Since my closest dealer is in Charleston, SC, that made my choice of destination easy! I'd camp a few days in the area, go look at a boat, and then get home in time for Thanksgiving.
It was a little chilly - in the 40's during the day, 30's at night. That was a good thing - I'd get to test out the Truma system for heat and water heating.
I also wanted to try out the new cruiser style Firmstrong bicycle I bought.
(Link to Firmstrong Bicycle on Amazon)
The camp I selected was Buck Hall Recreation Area. It's nothing fancy, but it was a quiet, small park on the Intercoastal Waterway near McClellanville (east of Charleston). It was a straight shot up the road from the Ranger Tug dealer, so the location was very convenient.
The park was a bit in disarray, being past the end of the season. Some people had torn up a good bit of the grassy areas - the ground was damp, so their tires easily sunk into the ground. I'm sure by spring, everything will once again look great. The spaces are nice and spacious, a bit big for a little Class B like mine.
I didn't use the shower house or any of the other facilities, so I can't comment on their state. I was there to use my own systems anyways! I did end up using the dump station when I left and the end of my visit. It was fine and not busy, but in a Class B, you really only need a couple of minutes to dump your tanks.
To sum it up, everything worked perfectly. The Truma has more than enough capacity to keep the van toasty. Having enough hot water for showers and dishes was not an issue at all. In fact you have to be very careful you don't burn yourself, as there are two settings on the Truma. I found if you are using the heater, you can set the water heater on the low setting and it's plenty hot enough.
I also ran off my water tank to test out the pump. For my 3 day trip, I had plenty of water from my 25 gallon tank. The 13 gallon gray tank was full though.
The convection oven is a god-send. It's nice to be able to make biscuits once again. So I made this nice dinner of tuna steak, red beans & rice and buscuits.
One thing that was a surprise was finding these what looks like chess pieces.
They are not mentioned in any manual and the dealer didn't mention them. What I discovered was that these are magnets used to hold the shower curtain in place against the rear doors so it doesn't cling to you while you are showering. Once in place, there is plenty of room to take a shower without anything touching you.
After my trip to the boat dealer, I decided to do alittle bit of sight seeing in Charleston. I stopped at the bridge to walk out on the pier. It's a nice little park almost underneath the bridge. Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park
Being that it was during the workday, there was hardly anyone there. Also, it's free!
You can also see Patriot's Point Park from the pier, so that got my curiousity up, so after a quick lunch in the van, I headed down there to look at the USS Yorktown and the other items on display.
At Patriot's Point, I took hundreds of photos. Here is a link to my Flickr album if you want to look thru all of them. Below are a few choice panaramas I shot with my iPhone:
I thought the submarine was quite interesting, albeit it was in pretty rough condition. They are working on it, but they need the admissions revenue, donations and volunteers to make it happen. To visit the site and crawl all over these vessels, was $20. You can also get on a boat cruise to Fort Sumter (opening battle of the Civil War) for another $20. I didn't have time to go, so maybe on my next trip.
Of course with the B, you can park with everybody else, no special RV section. Can you see my sweet stealthy B? (Hint: far left, upper part of the lot).
I also thoroughly enjoyed crawling thru the bowels of the Yorktown. Even went down in engine room and I nerded out a bit. You could easily get lost down there. People must have been alot shorter then (in the 1940's) as I bumped my head more than a couple times!
All in all, it was a great trip. I also ended up ordering a Ranger Tug. More on that later - I should take delivery in late February.
No comments:
Post a Comment