First night in the PU

[RuffinIt]

We spent last night in our new (to us) PU.  It was a last minute decision.  The kids were up with the fireworks, and about 10:30 we decided to camp out.  We had setup the PU Friday night, so it was waiting for us.

I slept great.  I slept on one bed with our son (2yo) and my husband slept with our daughter (3yo) on the other bed.  Jessica was so excited and could not go to sleep because it was so neat that we were sleeping in the camper.  When dh asked her if she wanted to sleep in it again one day, she said tonight!  

We had a good bit of rain when the camper was down, and a good heavy rain when it was up, and found no leaks.  That made us feel good.  

We did have a question.  The hot water heater's pilot light lights just fine and then turns on and heats the water.  Everything is good.  Then it goes back to pilot fine, but when it goes to turn on the next time, it blows out the pilot and doesn't light.  It was doing that everytime, but after dh vacummed it, it worked better, but still went out after trying to turn on.  The gas is very low, and we did not know if that was the reason or not.

Other than that, everything seems to work good.  We hope to go out this weekend for a trial run, but we are definately going out the following weekend to meet my folks.  

~Ann Marie

[wiininkwe]

I'm so glad to hear that you had a good and fun experience with your kids in your new camper.   We camp in our driveway with our DGD every now and then, she loves it too.   I think you'll continue to enjoy  your camping trips with your family, and glad to have you here with us.
T

[tlhdoc]

Sounds like it was a very fine first trip.  Hope you have many more.

[jstaddwtr]

Sounds like you all are going to be having a great summer, camping!

[NCSunshine]

Some of our best times have come from backyard campouts.  As long as you are having a good time with your family, it doesn't matter where you are.  

Congratulations on your camper and Happy Camping (where ever you may be).

[gsm x2]

I think that you'll have better luck with the water heater once you get the propane tank filled.  Congrats on the camper. May it bring you many fine memories.

gsm x2

[NightOwl]

RuffinIt, your thread  brings back such sweet memories of our own backyard campouts and of the first night we spend in our beloved Skamper so many years ago .  Thanks for reminding us old-timers of dear days which pass all too quickly.  

[cruiserpop]

RuffinIt, your thread  brings back such sweet memories of our own backyard campouts and of the first night we spend in our beloved Skamper so many years ago .  Thanks for reminding us old-timers of dear days which pass all too quickly.  

one peice of advice-if your child mmoves around a lot in the bed, might want to put that body on the inside, or open anothe bunk. first night, we heard a thud, and about a minute later, heard my daughter open the camper door. she had rolled right off the bunkend into the canvass. the velcro let go, and she hit the dirt sound asleep! child was confused when she woke up outside. we slept right through it! the child loves the camper, but we open the settee bunk for her now.

[MommaMia]

one peice of advice-if your child mmoves around a lot in the bed, might want to put that body on the inside, or open anothe bunk. first night, we heard a thud, and about a minute later, heard my daughter open the camper door. she had rolled right off the bunkend into the canvass. the velcro let go, and she hit the dirt sound asleep! child was confused when she woke up outside. we slept right through it! the child loves the camper, but we open the settee bunk for her now.

Also a handy thing to have is the toddler bed rails.  You can use them on the canvas end to keep thm from tumbling out and they are good to use in the side closest to the camper interior.  Not only do they keep the little ones from tumbling onto the floor in the middle of the night but also keep the kids sleeping bags from sliding off the bunk end.  All that squirming makes  kids nylon sleeping bags slide right off onto the floor, or onto the counters which ends up knocking stuff off during the night.  The bed rails fold flat so when we pack up I just slip them under the mattress before I close up the pu.

[RuffinIt]

Yeah, we found out about falling off the bed the hard way...

When we were looking at campers, we were looking at one at someone's house (actually the one we ended up buying).  My son was on the bed playing, and he fell through to the concrete driveway below.  OUCH!!  He had an instant golf ball-sized bump on his head.  It took us about 20 minutes to calm him down, which is really unusual for him.  Then that night he threw up during dinner, and with those two factors, we took him in.  He was/is fine, but it was not fun.

The camper has rope under the beds to help prevent it from happening, but I am not convinced they will hold the kids.  When we were looking, they just did not do that step.

We are already looking at the bed rails.  We just haven't made it down there to get any yet.

[JonesFamilyJayco]

I too had a sad fall during the night with my little girl.  She rolled off the bunk onto the floor during the night while camping in the NC mountians last weekend.  She was frightened and had a bruse on her cheek, but went back to sleep ok. I like the idea of the toddler temporary bed rail-we use ours when we stay in a motel.  I will definately take it with us next time.  Thanks for the good idea!

[mike4947]

I hear all these stories of kids/people falling thought the canvas onto the ground.
I've yet to see it happen in 30 years of trailering on a PU that had a good bungee cord properly fitted or on the one of the newer velcro closures if the velcro was firmly pressed into place along it's entire length.
One of my son's gang of kids favorite games was stuff the bunkend. They find someone's parents trailer who wasn't there to stop them and see how many kids they could pack into a bunk end.
Bent a few sheperd's poles, and before all the parents laid down the law about "no shoes" got a few a lot muddy, but never did a kid hit the ground or even get more than a hand or foot under the canvas.

[RuffinIt]

I hear all these stories of kids/people falling thought the canvas onto the ground.
I've yet to see it happen in 30 years of trailering on a PU that had a good bungee cord properly fitted or on the one of the newer velcro closures if the velcro was firmly pressed into place along it's entire length.

I am very glad to hear that.  We have the bungee cord type of fitting that hooks under the bunk.  I hope that will keep the kids in.  I have not really tested it yet, but when we are out next weekend, I am sure I will give it several good tugs to see how well it holds up.

We did not hook the cord to the bunk when we were looking at the camper.  Stupid, I know, but a lesson we won't easily forget.

[angelsmom10]

When someone asks us advice, and we know they have young children, we always tell them to check the ends of the bunks for this reason.
 
So, far, all the Starcrafts, we've seen do not come off at the ends of the bunk ends.

[MommaMia]

So, far, all the Starcrafts, we've seen do not come off at the ends of the bunk ends.

Ours is permanently attached at the end.  Not the sides but yes at the end.