We Made It

[bipolarcoder]

First ever trip and my family and I arrived safe and sound in Florida. It is almost 70 degrees here and I am enjoying the views.

I did look like an idiot and hit a water spigot trying to back into our site causing water to shoot 15 feet into the air.

Had a panic attack having just drove from KY and had to have someone help me back my trailer in.

Thank god for the community however I feel like the village idiot still

[chuckster57]

If that’s all that happened, you’re doing real good!!! Have a relaxing evening and enjoy the weather. Shake it off and start fresh in the morning.

[dutchmensport]

Don't worry about it. We were watching when someone else did this. Ran right over it with their camper. Made no sense, this was not even a campsite:

[bipolarcoder]

Yeah we were backing in and I didn't see it when my truck hit it for my trailer. Popped like a balloon.

No one was hurt, only my ego.

[bobbecky]

This is the reason one of the family should have been out of the tow vehicle, watching and guiding you into the site.

[sourdough]

Glad you made it. Don't worry about that faucet, lost count of the ones I've seen hit....and things much worse.

That 70 sure sounds nice. I'm missing it. Hopefully the 14 hours went fine with no hiccups. Now you can settle in, assess and get a game plan. With the worry of the trip out of the way and hopefully in a pretty, serene place things will come together. It's funny but sometimes it takes me a few days of "nothing" pounding in my brain for solutions to dilemmas to just pop into my head. Put the pressing issues on the back burner in the brain, have fun in the new place and think about those things.....suddenly things can become clear and poof! the answer appears. Good luck.

[LadyCPA]

Originally Posted by bobbecky

This is the reason one of the family should have been out of the tow vehicle, watching and guiding you into the site.

Now be nice. We all learn differently and sometimes we have to learn by doing something the wrong way.

And Bipolar, we have all been the idiot on occasion. Glad that was the biggest issue on the trip.

[LHaven]

I've lost track of the campsites I've used that have bent-over water pipes.

My own novice aw***t moment on my first trip was when I forgot to set the chocks before unhitching the rig. Started rolling backwards towards a gully, me like an idiot trying to pull it to a stop. It eventually stopped on a small rise before reaching the lip (phew!)

[Badbart56]

Not sure where in Florida you are but there is a high wind weather alert for the northern part of the panhandle. Gust between 55-70 over the next 24 hours or so is what I've heard so, make sure your stabilizers are down. Good luck to all of you affected by this storm system.

[CBears]

The first year with our first trailer was rocky at times as well. Felt so stupid so many times. Backed into my shed. Moved trailer with stairs down, good thing it was not far. Backed up with tongue jack down. Luckily I do everything in slow motion where the trailer is concerned and listen for strange sounds.

I'm sure everyone goes through it. At least I hope they do.

[flybouy]

Yes, it happens to everyone, even the "well seasoned ". We're all human so we all are all subseptible to making errors, especially when exhausted or stressed. I would be suspect of anyone that claims otherwise.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by CBears

The first year with our first trailer was rocky at times as well. Felt so stupid so many times. Backed into my shed. Moved trailer with stairs down, good thing it was not far. Backed up with tongue jack down. Luckily I do everything in slow motion where the trailer is concerned and listen for strange sounds.

I'm sure everyone goes through it. At least I hope they do.

Everyone goes through it and.....repeat. Getting in a hurry is a good way for those "oops" situations to occur.

Pulled into a campground built into the side of a hill/mountain (central TX) and the sites were built right over the edge on piled up caliche/dirt/gravel. The ped was about 5' down the back side of that site pad where it was built up. Long day, trouble finding the park, people parked in all kinds of ways making it very difficult to get the trailer in (38'), stressed and irritated. Jumped out, undid the chains/bars/coupler and raised the tongue - very bad idea. As soon as that trailer cleared the ball the base of the tongue jack started sliding....scraping....grinding...toward the back of that hill. I was in shock and disbelief. How could that happen? You all know how; forgot the chocks. It slid about 2' and stopped thank the Lord. The back of the trailer was just sticking out into air over the side of that hill past the pad for the site. It stopped because these were newer sites and there were some ruts in the pad top that stopped the tires or .....
We all make those mistakes, some of us continue to make them I suppose. Now I'm getting to the age that I'm afeared that it won't be stress, being in a hurry etc. that will make me forget......go slow.

[CBears]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Everyone goes through it and.....repeat. Getting in a hurry is a good way for those "oops" situations to occur.

