Well, we finally did it! We had our first camping trip with (our) new trailer and it was amazing!
The long weekend started on the Friday with us bringing a load up to the trailer and Sierra was able to free up some time, from her very busy schedule, to come with us. Up until now, she had only seen pictures and had been inundated with our incessant conversations about it.
As she climbed up into the trailer she seemed disappointed and commented it’s very small inside. But wait, we said… push this button. With the slide-outs slowing sliding out (‘cause that’s what they do) her tune changed considerably. She now thought it was pretty comfortable and fairly roomy. It was at this point Sierra really wished she was coming but alas, she had to work all weekend.
In an effort to be fully transparent, from this point forward, the Goddess shall be known by (the shortened version of) her given name, which is Kathie (though she’ll remain a Goddess in my eyes… he says hoping for brownie points J).
Once the show and tell had finished, Kathie and Sierra headed back home while I was making a “quick” stop at McKenzie Trailers to pick up a few last-minute supplies. This quick stop turned into a very long and frustrating shopping adventure. Although the week before when we picked up the trailer, I had seen everything we needed at McKenzie, and for some reason thought it would still be there… wrong! So after an hour of searching through their inventory, I made my way to the closest Canadian Tire as I knew they carried a selection of RV supplies. I was able to get a few of the remaining items but was still missing the all-important leveling blocks.
I should point out that after a couple of phone calls back and forth between Kathie and me, I could sense her frustration in the length of time I was taking as well as her eagerness to get on the road.
And, as the time quickly ticked by, I too was getting frustrated. “One last stop,” one of my inner voices said. “Screw trying to find the stackable levelling wheel blocks. Just head to Home Depot and get them to cut you some 2×6’s” as they’ll make due for now. For some unknown reason (call it what you will; intuition, gut instinct, or dumb luck) as I approached Home Depot, I decided to stop at one last Canadian Tire. I’m already an hour (or more) late… what’s a few more minutes? Much to my surprise, low and behold, they had the stackable blocks I was looking for!!! With the giddy excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, I ran out to my car (after paying of course) and headed home.
I arrived to find Kathie impatiently waiting. She had already loaded up the truck (and if I’d been any longer she would have moved to Beverley… Hills that is). I begged forgiveness (which I seem to do often) and thankfully, once again, it was granted (phew)! So off to the storage facility we went.
As this was our first time connecting the trailer alone, it took a bit of time to remember things and figure out what went where and how it all connected. Installing the weight distribution system took the longest. You see, this was all installed at the dealership, when we picked up the trailer the week prior, and though they did show us how it went together, by this time that was all a blur but we finally figured it out and we were ready to go.
Kathie had decided she wanted to try pulling the trailer out of its parking spot and moving it forward. After asking me if I’d removed the wheel chocks (she claims she asked numerous, I only remember once) she began to pull the trailer forward. I did notice she was moving fairly slowly but chocked it up (J) to the fact it was the first time she’d driven it. It was shortly thereafter I heard a loud crunching sound, followed by the trailer lurching forward. Kathie stopped the trailer and gave me her “you’re a moron” look (a look I have seen many times before). I looked back to find a wheel chock that now resembled an orange plastic pancake. Apparently, “have you checked that the wheel chocks have been removed?” means you should look at both the right and left side of the trailer… doh!
So Kathie then turned the truck back over to me as it was now time to pull the trailer out of the storage yard, which was not as simple as it sounds. The yard is fairly full of trailers, cars, boats and other stuff, and where our parking spot is located requires the trailer to be pulled forward about 100 feet, backed up (I think I did a 75 point turn!), turned 180 degrees to then pull it out of the yard.
When I finally had turned the trailer around, we decided it would be wise to have more than one wheel chock, so off to the trailer dealership, which luckily was just down the road a bit. I ran into the dealership and, just in case I hadn’t learned my lesson, I decided to play it safe and grabbed another 3 wheel chocks. Finally, it was time to hit the road.
Kathie decided she would drive the trailer for as long as she felt comfortable, knowing I would take over if she decided she’d had enough. Kathie did an amazing job navigating through the Newmarket bypass and northbound on Highway 400. It was as if she had been driving a trailer for years. We stopped just south of Barrie, at a rest stop to allow us all to stretch our legs, have a bathroom break, and grab a drink. I asked Kathie if she wanted me to take over but as it turned out, she rather liked driving the trailer and drove it the entire 100-plus kilometers to the Barrie KOA campsite.
