Just completed our first trip with our new travel trailer
We did our first trip on our Forest River 22MKSE; it was myself, my wife, and my youngest two daughters (1 and 3). We did five days, four nights, all dry camping. We learned a few things...
What I found was that battery was not an issue at all for at least 24 hours of regular use, including no restrictions on using lights, charging phones and tablets, the 12V fridge, water pump, and even using the furnace one night for probably 6 hours. I did get an extra battery put in by the dealer, as I had planned on dry camping frequently. I had a generator that I used to top up the battery every day, but I do wonder how long I'd be able to go without using it before the batteries needed charged. The camper also came with a small 50 watt solar panel, but I don't know how much difference that really made, especially given we were in full shade the whole time.
Water was our big issue. Starting the first night! We didn't make it all the way to our National Forest campsite the first night on account of me working late and my girls being hungry and tired two hours into the four hour ride. Not a big deal; we found a state park and camped there. We were using the kitchen sink and the faucet started sputtering. I checked the water level, and it said empty! I figured it must have drained out of the overflow tube while we were driving because I couldn't detect a leak anywhere and the ground below the camper was dry. It turned out to be very serendipitous that we had to stop early, as the campground had a potable water fill station that I was able to top off (our other campground did not). I jammed a 3" 1/4" drive extension into the end of the overflow tube after filling up, and that did the trick. Two hours later when we got to our destination, the tank was still full. For the future, I'll be installing a ball valve.
The second water surprise came two days later when we were empty after less than 48 hours. I was shocked at how quickly we burned through 40 gallons, especially since we hadn't taken showers, and the girls just got quick birdbath type baths in the 'tub.' Looking back, we didn't supervise our three year old's hand washing and flushing, and suspect we lost a lot there. We also didn't do well with conserving while doing dishes. We ran into town and picked up a couple five gallon water cooler bottles and that lasted us the next day and a half after practicing better water conservation!
We're planning on doing mostly 3-6 day dry camping trips, so my solution will be to get an external 50ish gallon water tank to keep in the bed of my pickup. I'll keep it empty while towing, as I only have a half ton truck, and then fill it after getting to camp. I'll also pick up a couple five gallon waste containers to drain the grey tanks as needed and take to the dump station. I know the best answer is to practice better water conservation... but I know my camping partner and I know she'll be happy, which means I'll be happy, if she's got more water on board.
Other than that, we didn't really have any issues. Dumping was way easier than I had thought it was going to be. We're going to put in a couple of small things like a toilet paper holder and some towel shelves, but otherwise we were happy with how everything worked.
What I found was that battery was not an issue at all for at least 24 hours of regular use, including no restrictions on using lights, charging phones and tablets, the 12V fridge, water pump, and even using the furnace one night for probably 6 hours. I did get an extra battery put in by the dealer, as I had planned on dry camping frequently. I had a generator that I used to top up the battery every day, but I do wonder how long I'd be able to go without using it before the batteries needed charged. The camper also came with a small 50 watt solar panel, but I don't know how much difference that really made, especially given we were in full shade the whole time.
Water was our big issue. Starting the first night! We didn't make it all the way to our National Forest campsite the first night on account of me working late and my girls being hungry and tired two hours into the four hour ride. Not a big deal; we found a state park and camped there. We were using the kitchen sink and the faucet started sputtering. I checked the water level, and it said empty! I figured it must have drained out of the overflow tube while we were driving because I couldn't detect a leak anywhere and the ground below the camper was dry. It turned out to be very serendipitous that we had to stop early, as the campground had a potable water fill station that I was able to top off (our other campground did not). I jammed a 3" 1/4" drive extension into the end of the overflow tube after filling up, and that did the trick. Two hours later when we got to our destination, the tank was still full. For the future, I'll be installing a ball valve.
The second water surprise came two days later when we were empty after less than 48 hours. I was shocked at how quickly we burned through 40 gallons, especially since we hadn't taken showers, and the girls just got quick birdbath type baths in the 'tub.' Looking back, we didn't supervise our three year old's hand washing and flushing, and suspect we lost a lot there. We also didn't do well with conserving while doing dishes. We ran into town and picked up a couple five gallon water cooler bottles and that lasted us the next day and a half after practicing better water conservation!
We're planning on doing mostly 3-6 day dry camping trips, so my solution will be to get an external 50ish gallon water tank to keep in the bed of my pickup. I'll keep it empty while towing, as I only have a half ton truck, and then fill it after getting to camp. I'll also pick up a couple five gallon waste containers to drain the grey tanks as needed and take to the dump station. I know the best answer is to practice better water conservation... but I know my camping partner and I know she'll be happy, which means I'll be happy, if she's got more water on board.
Other than that, we didn't really have any issues. Dumping was way easier than I had thought it was going to be. We're going to put in a couple of small things like a toilet paper holder and some towel shelves, but otherwise we were happy with how everything worked.
