# Shake Down Cruise a Success



## Aquaduct (May 30, 2004)

Well, just got back from our first trip with the new Outback 25RSS. My wife, chprout, is working like the devil trying to catch up on the work she was supposed to be doing, so she asked me to tell all y'all about it.

As a shakedown cruise, we decided to throw a little bit of everything into the works. Even the things we weren't counting on, Mother Nature made sure that we covered.

Leaving Winchester, we go out to Berryville and catch 340 (a nice winding country road up and down the hills and aroungd the bends) up past Harpers Ferry, across the Potomac, to Frederick, MD. Then we zoom on to I70 to Baltimore. We then drop down (after a big wreck that slowed traffic 3 miles from our exit) on I695 south to I95 up through the heart of Baltimore, through one of the harbor tunnels ($6 toll, $2 for the car and an additional $2 per axle) and up toward New York. Being about 5pm on Friday when we got to the other side of Baltimore, traffic up 95 was at full roar. We passed through the toll booths of northern MD ($15 toll, $5 for the car and $5 an axle, maybe the first mod should be to remove one of those axles







) and proceeded to route 272. Drove through the micro-community of North East, MD where 5 cars going in the same direction overwhelms the traffic capacity, and drove out to the end of the penninsula and the Elk Neck SP campground. Arrived about 6:30ish. The place was sold out. We then proceeded to our camp site.

First impression was we were really happy we only had 25 feet of trailer to manuever. A tree and a Durango in the spot across the street and a tree and a post adjoining our site had both of us wagering we couldn't back that puppy in. So, since we'd be in for good IF we could make it, I went back up to the filling station and filled the fresh tank with water. I tried asking the girl in the booth if there was anything bigger we could trade up for, but no dice.

So back to the site. The gentleman across the street moved his Durango and, with my wife, watched to make sure I didn't clip any corners. Lo! Imagine my surprise when I got it in on the first shot (with some fabulous coaching from my beloved and the other gentleman). So, after nailing the landing, we got it parked, leveled, and set up in about 20 minutes. Couldn't help but notice another couple that arrived later with a popup and took about an hour and a half to just get the trailer working, nevermind diddling with all the stuff that needed to be set up beside that. Felt genuinely bad when the couple stopped talking to each other.

So, there we were. Set and ready to go. My wife and I, both our kids, and a couple of rent-a-kids (2 14 year old girls and 2 9 year old boys). Dragged out the Smoky Joe, burnt some wienies, started a fire, burnt some marshmallows, and eventually sacked out in the camper.

The next day started with eggs and sausage on the outside stove (man, those kids can eat!) and a short drive to assess the lay of the land. Went left to the parking lot for the trails that lead to the light house, and then came back to the turn off for the beach. At the entrance to the beach (which was almost across the street from the campground), Maryland's finest apparently had nothing better to do than check to see if everyone was wearing seatbelts. Of course, we had just come from the campsite so my wife didn't have hers on and I got a written warning. You gotta keep an eye on those campers. One day they're crossing the street without seatbelts, the next day they're lighting fires without any deoderant on!

Anyways, made it down to the beach with the kids and came back for a repeat command performance of Smoky Joe, the dog burning machine, a fire, s'mores, and everyone sacked out. This time, though, the boys slept out in a tent.

Sunday it was more sausage and eggs, a trip to the lighthouse and then some light rain mid-afternoon drove us into town for dinner. And what a dinner! Seafood and steak with a view of the marina and the bay. It's the Nauti-Goose on Cherry Street in North East, if'n y'all get up that way.

By the time we got back to the camper, a tree had fallen and power was out in the park. Lucky for us, the battery and all the systems worked. Have I mentioned how thouroughly cool having a toilet in the camper is? If not I should have. So we all sacked out, boys in the tent, and the rest of us lamenting the loss of AC. We did leave the system on so it would wake us up when the power came back, which it did about 1:30.

Of course, no camping weekend would be complete without torrential rainfall, which showed up about 4 in the morning. Started as a dribble, but having survived this kind of thing in a popup, we immediately brought the boys into the camper. Then all heck broke loose. We ran around trying to secure a couple things and putting the awning up (lost on of those before on the popup, big $ mistake). We then got back to sleep.

The next morning we got some things dried out, took the kid's to the beach for a while, packed up and reversed course to come home.

So, how did the trailer do? Fabulously. I found that the battery ground hadn't been connected (the hole in the frame had never even been drilled) the night before we left and managed to get that fixed myself. Filled the fresh tank too full and got some water on the floor, but with the rate of toilet usage and dishwashing time, that didn't last long. A couple of drips from the AC unit in the camper over the weekend, doubt that's much to worry about. And I figured out that you should turn the brake controller off when maneuvers get tight and slow or it makes a horrendous noise that scares the wife. No other problems to report. And the Expedition was magnificent. Great TV. Didn't give my wife the white knuckles the whole time.

Basically, the trailer's just the right size. We decided that we won't be hauling the tent any more. It's just too much trouble and everyone fits real well in the trailer. And we would have been in trouble with any more size. Onboard toilets and big water tanks are cool beyond belief.

The mod list:

1. Shelves in those hanginng closets by the bunks. I mean, who hangs clothes any more?

2. Privacy curtain in front of the bunks to make a little changing room.

3. Ditch the crappy stereo and put something decent sounding in. Suggestions?

Ah well, I'm sure my wife will be here to fill in anything I overlooked. Took digital pictures also. Maybe we'll figure out how to post them.

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

Pete


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Sounds like a great trip! I agree on the mods...I have a privacy curtain already, and want to ditch the crappy stereo too.


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## chprout (May 29, 2004)

Hi. As hubby stated, great first weekend with the Outback. All systems worked flawlessly. I honestly was shocked, as I have done this RV thing before. I was certain the AC would not work or the fridge or we'd have a lake in the floor.









Discovered a few mods I'd like to make to store clothes, and we're off to Disney's Ft Wilderness in a couple of weeks.

Elk Neck S.P is wonderful, especially if you're the beach type. I, being a fair-skinned, reddish haired Scots-Irish, am personally NOT. I am a mountain/waterfall person. I realize, however, that we must go to variety of places to camp. I mean, I can't ALWAYS go to Blackwater Falls, WV, now can I? The beauty of the Outback was that I could stay behind in the wonderful AC and read while those lobsters were frying in the sun. Did I mention it was about 95 degrees the last couple of days?

Plotting my next trip after Disney. Someone mentioned Pipestem S.P in WV.

You can't imagine how I DON'T want to be home tonite. I am mourning the weekend with the Outback already.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Thanks for the trip report.

I agree about the mods. I've already changed two cabinets into shelves, and the third gets shelves this week now. I swapped the shower curtain for a folding door and put tech shower curtain to block the front/back of the trailer. With the door locked and the shower door open and the curtain closed you have a large changing area.


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