Popup Winterizing 101

This year went by so fast, but given that we were able to get in as much camping as we have since the first weekend in August when we picked up our camper, we are pretty pleased.  So, yet another thing new to us is how to prepare and store our camper for the winter.  Here in Southeast PA, nearly all of the campgrounds close on November 1st and won't re-open till April 1st.

The camper manual pretty much states that everything should have a good cleaning, top off the propane tank to full, take care of the sink/water tank, and battery.  After adding some additional items from the Forest River forums, I loaded my tools into the van to go over and begin the process.  Here are some photos of the camper while I was there and some of the things I did.

Inside:

• Emptied all the storage compartments and drawers and placed a Bounce Dryer Sheet in them.
• Vacuumed the compartments and below the cushions.
• Cleaned the beds and ends, inspected all zippers
• Cleaned the fridge and propped open for storage
• Washed the stove, burners, and lid thoroughly.
• Used the air compressor, regulated to 20psi, to blow air in the lines of the city water and tank while the valves were open to push any moisture thru the lines and out.
• Added RV Antifreeze to the sink to protect the drain and trap, collected excess in empty milk jug on the drain line outside.
• Cleaned the surface of the sink, left drain open and the taps open
• Washed and vacuumed the floor
• Opened the light fixtures and recorded the bulb style and size, for an LED replacement project
• Removed the 9V battery from the overhead smoke detector
• Cleaned the screen for the Fantastic Fan in the ceiling

Interior 12V Ceiling Fixture Bulb, note the discoloring from the heat

Stove cleaned, Sink Winterized

After carefully ensuring everything was placed away in its place, I unzipped the sidewalls and lowered the bunk ends to begin closing up the camper.  Carefully folding the sides in as I went, after a few walk arounds the camper was closed and the roof secured.  The awning was still open, so I cleaned the surface and inspected the edges.  Everything was good, so once dry, I wrapped it up and secured in the cover on the side of the roof.  Since the nose would be tipped down for the winter, I placed both zippers at the low point of the cover, so any condensation or moisture could escape there if it built up to any point.  I then cranked the tongue jack down to get the roof to drain forward, this helps since I'll cover it and with the AC unit ontop I didn't want to chance a puddle freezing and thawing while resting on the roof.

Parked, with tongue down for good drainage of rain

Outside:

• Installed Bug Screen on Furnace intake/exhaust
• Cleaned all connections for water and dried, securing the caps
• Made sure all tires were at proper PSI, including the spare.
• Washed everything
• Double checked all controls were off for the refrigerator on the outside compartment, cleaned, and placed Bounce Dryer sheet inside.
• Covered vents with plastic bag to keep bugs out
• Removed Propane tank, covered the connector and secured to the LP tank holder
• Removed the battery, taped the negative terminal over and secured inside the battery box
• Covered the hitch connector plug and secured.
• Opened and recorded the exterior step light size/type for LED replacement.

Bug Screen on the Furnace intake/exhaust (prevent those Mud Dauber Nests)

Exterior Step light bulb, very hot when in use, definitely switching to LED

Covering the fridge vent and a bag on the inside of the access, to prevent bugs getting in.

12V Battery and Tank Removed, Connections protected for Winter and secure

Cover is on!  Awaiting Spring!

So, next spring, I'll reverse the order, open and inspect, and we'll be ready for camping in 2013!!

Little Red Barn Campground - Halloween Weekend!

Following a trip to Chicago, the weekend was very quickly approaching and there was quite a bit to complete.  This trip, the girls would have the opportunity to go Trick-or-Treating at the campground and I still wasn't complete with making our costumes.  As a family, we try to dress up in a theme for Halloween when ever we get the time to get the thought together and the design all worked out.  One year we were all M&M's, but this year, we were going to try and be a LEGO Family.  The plan was for the kids to be the LEGO bricks and Becky and I to be LEGO people.  So, off to figure it out and get the paint, cardboard, and sonotube.

