday morning. We will have 2 kids (9 and 2). It is a new trailer. We are still debating whether or not to eat out or cook for ourselves.  

[griffsmom]

Are you from North County also?
 
We are leaving on Friday afternoon and planning on returning home Monday. So we plan on driving on Friday ~ staying at a hotel that night and then picking up the trailer Saturday morning. We will have 2 kids (9 and 2). It is a new trailer. We are still debating whether or not to eat out or cook for ourselves.

If it is that short of a trip, I would just park the camper at the cg (remember, set up isn't going to be a routine for you yet) and eat out rather than worrying about grocery shopping and cooking and dishes and who's going to watch the 2 y/o on top of everything else. There will be plenty of opportunites for cooking--wait until oldmoose and young moosette teach you the joys of cooking with a dutch oven!!! :p Yum!!!
Hey, it's your maiden voyage--make it a real celebration!! :-() Of course, we'll all want stories (and pictures if you've got 'em) on Tuesday.

[campingcop]

"Any advice to some "newbies" will be greatly appreciated"

Best advice I can give you is to check out Tim5055's web site there is a wealth of information on his site.

Welcome to the board

[gsm x2]

Are you from North County also?
 
We are leaving on Friday afternoon and planning on returning home Monday. So we plan on driving on Friday ~ staying at a hotel that night and then picking up the trailer Saturday morning. We will have 2 kids (9 and 2). It is a new trailer. We are still debating whether or not to eat out or cook for ourselves.

Whether you cook or not may depend on what your camping plans are.  Since you are going to pick up the camper Saturday morning and probably roll away about 1:00 (I am assuming), you could do one of two kinds of trips.  Streets and Maps says it takes about 8 hours to drive 511 miles from SF to SD
 
[list=1]

• Drive half way to San Diego, park and stay two nights at the campground and drive home Monday.
• Drive a short distance, setup and camp Saturday night.  Pack up Sunday and drive a good distance, setup and camp Sunday night, then drive home Monday.

There are advantages to both methods, but after a brief conversation with G-Whiz, we think you should drive half way...camp for two nights....then drive home.  That gives you a more relaxing experience, a chance to find "just the right place" for things, a chance to drink the beverage of your choice, maybe cook a meal.  Yeah---better than two setups and take downs.
 
Enjoy whatever travel plans you make.
 
gsm x2

[cb]

Shhhh, don't tell....we're in El Cajon!  

I think gsm's idea of driving like crazy on Sat afternoon, set up and spend two nights before resuming the drive, is a good one.  I think you'll have to add a few hours to the 8 predicted because of 55 mph with trailer.  Let me look at the map a bit and see if I can come up with a campground we're familiar with.  What part of San Francisco will you leave from?

[SkipP]

Are you from North County also?
 
We are leaving on Friday afternoon and planning on returning home Monday. So we plan on driving on Friday ~ staying at a hotel that night and then picking up the trailer Saturday morning. We will have 2 kids (9 and 2). It is a new trailer. We are still debating whether or not to eat out or cook for ourselves.

Me?, I'd pre-cook something and just heat it up the first night. Gotta have that First Supper in the new camper!
 
Lot's of good advice given so far. You may want to take a notebook along just to jot down all the stuff you want to put in the camper as you find it out. Pillows! Don't forget them.
 
Enjoy that new camper!

[jendak760]

We picked up the trailer this past weekend and took our first trip to Yosemite.
:-() We had a great time. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. The only thing we wanted to see but didn't get to was a bear. They kept saying how much bear activity there is up there but no luck. We did see a rattle snake, some other kind of snake (have no clue what it was), 2 coyotes, of course the usual squirrels, a chipmunk, and a dear. Yosemite is such a beautiful place.

I am so excited to finally have our new trailer. Can't wait for the Pismo Rally, where I am sure we will learn alot.

[6Quigs]

We picked up the trailer this past weekend and took our first trip to Yosemite.

I hope this was a planned trip to Yosemite, and not one where you took a wrong turn on your way fron San Francisco to San Diego

Congratulations on picking up the new trailer, and glad to hear you had a successful first trip.

[Steve-o-bud]

Here's my list of essentials:

A drinking water approved hose, for hook up to water.

An adapter, to go from a 30 amp plug, to a standard 20 amp plug, in case you need to plug in to a regular outlet.

A piece of regular hose, to hook up your sink drain to the sewer drain.

A bunch of wooden blocks, for leveling, and also to place under your stabilizing jacks. (Eventualy, you may wish to get the BAL leveler. Very convienient for leveling the trailer, and worth the $).

Wheel chocks (2 for each wheel), to hold the trailer in place.

I also like to bring a bunch of bungee cords, tie downs, etc, just in case.

Get a star wrench for the lug nuts, lug wrenches are typically not included with your trailer. Also, don't assume that the lug nuts are the same size as the bolts holding the spare tire on its carrier.

