My 1st real camping trip

[Carl Pa]

Hi, 1st chance since getting my new Scamp, was i able to take off down the road, about 10 days of travel south of pa. Stayed at 4 nice campgrounds and one bad one, even stayed at a wall-mart on the way home not a bad experience. The campgrounds were at harpers ferry in WV and Shenadoah valley in Virginia and Asheville east KOA in NC to name a few. Learned a lot what not to take and what to take next time. Weather was bad and good, Some very high winds and some nasty cold rain and some really nice days to round things off. Some pics below of our trip.

[Carl Pa]

more pics

[Carl Pa]

a few more

[Sid]

Nice pics Carl!
Way to stir up travel fever!
Sid

[Rich G. and Val F.]

Looks like you had a fine trip. I know the Harper's Ferry area is beautiful. Hope we can get out there in the future.

I just came in from packing the trailer and car and then we are heading off for a trailer rally this weekend at a central Minnesota state park. We, too, have the CLAM shelter and look forward to some relaxing time under the big top.

[kootenaigirl]

Love the pictures, sounds like you had quite the variety of camping experiences.
Happy camping.

[MRClaus]

So mwhat are you going to leave home ?

[TCMJ]

Beautiful country side. I miss that type of scenery.

[Arnold]

Carl, thank you for sharing your pictures. Your write up was interesting. Thanks again and happy travels to you.

[stevebaz]

Still a fan of your Clam in mobile camping? Did you put it up every time except the Walmart gig?
Looks like a great place to be.

[john madill]

nice to have a cozy camper for the cold and rainy days.

I think I'm going to break down and get one of the small Clam shelters.

my Compact Jr has a rear door. I'll probably set it up about 6' from the rear of the camper and cover the overhead space in between with a canopy.

[summersucks]

that looks beautiful! Would you share which things you thought would have been good to bring, which weren't? We're in the process of figuring that out ourselves.

[Doug in Sacramento]

Carl,

We're almost twins. We have a 2014 16' Scamp (Layout 4) and use a 2011 Rav4 V6 (same color) as a tow vehicle. I hope you like yours as much as we like ours.

One suggestion. The Rav4 sagged in the rear so I installed Firestone air bags in the coil springs. I pump them up to 30 lbs whenever I tow and they keep everything level - work great. They're a bit of a pain to install but worth it. I ended up using a hydraulic jack to push them thru the coil springs. I'd thought about using a weight distribution hitch setup but I saw a thread on Fiberglass RV about the air bags. Best way to go.

Our Rav4 has the factory receiver. It is mounted with about 30 bolts, so it is very solidly attached to the vehicle. However, for some reason, it sits way under the rear end. I need a long ball mount to make it work. I have no idea why Toyota did that but that's how it is. Does yours have the factory receiver?

Keep Scamping!

[D Davis]

Carl, thanks for sharing your experience especially with pics. Looks like a fun time and great scenery. Happy future camping to you. Love your Dog!

[Carl Pa]

Originally Posted by Doug in Sacramento

Carl,

We're almost twins. We have a 2014 16' Scamp (Layout 4) and use a 2011 Rav4 V6 (same color) as a tow vehicle. I hope you like yours as much as we like ours.

One suggestion. The Rav4 sagged in the rear so I installed Firestone air bags in the coil springs. I pump them up to 30 lbs whenever I tow and they keep everything level - work great. They're a bit of a pain to install but worth it. I ended up using a hydraulic jack to push them thru the coil springs. I'd thought about using a weight distribution hitch setup but I saw a thread on Fiberglass RV about the air bags. Best way to go.

Our Rav4 has the factory receiver. It is mounted with about 30 bolts, so it is very solidly attached to the vehicle. However, for some reason, it sits way under the rear end. I need a long ball mount to make it work. I have no idea why Toyota did that but that's how it is. Does yours have the factory receiver?

Keep Scamping!

Hi Doug, I have a after market E trailer receiver, It is about as good as it can go as far as how far out it is. I only drop about a 1/4" when hooked up. Maybe because it is fitted with 3rd row seating and it is beefed up a little more, we did not spring for the seats but it has all the connections for them to attach. Good Luck. Carl

[Carl Pa]

Originally Posted by summersucks

that looks beautiful! Would you share which things you thought would have been good to bring, which weren't? We're in the process of figuring that out ourselves.

The remote for the TV. Could not play CD`s with out it. Can`t think of anything i should have brought and didn`t it. Bring less of all things, unless you are truly going into the wilderness. To many chairs to much food to much of all things. Good Luck, Carl

[Carl Pa]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

Still a fan of your Clam in mobile camping? Did you put it up every time except the Walmart gig?
Looks like a great place to be.

Love the Clam. Only put it up if i stayed more then one night. Hint, you will need five more tent stakes for the sides if it is windy. Got some very high winds and the sides wanted to push in onto itself. You need to stake it down with the tie ropes they gave you but did not provide the stakes, so i had to take it down, then i found out they sell tent stakes in the camp store, oh well. My dog loves it, a place for her to be nosey and check out everything, Also gives us some free time from being leashed to her. Carl

[Carl Pa]

Thank all for your comments. Carl

[Donna D.]

Thanks for sharing your experience and pics with all of us. I hope this is the first of many wonderful, memory-making trips.