AirstreamDog

adventures with a dog and an airstream

First camping trip with our new Airstream

January 3, 2016

lauren

We picked up our Airstream on Saturday and are on Day 2 of Practice Trip #1!

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It has been very educational. When we picked up the trailer we did one last walkthrough and checkout with the service department, and a driving lesson with the dealer. (And later we went to an empty school parking lot to practice backing up–I am TERRIBLE. If you have a trick to flipping your brain around to push the trailer in the right direction, please share!)

We chose a campground about 10 miles from the dealership so that we can pop back over to the service department when we leave to ask a few questions. We got our power and cable hooked up just fine, and then started the unwinterizing process, basically:

Connect city water
Open one faucet (kitchen, bathroom, shower–we didn’t bother with the outdoor shower) at a time, cold then hot, until they run clear
Open low water valves until any pink water is gone
Un-bypass the hot water heater, and turn it on after it has had a few minutes to fill

It froze at night, so when the sun went down we switched over to our freshwater tanks, and back to city water in the morning.

On day 2 we dumped the holding tanks, which wasn’t as bad as we expected. Yes, we are using the bathroom as a regular bathroom, not saving any business for the campground bathrooms.

Bugsy is a little confused about this new home, but is figuring out where her comfy spots are (for now, blankets under the dinette, and on our bed). The campground is sparsely populated due to the cold snap, so our timid girl hasn’t had to bark at many unfamiliar sounds.

dog on airstream

Tags:

camping, newbies

Comments

2 responses to “First camping trip with our new Airstream”

Emily

September 28, 2016

Traveling with dogs… We live in Va Beach and just bought and pick-up tomorrow (Pick up 9/29) our Airstream Int. Sig. from Safford RV. This will be our first foray into camping AND Airstreaming. I’m a little terrified. You’re blog has been very helpful and we will be using your checklist tomorrow and for packing. My first love, was, Roxy, a beautiful boxer (from Franklin, VA). Very similar in looks to Bugsy. You’re lucky! Best dog in the world! We are now the proud parents of 2 kids and 2 rescue pups: a poodle-plus (20lbs) and a yorkie (4lbs). We’re not really campers, this is more of a wild hair trip… We have options to leave the dogs in VA. We anticipate our first lengthy trip will last about 4-6 weeks. We are headed first south to FL. I’m worried about leaving the dogs in the trailer… A/C problems? Thoughts?

PS-Headed to Hoopla this weekend? I saw the DB pics….

Reply
1. bugsy
  
  September 30, 2016
  
  Hi Emily! Congrats on your new Airstream! Heading to FL as it’s getting cold in VA sounds really smart to me. I’ve read about people buying temperature monitoring systems for their trailers that notify them if the temps got above a certain threshold, due to power lapses at a campground. Here’s a good list: http://www.woodalls.com/articledetails.aspx?ArticleID=1734409. I suspect we’ll be wanting to get a system like that at some point, so if you try one, please let us know what you think! Many campgrounds have a rule against leaving dogs unattended, but based on what we read and saw others doing, that seems to mean 1) don’t leave them alone outside the trailer, whether they’re tied or in a pen, and 2) don’t leave them alone if they’re going to bark the whole time you’re gone, for their own happiness and that of your neighbors. Happy travels!! (And no Hoopla for us–hope the rain and mud don’t ruin the fun!)
  
  Reply