My first camping trip!

[minstrel]

OK -- Vedette, this is for you. I went on my first TearDrop outing last weekend to Dead Horse Ranch. Dead Horse Ranch is a state park on the Verde River by Cottonwood, AZ and it was lovely. Nice campground with electricity and water, spotless bathroom and showers with lots of hot water. Also, there were lovely trails to hike on by the river with grass and trees.
What did I like? All of it. Very friendly neighbors, great weather (70's) and time to unwind.
What did I learn? Welll.......the first night I did not shut my galley "lid" because there wasn't any food out and I would have had to put some stuff away (lazy ) so I learned that every time I changed position in bed, the TD wiggles. About 4:30 a.m. the lid "wiggled" down and did a (soft) crash landing. By the way, I froze that night..
So next night, I put the lid down and lo and behold, I was warm as toast. So, duh, insulated lid vs. uninsulated cabinet wall......
Also, I was told that my battery in the front storage box would only run my lights and 12-volt outlets....WHAT!!????!! -- No microwave?! No Keurig??! No CURLING IRON???!!! So now I have to buy hats for when I can't have my electricity. Which, by the way, it seems that most of the gatherings posted are at campgrounds withOUT electricity. What is with THAT? Well, I wanted to camp......
Also was able to get my EZ-up shelter assembled by staking one leg to start with, per advice from this wonderful forum.
My next hurdle is to use the propane stove without blowing myself up...but I'll save that for my next trip
Liz

[Shadow Catcher]

Lessons learned
There are 12V appliances but anything using resistance heat i.e. the curling iron and Kruig use quite a bit of current as does the microwave. We use a French press for coffee and often the camp grounds have electric in the bathrooms where you can use the curling iron. The rest is cooking with gas.

[Vedette]

Way to go!
Yes it is easy to keep warm in a TD as long as the wind isn't blowing thru it.
But remember to keep a window cracked, as you do require some fresh air source and you don't want to wake up to condensation running down your walls and dripping off of you ceiling.
And Propane stoves are way friendlier than you think. Two years ago Sandi was uncomfortable with our Coleman stove.
Now I have lost my job! But time I get up she is cooking without giving the stove a second thought???
Sandi also likes nice clean washrooms and absolutely hates pit toilets......so she has taken note of the campground you stayed at for our Arizona trip next winter.
Glad to hear you are out there!!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[lrrowe]

And to add more positive notes to keeping warm; in my much larger with no ceiling insulation and no heat at 9 degrees at night, with the vent open, I was extremely warm. I had sweat pants and shirt on, a knit hat, double sleeping bag and a small air cushion on a cot. While you do not need all the stuff I had, I hope it shows you that it can be done without heat. Now getting up in the AM to dress, well that is a story for another time.

Great start.