First Long Haul for our Uhaul!

[knighth001]

So we finally took our little Uhaul on it's first long journey. We've done a lot of close 2 and 3-night weekends since we've had it but this was the first and longest haul for it. We left Athens, Ga on Oct 11th headed for Custer State Park in South Dakota for 9 day trip. 1600 miles and 2.5 days later we landed in Blue Bell Campground up there. It was a bit cold and we had rain and snow and sun while there. Fortunately, the governor struck a deal to open Mount Rushmore (my wife's main reason for us going). We had a great time. On the way home we went through Badlands NP, Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in De Smet, the Gateway Arch, and a stop in Metropolis, IL to see the giant statue of Superman (a must for my 5 yr old son and his favorite part of the trip ).

I was happy that the little Uhaul held up for the trip very well. We had no issues towing it. I was also happy our (new to us) '07 Acadia handled well towing it the whole way. I did put the Acadia into manual mode and kept it in 5th except for long downhills. I wanted more control over the shifting. I wasn't happy with the pulling effort in 6th. It seemed difficult to maintain 65mph in 6th. It did work well. Gas mileage wasn't great but we had a great time so that made up for it.

Wife and kids were real troopers for 9 days in tight space. Oh and we had our 2 little dogs with us too. Cozy trip!

--Sean

[Sharon D]

Congratulations! Glad to hear it all worked out well. What kinds of accessories did you outfit your U-Haul with that made it easier on a long voyage?

[knighth001]

Actually, we really minimized what we took over what we normally take. Since we were planning on sleeping in the camper on the road (truck stops and walmarts), I didn't want to pack the camper to the point that I had to unload stuff every time we stopped. We really utilized the back of the Acadia for food and some other stuff. I've been having some issues with getting the old propane heater to fire up lately, so we took a small electric, ceramic heater that works really well for us. It only worked at the campground when we had electricity though. We also made up the beds ahead of time. even the front bunks. I just laid the top bunk down on top of the lower one while traveling. and that worked quick to setup for the little ones going to bed.

I think I want to invest in an induction hot plate for cooking as it seems that it would be pretty nice to have something simple at the campgrounds where we have electric. And they don't appear to take up much room. We do carry a little 5 cup coffee maker which we use every morning. But our most useful tool I would say was the electric water boiler/kettle my wife got from somewhere. Between oatmeal, heating up cans of beans, and hot water to wash dishes, it got used a lot.

[mary and bob]

Our Uhaul furnace was also unreliable, so we removed it and use a small electric heater. If no electric available we have the small model Mr Heater we can use to warm the trailer, window partially open, but won't sleep with it on. Furnace area is now storage. In a few weeks we will be heading south for the winter, most of the time on the coast of Georgia. Like Sean, we like to keep the camper clear inside for overnight stops. The rear of our Honda CRV is packed, plus a roof top carrier, plus a tongue box I just installed. Rear bed stays made up. front is short couch & a Casita chair. Dorm fridge in place of ice box, stove gone and under counter storage there, access door to space under furnace area. Now if I can just remember where everything is packed!!

[knighth001]

Hope you guys have a great trip down Bob. So with your stove gone, what do you use to cook with? or do you use an propane stove/grill outside? I have a WeberQ and an old Coleman stove I used with tent camping. Depending on where we'll be, we also have an electric skillet (though in my opinion it's too big; maybe a smaller one for Christmas this year). I like the idea of an induction hot plate but I've never had one before. You guys ever tried one?

[stevebaz]

I have the new wave induction plate at home. It works really well and heats up fast. faster than natural gas or propane. The issue with camping with it is, its large but easy to pack since its not deep. But you have to have the proper pans with heavy bottoms and they are not only heavy but take alot of space. If your camping in a fixed location with power it can be real convient to have. I have an outside outlet by the door and a small table that I can set it up on.

[mary and bob]

For long term camping we are using a Coleman Road Trip grill, the one with the separate base & legs, and a toaster oven. Depending on where we are going, which camper we are using, and for how long, we also have a two burner propane camp stove, a George Foreman propane table top grill, and a couple different single burner Coleman stoves. We never cook inside, possible exception would be to heat up some soup. Where the stove was is covered with a cutting board on hinges, and a storage basket underneath.