Trip #2-Vogel State Park

Karen and I just got back from camping at Vogel State Park for our eleventh anniversary. Rough start to the trip as we were running way behind schedule and didn't get there till dark. Most of the lots were taken. When we got to the back of the campground we couldn't turn around as people camping in primitive campground were double-parked in the road. I wouldn't been able to get my Jeep through there, much less a 25 foot camper and crew cab pickup. Fortunately we had some folks help us out, and were we pointed out within 45 minutes.

We landed on one of the last lots available. Once the camper was secured and level it took about an hour or so to setup. That's a lot better than we did the first trip out. The weather cooperated, the lot was beautiful, and we had a lot of fun hiking around the park.

We're always learning with this Hi-Lo. Here's a few things from this weekend's adventure:

-backing this camper up with a full size crew cab pickup presents a lot of challenges in tight spaces. A rearview camera will be an upcoming purchase. I think I will also use my Jeep as a tug to get it out of our parking slot, then hookup to the full size truck.

-that you have to manually open the outside vent for the stove hood fan. Wish we discovered that before cooking pancakes this morning and setting the smoke alarm off.

-don't let the dogs knock the electric brake controller in the truck unless you like bucking bull trailer rodeos.

-operating the fridge in DC mode causes the battery to die before you reach your destination. Thankfully we had a/c to plug in and recharge the battery.

-the furnace has a reset switch on top of the fan motor.

-the hitch does not like to release from the ball when the truck is pointed downhill.

As I posted previously we had some challenges with the fridge. I did turn it on propane the night before the trip and it dropped to 34 degrees. It stayed at that temp for most of the trip on both propane and A/C. Last night it started climbing up to 50 degrees. Not sure why unless it was due to how food was spaced inside. I switched it back on propane and it was back to 34 degrees.

We had a lot of fun. Saturday was the most relaxed I've been in ages, and the most hiking I've done over 3-5 months. It was so nice to sit out under the awning looking out at the forest and the creek behind our campsite. I wish we could have stayed a couple more nights.

khhorton said:

We had a lot of fun. Saturday was the most relaxed I've been in ages, and the most hiking I've done over 3-5 months. It was so nice to sit out under the awning looking out at the forest and the creek behind our campsite. I wish we could have stayed a couple more nights.

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I think this last paragraph sums it up for me.There is nothing like coming back to your own home in the middle of paradise. Great trip report!

khhorton,

Re; "-operating the fridge in DC mode causes the battery to die before you reach your destination. Thankfully we had a/c to plug in and recharge the battery".

If this is happening during your travel time from home to campground, then you evidently have a problem with your TV to RV charging circuit. Your TV should produce plenty of current to keep your battery charged as well as run the fridge. Our experience has been quite the opposite, I had the temp turned down too low on our fridge and when we got to our destination 8-hours later, it was almost freezing in the refrigerator compartment.

I suggest you check out your connection, fuse, wire gauge size.

I enjoyed your write-up of your experiences. It seems like every outing provides some memorable events. We are looking forward to spending November on the Texas Gulf with old friends and some new friends we made last year. There are a lot of park activites, pot-luck dinners, and evenings sitting around a campfire and shooting the breeze. Several of us made a two-mile hike from the park to the coastline every day. Nightime games and socials were the order of every day. Our Thanksgiving dinner last year was unbelieveable with everyone bringing his special creation to share with the parkowner provided entree's.

We relish the memories of excursions in our previous Hi-Lo's from years past to the Colorado mountains and Puerto Panesco, Mexico and now adding to them with outings in our latest HiLo.

Jerry & Carol Curtis
2406T

up coming November trip.

Jerry,so glad to hear you will be able to go camping in November. You have worked so hard on your to do list all this long hot summer!! Drove by the KOA campsite and it was quite full in this cooler season. We finally have got a decent amt. of rain and our lawns are mostly green. Weekly lawn mowing for sure. The leaves have been falling everyday for some months due to the severe lack of rain. They all have wilt disease,huge black spots. It is nice to read about others and their travels,memories.

sam said:

Jerry,so glad to hear you will be able to go camping in November. You have worked so hard on your to do list all this long hot summer!! Drove by the KOA campsite and it was quite full in this cooler season. We finally have got a decent amt. of rain and our lawns are mostly green. Weekly lawn mowing for sure. The leaves have been falling everyday for some months due to the severe lack of rain. They all have wilt disease,huge black spots. It is nice to read about others and their travels,memories.

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Sam,

Last Thursday we had advance alerts about heavy rains coming to the Hill Country [finally]. So, I took the cover off the HiLo and raised the top in preparation and anticipation of the coming rain to test my roof repairs. I wanted to see if the roof repairs had lived up to my expectations.

After being stored under the protective cover for the past two months and subjected to direct sunlight through the heat of summer; and at the conclusion of recieving 4.3" of rain over the week-end, my inspection this morning revealed that the roof repairs did indeed meet my expectations. There was absolutely no sign of fresh moisture/leakage anywhere on the interior ceiling!

The compression tests I made [pushing the affected areas with my fingers and hands] revealed that the 'crunchy' noise and 'crispy/puffy' feeling of the degradation of the formerly wet areas remained. This indicated to me that no further moisture has been introduced into those areas.

Although the affected areas are rather small, it still bothers me to look at them so I will definitely do something to repair them. One choice is to cut out the deteriorated laminate and fill it in with a comparable filler, then repaint the ceiling.

Now all that remains is getting the insurance agent out here and see if they will cover replacing two of the ceiling panels. If not, I will attempt repairs myself.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

We'll hit the road for longer excursions sometime in the near future. We're going to keep it within 100-150 miles until we get comfortable with all the systems. Karen made it to South Dakota in the last Hi-Lo she owned so I know we can do it.

I'll see if I can find info on the trailer charging circuit. This is a 2003 Ford F150, and we've primarily used it to tow a utility trailer with the 4 way connector. Luckily we had shore power at both locations to get the battery charged back up after the fridge ran it down. Now that I've seen some other posts I don't think we adjusted the fridge to a lower setting, so we'll work with that next time out.

Has anyone fitted a replacement LED bulb on Atwood trailer jacks? That little bulb gets hot inside the cover on mine.

If you are going on trips of not more than four or five hours you can turn the fridge off if you have everything cold to start with. Just don't forget to turn it back on when you reach your destination.

khhorton said:

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Has anyone fitted a replacement LED bulb on Atwood trailer jacks? That little bulb gets hot inside the cover on mine.

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I did, but not before the incandescent bulb had melted the lens and a bit of the surrounding plastic, because I guess I left it turned on during the day. The LED, a 194 bulb as I recall, works excellently.

- Jack

Thanks Jack. I'll check into the bulb. We've left the light on a couple of times already, and would like something that doesn't put out as much heat and run the battery down as quick.