Our first trip with the '78
Trillium
Mary and I started our first big trip with the recently purchased '78 13 foot
Trillium by traveling from Lansing, MI to Brown County, IN State Park to take part in a
rally. Three other couples were there and we all enjoyed the get together with pleasant weather and a nice “pitch-in” on Saturday night.
We then headed south and west. We were winging it from here on out, with the goal of getting to Albuquerque, NM within a week or so. Mary has a sister who lives there and has room for our
Trillium. We decided to route ourselves on non-expressway roads as much as possible - partly because the Subaru Outback likes about 59 mph pulling the Trillium, and partly because we have made the trip numerous times on interstates and wanted a change of pace.
We ended up picking up US 70 west of Little Rock, AR and followed it all the way to Clovis, NM. We spent nights in KY Dam State Resort Park, North Little Rock (very nice city campground), Lake Texoma, OK State Resort Park, Vernon, TX (private cg), Clovis, NM (private cg), Mountainair, NM State Park, and San Antonio, NM (private cg).
En route we stopped for a visit to Hot Springs, AR National Park, and to my favorite National Wildlife Refuge - Bosque Del Apache, near San Antonio, NM. This refuge is the wintering grounds for nearly 20,000 Sandhill Cranes and 4 or 5 times that many snow geese. We were a little early, as just a few thousand birds had arrived when we visited.
The trip was a good “shake-down” for us. We discovered that we may want to replace the transformer, as when plugged in at a campground, it provides only 10 amps service. Our little electric heater was too much for it, and I had to direct plug in to the source for cold evenings. We did use the
propane heater once...seemed to work fine. But, the next time, only the pilot would burn. I've since learned that I wasn't following the
lighting procedure exactly, so I think the
furnace is ok.
We did all our cooking outside on a Coleman two-burner with
propane adapter; worked well except at high altitude.
The only mishap was my faulty double-check of hitch-up on departure from a campground early on. The camper jumped off before we got out of camp. No damage, but scared the 'bleep' out of us. I now double/triple check the hookup!
We love the Trillium and the camping lifestyle it provides this time of year, and are already planning our next big trip. We left the Trillium in ABQ, so now we have to go back to get it. Plan to leave in early February, spend some more time in NM and AZ, then work our way back to MI via TX.
Seems like you found some nice places to stay and see. Here are some neat places in NM and AZ if you have not noticed them on the forum yet.
DesertHawk- Las Cruces, NM USA 
Mary,
Escape Hatch II
Our Escape Hatch
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