The first outing of the year is always a bit of a gamble and can be an adventure as well.  Thankfully, this year was neither.  The weather the first day was windy and cold but sunny.  The night was quite chilly, but the furnace kept us warm.  The next two days were beautiful, warm, and sunny.  Basically, days that are not usually thought of for the first weekend in April.  While it was nice to finally get out for the first time, I will really be grateful when the trees finally leaf out.

Our second outing of the year was down to Ledges State Park for a small family camping trip.  While we did get a little break in the weather and got to enjoy some hiking, the rain did come a little harder than I expected.  The Scamp held up though and we stayed dry and warm. 

While I was trying to get back to Myre-Big Island State Park in Minnesota, this is the first time we made it back in over a year.  Turned out to be a fairly decent weekend with only a little rain and mist on Sunday, but the Scamp kept us warm and dry.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I got to fly the Minnesota State Flag, on the right.  Strangely enough, after I purchased a series of them, Minnesota was the third state that we camped in.  Usually it is number one or two.

I tried a couple of more night shots over Memorial Day Weekend.  The first picture show the new light I added to our camp sign.  I have had the light for about eight months, but could not figure out how to mount it to the stand or sign.  I showed it to Lisa and she had it mounted within a couple of minutes.  Okay lesson learned.  I will try to get a better night shot of the sign.  In these pictures, there was a camp light behind me and it played some nasty tricks on lighting.

This was a wonderful weekend back on the Mississippi River.  Well, sort of.  The river is on the other side of the island which is just on the other side of the inlet we were camped along, but it is still a really beautiful spot to camp.  The Scamp also came through again for us weather wise. While Saturday was a beautiful day, Friday night was a bit wet.  We drove through a bit of rain on the way, but it let up by the time we reached camp.  Once we were done registering, we started to put the camper in the site when it began to rain...a lot, and it did not let up all night.  I was very thankful to get set up and go to sleep in a dry bed.

I do want to add a comment about the solar panel system that we use while camping.  We had used the system the weekend before, but noticed on the last day that one of our panels, the one with the blue LED charging indicator, did not seem to be charging.  The light was off until we unplugged it from the system.  We initially thought it might have been due to the overcast day, but on this weekend, it did the same thing, even when the sun started to peak out.  After investigating the situation, we learned that the cable we use to connect all three panels to the charge protector was bad.  It would allow twelve volts one direction, but only half of that in the opposite direction.  We figured a diode in the cable was bad.  After replacing it, we finally got the solar panels to charge the battery properly.

Also, I bought an extra charge protection unit and discovered that one of the plug ends was wired backwards on it.  This was right out of the box.  While it is an easy fix, I would strongly encourage everyone to pay close attention to details like the plug wiring.  Even from the factory they can be incorrect.  It does not hurt to have spare parts as well.  We now keep an extra charge protection unit, as well as a spare cable to connect the panels to the trailer.

Something else to consider, one of the first chores to getting the trailer ready for camping should be to perform maintenance on the battery, i.e. cleaning terminals, reapplying anti-corrosive agents, looking for bad cables and cable ends, as well as checking to make sure that your battery can hold a charge while not plugged into a live feed.  A small electrical test meter is a wonderful tool to add to your camping kit, and can help you in checking the flow of electricity, determining the charge of the battery, as well pin pointing an electrical problem much quicker than randomly replacing parts in hopes that it will fix the issue.  Without our meter, I do not think it would have occurred to us that the cable was bad.  Especially since it was still fairly new.

A couple of interest shots, Sammy was trying out the bunk bed at the front of the camper.  While he could see out, we do not think he liked the height.  Also, yet another flag I got to fly for the first time; Wisconsin.

Back to Merrick State Park at the end of June.  Turned out to be a very nice weekend, but the bugs were a bit busier than I would have liked.  I did put up the screen tent and that helped a bit.  As you can see, it was a great view of the river.  We did do a sudden teardown of the tent early Sunday morning, 2 AM to be exact, due to some weather moving it, but it only delivered a little rain.  No wind, thunder or lightening.  We also took a kayak trip Sunday morning and were able to get a few shots from the river of the Scamp.  I did not realize that it does stand out a bit sitting along the shoreline.

I would like to add that the last time we visited the park, we had some issues with our solar panels, cabling, and charge protection unit.  We were able to get it fixed during that trip, and this trip, the solar panels managed to keep the battery at full charge most of the time. 

For the Fourth of July, we stayed at Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin.  While the site we got was not our ideal spot, it is still a nice campground to visit.  I love the different levels of the sites and the Scamp really fits into the spots nicely.  Of course, we do have the added protection of the ever watchful Sammy.

