My HORN's Maiden Voyage

PacMan4x4

Member
Well....it's done!!!! Had the BH for 3 months now and this weekend was the first trip out in it. I got it all ready and dewinterized a few days before our trip on Friday and tightened a few fittings behind the docking station as a precautionary deal. I can gladly say the only leak I had this weekend was the one on my water filter that I hooked up :rolleyes: I had to make a call to the dealership to figure out how to fire up the propane side of the water heater--it was winter when I did my PDI and I couldnt' remember the process. I had been thinking the red heater switch on control panel was for tank heaters if they were installed. Silly me....but the gal at the service department explained the electric/propane operation of water heater and it worked as advertised--actually, that lil' thing cranks out some scoldin' hot water. We got hooked up and headed to the Bass Master Classic in Shreveport...this unit towed awesome and the Dodge Ram was happy to have it in tow, though the gas mileage sucked on the way down....8.8 MPG with lots of head wind and driving 60-65. We set up camp at the Barksdale AFB Fam Camp--only $14.00/night for 50 amp hook ups (no cable). That was a great deal......though it's not a great campground, the price couldn't be beat. We had another family go down with us so we had 4 adults, 1 11 year old, and 6 dogs. Yes....6.....3 chocoalate labs, 1 black lab, 1 golden lab, and a lil' mut dog. All of us and fur kids managed in the camper. DW and I were glad we had this thing out already and getting some use out of it. Everything in the BH worked great...except I couldnt' get the television to work off of batwing antenna....the ol' boy a few spots away from me said he was picking up three local stations on his. For some reason, I couldn't get mine to work. I've posted a couple of thread on my Olevia tv woes so I won't repeat here....this is a happy thread and the subject of my not having tv this weekend would bring me down. We went to the Mardi Gras parade, hit up the Bass Master Classic Expo--a butt load of vendors and fishing stuff...it was heavenly, and I got one trip to the lake in the boat my buddy drug down with us. The wives went shopping and they had a great weekend. This 5er set up and pack up was quick and easy....headed back home today and got 10.3 MPG....hopefully it keeps going up for a bit. The only thing I didn't really check out is the awning...since we've had the BH, I've yet to unroll it....seems it's always too windy with BH parked in my driveway and we didn't spend too much time at the campground where it was worth pulling out. I had bought a 50 amp surge guard from CW and it worked as advertised.....it let me know when power was good to go from the pedestal. We did cancel our order for the hasp to secure it....after I initially ordered it, I remembered that my power cord is detachable from the camper so someone would take my whole cord if they wanted my surge guard and the $30 hasp was pointless for security.

List of things I need to get from my first trip that we didn't get yet:
#1...Stand up toilet paper holder--Why? Because I put the TP in the cabinet above crapper. Well, when I went to get it out, I left the cabinet door open not once, but three different times and hit my head as I stood up :mad: Lesson learned---either a TP holder or the door is coming off.

#2....Stick ups for bathroom....no explanation needed
#3....more cleaning supplies
#4....gonna look at one of those shower heads ya'll are raving about (oxygenics). Mine worked fine other than the hose holder that Heartland installed with two screws in the sidewall of shower above hot/cold handles. It's causing the hose to kink and the shower head doesn't get low enough to rinse lower areas of body.
#5....Hunter Thermostat for better temp control. It got chilly at night and the thermostat seemed to let camper get chilly before furnace would kick back on. The living room area would get toasty, but bedroom was quite a bit cooler too.....the vent was working but the warmth didn't last long. We had our own two dogs on the bed to help keep us warm.
#6....A couple of ceramic heaters to help with heating control in specific areas (bedrooom or living room)
#7....rod holders for my fishin' poles and mount them in basement so poles are up and stowed and not just layin' around on floor to get broken.
#8....Gonna look at getting Pressure Pro for monitoring tire pressures
#9....satellite dish so I can have television while camping :D one should not have to go without the tellie.

That's about it for now....I'm completely satisfied with my BH 3055....the design, storage, layout, appliances...etc. It was a great shakedown trip with no *****es about the Heartland Product.
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
Glad you had a good trip! I wish we could get ours out, but we'll just have to live vicariously through those of you who can get out..

It sounds like you did pretty well with supplies if that's all you have discovered you need. That's a pretty small list.

Just a thought, but you might want to add some Calgon and liquid dish washing soap to the list to use in the black tank. We put some water in the tank when we set up, add a good cup or so of Calgon and about 1/2 cup or so of liquid dish washing soap. Someone here posted about this mixture or one like it to help break up the stuff in the tank and make clean out easier. It seems to work really well for us.

Enjoy your new home!
Kristy
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
PAC MAN, sounds like you had a great time. Good for you and hope you have many more. Pat always keeps a note book on board and writes things in it to get as we run low or need to get to leave in the coach. :D
 

jimtoo

Moderator
HI Pac Man

Sounds like you had a good trip and hope you have a lot more.

Potty paper holder idea.
Since you have a 3055 Bighorn, the wall in front of the pot is a double wall and also covered by the sink if you cut to deep. You can get the recessed paper holders from Home Depot or Lowes. Very easy installation, cut hole and tighten 2 screws. Installation is done.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100388817

This is the one we used.

Jim M
 

PacMan4x4

Member
RCKC....you have a trained eye for detail :p There is a reason I didn't add bass cookin' to my trip report. We went out on the lake on base and with the cold front that came through, the fishin' wasn't very good. My buddy got a lil' large mouth and I (reluctant to admit) got skunked. So, no cookin' for us.

JIMTOO....I didn't think about a recessed one. Mama was lookin' at a stand up holder, but we may have too take a gander at the recessed kind. With the walls being as flimsy as they are, we were trying to avoing mounting things.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
JIMTOO....I didn't think about a recessed one. Mama was lookin' at a stand up holder, but we may have too take a gander at the recessed kind. With the walls being as flimsy as they are, we were trying to avoing mounting things.

The wall is about 2" thick and that is all it takes to mount it. It does not go all the way through to under sink. It is held in place by metal strips at top and bottom. It is a sturdy mount and you will not pull it off or out of the wall. Just move about 2" from corner so as not to hit a stud.

Jim M
 
Top