Finally, Friday was here and we decided to try and get a head start on the weekend by taking the kids out of school at lunchtime.  This worked out great, as we were able to get to the campground by 2pm and get a good head start on setup.  Many of the sites at Little Red Barn were previously tent sites, so they are a little smaller than some other places we have stayed.  They do have some large pull thru sites which would be good for the big campers and some field sites with hookups if you are part of a group of campers/tenters.  Our site, was of decent size, but did not allow us the room to have the canopy setup.  Fortunately for us, the site on our one side was not going to be used this weekend, so we had some overflow space to place the picnic table and fire ring.  The only challenge we had to address was the placement of the hookups.  Electric was a 30 Amp plug on the left of the site, water was on a pedestal at the front right of the site.  Generally, all campers and popups have hookups on the one side, so this required some thought.  After a few attempts, we were able to jockey the camper in and set it cocked at and angle on the site, allowing us to barely reach the water and the electric at the same time.  Others had this issue too.  If during the summer and we wanted to run the AC, we would have to have a 30 Amp extension cord for some of these sites.

Our Site, 90% setup for the weekend.

Still, all setup, we were looking good and ready to have a fun weekend.  With a close eye on the weather, as Hurricane Sandy was making its way up the Eastern Coast, but that looked like it would hold off till later on Sunday.

Mild temperatures allowed a nice meal outside, BBQ Chicken+Corn+Rice

Saturday was a fun day of hanging out and relaxing.  The girls got to play at the playground a little in the morning and afternoon, separated by a Halloween craft time where they made their Trick-or-Treat bags.  We also walked the campground and took a look at other sites to see the ones that we may like to return to and those that have adequate space or a good stable layout.

Madie loves doing puzzles on the iPad

Ally loves dinosaurs and is usually off to the side of the camping area digging in the dirt, making a fort or home for the toys she brings along.  This time, we had a treat for her, a Dino-Dig!  There are pieces of skeleton encased in a hard clay mold.  With a pick, paint brush, and patience, she was to excavate the parts out of the mold so she could make her dino model.  Well, it was going slow, so I helped with a steel tent stake and the hammer to chisel things a little, but she eventually got it!  If anyone ever sees these kits at a discount store, pick one up!

Ally got the backbone out of the clay

The finished dinosaur after the excavation!

Playing at the playground!!  WWWEeeeee!!!

So, after a full day of fun, it was time to get ready to Trick-or-Treat at the grandparents nearby, and then around the campground!!  This was a ton of fun and I'm really looking forward to doing this every year with the kids.  They had a blast and it is in such a fun atmosphere.  Here's a few shots of our LEGO crew out and about!

Madie and Becky making the rounds!

At the campground Halloween Costume Contest!

At the campground Costume Contest,... guess who won?!  WE DID!!  Everyone loved the costumes and gave us lots of credit for not just making them, but doing out as a family.  I do say we had a great time and looked good too!!

Hurricane Sandy started to make her presence known around 3am on Sunday morning.  The wind had shifted and picked up a little.  Then, around 6am, the drizzle started,..... UGGggg..... good thing we packed everything up we could inside and out.  So, after some restless early morning hours, I ventured out to the bathhouse and found that the light drizzle was straight down, and just dampened our camper so far.  Hopefully it holds off for a while.

Once the kids were up, I used some bargaining power to persuade them to get in the van after we loaded the bedding and got everyone dressed, and Becky and I would quickly take down the camper, then we could get donuts for breakfast!  That seemed to work, so I pulled the van in under the awning and we loaded up in the rain.  Once the kids were in, Becky and I got the towels ready and our ponchos on, and went to work with our gameplan.  Unzipped, interior ready, we moved outside and collapsed the bunks and tried to dry them off as we went.  Lowered the roof down, dried again,... lowered some more,... dried again,... finally closed!  Rain was still a steady drizzle, but we were doing well and in a few more minutes we had the camper secured and hitched to the van.  Bye to the neighbors, and off we went.  Figures, by the time we hit the main road the rain had stopped,.... and guess what,... it didn't start raining again till after 3pm! Just our Luck!