We did have a pleasant surprise this trip.  There was a Casita in the park and we got to spend a little time with the owners.  A very pleasant couple that had recently purchased their unit a few months back and were out breaking it in.  Unfortunately, I did not think to get pictures when we were talking with them so I could share it on this site.  If you do have an interesting camper and would like to share pictures, I am always open to posting photos of them.  Just send them to information@dampenedenthusiasts.com or russ@dampenedenthusiasts.com.  A little description or write-up about the pictures would be great as well.

I have been looking at the Order of Precedence when flying flags again.  The problem I have with our setup is that the holder is curved, and the center flag tends to be a little higher than the others.  This is where the US Flag should be because it is taller, but it still looked strange.  I could not find a rule that would cover how they fly our trailer flag holder.  The only rule I could find was if the flags were on the same pole, or if they were flying next to each other on poles of the same height.  I decided to go with the second rule for a change.  In this rule, the US Flag is to the right of the trailer followed by the state flags, and flying the US Flag on the right helps it to fly a bit better since it is made of stiffer material than the state flags.  When it comes to the Order of Precedence for the state flags, you either fly them in alphabetical order, or the order the state was admitted to the Union.  Here, I chose when the states came into the union, but it also follows the alphabetical rule since Iowa comes before Wisconsin. 

We attended a family reunion in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and we usually try to stay at Lake Wissota State Park, but unfortunately, we waited too long to try and reserve a site.  We ended up staying in Castle Mound Campground, which is part of the Black River State Forest.  We have been here before, but that was long before the Scamp.  It was nice to get back and check the park out again, and camp amongst the wonderful pine trees.  While we did not have a lot of time to explore, I am considering trips in the future to check out the hiking trails, as well as the canoeing and kayaking scene.

Of course, the Scamp came through again the first night we stayed.  We were awoken by thunder, lightening and high winds.  We manage to get up, store the matt and solar panels just in time for the storm to hit.  The weather radio indicated sixty mile per hour winds with lots of rain, thunder, lightening, and possible nickel sized hail.  Other than the hail, it hit.  It felt really good to have a hard sided camper for that storm. 

I do not know if I have mentioned this in the past or not, but one of the nice features of the Scamp is the amount of ventilation that ours has.  While we do have the air conditioning unit on the roof for when we are using an electrical site, sometimes we do not have that option.  For that, we have the large sliding window in the back, plus the standard vent/escape hatch on the ceiling to help keep the trailer cool.  One of the options that had been added was the reversible three speed powered ceiling fan above the bed/table area which just makes that job a bit easier.  The fan does run off of the battery, or 110 volts when the trailer is plugged in, and provides a surprising about of air movement for the trailer.  When we need to vent the trailer due to heat, or cooking inside, we can have the fan blowing out, drawing the air from the windows and door.  When we are sleeping, we reverse the fan to get a nice cool breeze of air over the bed.  It also helps keep pesky mosquitoes away from us at night if any had made it through the door during night setup.  While the air conditioning unit helps with the humidity and keeps the trailer at a comfortable temperature, when that is not an option, the fan and vents do a good job and keeping the trailer comfortable.  So just something to think about when looking at Scamps, or any other sort of travel trailer.

Fast becoming one of our favorite campgrounds, we returned to Merrick State Park along the shores of the Mississippi River at the end of July.  It was a bit warm and muggy, and while I would have preferred and electrical site so we could use the air conditioning, being along the shores of a body of water provides a natural cooling affect.  That, and the fan in the Scamp and the portable fan, made for a very nice weekend.  We even managed to miss a storm or two.

This was our first trip back to Lake Darling State Park in Iowa since the remodel had been complete.  The last time we were here was July 4th of 2010.  That was the year of major flooding in Iowa and even though the lake was supposed to be drained, in preparation for the rehabilitation project, it actually had water.  The sites are a bit larger now and very easy to get any sort of camping equipment situated.  They did a very nice job in the three plus year project in remodeling and rehabbing.

I would like to mention, that even though our site looked a little bare in the pictures, we did have our mat out the day before, as well as the screened tent.  Saturday night there was a line of storms moving our direction so we made sure everything as packed away before bed.  Sunday was a beautiful day, other than the very strong winds, as indicated by the flags in the photos.  I only put them up for the photos on Sunday then took them down immediately after.  While we did have a bit of weather move through, it was not severe and the Scamp did hold up quite well once again.

