The Maiden Voyage!
Finally, we get to use our new camper! For our first camping trip, Sam and I decided to make a short drive for a one night stay at Treasure Island Casino’s RV Park in Red Wing, MN. Our goal was to simply get a feel for how everything worked in our new camper then have a nice relaxing evening away from home. So we left home late in the morning for the s
hort 45 minute jaunt to the campground. We arrived early in the afternoon and checked in at the office. We were led to our site which, to my surprise and slight annoyance, was only a gravel pad with no fire ring. We only had a picnic table on the site. At least it was a pull-thru for convenience.
The Set-Up
As we began our first set up experience in our new camper, we quickly learned that things are pretty self explanatory. Set up here was quite easy as the gravel slab was perfectly level. However, once we get the sewer, water, and electric connected and the stabilizer jacks down, we quickly discovered we had no hot water! I read through all of our owners manuals that came with the camper and couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. (Super frustrating) So, I grabbed a beer from the outdoor fridge and tried flipping one switch to see what would happen. I still don’t know to this day what that switch is for on the water heater but we had hot water from then on! Now, it was time to enjoy ourselves!
The Evening and Night
My bad beer choice
After setup was complete, we took the doggos for a walk down to the Mississippi River. After the walk, we claimed our lawn chairs and opened up our rounds of beer. Needless to say, I made a terrible choice for weekend beer. I purchased a case of Bud Light silos. What was I thinking? It was soon time for dinner so I put together our mini grill and began to heat it up. Sam was busy sauteing mushrooms and onions to put on top of our steak. I absolutely love grilling steak, its one of the things I do best. For dinner, we sat outside in the beautiful late afternoon and enjoyed steak, coleslaw, and potato salad for our first camping meal and I must say delish! The downside of the new camper is no dishwasher, so we had to wash dishes by hand, not fun but not the worst thing ever. While doing dishes, the weather took a turn for the worst and started to rain, so for the next couple hours, we were forced inside to lounge on the couch and read our books, its not like we could have sat around the campfire anyway! At least it was a chance to practice turning the dinette into a bed – Sam and Buddy lounged there while Toby was nice enough to share his couch with me. Once the rain passed, we took the dogs for another walk around the casino grounds. Then it was time to spend our first night in our new tiny home on wheels. The bed was super comfortable thanks to the 2 inch thick foam mattress topper that Sam bought and we slept great!
The Morning and Tear Down
Once we got up and took the boys for their morning walk around the campground we began making the breakfast of champions; bacon and eggs with cheese. After breakfast and cleanup, we began the first tear down of our new camper. Very simple! Draining the sewer was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Just wear the gloves and everything is fine. While draining the tanks and disconnecting power and water, Sam was getting everything put away inside the camper and ready for the journey home. It was a very short trip but we got valuable experience which will make our future camping trips much easier and we will have an idea of what to expect as we camp more.
