thoughts from our trip
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:02 pm
We got home last night from a wonderful 12 day trip up around northern NM. We camped a week around Red River and 4 days in the Hopewell area. It was beautiful, very high elevation and we loved the cool temperature, even used the heater a few mornings. We kayaked a couple of days and fished a lot more. 10,000 ft kind of leaves you breathless! The Avion was a joy to tow and to camp in. Some of the steep grades were a bit exhausting to both drive up and go down. I think any truck would have had a job pulling a trailer up some of those long, steep roads. At least I hope. A few times, when we were nearing the top of a steep grade, and the truck was in 2nd or even 1st and struggling to maintain 3--35 mph and the rpms were up there, the thought crossed my mind "we need a smaller trailer". but the truck never overheated and from then on, the "average" hill was a piece of cake. brake controller worked, big hills down in 2nd kept our speed under control.
Very early one morning a pack of baying hunting dogs ran through our campground. sounded crazy, and then our walkie talkie picked up a conversation between members of a professional hunting party trying to take out a bear that had been a big problem at the campground. It was very exciting to listen in!
We have not really taken our trailer and truck on such a long trip. One thing we didn't realize was that we had no way at these campgrounds to fill our water tank. they didn't allow connecting hoses to the pumps. So we had to put water in a jug and pour into the tank or use from the jug. we kind of did both and really conserved water. There were pit toilets, and we tried to use them but the long walk there made us take the lazy way out most of the time. I've decided dealing with a black tank is my least favorite part of a bigger camper. Not the emptying of the tank, but the difficulty of finding an rv dump! I think we will carry a portable potty from now on. We did find a place to dump in the first town after we left the first location, but the next leg of the trip we had to haul a black tank full way too far before we found a dump site.
has anyone thought about just taking the toilet out and using a tall porta pot or a cassette toilet? my husband thinks that would be crazy, but I'd rather deal with it on an every few day basis, and be able to dump at the campsite or restroom. it is getting hard to find places to dump!
I didn't take many photos with my phone, but when I upload from my camera, I'll share.
Very early one morning a pack of baying hunting dogs ran through our campground. sounded crazy, and then our walkie talkie picked up a conversation between members of a professional hunting party trying to take out a bear that had been a big problem at the campground. It was very exciting to listen in!
We have not really taken our trailer and truck on such a long trip. One thing we didn't realize was that we had no way at these campgrounds to fill our water tank. they didn't allow connecting hoses to the pumps. So we had to put water in a jug and pour into the tank or use from the jug. we kind of did both and really conserved water. There were pit toilets, and we tried to use them but the long walk there made us take the lazy way out most of the time. I've decided dealing with a black tank is my least favorite part of a bigger camper. Not the emptying of the tank, but the difficulty of finding an rv dump! I think we will carry a portable potty from now on. We did find a place to dump in the first town after we left the first location, but the next leg of the trip we had to haul a black tank full way too far before we found a dump site.
has anyone thought about just taking the toilet out and using a tall porta pot or a cassette toilet? my husband thinks that would be crazy, but I'd rather deal with it on an every few day basis, and be able to dump at the campsite or restroom. it is getting hard to find places to dump!
I didn't take many photos with my phone, but when I upload from my camera, I'll share.