Naomi and I just got back from a relaxing four-day campout at Indian Mounds Recreation Area in the Sabine National Forest on Toledo Bend, right on the Texas/Louisiana border. It was a little on the hot side, but otherwise very enjoyable. We pretty much had the entire camping loop to ourselves. There is currently no fee for overnight camping; there are a couple of potable water taps in the loop but no electricity, so be sure to bring your generator.
We had three takeaways from this short camping adventure:
- Now we know what “China bombs” are. On our way back home, we had one of our trailer tires unwrap on us on the highway. Fortunately we were in a spot that had a decent shoulder so we could pull off, and we had everything we needed to make a quick tire change safely and get back on the road. Remember when you’re traveling to have all the right wrenches and sockets, bottle jack, traffic cones, and hi-viz safety vests. And it might not be a bad idea to practice in your driveway before you take off on your adventure.
2. We were disappointed in our new TPMS. Before we left, we purchased a Hieha Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for our trailer. Once the sensors were installed, the pressures and temperatures showed up on the receiving unit which was mounted on our dashboard in our tow vehicle. As we started out, I noticed that some of the numbers weren’t changing from their initial values, even after we had been traveling for a while. So I had my suspicions, which were confirmed when we had our blowout and the TPMS still showed 67 psi on the tire for hours afterward. TPMS systems should be configured so that, if it can’t get a value from the sensor, it indicates a loss of connection — not just “well, this was the last value I received so I’ll just keep showing it”. That is misleading and dangerous. We are returning our TPMS for a refund; I’d rather not have one than have one that provides inaccurate info.
3. Our Honda 2000i generator can run our AC – but that’s all. I purchased a SoftStartRV and installed it on our AC unit, and it worked great; our Honda generator successfully started the AC fan and then the compressor and it blew wonderful cool air for several minutes… but then it tripped the generator. After quite a bit of experimentation I was able to determine that, if there was anything else connected besides the AC, the generator couldn’t handle it. So we’d run the AC with all the other breakers turned off, and then in the evening we’d shut off the AC and quickly charge all our phones and power banks and camper battery and stuff. Looks like it’s time to look for a bigger generator; camping in Texas in the summer without AC isn’t an option.
Awesome idea Tartan! I often think about buying in an RV or trailer but I still haven’t pulled the trigger. We’re getting ready to embark for our annual summer road trip so maybe 3 weeks of tent camping and AirBnB’s will push me over the threshold. I’ll watch this space for inspiration:-).