Maiden Voyage in GA |
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lnesmith
Newbie Joined: 10 Nov 2011 Location: South Georgia Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Topic: Maiden Voyage in GA Posted: 13 Nov 2011 at 8:27pm |
We took our new (to us) 172, the Chatterpod, out for a first trip. My mom, my 7-year-old daughter and me -- three generations of women -- plus Dixie the Boston Terrier and Cinnamon the Pomeranian! We spent the night at Reed Bingham State Park, which is not far from our home. It was perfect camping weather, brisk at night and sunny 70 during the day. It was a busy weekend at Reed Bingham -- out of 43 camping spots, 41 were occupied by a mix of motorhomes, 5th wheels, travel trailers, tents (including a Cub Scout Pack), and one r-pod.
I had the same experience during set-up that others on this forum have described -- I had barely gotten the electricity and water attached when someone from a nearby campsite came by to ask for a look-see. Very nice people in a tent -- they had 2 gorgeous (and very well-behaved) Boxers with them.
We learned pretty quickly how to do a dance we'll call the R-Pod shuffle . It was a great first trip, very uneventful except that we were disappointed that the local seafood place was not open. Everything worked perfectly, the furnace kept us toasty warm, and the itty-bitty Pomeranian was delighted to be able to jump up on the bottom bunk. At home, he's just not big enough to jump up on normal, house-height furniture, which leaves him hopelessly jealous of the Boston Terrier.
Back home, we wanted to set up the Chatterpod as temporary sleeping quarters for the company descending on us next week. Because we do not have 2 feet of level ground on our property, I bought a tri-step leveling device -- made for campers, it's a heavy-duty yellow plastic "ramp" with 3 levels that you drive the low-side wheel onto. Where I was hoping to set up, near water and electricity, I had to take the left wheel all the way up to the 3rd level to get the r-pod balanced (previous owner thoughtfully mounted level-indicators on the front and left corners). The left rear stablizer barely touched the ground when I extended all the way. I've used chocks and all 4 stabilizers, but I guess I'm wondering how secure it is -- worried that it will somehow fall off the that 3rd step or something. Has anyone used one of these and found them to be. . .okay? dangerous? Would it be better to take the slope front-to-back instead of side-to-side, and trust the wheel chocks to keep us from rolling downhill (into the pond!) during the night?
Any and all advice welcomed! In the long run, I may have to borrow a box-blade for the tractor and level a "parking pad".
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Leanne
South Georgia R-pod 172 "Chatterpod" |
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dsmiths
Senior Member Joined: 10 Oct 2011 Location: Southern Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 866 |
Posted: 13 Nov 2011 at 9:51pm |
Donna and I are jealous, we have alredy winterized the Pod, we did a ride out today and checked out a rv site about 25 minutes from home, found a new winery and are making plans for next spring, glad to hear your first time out was a great time, making those memories. looking forward to spring.
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Dane and Donna Smith
2011 RP-172 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4X4 lift kit prodigy wireless brake controller |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 13 Nov 2011 at 10:39pm |
Welcome, lnesmith. As long as the wheels are chocked on both sides you should be ok.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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sfish
Senior Member Joined: 18 Sep 2011 Location: Bloomington Mn. Online Status: Offline Posts: 134 |
Posted: 13 Nov 2011 at 10:47pm |
I have been in similar situtions with my fifth wheel but I use wheel scissors to lock the dual wheels. I would be careful on a slope with a single axel . You would not want to have it break loose due to soft soil or a rain that could make it unstable. I would level the ground and put some class 5 gravel down and you wont have to worry about it.
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sjf
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