EggCamper Maiden Voyage/Lake Ahquabi State Park, Indianola, IA/Indianola Balloon

[Ms. Gayle]

So I finally took the EggCamper on the first trip. Drove 260 miles to stay at Lake Ahquabi State Park (5 miles south of Indianola, IA). We stayed there 3 nights to try out the EggCamper and attend two evenings of the Indianola National Balloon Classic. This is an annual event running this year from July 27 thru Aug 4.

This was my first time camping. Here are a couple of things I learned....you should level the trailer before you unhook it or you are going to have to hook it back up to level it then unhook it again also even though you know the hitch ball is there you will brush against the greasy ball and get it on both legs of your pants...get a hitch ball cover . I won't even talk about backing up.........I need a lot more practice.

My 13 yr old nephew insisted that we needed to "christen" the EggCamper like they do boats so he had a "christening speech" and had me raise my right hand and swear to an oath he made up and then he blew bubbles over the trailer....he is one creative dude...
I got 16 mpg on the highway miles driving 60mph with my 2008 Toyota Highlander V-6 with a tow package. Mostly flat driving in 85 degree weather one way and 95-103 degree weather on the way home.

I did not think the park was very user friendly for a newbie. There was never anyone in the entrance hut. Not much signage to assist. I saw one sign telling you that the campground host was down one of the rows but no actual signage at any site as to who was the campground host. We never had host stop by our site. Maybe half the sites had shade. Ours had one small tree. The sites are very, very close together. We were in a buddy site with the EggCamper, a two room tent and two vehicles. The site to the west of us had two trailers, a tent, an awning, two vehicles and 12 occupants. Their tent was 5 feet from the egg. Our tent was 4 feet from the trailer on the back side of our site. The swimming beach was about a 2 mile drive from the campground. The sites are electric only.

Friday night was a nice evening for the Balloon Classic. They had about 80 hot air balloons participating. Saturday evening the balloons were not able to fly due to too much wind.

I will try an RV park with full hook-ups for my next trip and see how I like that.

[Cathi]

Gayle, good for you for getting your first big trip in. I didn't even know that there was still a balloon festival going on there. Will have to go.

We have been to some parks where the host is never seen. I think often there are volunteers and perhaps they have no desire to do much. You won't see them unless you seek them out.

Backing up --- we have fits with it. It has to get better!!!

[Ron F]

Congratulations on your first trip! It sounds like you could shop around for better campgrounds though. Perhaps it was just crowded for the balloon event. We prefer state/federal parks. They typically (but not always) have nicer campsites. We find RV parks to be expensive and often have smaller campsites lined up side by side.

You're right. Side to side leveling with blocks is best done first, while still hooked to the TV. I try to remove the tow bar as soon as I unhook. Greasy jeans aren't a good look. :-)

Enjoy your EggCamper. We love ours.

Ron

[rgrugg]

From one Egg Camper owner to another on backing up (and I'm poor at it because I don't do it enough to get good at it), my brother-in-law, a trucker, said to NOT be in a hurry, pull forward to realign sooner than you think you need to, turn the bottom of the steering wheel in the direction you want the rear of the trailer to go, watch your mirrors closely because the short trailer will react to steering faster than longer ones. Actually, that's a plus for me. I can back our 17 feet better than our 31 ft Kodiak. It's easier to back into a site from the left than from the right. Others may (probably will) have better advice.

[Mike Magee]

Glad to hear that you got out and hopefully had some fun. It does get easier after the first time, too.