Another Adventure-Myrtle Beach

[khhorton]

We're off for another adventure in the Hi-Lo. Rather than our usual trek to the mountains, we're heading to the beach. This should be quite interesting. Full hook-ups this time. No rummaging around the woods with a chain saw cutting firewood. No 3+ hour dutch oven meals. We might have a proper vacation for once.

Moving the camper to another parking spot in the storage facility was a wise decision. I was able to hook up and pull it out in record time, plus get it backed into the driveway at home and setup for loading...without a spotter! I wouldn't have even attempted a hook up in the last parking spot.

As usual the fridge would not fire up on propane. Thinking our tanks were running low I took them for a refill. Whopping 1.9 gallons between the two was all they would take. I'm making it my initial setup for load in to take the metal heat shield off and blow a can of compressed air across the burners. Doing this the fridge fires up after two clicks.

I'm so used to packing chain saws, work tools, etc. in the back of the truck I feel like I'm missing something. The bed of the truck looks bare.

 

[gus-HILO]

khorton,
hope you enjoy your vacation, I assume you do a lot of dry camping in the mountains, what is the longest number of days you were able to do that in your hi-lo? most of the camping we have done in Ga has been at camp grounds and I was wondering if there were decent dry camping spots here.

 

[Papa-HILO]

Myrtle Beach

khhorton
Glad to hear you're headed to Myrtle Beach. We are from just down the SC coast in Mt. Pleasant SC. Know you'll enjoy your time at the beach. Today the temps are in the high 60's and it is really pleasant outside.
Where are you staying in Myrtle Beach. We normally look for state/federal parks and have used the state park up near the airport in Myrtle.
We've also camped some in your neck of the woods at Clayton near the gorge, Moccasin Creek and at Vogel State park. All were enjoyable. We also camp at a place called Carolina Hemlocks up in NC (NO HOOK UPS) but the wife doesn't like that.
SC does have a beach state park nearer to you that has electricity and water hook ups. It Hunting Island State Park down near Beaufort, SC. Very nice but you'll need a reservation.
Hope you have a great time at Myrtle. Only hint is hide your credit card. My wife loves shopping there. ha
God Bless
Papa

 

[Roxy-HILO]

Looking for HiLow Trailer

Hello

My husband and I are looking to purchase a HI-Low trailer as it seems to be the perfect trailer to attach and bring along our Kayaks. We live in Ontario Canada and I have never seen these trailers before. Any ideas as to where I might be able to purchase a used one. I do see on this post that the company is out of business now

Roxanne

 

[eodjerry]

HI-LO Trailer

I have one on consignment at Billing RV in billings MT. It is a 2409 (24 foot 2009). They have pictures on Billingrv.com. It is nice.

 

[hilltool]

Roxy

check the personal message (pm) i sent you.

 

[sam-HILO]

Looking for HiLo

What length hilo are you looking for? Towlites are lighter and Classics are heavier. This might give you some guidance. www.NADAguides.com

 

[sam-HILO]

Wanna be hi lo owner

Roxy,I see you are in Ontario,Canada. I live in Niagara Falls,NY. Mantelli trailer sales has two 28fters for sale. They also have a 23H. I believe it is new. Mantelli trailer sales 6865 South transit rd. Lockport,NY 14094Fax 716-625-8395. Phone 716-625-8877. www.MantelliRV.com Ask for sales. Check out the reference library on this forum for layouts. What is your tow vehicle and how many adults,children do you need to sleep? We have been a HiLo owner for 12 yrs. We bought our used unit from Mantelli. Aplus dealer all the way. PM me if I can be of any help to you.

 

[Roxy-HILO]

Amazing Responses - HiLow Trailer wanted

Roxy,I see you are in Ontario,Canada. I live in Niagara Falls,NY. Mantelli trailer sales has two 28fters for sale. They also have a 23H. I believe it is new. Mantelli trailer sales 6865 South transit rd. Lockport,NY 14094Fax 716-625-8395. Phone 716-625-8877. www.MantelliRV.com Ask for sales. Check out the reference library on this forum for layouts. What is your tow vehicle and how many adults,children do you need to sleep? We have been a HiLo owner for 12 yrs. We bought our used unit from Mantelli. Aplus dealer all the way. PM me if I can be of any help to you.

Hello

Thank you so much for the information. I believe we only need 15 to 23 foot. Its really only the two of us and maybe another couple. Mostly need it to take our Kayaks with us if its possible to strap them to the roof of the trailer. Depending on what we bought we are looking at purchasing a new tow vehicle. We were thinking of say a Ford Escape or a Van. What size would they pull? I know I am so green with this stuff. We have a trailer that was custom made for our kayaks and we pull it with a Impala car but that leaves us using a tent and we are at retirement age and not really looking forward to sleeping on the ground anymore

Its all new to us really. Just when we find what we think is the right kind of trailer the company is closed darn.