So, after a few days of heavy wind and steady rains from the Hurricane moving inland, I went over on Thursday morning and opened up the camper.  To my amazement, it was very dry,.... we did a good job!  I had some moisture between the screens and the plastic windows / vented sides of the bunk ends, but that was a quick unzip and dry with a towel.  I left the camper open to the breeze for the day while I was at work, and even left it up the next few days so I could prepare to winterize it.

Another great trip in the log book!

Upcoming Posts!

We're off to brave the chance of weather from Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Low Pressure "Sandy", whatever she may be by the time she gets up the eastern seaboard to Pennsylvania.  Hopefully, not till mid-day sunday so we can get packed back up from our last camping trip.  Bummer!  It's the last one already!  (most campgrounds close around our area on Nov 1st)

Upcoming posts will obviously be about this weekend's Holloween Adventure at the campground, but then we'll also have a post about winterizing and also a summary Campground Score-card for our adventures this year.

Check back soon!

Measuring Propane Use

Ever wonder how to check propane level in your tank?  After using the propane this season for 5 trips now, cooking and using the heater occasionally, and then using the heater nearly all night this past trip as the temps dipped below freezing got me thinking, how much propane did I use?


First, you need to have some sort of scale that you can place your tank onto or suspend from.  I think the grocery stores would frown upon you taking the tank inside!

On the tank someplace you will find some valuable information stamped into it.  This is more commonly found around the tank handle since it would not damage or impact the tank.  Sometimes it may also be placed on a placard attached to the tank.  Here you will find the water weight capacity (W.C.) the tank is able to hold, which converts to a propane weight using a common ratio of these liquid densities.  You will also find the Tare Weight, or empty weight of your tank.

Propane Conversion Chart

In my case, I see on my tank that my W.C. is 47.6 lbs.  Going to the chart, I see that 47.6 is nearly equal to 20 lbs of propane.  I also find on my tank that the empty weight is 19.0 lbs.

Water Weight - Top, and Tank Empty Weight TW, Bottom

Given this information, my full propane tank will weigh in at 39 lbs when full.  To determine how much propane I have remaining in the tank, I just used a digital fish scale that I could lift the tank up off the ground with and get a reading.  Prior to our camping trip to Quakerwoods, I measured our tank to be 37 lbs.  This meant that in our prior 4 trips, when we predominately used the stove and grill for cooking quick meals, we used approximately 2 lbs of propane. 

Weighing the tank with a digital fish scale

Close up of the scale

Following our trip this past time and really running the furnace, I could definitely tell that the tank was lighter, and here in the photos you can see that it measured approximately 31.6 lbs!  That's 5.4 lbs of propane used in just one trip!  The heater worked great, but wow, did it suck some propane!

Now, 31.6 lbs is the total weight currently, so subtracting the 19 lbs of the tank weight I still have 12.6 lbs of propane remaining, enough for our last trip out this coming weekend, even if it gets really cold (which it currently is not forecast too, looks like mid 40*'s for the lows at night).

So, armed with this information, I can now check my tank periodically and get an estimate of the propane left in my tank.

Bonus Note: 1 lb of Propane can yield approximately 21,600 BTUs!  So, if you are trying to figure how much you can run that furnace or particular appliance in the camper, take it's rated BTU output/hour and divide by 21,600 BTUs, and you'll have how many pounds you can expect to use per hour.

Happy Camping!!

Quakerwoods Campground - Oct 12-14, 2012

Another week of work, followed by an exciting camping retreat at Quakerwoods Campground in Quakertown.  Not a far drive, and really easy for us to navigate to since we are so close to the turnpike.  34 minutes from pulling the camper out of the driveway to pulling into the campground, can't beat that.

