Maiden Voyage Report:
Took The Schnoodle Shack on it's maiden voyage over the Columbus Day weekend. Drove up to Salisbury Beach MA, 175 miles round-trip, and had a blast. Had to make some make-shift curtains out of old pillow cases at the last minute as we did not know until Friday noon that we were leaving Saturday morning. Took it out on the road for it's first road test Friday morning, and had to come back and make some slight adjustments. The hitch did not fit the ball tight enough so there was a considerable amount of "bucking" and "surging" going on, as well as terrible noises...felt horrible every time I hit a pot hole or bump. Tightening the hitch nut underneath took care of 95+% of the bucking so I called the wife and told her we were good to go. She tracks like a dream at 70mph and you almost forget that she is back there until you instinctively look back in the mirror and see the mirror filled with all aluminum. The side extension mirrors vibrate a little at highway speed, but not so much that you cannot see where the traffic is.
Packed a suitcase for the dog, threw in a few of his toys, and he was going to have the weekend of his life. He's basically an indoor dog, but loves going for walks and such. Threw him on a 20' rope at the campground and let him explore and play to his hearts content. Out on the beach he also had his extended leash (20 feet) and he ran back and forth the entire time. The wife and I walked a good mile on the beach, and the dog probably ran at least 5 miles back and forth. When we got back to the campground I threw him on his long leash and he ran over to the open car door, climbed onto the drivers seat and settled in for a nap, missed supper, and really hated going for a walk before going to bed. Slept like a baby the entire night! We figure he missed about 8 hours of napping during a normal day for him.
My wife was probably as excited as the dog about the camper. She has been waiting almost an entire year for this baby to be completed, and she said it was everything she had hoped for! Just some minor things need fixin' for the next trip. She wants "key hooks" so our keys don't fall to the bottom of the "everything bucket". She also wants a couple hooks to hold open a trash bag near the galley. After watching her throw around pancake batter in the galley I have decided an extra couple coats of varnish back there would not be a bad idea.
I gotta admit everything went as planned with the camper, and there were no surprises. The wife wants to go camping again this coming weekend, and as long as the weather will permit it's OK with me. This time of year starts getting cold in New England so I warned her we are rapidly coming up on our last good weekend for camping.
We averaged about 20mpg towing The Shack, so it cost us about 6mpg over non-camper, which was a surprise that it cost me that much mileage. We had 2 "drive by compliments" as my wife called them. A pickup truck at the campground yelled out "love your teardrop" as he drove by our site without stopping, and somebody stuck their arm out the window with a thumbs up after passing us on the highway. We had a total of 7 families stop for tours. 5 were at the campground, which we considered pretty good since the campground was nearly deserted. And 2 tours at a highway rest stop where we stopped for lunch. I pulled in next to this 40 foot RV and headed to the restroom while the wife stayed with the dog. When I came back my wife had The Shack all opened up and giving the owners of the 40 foot RV the grand tour. The guys wife high-five'd me when my wife said "this is my husband", and she high-five'd me once more as they were leaving. Everybody loved The Shack...she probably the most. Another family came over for a tour just as the big RV was leaving. Wish I took a picture of The Shack parked next to the RV...it really was hysterical. My car with The Shack was about half the length and less than half the height of the RV.
A quick pic from our maiden voyage, and the next post has more:
*When doing anything, if there exists no possibility of failure, then any feeling of success is diminished.
**The glass is neither half full nor half empty...it is simply twice as big as it needs to be.
***If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.
****When I die, I want to die like my grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.
by Jim Edgerly » Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:37 pm 
Thanks for sharing. 