Our new Scamp

[Don and Mary S]

We are new here on this forum although I have been reading the forum for some time as part of our research on fiberglass campers. I find this website very informative and interesting. We read a lot, looked at many campers, toured the Bacus factory and ordered a Scamp in November.

Our pick up date was Feb 26th. Because of an expected storm, I went early and picked our new Scamp 13 up Friday morning the 23rd in order to beat the storm which was to hit Iowa and Minnesota late Friday evening and last three days. I began the return journey by 10:00 to our home near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was an extremely windy day. From 4:00 south of Mason City the rain began to freeze and the conditions deteriorated quickly. This resulted in me reducing speeds to 30 mph most of the time. Thunder, lightning, freezing rain (hard at times), and high winds made the going tough. Gusts were up 40 with steady winds about 30 mph. I faced mostly side winds with about 60 miles of head wind. I was prepared to stop and wait it out, but they predicted that things were just going to get worse as time passed. The last part of the journey took double the expected time. Fortunately, I made it safely home about 9:30. Boy, did things ever go down hill after that. The blizzard locally resulted in a lot of damage and tens of thousands without electricity on Saturday and Sunday. We lost power for 15 hours ourselves. Actually, my wife and I were sitting in the camper discussing future travel plans when power went out.

The best thing was how well the Scamp handled the high winds and icy conditions. I pull it with a Ford Ranger extended cab 4X4. I am not sure to attribute the good handling to the trailer or truck. Regardless I am very pleased with how it tows. I figure that this will probably be the most extreme conditions that I'll ever have to tow in.

We are pleased with our purchase and cannot say enough about how nice everyone was at the factory. They are very helpful and accommodating.

Happy travels to everyone.
Don and Mary

[Al Stansell]

Glad you made it home safe! That is an encouraging report. I think the most important factor in towing safety is the driver behind the wheel... good job! Alec

[Donna D.]

When I first read the topic title...I was fearful there had been a major problem! Glad to hear everything slowly worked out for you.

Alec is right, it's the driver. Okay, so maybe the aerodynamics of towing a molded lightweight fiberglass trailer helped too You did everything right...slowing DOWN was the best course of action. You've already started down the road, making memories

[Christi V.]

what a hair raising trip back home.. but glad to hear your all safe and sound and the egg is home too!!

[Adrian W]

Holla! Don and Mary, happy to hear you made a safe trip. Good driving, good egg shape to let the wind not push it over.

How does the new Scamp factor look?

And I have been reading that the new 13's are 2 inches higher, which should be nice.

About 5 summers ago, we had some RV trouble in Iowa, the left front Firestone tire's tread came off just as we got next to Clear Lake breaking the break line on the C-class front breaks. Lucky for us, the next exit put us at a Ford Dealership. It was about 4pm on a Saturday and they were just closing up. They allowed us to camp out on the side of their garage. Neat little town. Monday, they had us going before noon. I had gone into Mason City and gotten some tires put on the wheels, needed 3 all told. Took me 2 trips, the wheels were to big to get all 3 into the Metro's real hatch together. We spend a lot of Sunday jacking and changing wheels/tires. But, tires were on and ready to roll by Monday. Neat looking Beachtown look to Clear Lake, to be in the middle of the USofA. Over all we had a Nice stay, except for the mean looking Thunder Storm coming our way at one point and reports of Tornados in some counties and not knowing what county we were in. Mean, Scary looking clouds coming from the north, Strangest clouds we had ever seen, like a long black silk drap across the whole sky. We were ready to use our towed Geo Metro to go hunt a firestation to seek shelter. Just a lot of rain, Thank God. Learned about Buddy Holly and his connection to Clear Lake. Much happier with our Scamp now.

Happy camping! Stay out of the Blizzards guys!

AW

[Cam A]

It always seem like the initial voyage home is the worst one... Now you can relax, knowing that your rig can weather anything you are likely to encounter along the way. Enjoy that new Scamp.