The forecast was looking to be a cold wintery feeling Friday night, but moderate on Saturday and Sunday.  We made up for all other campsite short comings with this trip and everything ran like a fine made swiss watch with regards to setting up the camper and closing it down.  Becky and I seemed to be right on the same track with each of us working together perfectly.  Not bad for our 5th camping trip!

Our Massive Site.

Quakerwoods is a nice campground that has the seasonals occupying the perimeter and a few weekender sites mingled in.  The main sites are in the center with easy access roads and all the low branches cleared from the trees.  In fact, 80% of the campground is gravel, since it is all sites and roads, with grass areas only found around the pond and soccer/softball field.  This is one negative for the kids.  Our site was huge, plenty of room for our camper, 10x10 canopy, two cars, and room for the fire ring and chairs.  The bathhouse was moderately tiled and nice, actually one of the better ones that we have been in this season according to Becky.

Great sign.  The things you see at Campgrounds.

Family Photo!! GoPro style!

Stayin warm by the fire and makin Smores!

Poor Madie, I had to put socks on her hands as mittens.  Here she is napping.

Friday night it was cold and damp, with a light breeze blowing in thru the woods off the field.  I ran the propane furnace most of the night to keep everyone comfortable and had the heated mattresses turned on too.  At 5am, the weather on the iPad said 26*!  Couple that with the raw damp wind, and we were cold.  It was best to stay inside the camper for breakfast and stay out of the wind till the sun really could get to work outside and warm things up.  Even then, we realized we weren't really prepared for the cold, not having gloves or mittens, or even pull over hats for the kids.  Everyone had hooded sweatshirts and fleece jackets, but even wearing both they were getting cold.  By mid-day, we decided to go for a wagon ride on the tractor since it was warming up a bit and it would get everyone moving. 

Ally catching one of the few fish today

Then we saw that the pond was being hit with full sun, and decided to give fishing a shot.  This way, the kids could have something to do and they would be out of the damp woods and in the sun, which would have worked better if the fish were biting!  We only caught two fish in nearly an hour, so everyone was bored and wanted to get back to the campsite.

The afternoon was filled with playing in the leaves, going for walks and playing at the playground with Grammy, and of course, having a great dinner and cooking smores on the fire!  We burned a good amount of wood this weekend and had a good time.  I recorded a lot of video which I'll assemble soon in the 'off season' to add to the blog.

Warwick Woods Family Campground!

Preparations began early in the week for another fun weekend of camping.  The girls did not yet know that we had worked it out for their friend Zoe and her mom to come up and meet us on Saturday to join us camping for the weekend.  Weather was looking to be great for another weekend in the woods, with some fall chill starting to set in as the week progressed.

Friday came around, and we already had the van packed and the hitch in place.  As soon as I could, I hurried home from work to help load the final items as Becky picked the girls up from school.  Being a Friday, there is always more traffic than normal and we were sure to hit it.  So as soon as everyone was home, we rushed back out the door and over to pick up our camper.

 

The snapshots above make it look easy, but it took me a few frustrating tries to get the camper in the position that I wanted due to the shape of our site being a 'kidney bean' shape.  Finally, I had it close enough and we leveled it,... or tried to.  The door side took two shim boards but the tongue jack was near full extension,.. which I did not like.  So, we lowered the front back down and I took some remaining shim boards and got them ready.  As I lifted the tongue with my huge muscles, Becky slid in the boards under the front jack.  That lifted us 3 inches or so, giving me more comfort in the jack.  I nailed two cleats to either side of the wheel to secure in place and we were finally ready to open the camper.  This added time to our typical setup time of 1 1/2 -2 hrs.  Generally, our setup includes making the beds, installing everything inside and setting up everything outside, once and done.  No getting a box out later to unpack or a camp chair to setup around the fire, it's all done when we arrive.

After some dinner, we relaxed a bit and then went down to BINGO!  The girls had a good time, and although they didn't win this time, I'm sure we will be playing BINGO more often at the campgrounds.