Get a decent air pressure gage, with enough range to cover the trailer tires, (my tires are 65PSI.) Make sure you keep your tires inflated at their rated values.

Also, a bottle type hydralic jack. Most trailers don't come with a jack. (Remember, if you need to jack up a wheel in case of a flat, never use the stabilizers, and always place the jack under the frame, not the axle.)

I also like to put a small piece of rug outside the trailer. It helps keep the dirt outside, and not being tracked inside.

To answer your question about the extension mirrors: If the trailer is significantly wider than the tow vehicle, (and they usually are), the mirrors are a good idea. I don't have them (yet), but I do miss them particularly in heavy traffic. Without them, I can see immediatly to the side, but, I have a bit of a blind spot to fast moving traffic in the adjacent lane, and directly behind the PU, becuase of the height of the PU, and A/C unit blocks most of the view.

When driving, take it easy. Remember, California has a 55mph speed limit for vehicles towing trailers. Leave plenty of extra stopping distance.
Trailers are restricted to the right two lanes on the freeways, and the right lane on a 4 lane (2 in each direction) highway, the exception being for passing slower traffic. If you get a big rig, or yahoo towing a boat, etc, comming up fast on your tail, do him a favor, and move over and let him by. Remember, he's restricted to the two lanes as well. If you get into a heavy sway situation, ease off the accelerator, and gently apply trailer brakes to help pull the trailer back in line. Don't panic, and don't attempt to overcorrect with steering.

That's "all" the advice that comes to mind right now. Good luck

Congrats on your new PU., perhaps we'll see you at one of the SCAMPER rallies! A nice bunch of folks!

[brainpause]

Also, don't assume that the lug nuts are the same size as the bolts holding the spare tire on its carrier.

Yep...found this out Saturday. Fortunately I was at home changing the tire.

Larry

[jendak760]

Yes, it was a planned trip to Yosemite. Well kindof, we decided to go there right before we left the house. We did happen to pick up a few of those things on the list wheel chocks, hose, lug wrench, etc.

Now the trailer looks so lonely in our driveway just wanting to go somewhere this weekend.    But I guess we will have to wait until the Pismo Rally.  :#

[Steve-o-bud]

Yes, it was a planned trip to Yosemite. Well kindof, we decided to go there right before we left the house. We did happen to pick up a few of those things on the list wheel chocks, hose, lug wrench, etc.

Now the trailer looks so lonely in our driveway just wanting to go somewhere this weekend.    But I guess we will have to wait until the Pismo Rally.  :#

Did you guys camp in Yosemite Valley? I would suppose that at this time of year, it wouldn't be too crowded. Wasn't that a pretty long haul?

We've had our pop up at the Crane Flats campground, and latter this month, we will be taking up it to the Wawona campground.

If you want to see bears, I would suggest the Dorst campground in Sequoia National Park!. We were there a few years ago, and every night there were bears in the campground. We had one walk through our campsite, while we were making smores!

Your trailer sounds like it will be frequently used! That will keep it happy, and it won't be so sad sitting in the driveway.

[jendak760]

We actually camped at Yosemite Lakes. It is located 5 miles outside the park off of Highway 120 (west entrance). We picked up the trailer from a dealer right off Highway 120 so we didn't really have to travel any further to go to Yosemite ~ just East. It definitely was a long haul (are we there yet  :eyecrazy: ). But it was worth it. We turned it into a little history lesson for my 9 year old who missed school for it.

[griffsmom]

The only thing we wanted to see but didn't get to was a bear. They kept saying how much bear activity there is up there but no luck.

I would think NOT seeing a bear would be a GOOD thing!!!!:yikes:
 
My DH and I were tent campers for 11 years before we bought our PU and we used to camp every year at Sequoia and Bridgeport (north of Mono Lake). At the cg in Bridgeport, the bears used to invade the cg we stayed at every night, tipping over all the trash cans--you could hear them crashing all night!
 
One night, we forgot to put the cooler in the car before we went to bed, and in the middle of the night, I heard the cooler open (it had a wicked creak on one of its hinges) and thought a person was trying to steal the cooler! :rolleyes: I woke my DH and when we unzipped the tent, there was Yogi, no more than 10 feet from us, seeing what was on the menu. I about jumped out of my skin! DH quickly zipped the tent back up (yeah, that would keep us safe) and Yogi helped himself to the eggs, bacon and my stepson's tootsie roll! He finally lumbered off when he got tired of listening to the next site's dog barking at him!!
 
We've never cooked in our camper, but we have stored food in it on past trips and because of that incident with Yogi, I am now scared to pieces to camp at Yosemite, Sequoia, or even back up at Bridgeport. Yep, NOT seeing a bear would have been the highlight of the trip for me!
 
Looking forward to meeting you and giving you the NNC/SCC intiation rites at Pismo!:J

[6Quigs]

The only thing we wanted to see but didn't get to was a bear.  

Don't worry about the bear sighting.
This will be arranged for you at Pismo, just when you are least expecting it