Jeff and I are safely home after our first camping trip of the year. It's also become the way Jeff and I celebrate his birthday. He's 47 now! Doing this one relatively close to home is a way to start off easy, make sure we have everything in order and iron out any sort of problems that might crop up. The latter did make a showing and really could have been serious.
This is one of the trailer tires. It's not supposed to look all bulging and rounded. It should be flat across. These Chinese-made "Mission"-brand tires are pure evil. There are countless reports of blowouts and tread separations causing expensive damage to trailers and causing accidents. If you or someone you know have these tires on anything, get rid of them. I thought since the trailer is fairly new will low mileage, I could extend the time a bit before replacement. Not at all. At least I noticed this when we had gotten set up. It would not have survived the trip home. How this kind of unsafe garbage can be sold, seemingly with impunity, really pisses me off. Yet another example of how the U.S. has sold it's safety to the lowest bidder all in the name of being cheap. And these tires are on campers, trailers and RVs everywhere, including high-end models. I had planned on replacing these tires just from all the horror stories last year, but made it through without any problems. I inspect the tires at every stop we make.
But, me being me, being more prepared than an entire Boy Scout troop (these days the Scouts seem only to be prepared in religious extremes anyway), I had The Garage of Mayhem Remote Edition, complete with a floor jack, a complete line of tools and even an impact wrench to take care of the tire in no time. Only issue was I had to remove the stairs from the chassis to be able to work the jack. It was raining, and was not impacting (heh) our enjoyment of the day at all.
Though it rained on and off on Friday, Saturday was absolutely perfect, and exactly what I had ordered for Jeff's big day. Though our 'mystery guest (sounds like 'camp caddy') could not make it, Jeff and I along with a remarkably well-behaved Kodi had a most enjoyable day.
This is our spot, same as last year. There were more people camping this time than the previous two years. Surprising, but makes sense, since camping is still one of the cheapest and most fun getaways that can be had. We love camping, and do so several times a year. We are on tap for P-Town again this year, plus three trips to Hillside. We can't wait.
A Flickr photo Set of the Deep Creek trip
can be found here.