Ally checking her numbers

Becky Won! $2  (I think 4 people won simultaneously, so the pot was split)

So, after a long day at work, traffic, and the evening at the campground we were all ready to turn in and get some rest,... all of us except Madie!  She was just a bundle of energy and a wiggle worm for hours in the camper... so much for a good nights rest.

Saturday morning came quick, and so did Zoe and her mom.  We no sooner finished breakfast and they called saying they were down at the front entrance.  Good timing too, cause after a few minutes of looking around the camper and campsite, we were all off on our way to the Rec Hall to start the scavenger hunt!

Ally, Bella, Zoe, Madie

The campground provided the bags and a scavenger hunt list, so off we went to find at least 15 items on the list.  Bottle caps, yellow flower, oak leaf, clover, candy wrapper, etc, we were searching and picking up our items.

Craft time after scavenger hunting!

Madie's squirrel craft and her scavenger hunt paper.

One time when Becky and I started camping many moons ago, we were near a Girl Scout Troop who were making Spider Dogs??  Curiosity got the best of Becky and soon she was over there.  Now we make them with the girls.  Cut a "+" into each end of a hot dog and leave about a 1 inch length in the middle uncut.  As you cook the hot dog over the fire these ends curl back and make the hot dog look like a spider with 8 legs!  Zoe and her mom had a good time making them.  Note, fishing rod holders also make good snack holders at the fire!


Spider Dogs over the Fire!



Now that everyone had some lunch, we decided to go fishing in the early afternoon since their was a good chance of rain moving in later in the evening.  Girls went and played for a few minutes at the playground while I got the gear ready.  Then, down to the fishing pond we went.  All the girls caught a bluegill and were having a good time, and I was trying to get a catfish.  The website shows some photos of some big ones, so I had chicken liver and pantyhose to keep the bait together, and the patience to catch one.

Everyone fishing for a big catch!

Video says it all,... and I did too apparently at the end,... Ooops!
Disappointed, everyone headed back to the site while I continued to try for another hour.  No Luck.  One thing to make it all better, a good dinner and smores over the fire!


Smores!

Sunday is always tricky, as you know you have to pack up but you really don't want to.  What is nice about Warwick Woods is that checkout isn't till 2pm!  So, we relaxed in the Hammock, took a walk to check out the other campsites while many packed up, played in the arcade, and even had some lunch!

Madie and Daddy in the Hammock

Down the tube slide!  Wwwweeeee!

Ok,.. back at the homestead, time to pack up.

So, another great weekend camping and a really good time at Warwick Woods.  Definitely a place to return to and visit next year.  Any other families out there that want to go, let us know, and we have a few good sites near one another we can try to book.  Check out our video below too!

Fall is here,... Colonial Woods Camping #2

Friday:
Noon on Friday came quickly and I was soon on my way home from work to go and hook up the camper before the kids got out of school.  Now that they are in second grade and the evening light is getting shorter, picking them up directly from school is going to be a benefit to getting setup at the campground.

We arrived to Colonial Woods and found it to be quite empty this weekend in comparison to the busy and full weekend we camped here before.  This time, we were in site FS3, which was on the outer loop and a nice long site.  As we setup, we moved the picnic table to infront of our camper and enclosed it with our 10x10 canopy.  This allowed us to have a camp fire area off to the side, and we found out later that we could easily fit two cars with room to spare.

First Family Photo from Camping!

This time Becky and I were not quite in sync with the setup process.  I raised the camper without plugging in the fan/AC cord or extending the awning.  Of course, I noticed this after everything else was done and now we didn't have or stepstool with us either.  So, Ally and Bella took turns up on my shoulders to help unzip the awning and get it untied for Becky and I to setup.  Couple this with Madie crying loudly after falling on the stone, Ally and Bella being cranky cause they are tired and hungry, and we looked like the family you didn't want to get stuck camping next to.  But, after all was done, food was shared, and everyone was happy to be camping again, we were off to a much better start to the weekend.