We finally checked in and drove to our first pull-through campsite! We did our best to contain our excitement but I’m not sure how successful we were. We spent the next hour or so levelling the trailer, hooking up all that needed to be hooked up (we had a full hydro, water and sewer connection site). Before long, we realized we really hadn’t eaten much that day and it was now about 7:30 pm. As it was just the two of us, we had decided we’d just bring burgers and hot dogs for dinners, which could be thrown on the BBQ whenever we wanted. As I had not even got to setting up the BBQ, we decided to take advantage of one of the amenities available at campsite, which was a pizza joint called Bando’s. Kathie wandered up and ordered a pizza while I continued setting things up and took Bear for a walk. Kathie arrived back without pizza in hand but much to my surprise, she said they’d be delivering it shortly. Now that’s my kind of camping! Sure enough, 15 minutes later, along came a guy on a golf cart, with our piping hot pizza! As we snarfled the pizza down, we both agreed it was a mighty fine pizza and we’d definitely order one again should we pay another visit to the park. We continued working on getting things set up inside the trailer late into the evening and by the time our heads hit the pillow we were instantly asleep.
Though the next day (Saturday) was gloomy and rained off and on all day, it didn’t matter. We were having an amazing time, continuing to get couches assembled, things unpacked and going for walks with Bear. The Barrie KOA has a small off-leash fenced in Dog Park (which Bear really enjoyed) and we wandered around the grounds numerous times.
Unfortunately, we discovered Bear did not like the trailer steps. He was ok going down the step to get out of the trailer but had a really hard time navigating them up and back into the trailer. On his first attempt, he got a leg caught in between two steps and hurt his hind paw a bit. But he walked it off and was fine afterwards. The next time, his front paws slipped out from underneath him as he got into the trailer. But again, he walked it off and seemed fine. It was then we decided rather than taking any more chances scaring Bear and having him associate the trailer with hurting himself, we decided we would fold up the stairs and the two of us would lift Bear straight into the trailer. Though it was a chore (Bear is a 120 pound Golden Doodle) it seemed to work out best for Bear. We will find a different solution for the next trip.
All in all, the weekend was amazing, even with the crappy weather! We met a few neighbours, who offered us valuable tips and wisdom as they both had pulled a trailer for a number of years. Many thanks to Glenn and Rob and their wives (I’m sorry but their names escape me). We highly recommend the Barrie KOA to anyone just starting out with a trailer and are looking for somewhere close for their first trip. Even their tent sites and cabins (of various sizes) looked really nice. The park was spotlessly clean, the landscaping was phenomenal and you can tell the owners take great pride in their park. We will definitely be going back again soon.
As it was my first time camping in a trailer (Kathie and her family trailers for years when she was growing up), the whole thing was a learning experience for me. Here are just a few of the things I learned…
- When you are connected to “park” water there’s no need to run your water pump! We’ll be testing the pump before we head out on our next trip to ensure we didn’t burn it out!
- When your hot water heater does not light after 5 tries… keep trying. Apparently, persistence works and you do not have to suffer without hot water all weekend long!
- When your awning is up, make sure you angle it down on one side (thanks Glenn!). You would be amazed at how much water those things hold when it rains all night. You’d also be amazed at just how loud an awning full of water sounds, when you release one side of the awning and it all comes rushing off of and crashing to the ground! I startled Glenn’s wife by doing this Sunday morning!
- When your awning is pulled down but still attached to the trailer, do NOT walk with your head down towards the front or back of the trailer. Apparently, they are not very forgiving when you walk into them head first! You also make a loud noise inside the trailer, which prompts your wife to open the door and laugh hysterically at you (while giving you the “you’re a moron” look).
- And finally, when using a black water tank rinser (the kind you connect to a hose then insert into your toilet) heed my warning and make sure you push it down all the way into your tank! Otherwise, the water pressure is such that a disgusting version of Old Faithful erupts and, well, let’s just say it’s not a pleasant experience when your head is directly above the toilet (yuck). If Kathie had been around when I was performing this feat, I’m sure I’d have gotten the extended version of the “you’re a moron” look, along with her laughing hysterically. Thank god the campground had public washrooms to freshen up before we hit the road.
- And finally, if you are camping for the first time, find a park that has Wi-Fi. Trust me; you’ll discover YouTube is your best friend!
Anyway, it’s time to go for now as I need to rest up. There are only 5 more sleeps before our next trip. We’re off to Sandbanks Provincial Park for the May “24” weekend, which oddly enough this year, falls on May 17?
Take care and Enjoy the Ride!
All images courtesy of Kathie, except for tank rinser!
RV inSane? 