So after a 322 mile round trip, we've returned from our maiden voyage.
We hit the weigh station, the tear's axle only weighed 1300lb but I didn't unhook it to get the total weight. I was really surprised by that, I expected 200-300lbs higher, but the air conditioner wasn't installed and the two easy-ups, dry food, cooler, spare tire, 20lb propane bottle, 5gal of drinking water, dog cage, and fire extinguisher were all in the truck. The tongue box was absolutely stuffed to the top with our two folding chairs, dog tent, stabilizer wrench, wheel chocks, folding stools and 20amp electrical cord.
We stopped for a break on our way down. The camper towed wonderfully, with the truck in tow/haul mode, I didn't even notice it was there except when I'd glace in the rear view window, I could just just barely catch a glimpse of the porch lights in my side mirrors.
- 20141017 parking lot small.jpg (176.42 KiB) Viewed 2378 times
Then we had to set up in the dark.
- 20141017 arrival small.jpg (97.76 KiB) Viewed 2378 times
When we arrived, the blankets and pillows were still in their packaging, along with a lot of other stuff we'd just thrown on the bed instead of packing it away, so we had to work quickly to get the tear ready before the first Tearjerker came by for a tour.
Our whole site in daylight:
- 20141019 site small.jpg (193.3 KiB) Viewed 2378 times
My wife agrees that this trip was incredibly relaxing vs our previous tent camping adventures. The dog's tent is really easy to set up, and although the weather could not have been better for Friday and Saturday, it was comforting to know we'd stay dry even if it took a turn for the worse. The temperature was about 74 degrees Fri/Sat, but it dropped to 54 degrees last night. We didn't even have to fire up the electric blanket, but we will during our next camp out in a few weeks.
We encountered a few amusing problems along the way:
1) One of the marker lights didn't want to work prior to departure, turns out when I'd mated the male & female disconnects, the blade of the male bent alongside the socket rather than enter it.
2) Upon arriving, I unpacked our shore power cord for the first time and went to plug it into the inlet only to discover it wouldn't fit. The cord was made with a ~3/16" molded plastic flange at each end that wouldn't enter the recessed inlet. A few minutes working with a utility knife shaved it down to size, all the while my wife swore I was either going to cut my arm off or electrocute myself with the disconnected cord.
3) The passenger side cabin door needs to be shimmed upward just a hair so it latches properly, my wife fought with getting it to lock quietly at night. There is a bumper on the bottom of the door that rides on the frame as it closes, I think I can just insert a piece of plastic between the bumper and the door to increase the height and make it work.
4) We had to stop at Target to get two folding step-stools because the door sills were just too high to use comfortably without them, luckily they had some that were just the right height and very heavy-duty looking.
And I have a few ideas for improvements:
1) Baggage door catches mounted on the exterior walls to hold our doors open.
2) A box for our dry food items, sized to fit on the galley countertop with a padded bottom and some method of tying it down (footman loops on the walls and the box?), sized to also fit the oven's griddle which can't fit into the galley cabinet. The box would also serve as our to-be-rewashed bin for our dishes at the end of the trip.
3) Hooks on the under side of the hatch for dish towels, and a paper towel holder.
4) Some way to store our shoes under the camper and out of the dirt.
5) Some sort of index for the oven feet to sit in, I'm thinking a sheet of luan with holes drilled in the right spots, I found out otherwise the oven can be placed (or even shift on its own) too far to either side and then the handle can ding either the center divider or the side of the camper when it is being stowed.
6) The second side table definitely needs to be as low as possible, the picnic table at the site was almost too high to use the oven's cooktop on, and the table's bench wasn't wide enough to fit the oven comfortably (plus the gas regulator stuck out at the table top's height).
7) The spare tire has to go under the trailer somewhere. It was a constantly pain to keep relocating the tire to different areas of the truck depending on what we were trying to access.
We don't need the 10lb fire extinguisher I brought along, a smaller unit would work and I want to mount it underneath the current side table so it is more accessible than it was in the truck.
by Kharn » Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:19 pm 
Your light fixtures look like they were planned that way, not like there was any problem. 
The doors are also 24" above ground, so I'll need to make some short steps/platforms out of 5/4 or something else to make it a little less awkward getting in/out. I keep forgetting that the doorways are now ~1" shorter with the doors installed, I keep smacking my head into the frames. 
