SewMona – Page 43 – A slice of my Florida life

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This post is part of a series of posts on camping. See here for the rest.

So, you’ve got your pop up (or camper of your choice), you’ve found the perfect spot for your shakedown cruise, now it’s time to pack. What do you need? What’s good to have? What should you leave at home?

Aside from the obvious things you’ll need – food and clothing – there are a few other things you’ll need.

You will definitely need a container for your gray water (that’s the water from your sink). We bought a Barker Manufacturing Company 11104 22 Gal. Original Tote-Along. It’s 22 gallons which gets us through a weekend. I’m very careful with how much water I use though. It’s easy to dump. If the dump station is near by, it can be wheeled there with the handle. If it’s farther away, there’s a handy attachment (that comes with it) to hook it to your hitch. For the first couple trips we didn’t have this (actually, we didn’t realize we would need it until just a couple days before our shakedown cruise). A pail with a handle works great too. We used a 35 pound kitty litter container and a piece of old hose. We (actually, my husband) had to dump it about every day. Kind of a pain, but it worked (and it was free!).

Wood for leveling. Some campsites are nice and level so this isn’t an issue, but some are not so you need a couple planks to put under the wheels to level it. Leveling helps the refrigerator run more efficiently. Also, make sure you don’t unhitch your tow vehicle until you’ve leveled your camper.

A hose to hook up for potable (drinking) water. We don’t actually drink campground water though. It’s too chlorinated for my taste. I buy bottled water and use that for cooking & drinking.

An Straight RV Adapter, 5-15P to 30A RV for the power cord in case the campground doesn’t have a 30A hook-up. The dealer we bought from gave us one when we picked up the camper. You’ll need it if you need an extension cord to reach the power supply and to connect to your power supply at home. Maybe an extension cord. The cord in the pop up should be long enough, but just in case.

A lighter for lighting the hot water heater and for your camp fire.

Bedding of some sort. We use sheets for our bed, our daughter uses a sleeping bag and the boys sleep on a sheet and cover up with their own blankets (avoids fights over covers!). Pillows – don’t forget pillows! We were all packed for a weekend trip and I was so proud of myself for getting everything loaded. We could even see out the back window! Just before we left I ran in the house for something and happened to remember that I’d forgotten our pillows!! Five pillows take up a lot of room!

Wood for a fire, if you have room. Otherwise, most campgrounds sell firewood.

Definitely take your patience! Getting backed into your campsite can take some work. We’ve decided that it works best for me to do the backing up and John tells me where to go. I can’t argue with him and he can’t touch the steering wheel. You have to find what works for you.

Leave your stress at home – this is a time to relax and enjoy your family.

Remember, have fun!!

Note: The links in this post are my referral links.

Once upon a time we bought a pop up camper. We had no experience with campers, but we knew it would be perfect for us. And it was (and still is). Along the way we’ve learned a lot (about the pop up and us). For the next few Fridays, I’ll be posting about our adventures in camping.

So, you own a new camper? Give it shakedown cruise. What is it? Why have one? Well…

According to wikipedia.com, a shakedown cruise is:

Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Shakedown cruises are also used to familiarize the ship’s crew with operation of the craft. In the travel industry a shakedown cruise is undertaken to test a ship’s systems, both mechanical and human. These test cruises are sometimes made with passengers traveling at a discount. The term can also refer in a generic sense to the process of testing out any new technology or systems.

Okay, so why have one? The simple answer is to test what you have and what you don’t.

As the owner of a new camper, one of the first things you want to do is go camping! It’s the whole reason you bought the camper to begin with but, for the first trip in a new camper, a cross country adventure is not the way to go. Instead, common sense says that a new-camper shakedown cruise close to home is a good way to start. Being close to home allows you to run home or to a familiar store for things you forgot.

Make sure you have a pen and paper to make a list of things that would be nice to have.
A weekend trip is a good length. You get a sense of how much stuff you need and what things you don’t need.
Since storage is at a premium, you need to pack carefully.

For our shakedown cruise, we went to a campground near our home with which we had become familiar thanks to visiting relatives. We knew the campground, planned it for weeks, and guess what? We missed a lot of stuff that we ended up needing and had to make a few trips to the house. Then, of course, we received a phone call that threw the whole weekend into disarray (that story is coming up later). The moral of the entire thing is make your first trip close to home because you never know what might come up or where you might come up short!

Remember to have fun!

Camping – What to Pack

Pop Up Camping – Shakedown Cruise