wyleyrabbit
Well-known member
Exactly one year ago today, we bought our Bighorn at the Earlybird RV show in Abbotsford, BC. We're going back to the show today with some friends, just for fun.
Over the past year, we added a baby to our family and went out with our 9-year-old out and with the baby in our Bighorn for two weeks when he was only two and a half weeks old. We stayed fairly close to home, spending the first week in Fort Langley (BC), then went up to Squamish (BC) for the second week. Had an incredible time!
We haven't strayed too far from home. In our excursions last year, we have added much to our experiences as a family. We figure we probably traveled about 1,500 km total (~950 miles), and stayed about 30 nights in the Bighorn, which isn't too bad all things considered.
On one of our trips to Squamish, we stayed in a beautiful little campground on the valley called Paradise Valley. The owners were very nice, and had a great trip. While that campground doesn't have any internet access, and I had some work to get done, we managed to stay an extra couple of days once I discovered that I could "tether" my laptop to my iPhone and got out to the internet that way, and it was fast! So the family got to stay another couple of days and I kept my clients and co-workers happy. Win all around.
While out on our various trips, we ran into a few problems. Nothing major, and admittedly some of them self-inflicted. In each an every case, we came running to this forum to ask the resident experts for advice on how to troubleshoot and solve our issues. And in each case, the fellow forum members came to our rescue. To everyone here on the forum, thanks!
In one case, I had blown the fuses on our converter when the battery wire I was holding I accidentally touched the trailer's metal frame (which is why I installed a proper battery disconnect switch so that can't happen again). The great part was, we didn't even figure this out for several days because the sun was shining and the batteries were kept at 100% by our solar panels; only once the rain fell for a few days did we notice the batteries were getting low. Lesson learned, and we now travel at all times with replacement 30A fuses, just in case.
In the other case, using the outdoor shower to wash the dog's feet put strain on one of the water hoses behind the universal docking station, and cracked one of the plastic fittings that was attached to the hot water bypass valve. Since we were in a town that didn't have an RV dealer or service center, I had to buy the necessary tools and parts and fix it myself. Initially, I tried to buy the same plastic fittings, but needless to say nobody sells those, so at the recommendation of the hardware store, I upgraded the plastic fittings to brass and it's been great ever since. I am now part way through preemptively changing over all the plastic fittings to brass, and I probably only have a half-dozen or so to go before I'm done.
Aside from those, we've had the usual slate of minor issues here and there. Our trailer is currently at the dealership having some of these issues taken care of, and I have every confidence that the repairs, required parts, and replacement items will be taken care of to our satisfaction. I don't know about other RV dealerships, but ours is great.
This past year has been filled with countless great memories and experiences, from trips with friends, to visits with friends, to trips with just the family. I just can't wait to get out and spend more nights in our "Land Yacht".
Cheers,
Chris
Over the past year, we added a baby to our family and went out with our 9-year-old out and with the baby in our Bighorn for two weeks when he was only two and a half weeks old. We stayed fairly close to home, spending the first week in Fort Langley (BC), then went up to Squamish (BC) for the second week. Had an incredible time!
We haven't strayed too far from home. In our excursions last year, we have added much to our experiences as a family. We figure we probably traveled about 1,500 km total (~950 miles), and stayed about 30 nights in the Bighorn, which isn't too bad all things considered.
On one of our trips to Squamish, we stayed in a beautiful little campground on the valley called Paradise Valley. The owners were very nice, and had a great trip. While that campground doesn't have any internet access, and I had some work to get done, we managed to stay an extra couple of days once I discovered that I could "tether" my laptop to my iPhone and got out to the internet that way, and it was fast! So the family got to stay another couple of days and I kept my clients and co-workers happy. Win all around.
While out on our various trips, we ran into a few problems. Nothing major, and admittedly some of them self-inflicted. In each an every case, we came running to this forum to ask the resident experts for advice on how to troubleshoot and solve our issues. And in each case, the fellow forum members came to our rescue. To everyone here on the forum, thanks!
In one case, I had blown the fuses on our converter when the battery wire I was holding I accidentally touched the trailer's metal frame (which is why I installed a proper battery disconnect switch so that can't happen again). The great part was, we didn't even figure this out for several days because the sun was shining and the batteries were kept at 100% by our solar panels; only once the rain fell for a few days did we notice the batteries were getting low. Lesson learned, and we now travel at all times with replacement 30A fuses, just in case.
In the other case, using the outdoor shower to wash the dog's feet put strain on one of the water hoses behind the universal docking station, and cracked one of the plastic fittings that was attached to the hot water bypass valve. Since we were in a town that didn't have an RV dealer or service center, I had to buy the necessary tools and parts and fix it myself. Initially, I tried to buy the same plastic fittings, but needless to say nobody sells those, so at the recommendation of the hardware store, I upgraded the plastic fittings to brass and it's been great ever since. I am now part way through preemptively changing over all the plastic fittings to brass, and I probably only have a half-dozen or so to go before I'm done.
Aside from those, we've had the usual slate of minor issues here and there. Our trailer is currently at the dealership having some of these issues taken care of, and I have every confidence that the repairs, required parts, and replacement items will be taken care of to our satisfaction. I don't know about other RV dealerships, but ours is great.
This past year has been filled with countless great memories and experiences, from trips with friends, to visits with friends, to trips with just the family. I just can't wait to get out and spend more nights in our "Land Yacht".
Cheers,
Chris
