Campers to Scampers ~ Preparation ~ Delivery ~ First trip

[thrifty bill]

Nice thing about being retired is you can adjust your route based on weather or whatever. FL a mess? Then pick somewhere else. The coast of GA and SC are nice, as are many other places.

On trailers, until you have spent a long trip in it, you really don't know. I met a couple in Colorado that has been full timing for the last two years in a Trillium 1300. Could we do it? No, but they are loving it. And as the trailer gets bigger, you end up needing a bigger tow vehicle. So every choice has its consequences. So the smaller the trailer you can handle, that opens up more options.

The wonderful part of a molded FG trailer is you can change your mind later and get most of your money out of your trailer. As long as the manufacturers all have long backlogs, this will continue. But you should never feel "stuck". Doing a reset is not nearly as costly as it would be with a stick built trailer.

[the_fixer]

Retirement sounds great Bill, maybe I should try it... I am sure my bank account would disagree but who needs money anyways right

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The weekend was spent do boring but crucial items like getting the vehicle serviced, replacing the windshield wipers and sorting through the dive gear and trying to get it packed.

I think the volume of dive gear is greater than the volume of everything we have for the Scamp.

Typically when we go on vacation we have a huge dive bag checked and we each get a small carry-on for everything else we need on a typical 2 week trip.

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Dave and All,

I have enjoyed reading this thread. Dave, wishing you the best.

Laura and I bought our new to us '05 Casita 17' FD a couple of years ago. We camped 38 nights in '16 and will camp 40 to 45 nights in '17. I am lucky to have a sabbatical in the spring and have already booked 47 nights in '18 with the goal of hitting 60.

Love our egg camper, camping, and travel.

Take care,

Dean

[the_fixer]

Wow that sounds like an epic year you have planned! My work does not give very much vacation time so if I want that much time away I would just have to retire.

[CSiko]

Originally Posted by the_fixer

Prepping for pickup and outfitting the Scamp

Our Scamp has the front bath and the big bed so I expect our storage to be somewhat limited. With the storage limitations in mind we will be trying equip the scamp with items that serve multiple functions while reusing items from our camping days.

Fortunately, camping products to be lightweight easy to store so many of the items we have collected over the years should be useful for the Scamp.

Additionally, I believe in buying good quality items that will last and provide good service. While often this means something will cost more that is not always the case for example that is how I view the Scamp.

All of our kitchen / camping supplies fit into a Pelican 1610 case with some room to spare and I feel it should fit into the Scamp easily and I might add a nice skillet for cooking breakfast

Nice Best Made Co ax

[the_fixer]

The hitch arrived so I tested it to make sure it would work with the wife’s vehicle. Would be a real bummer to get all of the way to Minnesota and find out that it did not fit and have to scramble to make something work.

It was kind of expensive but I went with it for the following reasons.

1. We have 2 vehicles that will pull the Scamp, mine sits quite a bit higher than the wife’s. Hoping the adjustability will allow me to use the one hitch for both vehicles.

2. We are picking up the Scamp and selecting the correct drop / rise for the hitch will be nearly impossible without having our stuff loaded and the trailer / tow vehicle connected. This will allow us to adjust as necessary to get the best possible configuration.

The hitch is made by the weight safe company and seems to be of excellent quality and is made in the US. It is very easy to adjust and feel like it will last a long time.

I also purchased a locking pin and one for the trailer.

[the_fixer]

Here is my tow rig, I imported it from England in 2009 and did a full frame off rebuild pretty much just the wife and I with the exception of the paint.

Stock towing capacity is 3500 with the stock 2.5 NA diesel motor but that was replaced with a LS3 motor and 6 speed automatic out of a 2011 Silverado.

Wish I could take it on the maiden voyage but I have a total of 700 miles on it since the rebuild and it is not the most comfortable vehicle for long road trips.

[DeanCHS1980]

Originally Posted by the_fixer

Wow that sounds like an epic year you have planned! My work does not give very much vacation time so if I want that much time away I would just have to retire.

Hi Dave,

I think I have 6 to 8 years of work left, but starting in 2018, I will begin having summers off. Plus, I have a spring sabbatical in 2018. So, 2018 will be a unique year. Looking forward to transitioning to having more time and balance starting in 2018.

Wishing you many camping adventures with your Scamp 13'!!!

Take care,

Dean

[the_fixer]

1 week until delivery and as I was flipping through the channels last night and came across a movie called RV.



RV (2006) - IMDb



That movie hit home with some of my fears having never dealt with the systems such as the scene where he is trying to drain the black water tank.



Not sure how to explain the feeling at this point although I am sure everyone has had this feeling at one point or another in their life equal parts of excitement and trepidation….