[Anne H]

Well, you certainly got a workout for your first trip!!! Glad that things went well - you'll probably be very confident now under difficult circumstances. I'm kind of glad I have the trailer for those times when we lose power in Portland. I can go out to my trailer and be quite happy running off propane for a bit.

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Don & Mary S.,
You've saved many miles and a lots of time by becoming veterans on the first trip! (denotes wiping brow).
Congratulations for your Scamp and your 1st adventure getting home safely.
Please continue to share your future escapades!
Kurt & Ann K.

[Al and Cindy K]

Hi Don & Mary and welcome to Scamping. I flew into Cedar Rapids from NC late Friday and got a chance to experience that same storm on my drive to Waterloo. Don't think I can ever recall being in an ice storm AND a thunderstorm at the same time - You folks do that often up here?

From my experiences with hurricanes at home, I can empathize with the problems everyone around here is having being without power. Definitely not fun. The Holiday Inn I'm staying in is full of emergency service people and locals who don't have electricity.

I'm sure Iowa is a nice place to visit but I'm sure looking forward to getting out of here on Friday. Hope that next storm coming through doesn't cause problems with my flights.


Al

[Robert Scallan]

Picking up my new Scamp 13 in Backus MN on the 22nd....goin home to SW Florida....hope my trip is not as severe as yours was....congradulation on the new EGG...There is a Scamp Owners International group that I joined via mail...I will send u the entry form if you like.

Bob

LIFE IS GOOD!

[John Kellow]

Wow, I shure am glad that I got my 13' on Feb 22 Thursday.
I knew that weather was coming. I had smooth sailing all
the way back to Denver.

[Roger H]

Welcome Don and Mary, fellow Iowans! Glad to hear you made it home OK. It's amazing how well these things tow, isn't it?

For those of you who posted above or are reading this and are thinking that Iowa must be a horrible place weather-wise, I have a story... normally spring here is just lovely, and summer is hot, but pleasant. Fall is gorgeous and while winter can be hard, the past few have been mild.

I'm a native Iowan from Sioux City in the northwest corner, so I'm used to the Plains weather, but I lived all over the world for twenty five years before returning to Iowa with my wife who is a native of San Diego. We moved into a new house in NW Iowa in the spring of 1998 which happened to be uncommonly violent with sometimes two violent thunderstorms a day.

I overheard my wife talking to my brother-in-law one evening and they were discussing him coming to visit, but my wife cautioned that he shouldn't come in Spring because Spring in Iowa was just awful and frightening! Of course, we haven't seen anything like that spring since, so she's got a much better perspective now.

The storms last weekend were bad, but nearly unprecedented. It's seldom we see that kind of nasty weather here, and it's certainly less destructive than the weather on either coast or the hurricanes in the Gulf. I was actually out camping in my trailer in early January this year because the winter had been so mild until then.

Just wanted to give you all a little perspective.

Roger

[Don and Mary S]

Thanks to all for your positive comments. Thanks to Roger for reminding us that Iowa's storms are not the norm. I don't want to leave the wrong impression. Iowa is a beautiful state, but Midwest weather has its surprises. I just thought you all might be interested in our first Scamp experience. Happy camping. Don

[LLerberg]

Congratulations on your new Scamp. We'll likely be picking up ours soon, too. We only have to go as far as Minneapolis so it should be easier. I'm glad you made it home safely as I know how treacherous ice storms can be. Were you able to complete the hitch attachment to the A frame by yourself when you got to Bachus? I guess that's the only thing worrying me. Happy camping. Lee

[Don and Mary S]

Were you able to complete the hitch attachment to the A frame by yourself when you got to Bachus?

My truck has a factory installed class 111 hitch. I needed to have it wired with the required harness (as per Scamp wiring sheet). At the factory as the final step in checkout, we just dropped it on the hitch ball, plugged it in and away I went. The have an older gentleman who helps hook everyone up. Hope this helps. Happy travels. Don