Got back yesterday from our first trip.
I am pretty critical, but here's my review ...
Firstly, had no trouble with trailer, except hot water system ... 2 valves were closed which prevented hot water entering hot water tank and then being pumped out faucets/shower. Took my husband the first 24 hours to figure out that there were extra valves not in the manual that allowed us to actually have hot water!!! Still can't work out how to get that water out .. shut off electric/water on way out and switched on pump, but no hot water came out faucets .. presume it's still in there somewhere??? Tanks read empty on all .. but somewhere there must be the full tank of hot water (now cold) .. how do I drain it??
Forgot to latch the bedroom doors so one of the doors swung back and forth the entire journey home .. fixed it once home (will not forget again!)
Camping was overall a resounding success, but much owing to the great campsite. We went to KOA newburgh ... which received the 2006 presidents award. Clean campsite, with 2 great swimming pools for the kids (also very clean, but no life guards). Warning ...Mondays they host a summer school from nearby and about 50 kids arrive all day. Snack shop near pool (which was a bonus) was out of about 50% of menu items each day .. including vanilla or chocolate ice-cream and cheese for nachos on at least 2 occasions .. not that I eat those, but I over heard people before me in the line.
Great features ... go-cart hire ... was $6 per go-cart for 30 minutes. No daily rate .. which was bad. Too expensive! Mini golf - $2.50 per game .. again too expensive because little kids race through 9 holes in less than 10 minutes! Fishing pond was free - my son caught 12 fish using our own fishing rod and hot dog rolls! Horse-shoes also free, but kids were not interested.
One great thing was the daily kids activities. We did fire engine rides at 5pm most days .. not charge. Movies each day at 10am and in the afternoon - hosted in the tv lounge with an over 16 person watching kids ... or on a cable channel if you paid for cable hook-up. Had various games during the day, different theme every 2-3 days. S'mores evening, live music, death by chocolate, ... all good.
Had an area to walk dogs. Initially had bio-degradable gloves to pickup after your pet, but ran out within a couple hours of our arrival. I only know this because we had site R21, which backed onto the field. Initially we thought it a bad site .. paralell to sewer and parking lot. But we soon figured out it was the largest lot of all ... with full hookups, 50amp service and sewer! Neighbor only one back side, no-one on the front side because there was a fence in front of the parking lot. It was wonderful. Private, not overlooked and the quietest of all.
Dogs were not allowed on play field with kids structures, but that didn't stop several people from taking their dogs there. Rule is alway on lease, but at least 3 people ignored that. Once, we saw someone with 2 small dogs wait while they pooped on the kids playground the then leave without clearing it up. I actually reported it and the KOA staff said there was nothing they could do ...this was a big disappointment and I think the main one of the trip. I thought this was bad because although they had printed rules, they were not prepared to follow through. Likewise with dogs barking. We were very quick to stop our puppy barking on the rare occassion it did .. but others let them go on for quite a while.
They had propane on site ... very convenient. Store had every thing you could ever need ... including toilet wand!! Infact, my husband had to leave for 2 days to go back to work ... so I was stranded with 2 kids (age 7 and 8) and never had a moment of nothing to do or being bored. Felt entirely safe with patrols .. they even helped me with the awning when I couldn't figure out the last couple of steps to pull it in.
Great area overall ... mosquitos were out at dusk. Newburgh itself is a little like Harlem ... wouldn't leave my car there! West Point is well worth the trip.
Can anyone help with emptying the hot water tank??
We are towing a 31ft 31QBSS Flagstaff super lite, using a Hensley Arrow hitch (which is a little more than we need, but helps for safety and stability), and a Yukon Denali with an engine rated to towing 9100 lb (bigger engine than the usual one fitted). We estimated that loaded, the trailer was about 8000lb.
Sue Bruce
Sue
I am pretty critical, but here's my review ...
Firstly, had no trouble with trailer, except hot water system ... 2 valves were closed which prevented hot water entering hot water tank and then being pumped out faucets/shower. Took my husband the first 24 hours to figure out that there were extra valves not in the manual that allowed us to actually have hot water!!! Still can't work out how to get that water out .. shut off electric/water on way out and switched on pump, but no hot water came out faucets .. presume it's still in there somewhere??? Tanks read empty on all .. but somewhere there must be the full tank of hot water (now cold) .. how do I drain it??
Forgot to latch the bedroom doors so one of the doors swung back and forth the entire journey home .. fixed it once home (will not forget again!)
Camping was overall a resounding success, but much owing to the great campsite. We went to KOA newburgh ... which received the 2006 presidents award. Clean campsite, with 2 great swimming pools for the kids (also very clean, but no life guards). Warning ...Mondays they host a summer school from nearby and about 50 kids arrive all day. Snack shop near pool (which was a bonus) was out of about 50% of menu items each day .. including vanilla or chocolate ice-cream and cheese for nachos on at least 2 occasions .. not that I eat those, but I over heard people before me in the line.
Great features ... go-cart hire ... was $6 per go-cart for 30 minutes. No daily rate .. which was bad. Too expensive! Mini golf - $2.50 per game .. again too expensive because little kids race through 9 holes in less than 10 minutes! Fishing pond was free - my son caught 12 fish using our own fishing rod and hot dog rolls! Horse-shoes also free, but kids were not interested.
One great thing was the daily kids activities. We did fire engine rides at 5pm most days .. not charge. Movies each day at 10am and in the afternoon - hosted in the tv lounge with an over 16 person watching kids ... or on a cable channel if you paid for cable hook-up. Had various games during the day, different theme every 2-3 days. S'mores evening, live music, death by chocolate, ... all good.
Had an area to walk dogs. Initially had bio-degradable gloves to pickup after your pet, but ran out within a couple hours of our arrival. I only know this because we had site R21, which backed onto the field. Initially we thought it a bad site .. paralell to sewer and parking lot. But we soon figured out it was the largest lot of all ... with full hookups, 50amp service and sewer! Neighbor only one back side, no-one on the front side because there was a fence in front of the parking lot. It was wonderful. Private, not overlooked and the quietest of all.
Dogs were not allowed on play field with kids structures, but that didn't stop several people from taking their dogs there. Rule is alway on lease, but at least 3 people ignored that. Once, we saw someone with 2 small dogs wait while they pooped on the kids playground the then leave without clearing it up. I actually reported it and the KOA staff said there was nothing they could do ...this was a big disappointment and I think the main one of the trip. I thought this was bad because although they had printed rules, they were not prepared to follow through. Likewise with dogs barking. We were very quick to stop our puppy barking on the rare occassion it did .. but others let them go on for quite a while.
They had propane on site ... very convenient. Store had every thing you could ever need ... including toilet wand!! Infact, my husband had to leave for 2 days to go back to work ... so I was stranded with 2 kids (age 7 and 8) and never had a moment of nothing to do or being bored. Felt entirely safe with patrols .. they even helped me with the awning when I couldn't figure out the last couple of steps to pull it in.
Great area overall ... mosquitos were out at dusk. Newburgh itself is a little like Harlem ... wouldn't leave my car there! West Point is well worth the trip.
Can anyone help with emptying the hot water tank??
We are towing a 31ft 31QBSS Flagstaff super lite, using a Hensley Arrow hitch (which is a little more than we need, but helps for safety and stability), and a Yukon Denali with an engine rated to towing 9100 lb (bigger engine than the usual one fitted). We estimated that loaded, the trailer was about 8000lb.
Sue Bruce
Sue
