We took our converted CT out for its initial camping trip over Labor Day Weekend (2010). It was a super push to get it complete enough to go but go we did.
We drove a total of 648 miles over the weekend, about 500 of those towing the cargo trailer to and from Idaho Falls, Idaho (approx. 250 miles one way). It towed great! We did some day trips, which added the additional (approx.) 150 miles.
We based ourselves out of a fairly nice, though somewhat expensive, campground in Idaho Falls (that's what happens when you don't plan trips in advance and find you have to take what you can get on a busy weekend when you arrive late in the evening) and we did day trips from there. Went to Palisades reservoir on Sunday, what a beautiful lake in eastern Idaho, well up in the mountains. Found some great camping sites there for future trips. Also found (saw it going to Idaho Falls and then stopped by on the return trip) a great spot about 2 hours from Boise on the Big Wood River (near Sun Valley) that we can camp at for free (dry camping).
Learned a lot from this initial trip with the CT and will be redoing my design. The big queen air bed was really comfortable and roomy for the two of us to sleep on but is simply too big for the CT in that it takes up most of the room in the trailer.
Sunday in Idaho Falls, especially in the evening, it was cold and very very windy so it would have been nice to have more room to sit inside the trailer (we had to sit and cook outside and endure the wind and cold because there was no room in the trailer, the queen bed takes up a huge chunk of real estate inside a 6x10 CT). So I will redesign with a pair of bunk beds crosswise to the trailer in the aft end giving us room to sit inside, room for a small table, and more room to move around inside should we want too. Still, it was a great trip and so nice to get away and try out the CT conversion.
As to the home 110v AC appliances in the CT, well they worked out great! The cheap Sears home/dorm reefer worked perfectly. I plugged it in the day before leaving to get it cold. We then stocked it the night before leaving on our trip with foods we wanted cold so they and the reefer would be cold. I also froze a large block of ice in a plastic Tupperware type container in our home freezer the night before that would fit inside the little Sears reefer freezer. I put the ice block in the Sears reefer freezer just as we left on our trip i.e., once I unplugged the reefer from the 110v AC connection at home. It kept everything in the reefer cold during our 4 1/2 hours drive from Boise to the Idaho Falls campground in 95 degree heat. Once we arrived at our camp site and the reefer was plugged in again, it froze solid from its slight melt and was good for our 6 hour return trip (we took some side roads and casual stops on the way back), once again keeping everything cool in the entire reefer.
I left the cheap Sharp carousel microwave oven on the galley counter top lashed to the wall using some nylon tie down straps I found at Home Depot. Same with the Porta Potty, the heavy cast iron propane stove, and the Honda EU20001 generator, the latter were all lashed to the sidewalls but sitting on the floor of the CT. Everything stayed in place during travel... and that was a relief. And while we went over some poorly graveled (rough) roads and bumpy terrain it was good to see everything stayed where it was supposed to.
I bought a 5 gallon plastic fresh water tank and some 2" wide adhesive backed Velcro strips and stuck Velcro to the bottom of it, and opposing Velcro to the floor. Filled the fresh water tank with 5 gallons and stuck it to the floor via the Velcro strips. It stayed perfectly in place for the 500 miles over some semi-rough terrain. I also used the 2" Velcro to secure the Sears reefer door so it wouldn't open during travel.
Again, it was a great trip and a learning experience for our first outing in our CT conversion! Pics of our CT in the Idaho Falls campground follow. We were the smallest trailer there, needless to say, but never felt inadequate. In fact I have to say we felt a bit smug thinking how little we have spent to sleep comfortably in the same campground huge expensive rigs were in because, even in the wind and cold, most of the huge rig owners were also sitting outside of their rigs sipping toddy's as we were.
Stealth camping at its finest!
Don