This is an amazing website and I have received a lot of help. Thank you. Looking forward to reading some more

I will check out the places you have mentioned.

Have a great day.

Roxanne

 

[sam-HILO]

HiLo trailer wanted

Roxy,Just wanted to reassure you that most parts in the HiLo are standard RV parts and can be purchased at RV stores or on the internet. The seal between the top and bottom half and the lift cables are specific to HiLo. These parts can be ordered through Mantelli trailer sales or JR Repair in Ohio. With preventive maintenance lubing the cables they should last a long time. Should you decide to get a vehicle for towing buy one that has a tow package. Everything will be heavy duty. The roof of the HiLo isn't designed to take the weight of kayaks. Do a search of back posts as one of our members fabricated up a workable rack on the roof.

 

[khhorton]

We've made it back from our adventure. Good weather for the most part, though it was really windy. Thursday night there the storms that rolled through Alabama & Georgia made their way to us Friday morning. It sounded like we parked under Niagara Falls it rained so hard! We stayed at Lakewood RV Campground. Nice place, great run of the beach, full hook-ups, daily trash pickup. I'd advise staying with your bathroom in the Hi-Lo as the bathhouse had a few creepy crawlies that might send the lady folks screaming.

We just can't seem to get to our destinations before nightfall. That makes for some additional stress for us with wrong turns, and fumbling in the dark for things during setup. Our setup times are getting better though. We got there after 8:30PM, and had it where we were connected and setup in a little over an hour.

We enjoyed heading South to Murrells Inlet and Pawley's Island. Great restaurants there along the boardwalk. Enjoyed Drunken Jack's, Dead Dawg, and a little cafe in Pawley's Island called Chive. Wife and I walked all over Brookgreen Gardens. I'd advise buying your tickets early in your trip and spread out seeing the entire place over a couple of days. We walked the entire place Thursday and it wiped us out.

Spending 8 days with 2 adults and 3 dogs in the camper was a bit cramped. Space was a highly sought after commodity. As is the case since acquiring the Hi-Lo each adventure is a learning experience. One thing both of us got tired of quickly was the daily setup of the table and bed. We're going to need to figure out something else that works that doesn't take up a lot of space & time.

To answer earlier questions about boon docking, we've only boondocked once, and it was for 3 days. Biggest concern is water & electricity consumption. Make sure your fresh water tank is full, and carry extra water with you. Conservation on water is key here. Wash dishes in two pans rather than running your water all the time, or go the disposable plate/utensil route. Before heading out on your adventure find out where RV dump stations are located either close to or in route. We found two were closed, one didn't have any place until two days after we needed to be back home. We luckily found a place not far from our property we could dump our tanks. These places will charge too.

You're either going to want to carry an extra battery, or have a generator to go along with you. Keep in mind if you're boondocking in national forest or state park areas there are restrictions on generators. We found some LED light pucks that work pretty well for indoors and outdoors. Vent fans will start zapping your power, and that includes the one for the heater as we found out.

As for places to camp in North Georgia one place we want to try is Whispering Pines. Sites are on the creek. They also allowed us to use their tank dump facilities for about $7. Vogel State Park is nice, and there's some really good sites if you get there early. I don't advise getting there past dark sites as good sites go quickly, and there's some spots that if people don't park where they should can present some complicated issues pulling your rig around.

 

[sam-HILO]

camping trip

Nice report on your campout. How to survive a creepy shower house. Use flip flops. Much of the USA experienced strong winds/snow and lots of rain. The ground is really saturated and some trees in a near by town came down like match sticks.

 

[khhorton]

We were lucky back home. Only heavy rain here, but as you said the ground is saturated. One of my cousins that lives about 30 miles away from us said they received 2 1/2 inches of rain Thursday night.

With every trip we learn something about our Hi-Lo, what we like, what we'd like to change. The table/bed configuration in the front is a real pain. Wife and I tried laying on the slide out couch/bed. It would be really tight for the both of us on it, but may give it a go next outing. I'd like to change the light fixture on top of the slide out as I keep bumping my head into it.

While we were out there I watched two families with pop-up campers struggle with setup and tear down. One had a nice Starcraft pop-up, and he and his wife struggled with getting the front and rear extension rooms stored away. I was really glad all I had to do was press two switches (slide-out & hydraulic system). In fact I think the guy beside us was a little jealous how easy it was.