I had purchased a 3500 watt Powerhouse generator as some of the places we wanted to camp were not full service campgrounds. We wanted to be able to set up and enjoy most creature comforts if we were at a race track or setup on a lake fishing in the middle of nowhere hence the generator. It is big enough we can run the appliances in trailer just not all at once plus keeping the battery charged. All we required was a venue where we could try out our new system.

    The Dirt Nationals  just happened to be running in Brockville at this time.  One phone call and I had two weekend passes and a campsite booked and confirmed. We were all set for a long weekend of racing ,staying at the track with no tent involved and all the comforts of home.

Thursday arrived and prep began . Load all the food and refreshments into the trailer.

Check.

Load the generator and all necessary  wiring and adaptors into the truck.

Check.

Fill water tank with water and put spare jugs of water in truck.

Check.

Hook up trailer and do pre-trip inspection of lights and coupling.

Check.

Let’s hit the road.

Check.

It starts to rain .

Check.

45 minutes later we arrive at Cornwall Motor Speedway and the rain has stopped. We check in and proceed to our campsite. Set up is no problem easy peasy lemon squeezey . Slide the generator to the back of the pick-up and make all connections , start it up and the lights come on. Perfect. The water pressure at the toilet is low but the pump isn’t bled yet, then there is no water. That’s not good. crawl under the trailer and discover that when the factory winterized the trailer they did not replace the drain cap and its not something the dealership checked. I picked up a drain cap at the local dealer and checked all the winterizing fixtures. Found out the bypass valve was left open. Closed that and filled tank from the spare jugs. Turned on the pump and let it come to pressure. It shut off and would cycle on a demand basis. Perfect.  Water system is now working fine.

Test the fridge. Switching to propane from shore power is seamless.

The rest of the weekend was spent watching races and enjoying all the comforts of home.

 

We were picking up our Vintage Cruiser 19ERD on a Friday morning at the dealership. We had already made plans for that weekend for a shakedown trip. Actually we had booked a weekender site at our seasonal campground (when they still had a few weekender sites) which was literally across the road from the dealership (see Hacks). This allowed us the luxury of having a day of dealer support at the site since the dealer was open on Saturdays.

After final hitch adjustments and a comprehensive lesson in hitching up the unit and adjusting the load bars properly I did a final walk around inspection of all lights . I then headed off on my 1/2 mile trip to our campsite. Testing and fine tuning our brake settings as I went only intensified the 3 1/2 minutes of terror as I towed the brand new unit to the campsite where my wife awaited me. Thankfully no semis attacked me, all the branches  stayed away from the trailer’s pristine exterior and all potholes and mud puddles were avoided. “The Baby” arrived as spotless as she left the dealership.

Set up was dramatically uneventful. Back in to the site to the appointed position and unhook ,level and admire  our new purchase. Shore power , city water and sewage connections were all fast and easy and with in 45 min we were set up  ready to go.

All was right with the world.

The weekend passed smoothly with us testing out systems on the trailer. The only interruptions being all ours neighbors all wanting to see the inside of our cute little travel trailer.  Monday morning we headed for home where we could finish loading in necessities and prep for the next adventure.