Saturday:
The kids actually slept in their OWN bed ALL night!  Well, at least till the early hours of the morning when Madie was the first to wake up before 6am.  Once everyone was up and moving, Becky started up the cooktop to make eggs and pancakes for breakfast.  MMmmmm Mmmmm Good!  It's always a good idea to have a good breakfast before going fishing!

We all walked over to the fishing pond and I setup the lines.  Basically, you can picture three kids fishing from the side of the pond with me going back and forth down the line replacing worms, taking off bluegills, repeat.  It was just back and forth between them all and they were having a great time.  Madie caught her first fish, a bluegill, and was reeling it in.  She hesitated when it started splashing at the edge of the water, and then broke out in excitement.... "I got a fishy! I got a fishy!"  It was really neat to see her so excited.  Becky captured this great photo too when I asked if she wanted to kiss the fish!

Kissy Kissy!  You caught a Fishy!

Ally and Bella each managed to pull in about 6 or 7 bluegill each before 10am when craft time began.  Ally and I continued to fish while Becky took Madie and Bella to the main lodge for craft time.  When they were done, we fished a bit longer but the fish had learned their lesson for the day and stopped biting the hook.  So, off to the camper for lunch and some R&R before the forecast afternoon rain approached.  Radar showed a line of heavy rain approaching, so we elected to have hot dogs over the fire and smores for lunch!

These woods are infested with bugs and monsters!

Spider Dogs over the fire!

Fresh Chocolate Chip Cookie and Fire Roasted Marshmellow!  MMMmmmm

After lunch, we had a visit from Nana!  After showing her the camper and our setup, we all headed off to Free MiniGolf.  No one bothered to keep track of the score, as it was tough enough to keep the kids from going ahead to the next one as soon as they were done.  Everyone had a good time even though it was hot and humid.  A few rumbles of thunder in the distance, and we scooted back to the camper.

Ally starting off the next hole!

I Win! I Win!

The rain soon started with a light drizzle followed by the campground guy coming around telling us of the severe thunderstorm warning and heavy winds approaching.  We secured the campers awning and lowered our canopy over the picnic table, stowed the firewood, and went to the lodge to wait it out and play some games.  After about 45 minutes of a steady rain, very little wind, and nearly no thunder, we headed back seeing that the main line of the storms had passed.  But, still raining, we elected not to have our main dinner and just go with PB&J or PB&Fluff for a light dinner before going to the Ice Cream Social!  Gotta save room for Ice Cream!

Ice cream was good, with lots of toppings that made it better!  They were setting up for Bingo and Nana had to head home, so we said our Good-Bye and went back to the camper for the rest of the drizzly night.

Sunday:
yea,.. you know the drill by now...  Breakfast, Fishing, then Packing up the camper.  It was much colder now that the rain and storm front has passed.  We fired up the furnace to warm up the camper and pulled out our sweatshirts.

One of Ally's many Blue-Gill and Sunfish

Bella's 10" Bass!

So, we wrap up another trip with lots of smiles and great times.  Teardown and packing up was Smooth, and we redeemed ourselves in comparison to our setup on Friday.  Here is a slideshow of the weekend!  Enjoy!




Things That Worked:

1. Vent system works great even with the short grey water hose.  Very happy with this setup.
2. TV/DVD is nice to have to allow the kids to calm down before bed.  Also was nice to have with the rain this weekend.
3. Furnace!  Thank goodness for heat.
4. 2-way radios are really nice to have for the kids going to the bathroom or if we divide to do different activities.

Things That are added to the To-Do List:

1. Don't forget the step stool!  By the 4th trip, hopefully we'll remember it!
2. Velcro to keep the new step secured so it doesn't slide.
3. Check the interior light bulbs for replacement with LED fixtures to reduce the heat.  Same with the exterior step light as Madie likes to touch that one!
4. Fill / Check the propane tank.  Need to guage how much we used our first 3 trips with cooking and light heat use.  Fall chill is in the air, and I have a feeling we'll be using the heater more often to extend our trips to the end of October.