Mistakes we don't want to repeat!

Dick_B wrote:
Recently drove too close to the side of an old narrow rusty bridge and wiped out the awning...

In my case... It was a mountain.

Making sure that the fridge is locked before heading out is always a good idea.

Thanks DogFolks, I am laughing so hard I have tears rolling down my face. I am trying to figure out how I will be able to manage to read it to my husband without being hysterical cause it is so much more fun when we share these outloud.
* Thanks to all for these posts. We are learning a lot and having so much fun reading the funny ones. It has been a long winter and we need a laugh. Thanks so much!!

Reader1 wrote:

bigwheelsturning wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
I will never, ever, unhook the trailer from the truck without chocking the wheels, no matter how level the site looks, especially when my wife is inside!

this is so funny..& i am still laffin..although i hope she wasn't injured...reminds me of Lucille Ball&Desi Arnez in the.."long long trailer".. =-O

X2 - Plus...what is the rest of this story??

O.K. Here is the rest of the story, but I’m not proud of it.

It was the first summer we were retired maybe our fifth or sixth stop since hitting the road. Now we have been camping on weekends and vacations for over thirty years, and owned 4 travel trailers before this one. So we knew all about full time living. Yeah right. Thinking back on those days my wife and laugh hysterically at how naïve we were.

Pulled into a campground checked in, got our site assigned. Had a long straight back in to the site. Checked it all out before starting in. Well, the site LOOKED level. My wife and I used our radios, got the trilaer backed in one swinjg. Man we are good!
She said I ‘m going inside to set up. I replied that I would set up the outside and unhook. Take safety chains off, Unhook the electrical plug. Jack up tongue to relive pressure on WD bars, and remove. Lower tongue, release latch and raise tongue to dis engage off the ball.

That was when the trouble started. The tongue came off the ball and the trailer started rolling away from the truck, at a pretty good clip, towards the back of the site and a 20 foot drop off.

Know what? You can’t stop an 8,000 pound trailer from rolling by grabbing the tongue and hanging on. The trailer just drags you! Wife is screaming, over and over, from inside: “STOP!” Well, I tried; after all I grabbed the jack didn’t I?

After about ten feet the jack dug into the soft dirt enough to stop the trailer. Wife come out of the trailer and we had a discussion about why this happened.

Today, when we enter a campsite, I drive and my wife guides me. When the trailer is in position, I am not allowed out of the truck until my wife sets the chocks. I also have to put the truck in neutral first to prove nothing is going to roll.

Oh yeah, the wife now sets up the outside. I do the inside.

rhagfo wrote:

cm11599ps wrote:

bob_b wrote:

Artum Snowbird wrote:
No matter what, walk all the way around the rig before you climb in and drive away.

X2

If someone strikes up a conversation when you are doing your breakdown procedure, check it all again before you roll down the highway. That antenna, wheel chock or power cord is real easy to forget.

Do another walk after you are done. Its never a waste of time. There will be few times that you'll notice something important after you were Positive that you were already good to go.

Not just around, check under and above too!

At least 3 times in the past 2 years my brother forgot to close the dump valves on the camper after dumping to go home. You would think that the FIRST time he got soaked with holding tank remnants when he went camping again would have been enough to remind him.....

X4

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, be afraid to get back out of the TV cab to do one last cheek if you are not 101% sure you did a certain task!!

These items remind me of all the warning labels on new products!!

rhagfo...
Could you tell us a little more about the "one last cheek"? Seems like it may be an important (or at least fun)last item on the departure checklist.:C

PenMan wrote:
I've shared this one before but it never hurts to repeat it. My step-mom decided to put the motorhome in the space for my dad while he was fishing. She got out to see how the parking job was and the motorhome rolled down the slight incline into the lake. Totaled the MH and almost drowned their dogs. Moral of the story (don't let the wife drive--just kidding) is to make sure the MH is in Park and the Parking Brake is set before you get out to critique your parking job.

oh ....we just hafta know...who got the dawgs outta there...how..?..glad to know they made it.

did you burn rubber to stop it....get it stopped..?..or..geez ..we're laffin...hope all ended okay.. =-O

rockhillmanor wrote:
First brand new TT: Bought it without sitting on the pot first.
Found out first trip out that when you sat on the toilet you could not close the door if you were over 5 ft tall because your knees hit the door. :R

Same TT: Unhooked it without chocks and it started rolling. I 'thought' I was on level ground in the parking lot I was parked in for a sporting event. Wrong.......and what was parked down from us was a brand new Prevost. All I could think of was how much even the smallest dent on that full body painted Prevost was going to cost me.

Everyone there said I looked like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, where he was sprawled over the hood trying to stop that Porsche from going into the lagoon!

Caveman Charlie wrote:
Make sure you chock the wheels before unhooking.

My fist TT had a single axel. First time camping I unhooked it then went into the trailer and walked toward the back. As I did the front jack came off of the ground and the trailer started to roll down the hill toward the lake with me inside of it!!! I panicked and ran for the door which was near the front of the trailer. When I did this the jack came back down and dug into the ground stopping the trailer from rolling any further. Thankfully it had not rolled too far and nobody saw. I hooked back up and pulled it back onto the camping spot. Then, drove to town and bought some chocks.

im sorry...but..im laffin so hard...i can barely type this...when you said it started downhill..with me in it..me and hubby just lost it.. =-O

Deb and Ed M wrote:
Don't take a motorhome "offroading".

OK - we weren't exactly offroading, but when on a narrow gravel road (looking for the gravestones of some of my ancestors) and met a UPS truck making deliveries..... we pulled as far to the right as we could. Close enough to rip the (retracted) step off our Class C on a dirt bank....

my husband and me are still laughing at this one.. =-O

Mistake I won't make again? Telling my brother-in-law where and when I/we would be camping. Doesn't even bring his own food, and yet complains about what we feed him, as everything else about our choice of campsites or even campground.