Pulled into a campground built into the side of a hill/mountain (central TX) and the sites were built right over the edge on piled up caliche/dirt/gravel. The ped was about 5' down the back side of that site pad where it was built up. Long day, trouble finding the park, people parked in all kinds of ways making it very difficult to get the trailer in (38'), stressed and irritated. Jumped out, undid the chains/bars/coupler and raised the tongue - very bad idea. As soon as that trailer cleared the ball the base of the tongue jack started sliding....scraping....grinding...toward the back of that hill. I was in shock and disbelief. How could that happen? You all know how; forgot the chocks. It slid about 2' and stopped thank the Lord. The back of the trailer was just sticking out into air over the side of that hill past the pad for the site. It stopped because these were newer sites and there were some ruts in the pad top that stopped the tires or .....
We all make those mistakes, some of us continue to make them I suppose. Now I'm getting to the age that I'm afeared that it won't be stress, being in a hurry etc. that will make me forget......go slow.

That’s pretty scary indeed! Thank goodness for ruts.

[ncstan]

Happens to all of us. Something we've done was, as we gained more experience we started to compile a list of things to check off to help out with things. Maybe make a list for arriving and departing. Also a packing list is helpful


Happy camping!

[Mainer]

I was "helping" my dad park our trailer and I remember very distinctly that he explained that the last thing you unhook are the safety chains. I asked why and he said watch. When he cranked it up the hitch popped over about 3 inches.

He explained that he always found that it moved some and that is why he left the chains connected. He also said he had a chock slip one time and was really glad the chains were attached that time AND that's why he keeps well away when it's ready to clear the ball.

[notanlines]

Just to bolster what was said above, our RV park has all new concrete pads on site for the picnic table, etc. When backing in I had DW watch the tires on that side to make sure I stayed away from the new concrete, but still close enough for the steps. Yep, you guessed it! Did any of you have any idea that water from the broken water line at the pedestal will reach heights of 20 feet or more? I'm here to tell you it will....more than 30 years experience and still making 'stories to tell.'

[JShort880]

Originally Posted by bipolarcoder

Yeah we were backing in and I didn't see it when my truck hit it for my trailer. Popped like a balloon.

No one was hurt, only my ego.

Hey! That's not an expensive story at least!

Day 3 of having my RV (new truck with it), I was practicing hooking up. I was nervous about having the tailgate down and it hitting the RV (didn't have my spotter with me). So, I was putting my tailgate up/down once the hitch was inside the bed. Then I went backwards one time instead of forward. Crunch .


Happy you guys are in Florida. Good Luck with the job hunt. If I note anyone looking for a sql dev I'll let you know!

[JShort880]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

Don't worry about it. We were watching when someone else did this. Ran right over it with their camper. Made no sense, this was not even a campsite:

When we were in Tucson, Arizona a guy with a A-Class was backing into a spot and just demolished a whole section of fence/pipe/cactus. For some reason he panicked and took off out of the park driving erratically. During his attempt to "escape", he ended up smashing into a concrete wall on the way out.

It was one of those moments where I was questioning if I really just witnessed what I did!

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by JShort880

When we were in Tucson, Arizona a guy with a A-Class was backing into a spot and just demolished a whole section of fence/pipe/cactus. For some reason he panicked and took off out of the park driving erratically. During his attempt to "escape", he ended up smashing into a concrete wall on the way out.

It was one of those moments where I was questioning if I really just witnessed what I did!

My tinfoil hat tells me he may have been running a little light on insurance...

There was a YouTube video going around here about a year ago where some guy took his 5er around a walled-in corner at a fast food drive-thru window, got jammed, and then did about seven wrong things in a row before getting loose by taking the corner off the building, totaling his rig in the process.

[JShort880]

Originally Posted by LHaven

My tinfoil hat tells me he may have been running a little light on insurance...

There was a YouTube video going around here about a year ago where some guy took his 5er around a walled-in corner at a fast food drive-thru window, got jammed, and then did about seven wrong things in a row before getting loose by taking the corner off the building, totaling his rig in the process.

Yeah. I mean in total he probably did like $500 in damage initially (other than maybe the landscaping, not sure what the going rate on cactus is!). I think it was an ego panic reaction!

The drive-thru ones kill me. I always question how some people pull some of these more extreme (obvious) cases, but then I think about the really dumb stuff I've done that was just to a lapse of thinking in the moment. Auto-Pilot can be deadly.