Another family camping outing in Iowa.  We had quite a bit of rain on the trip, but the rest of the weekend was beautiful.  The gray coating that can be seen all over the cars and the camper are from the short trip into the campground.  That is how much rain there was the night before.  There is a bit of cleaning in my future after this trip. 

I like this campground because not only do they have electricity at all of the sites, they have water hookup as well.  It is strange to use the facet inside and not here the pump kick on. 

Gorgeous weekend back at Merrick State Park in Wisconsin.  Started off a bit cool during the evening, but warmed up nicely during the day.  We even got out on the river for a bit this trip.  Sammy did not like the boat at first, but soon calmed down.

As usual, when we travel to Gettysburg, it nearly a day an a half trip.  So we usually drive as far as we can the first night, find a rest stop and crash until morning.  The Scamp is wonderful for this type of traveling.  Of course, you never know what you will wake up to in the morning.  For us, usually a massive wall of truck and trailer.

This was our second time at Artillery Ridge in Gettysburg, PA, and I still really like the camp.  It has a good location to every where we want to visit, easy to get in and out of when pulling the trailer, and has nice facilities and amenities for the campers.  I like having water available on the site so I do not have to use the supply in our fresh water tank.

You can also see that we decided to put up the screen tent.  We did not need it for insects, but it was a nice place to get out of the sun, as well as getting a bit of privacy outside. 

We also got to add another state flag to our list of flags we have flown over the Scamp.  I also took the American Flag during the time of the Civil War, that we have, and flew that as well.

Our last, and brief, stop was in Ohio.  There was a store I wanted to visit on the way back from Gettysburg, so we took a little detour.  It was kind of nice to have the Scamp for this trip, since we pulled in to site very late, it was easy to maneuver into the site, unhook, set up and go to bed.  It was only a six hour drive from Gettysburg, but we started late.

One other thing to mention was that we had to use the turnpike quite a bit on this trip, and while the Scamp is a trailer, smaller trailers tend to cost less while using toll roads.

Ohio also got added to the list of flags that have flown.  It was a bit of an unusual flag in the fact that it has two triangular shaped tails, rather then a rectangular shape to it. 

Our first of the late season camping.  We joined up with a group of family and friends at Dolliver State Park in Iowa.  The days nice, but could be a bit chilly, and the evenings did dip in to the mid to lower forties.  The Scamp did a great job of keeping us warm.  One thing I will be adding in the next few weeks is a Fresh Water (Holding Tank) Heater to keep the water from freezing during the late season camping.  I will still winterize the system for the majority of the winter, but this will give us more opportunity to camp a little more during the year.  I will post photos of what I come up with for that.

I finally broke down, did a little research and found another little addition for our Scamp.  It is a Water or Fresh Water Holding Tank Heater.  It is an adhesive pad that sticks to the side of the tank.  It is designed for up to fifteen gallons of water.  You can get bigger heaters for larger tanks, or you can get multiples of these for larger tanks.  They are designed to start heating the water when the temperature gets to around thirty-four degrees.  I also put a little insulation on the side between the outside of the Scamp and the tank.  You can use spray insulation to aid in keeping the water warmer, but that is not practicable in this situation.

The heater runs off of 110 volts, and 12 volts.  The 110 just plugs into a regular outlet, whereas the 12 volts needs to be wired into the system.  Also, they do not recommend running the 12 volts off of the battery unless the camper is plugged in, or connected to a vehicle.  I do not have the 12 volt wires hooked up yet, but will next spring.  I will be installing a second rocker switch next to the water pump switch so I can turn the 12 volt connection on and off. 

This is a great little addition if you plan to winter camp, or want to extend your camping season.  In years past, I would winterized around the end of October or beginning of November, but it was a bit of a pain when you cannot use the water system.  This will allow me to put off winterizing until the last minute, and de-winterize a bit sooner in they year.  I would like to mention that if you have more plumbing than just the sink, you may need to find ways to keep the rest of the plumbing from freezing if you want to use it.  There are other pipe heaters that can be found in your regular household plumbing hardware stores.  Our sink plumbing and pump are close enough to the heat source that regular heat conduction will keep the water from freezing.  I will still be winterizing it for the really cold months of December through February and into early March. 

Late fall trip to Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin.  I was not sure what sites would be available when we arrived, since the reservation option was not available anymore for the year, but we got one of the goods ones.  Temperatures dipped down into the upper twenties at night, but we managed to stay warm.  Even had a good fire going Saturday evening.  Will hopefully be coming back in a couple of weeks, but time will tell. 

The only problem that we seem to have will cool to cold weather camping is that the flag holder we use does not seem to like to stick in the cold weather.  So I had to resort to different means to fly the flags.  I think it worked out in the end.