Camp Backyard and Other Failures

After having Dennis, the previous owner walk me through every step of putting the PUP up and breaking it down, I felt somewhat confident in my abilities. Heck, as a Flight Attendant, if I can evacuate a burning aircraft in 90 seconds or less a tent trailer should be a piece of cake, right?

Ha!

It started with a small victory (which I am thankful for). I towed the trailer by myself. All by my fucking self! I've never towed anything! The drive home I rolled the windows down and gave out a few "yahoo's" and maybe even a "fuck yeah!" Did I back it into the car park? Nope. That is a task I will need to work on.

That night after Huxley was in bed, I set the trailer up. I put up my hanging pantry, stocked the linens, stored my totes, and then had a glass of wine in it. The entire time something felt off. I went out to do a walk around and realized I had a tire on the low end of the parking pad lifted right up. My poor stabilizers were supporting my PUP. This is bad.

Yeah it's a little uneven, buddy.

I turned to my saviour, the Pop Up Portal (http://www.popupportal.com) for advice. Disaster averted, but there would be no Camp Driveway until my levelling issue was fixed. I resigned to break down the trailer the next day until I could level properly... If scrap wood and a cement block can be called proper. I've also bit the financial bullet and purchased a BAL leveller. I'm hoping it will make my life much easier when it comes to a low side tire.

Lessons learned from unsuccessful Camp Driveway:

• Level. Then level again.
• When breaking down your PUP, make sure you have the keys in your pocket. Guess where mine are? In the PUP. Still.
• Close your ceiling vent. Guess how mine is? Open. Still.
• No matter how flat the item is, do not store it on one of your sliding bunks. I figured, "Hey, a table top. No big deal. It's flat. Guess which corner won't latch? That one. Still.

Tonight after Hux is in bed I plan on getting back out there if there's enough daylight. It will be my second time setting it all up solo. I'll be having a beer or four and checking my step by step list. Here's to hoping there is a few less failures and a couple more successes.

Posted with Blogsy