McDave wrote:PS. I had my first taste of "Taco Treat" this weekend. It's really not bad. My friend from Ft. Benton has been bragging on it for years. Being from New Mexico, I was sceptical. They had a beautiful truck at the Rally. I must say, it was pretty good for Montana Mexican. That cinnamon frybread was awesome. Not what I grew up on , but really good.
I never was a big Taco Treat fan. Everyone I went to high school with thinks differently though. So much so that at our reunion, Taco Treat was the food served!!
Anyways, Shakedown trip completed with the trailer. I just spent 4 days and 3 nights in the trailer at about 10,500 feet. My concerns going into the trip were:
1. The furnace operation at that altitude. A lot of propane appliances have issues in the mountains here due to the thin air. Fortunately not this old Atwood heater/furnace. It worked like a charm!
2. The Fridge operation on propane, also because of altitude. It also worked flawlessly. To the point of accidentally freezing some food and having to turn it down. A 1lb propane bottle will last a total of three days. I love that thing.
3. Keeping the batteries charged. It was in the low 40s at night. I ran the heater every night for at least 8 hours, the LED lights really do not draw anything substantial. My batteries hold a zero charge of 12.8v. Must be because they are old. After running the heater for 8 hours, the voltage dropped to about 12.6-12.5. That's as low as I saw it. In partial sunlight and it raining the entire weekend, the solar panel still kept the batteries topped off even well before full sun. Before noon every day. I'll now plan on new batteries for next year, but these do just fine for now. The charger actually pushes them up to 13.5, but once charging is complete, they quickly just drop back to 12.8/9.
4. Water. I've got a 9 gallon fresh water container. This weekend was just me and my dog and we used about half of that. I think a larger container may be in store. Also, I think I'm going to go ahead and install a shore fill to the trailer. I didn't want to, but carrying a water tank to and from the trailer to fill it SUCKED. Secondly, the hand pump I installed worked perfectly. That being said, I will be installing an electric pump. It's just too difficult to wash one hand. For grey water I just have a 5 gallon bucket. I used that to help put the fire out every night.
Other findings:
-I've got to get my Fantastic Vent installed sooner rather than later. With it raining, I kept the door closed most of the time. Smell lingers in the trailer. I'll just leave it at that. I did find a solution temporarily of just turning on the furnace fan. The vent will be better.
-Last week I purchased a flat top griddle for outdoor food preparation. It is absolutely the best cooking device I've ever used camping!! I was able to cook breakfast (sausage, hash browns, eggs) for five adults and four children at the same time in a matter of minutes with minimal clean up and using zero skillets/pans/etc. The same went for other meals. The only thing I made on my stove top was coffee. I wish I had bought one of these things years ago. The one I got was the Blackstone 28". https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009971BM6/ref=asc_df_B009971BM65090554/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B009971BM6&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167141575819&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16393651377034389621&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060268&hvtargid=pla-274174013483
All in all, I've never had a more comfortable trip into the mountains!
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