Well my first trip with the PW and Off Road camper is complete. It was the perfect shake down trip...
I went 2.5 hours away from my home in MN to a campground in Wisconsin. A long time friend has a cabin in a kid-friendly, very large, campground near Tomah. My friend and his wife have been going there (every weekend/every summer) for 10 years...and the last 4 they have owned one of the small cabins there... They used to pull a camper there...but now they own a small cabin. They love it. I promised him that I would visit once per year...last year we stayed with them in the super small cabin...this year we pulled my Escapade and stayed in a nearby spot in the campground.
Let me preface this by saying... While I love my friend and his family...this campground was my worst nightmare. There was like 800 camping spots...some cabins/some permanent camper spots/some rental spots. It was by Tomah and called Jellystone. The have TONS of golf carts running around...and the noise and commotion was horrid....(for me). While I love my buddy...this was tough to deal with. The spot next to us had young kids...bright lights and were up to 12AM. It was horrendous. I didn't say anything...just dealt with it. Soon enough, off grid, I won't have to deal with this.
The camper and PW were great. The tongue weight is about 350lbs (with a 2nd battery I added) so the PW barely flinched. It got 10.8mpg on the trip TO Wisconsin and today, on the way back, I got 11.6mpg. Very happy overall...it pulls it like is not there and it follows beautifully. I didn't put it into TOW/HAUL mode so it actually hit ECO mode quite a bit...(not as much as when no trailer is there)...but still did awesome.
I ran a regular hitch but need a 2" drop hitch...so it will fit into my garage. It's all about the angle. My trailer clears my garage with less than 1' The regular hitch I used (which I used on my 2017 Rebel to pick the trailer up) was fine with the Rebel... I need a 1-2" drop hitch for the Power Wagon. I will purchase one soon. With the PW the top of the front of the trailer dragged on the top of the garage door...ugh. 1 simple drop hitch will fix it...will get one soon.
The Maxxfan worked great...once the sun went down the camper was comfortable for sleeping. It was unfortunately parked in shade so I hooked to shore power for the 2 days...but everything worked fine...fridge..super cold...and fan/charging stuff...great. BUT...was on shore power. I will have to be in sun for the solar panels to do their job and charge the dual batteries. Learning experience...this trip helped to teach me that. NEED SUN!
Great trip for a shakedown... List of items needed soon:
- I have small curtains on each window...going to add a 2nd layer to each curtain to make it darker
- small long lighting (LED) for the upper top of the inside of the camper
- couple small USB fans to assist with air movement
- extra mattress pad (queen size) just for comfort
Overall not any major changes. I didn't have EVERYTHING in the back of the PW...but had room for it. I didn't pack the grill/solo stove and aqua bricks but I'll make room for them for the next trip.
The next trip is the major test: Off Grid...NO HOTELS....that's the promise I made to myself...buy this camper...no hotels.
August 2021: Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. Also hope to see Black Canyon National Park and other areas. 9 days or so...total.
Pic of the PW and camper taken today:
