Shake Down Trip - What An Adventure

Oh what an adventure this shake down camping trip was! For the most part this spring has been cold and wet. Over the past month we have had 25 days with rain and the ground is soaked. But the forecast was for a sunny hot Memorial Day weekend and I was just itching to get my first road trip in on the new trailer.

I made reservations at Lake Hudson Recreation Area located near Hudson MI and Friday morning set out on the two hour drive. As I pulled into the park the ranger warned me about the soft ground at some of the sites and wished me luck as I entered. Like most Michigan sate parks, the camp sites are grass and when driving through it was obvious that many of the sites were water logged.

After a couple of drives through the park I found a site that I thought was firm enough to get into. I made good progress as I backed in and just about the time I was into position the rear wheels of the truck started to spin. Rather then dig myself in deeper I just decided to drop the trailer and enjoy the warm dry weekend figuring things would dry out over the next couple of days.

I chocked the wheels of the trailer, dropped the landing gear and started to pull out. As I did the wheels started to spin. I had a bit of momentum going so I didn't want to stop. What I forgot was that the truck was at an angle to the trailer and the 5th wheel hitch caught on the edge of my V tailgate ripping it off the hinges as I pulled out. No damage was done to the truck but the tailgate didn't fair so well as it bent one side back about 3 or 4 inches. Scratch one tailgate.

What was done was done, nothing I could do about it now. So might as well get setup and enjoy the long weekend. I pulled the truck in next to the trailer and started to setup. Got the trailer leveled, the slides out and rear stabilizers down. As I went to plug in the electric I could find the power pedestal. As I looked around I soon realized that adjacent campsites shared a single pedestal which had two power boxes on it. But it was about 75 foot away. Using my two 50 amp cords and a couple of 10 gauge extension cords I was able to reach it. I would be limited to 20 amps but really didn't need more then that anyways.

Once all setup I went to get some things out of the truck and noticed that the tires had now sunk into the ground about 6 inches. OK, was most likely stuck but I wasn't going any place for the next couple days so I'd worry about it when I left. Besides, we had 3 days of nice warm weather forecast! I sat back for a while to relax and enjoy a cold one. I could hear in the distance revving engines as other campers were getting stuck in their camp sites. Their misery  gave me a bit of satisfaction that I was not the only one spinning my wheels.

As I started to cook dinner dark clouds started to move it. I checked the weather and sure enough a front was moving in sooner then was forecast. As I finished dinner it started to rain. And rain it did, off and on for the rest of the night. No big deal, still had Saturday and Sunday with temps close to 90 forecast.

Got up Saturday and the ground was soaked. Not a pond out my door but it was soggy. Luckily I had my patio mat down with a door mat to keep things fairly dry. But you could see that if you had much foot traffic on the grass it would quickly turn to mud. By noon it was still only about 70 degree and I was wondering where the heat was. Checking the weather again they said the warm front had slowed down and they moved the hot days back one day so I was looking for the hotter weather on Sunday and Monday now.

This also meant that there was the possibility of rain again on Saturday. Possibility was an understatement! It started raining about 5pm and rained all night. The already waterlogged ground was now spongy every placed you walked. Talking with a fellow camper about the wet weather he offered to help me get my truck unstuck. Figured the offer was there so I'd better take him up on it while I had the chance. It only took a slight tug of the tow strap to get me out and I parked on the edge of the road on firmer ground. I thanked him and he offered help again if I needed it getting the trailer out on Monday. I hoped I wouldn't need it as we still had Sunday and Monday forecast as hot and sunny.

Sunday dawned sunny and hot. The warm front had moved north of us and it quickly got up into the 80s. Figured now was as good a time as any to see if that 20 amp service would run the A/C in the trailer. I switched the frig to propane, turned everything else off and give it a try. The A/C fired up and ran fine. After 1/2 hour the trailer was cool and none of the extension cords were even warm. Sweet, I was all set for a good day of relaxation.

In the afternoon it started to cloud up and started to get darker as time went on. Time to check the weather and sure enough, the warm front was moving south and storms were moving in. Severe weather warning were announced along with tornado warnings. I pulled in the awning, packed away anything loose and hunkered down as I waited for the storm front to pass through. 40 MPH winds hit, the rain poured down and in about 30 minutes it was over. We were lucky, no real damage in the campground but less then 50 miles away there was a lot of damage from a tornado and straight line winds over 100 MPH. There was now a pond outside my door.

The rest of Sunday night was uneventful. Monday morning was sunny and hot with temps in the 80s before 10 AM. I pondered if I should try and get the trailer out or just leave it for a couple days and hope the ground would dry out. But the weather forecast was calling for possible rain each day for the rest of the week so that didn't seem to be a good idea.

I checked the ground under and in front of the trailer and the ground seemed pretty firm.  So I placed the patio mat in front of the trailer to give my tires some traction, emptied the fresh water tank to lighten the load and hooked up. I started to pull out and all looked good... that is until the tires dropped off the patio mat and started to spin only a foot or so from the road. Rather then keep trying to get out and just dig myself in deeper, I stopped. Through this process the guy in the next campsite was watching and seen I wasn't going anywhere. He waved and jumped into his truck. We hooked up the tow strap and a small tug got me on the road and I was on my own.

Oh what an adventure my shake down trip was! Got stuck three times and rain each day that prevented doing much more then sitting inside. All was not lost. I did find a few things that needed attention on the trailer that I had not found before. One electrical plug is not working, a trim piece on a window was not installed correctly so  once I got the window open it would not close and a small section of the inside wall was not attached properly to the stud so it popped loose. I have already fixed the window trim and I could most likely fix the electrical outlet but I don't have the trim to fix the loose interior wall so I'll take it back to the dealer and let them fix that and the outlet.

I did get to meet a bunch of people in the campground as we helped each other get unstuck and laughed about all the ruts everyone was leaving in the campsites. The park employees will have their work cut out for them over the next few days as they repair the sites, that's for sure. You also learn to be prepared for anything and to roll with the punches. What happens, happens... getting upset won't fix anything and will only make a bad situation worse!