So what toy road is Mike taking now?

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:02 am

When ever I see Mike W selling a bunch of stuff it usually means he's going some new toy direction.

So what is it this time Mike, Airplanes?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Nothing nearly that exciting. I'm doing the "dad" thing and shopping for a camper trailer. Kids are getting self sufficient enough that we're looking to do a lot more family adventures.

I'm looking for something in the $3-7k range, 23' either hybrid or a hard slide bed with bunks. Or a hybrid with bunks, which I'm finding is rare. I found a great deal on a 25' hard slide but I'm not interested in towing something that big with the Durango.

If anyone finds something please let me know!

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

Funny that I should be one step ahead of Mike on anything. He beat me to the 325is, to the CRX, etc., but we have been considering a move from tent trailers to the hybrids for a few months. The tent trailers have a much more open, airy, and camping-like feel than the hard sides, but most of the newer tent trailer models have some significant draw backs that the 10+ year old models didn't have.

The most significant advantage of the hybrid is that one can stop along the route and still access the interior for lunch or access the refrigerator. Most of the more modern, low-wasted pop-ups have the refrigerator blocked by fold down counters. The older, taller-folded-height trailers allowed access through the door and directly into the refrigerator.

Now it seems that we transport all the cold stuff in an ice chest in the back of the truck. (Like back in the days before campers had refrigerators). Also, we have found that the shorter refrigerators do not cool as well as the taller units (believed to be due to better convection air currents on the taller units since all the air flow is by gravity.)
Charlie G

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:22 pm

No, the most significant advantage of a hybrid, IMHO, is your own bathroom.

--Donnie

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

So Donnie, what's it like to tow your own Port-O-Let...anything like the TV ads that "keep going, and going, and...."
Had to do it even though it's an Old Guy joke.
Charlie G

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Maybe this should become the new "camper tech" thread.

I'm leaning toward a Jayco Kiwi or Rockwood Roo 23SS. There are 2 Kiwis available locally for under $7k right now but I'm holding out for a better deal

Has anyone out there in THSCC land ever had one of those 2? Or any other hybrid?

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

Mike,

We have been doing the popup camper thing for 2 years now and love it. We have a Palomino popup camper which is just the right size for a weekish long trip somewhere. We generally go camping about everyother weekend in the fall / spring. NC has some amazing places.

My wifes idea of camping is a dry, warm / cool place to sleep w/ a potty. Took awhile but we found exactly what we wanted.

I looked pretty hard at the Rockwood Roo as a possible next step. Only issue for me is that my Sienna would not be up to the task of towing that much weight plus all the gear, 3 kids, bikes, canoe, camping shtuff. Not ready to get a Tahoe.

Trust me, start small. I've had more hours of free entertainment watching everyone setup their 30ft rig in a small camp site. 15min after arrival, i'm enjoying a cold refreshment.

This summer we took a 2000mile road trip up to PA with all 3 kids and had an absolute blast. On a longer trip, a hard side would have been awesome. Pull into the rest stop, walk back to the rig, eat something, take a nap, relax, get back on the road.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:18 am

My recommendation, too, is once you do buy something (and you're certainly qualified to do the buying on your own) and you get it home, have someone who does a lot of travel trailer camping come over and just do a big huge brain dump on you while you can walk around yours and take notes. There are just too many good little tips and tidbits you can get that way that you won't ever get through a thread on a forum.

You won't learn much that you wouldn't have learned on your own in two or three or four trips, but what you learn will definitely make those first couple trips a loss easier and MAY keep them from being disasters.

Non-obvious to a first timer things are things like in most cases it's better to hook up to sewer but do NOT leave the valve on your tank open. Let stuff accumulate in there a bit, then go add some water to it and dump it daily or every couple days. That "flushes" the tank better...otherwise you can end up with "stuff" in the bottom of the tank before you head down the road home that you didn't realize was in there and stinks up the joint later. It also lessens the chance of clogging up your flexible hose.

The devil is in the MILLIONS of details on these things...

--Donnie

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Look what followed me home today ... It's a 2002 Kodiak Skamper 23'. Pulls nice with the Durango, it's only about 3800 lb empty/dry.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Sat Oct 30, 2010 6:43 pm

Quick, someone grab that awning!

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

Funny thing is that this Top Gear rerun was rebroadcast a few day ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN7jmLeiJhE

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