Because of work, we weren't able to set off until 4pm on a 300 mile 6 hour trip. It was a mix of interstate and 2 lane roads. The RPOD pulled great behind our F150 (water tank half full). We got to the RV Park about 10pm to setup for the first time. We were able to scout the site, get backed in, disconnected, power hooked up and in bed within 40 minutes, in the dark :-) I left the water disconnected because it was going to down to 25 degrees overnight. I read here on the forums that it the camper should be fine with that, but didn't want to have the supply hose or hose bib freeze. 

For our 6 night stay, we used just a small electric heater, got to try out the stove, water heater, both water pump and city water, survived 60 mph wind gusts with rain and hail and multiple nights with subfreezing weather. Our RPOD handled it all great. Our first night I forgot to turn on the vent fan on low with a window cracked, and we did have our windows frost over. After that, we kept the fan on low and the window cracked and had no issues with moisture. With water in the tank, I was able to be conservative with keeping the water hooked up and had no problems with freezing.

I did learn that our F150 with factory installed tow package did not charge the battery, and therefore let the fridge drain the battery really quick. I just turned it off and it stayed cold enough for the trip. I'm very happy that we were staying at a park with power or we would have been in trouble. 

I also found that our tank monitors for the gray and black do seem to work, but the buttons are difficult. I knew for sure that the gray tank showed an accurate reading after filling our bathroom floor with water. Happily, the park had the sewer connection at the site, so I was able to have my first experience with dumping our tanks without moving the camper, and without people waiting on us.

This trip was a great first outing. We really enjoyed our RPOD and are thrilled we bought it.

This forum was also a great resource for answering questions I had about this trip (like worries about freezing overnight temperatures and weight distribution hitches).

We look forward to many trips with our RPOD in the future!

Good to hear you had a great maiden voyage!  Am surprised that with that kind of wind you would get frost on the windows.  We normally boondock in cold temps as you described and by opening the opposite windows by the bed about 1/4" and opening the FF in the bathroom about the same (with the fan off) we have not ever had that issue for the 11 years we have owned ours.

Not surprised about the lack of 12v charge from the Fords 7-pin plug.  Our 2011 F-150 was able to do that but when we upgraded to a 2017 F-150 we had to pay a tech to run a wire from the battery to the Bargmann plug so we could charge our batteries.  We almost always have our fridge on propane (travel and camping) except for those few times when we are at a place that offers electricity.  We expect, and get 3 days out of each of our 12v batteries when temps are in the 40's with the furnace running a lot, and that is w/o solar or generator usage.

Hopefully you didn't run your batteries down too far.  They will last a long time if you don't run them below 12.2v before recharging and keep the fluid levels up.  Our oldest 12v battery just turned 11 years old this week, still going strong.

Jato - what kind of batteries are you using?

On average, how many days would we get from the ~100 AH of battery capacity? How fast does the fridge go through propane (we currently have a single standard propane tank)?

My thoughts on solar would be to start out with portable that I just connect to the batteries with alligator clips, and build from there. 

Much of our local camping is going to be at Washington State Parks in Western Washington, where getting power is difficult (fills up fast!), and the sites are fairly shady, so being portable and being able to chase the sun would be good.

My oldest is a 12v Interstate group size 24 deep cycle, purchased 04/2011.  The one I replaced last August was the same type except it was purchased 12/2010 so I got my money's worth out of that!

The replacement last August was a 12v golf cart battery.  It is a Trojan T-1275, rated at 150 aH at the 20 hour rate and 166 aH at the 100 hour rate.  It is heavy at 85 lbs but worked out to be a blessing on my 2011 177 as we normally boondock and carry a full tank of water which is located behind the axle so to keep my tongue weight at 11% of my total loaded weight I need 323# or more on the tongue.  With this battery I was able to take out a couple of truck rotors I had placed in the front stow area for that very reason.   I was able to remove both, thus freeing up valuable storage space.

We are probably a lot like your area, by the great lakes, lots of trees so solar in our area doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  We do not utilize either solar or generator while camping.