It sure is going to be a long week

[the_fixer]

What a whirl wind of a week.

Had to drive to New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska for work. 3 days 3 states and lots of miles.

Arrived back Wednesday evening, loaded up the wife’s car for the trip and went to get some fuel so we would be ready to leave at 6:00 am and the car died on me

Got a jumpstart, headed to the auto parts store to get a new battery at 8:30 before they close at 9:00.

Turns out the battery was ok but the alternator was dead

Auto parts store did not have one in stock and said it would be 2 days to get one.

Called around and found one across town but they close at 10:00 got there at 9:40 ish.

Got home, put the alternator in tested the car and it is back in working order.

Since the car is 4 years old and on the original battery I decided to go ahead and replace it.

Super stressful week but we are on the road and on our way to Backus to pickup the Scamp.

[the_fixer]

We made it to the land of Scamps



Pickup is set for tomorrow morning

[lisantica]

Originally Posted by the_fixer

We made it to the land of Scamps

Attachment 112796

Pickup is set for tomorrow morning

Is it one of those in the photo?

[kootenaigirl]

How exciting to finally be there. Let us know how pick up goes.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by the_fixer

1 week until delivery and as I was flipping through the channels last night and came across a movie called RV.



RV (2006) - IMDb



That movie hit home with some of my fears having never dealt with the systems such as the scene where he is trying to drain the black water tank.
...

LOL I gave my brother an unlabeled DVD of that movie when he bought a camper and only told him it was training video that he needed to watch with the family so that they all knew how everything worked on their new to them camper.

[the_fixer]

Our scamp was in the pre- delivery area inside the building not in the picture.

Ours is a 13ft, all of the ones outside were finished and had names on them waiting for pickup.

We did a Saturday pickup and the orientation was pretty quick. Wish I had asked more questions and tried a few things prior to taking off.

When we got to the campground it was dark and I could not figure out how to put down the stabilizers. Actually they are still not down since I just slid a piece of wood under the back and a hard case that I had to keep it from tipping over in the night.

We also ruined some food, I turned on the fridge to the 120 setting and went to bed, the next day at lunch we went to get something out and it was hot inside.

Looked around a bit and found the 120 plug in cord for the fridge was not plugged in. I plugged it in and it is cold now.

Went back and forth on the A/C and i am soooo happy we purchased it otherwise we would be miserable at our current camping spot. It is super humid due to the flooding and I think we might leave earlier than planned for the next destination.

[k0wtz]

looks like a trouting stream!!

glad for you

bob

[Poodlesrule]

We picked up our 13' Scamp in mid-April of this year. We planned to drive to a nearby campground & check everything out while close enough to return to Backus if necessary ( I agree the orientation is pretty fast). NO campgrounds in area were open yet (freezing pipes, they said). All we really needed was a pit toilet- but nope. Ended up quite a way south camping at a Casino ( I would never have considered that-but it was actually very nice). By then it was pouring rain & getting dark. Thankfully, we were able to eat at the Casino- even had a complimentary shuttle there & back (cold rain). Spent a chilly night, but the next day we were able to figure out how to work everything (fridge, stove, heat strip etc). By the time we got back to New Mexico ( took our time-1st 2 week vacation I have had in years) we felt pretty much experts.
Camped in both full hookups & boondocked. Looking forward to many more short & long trips to come.

[the_fixer]

Sorry for the lack of updates the first location we stayed at had no cell reception and no WiFi and the only time we would get it is when going town and that was a 20 min drive.

Our first day and a half it rained pretty hard but once the weather cleared we took full advantage by taking a canoe up the Santa Fe river from Ginnie Springs to Blue Springs. The river was just below flood stage and the current was strong so it was a good workout.

The effort was rewarded with having the blue spring all to ourselves since it was closed due to hurricane damage.

A little green frog hopped on the canoe for a little ride



We were treated to more turtles than we could count and even a blue heron hanging out with them





I assume that these birds were wood peckers, they were tapping on a tree playing a game with each other.



Did a couple of cavern dives but only have video of them so maybe I will upload them later after a good edit or two.

Scamp is doing well, the fan is amazing and I think it would work in place of the A/C in all but the harshest conditions.

We head out to topsail and camp gulf soon and I will continue to update as we are planning to use the full hookups for the first time

[the_fixer]

Here is our view from the Scamp here at Camp Gulf



It is a nice facility and the people that work here are really nice.

It is the exact polar opposite of the last place we stayed where it felt as if we were in a jungle all by ourselves here we are surrounded by people.

We did hookup the water and have been using the sink but the bathrooms here are really nice so we have not used the toilet / shower yet.


And the beach is really nice, it is only a couple of hundred feet from where out Scamp is parked.

[k0wtz]

Life is really hard for some folk!!


bob