Mother remembers when her toddler fell through canvas gap in RV bed; ‘Still hates camping to this day’

In this column we share some of the not-so-brilliant things we, the RVtravel.com staff, and you, our readers, have done while RVing. We hope that in addition to a chuckle or two, we can learn from others’ RVing mistakes and not make them ourselves!

Please leave a comment in the form below with your own RV mistakes and “oops” moments. There have to be many among both our seasoned and newbie RVers…

Help! I need your RVing “oops” story!

I am getting low on readers’ RVing mistakes and “oops” stories! You must have all become master RVers! This week I have added some posts from the comment section of this column. Please either leave a comment or use the form below to submit your own story so we can keep this going! Thank you!

Baked ziti disaster!

Al B. learned his lesson! He wrote, “I forgot to make sure the fridge was snapped closed on the way to our beach campsite. Baked ziti everywhere!!”

Yikes! Surge protector fried at 225 volts/406 amps!

Rolling D. wrote about their frustrating trip in a previous column, but now adds this: “As I am writing AGAIN about our trip to Ohio to a certain campground, I remember why we never went back! It wasn’t just their long long driveway or only 3% slope sites!

“Commander looks to see what Hughes Bull Dog is saying. 406.0 amps on line 2!!! The park tried to tell us it was our RV. As the commander knows electricity and tested everything, we explained to the park office it was indeed an issue with their post. They offered to move us temporarily as it was raining. I can laugh now, but I was not happy.

“We reminded the park that we were buried until a new hitch for the RV arrived. So we sat in our RV with no electricity on a cool, northern rainy fall day. We contacted Hughes because the surge protector protected our RV but fried. They overnighted us a new one and sent a shipping label to ship the old one back as they wanted to study it. Plus, they wanted pictures (which you see here). We took them the next morning.

“The next day, the park replaced the breaker on the post. Yes, I was nervous about being plugged into shore power without our surge protector. Commander assured me that we would be fine for a day until a new one would arrive. At this point, your readers are asking what is the name of this park so we can avoid it? Zion RV Park, Flushing, OH.”

Suggestion about black tank flushing and quick connect fittings

Sd W. read about the reader who didn’t know that hoses were not included at RV dump stations (read his comments and hilarious, or not-so, story here). He wrote, “He’s right, not every dump station has a hose and I wouldn’t want to use it anyway not knowing what’s been on it or how it was used. I have one hose dedicated to black tank flushing and I have quick connects on all my hoses so I don’t have to keep screwing them on and off, messing up the connectors.

“The only thing I have to screw on is the quick connect to the faucet then quick connect to the black tank sprayer connector. When I’m finished I disconnect the hose and plug on a garden sprayer nozzle to rinse out the sewer hose. I have quick connectors on all my hoses and my water connection on the RV. It really saves the connectors on the RV, and hoses from getting worn down.”

Remember to remove the end cap

Uncle S. posted a comment about removing the end cap on the macerator. He wrote, “The first time using my macerator, I forgot to remove the end cap, which caused the hose to turn into a fountain (grey water) after ballooning up nicely. I quickly shut things down before I polluted the Portneuf River, and later that day I learned how to replace a macerator hose.”

There is a reason for the set up steps!

Kris remembers when he forgot to put the underside supports down. He wrote, “I own a tent trailer. I forgot to put the underside supports down on one side of the tent trailer. Then I got on the extended bed to open the zippered windows and that side of the tent trailer tilted to the ground (along with the whole tent trailer). Nothing was damaged but the trailer was sure at a goofy angle until I scrambled back to the center of the tent trailer and we got outside and pressed down on the tent trailer to get it back to a normal resting angle. They give those sequence of set up steps in the directions for a reason!!”

Toddler fell through gap in canvas to ground; still hates camping!

Rebecca commented about losing their toddler through a canvas gap on their bed. She writes, “We lost our toddler through the gap at the canvas edge of the bed. We thought we were protecting him from falling out of bed by putting him on the ‘inside’. The poor kid hit the ground, uninjured but screaming bloody murder. He hates camping to this day.
Does that count as a mistake?”

Park staff directed him into a tree

Robert wrote that whatever the park staff was watching, it wasn’t him! “We were in a fairly upscale RV park that had staff who took us to our site and directed us in. He was standing in the back directing me in when I felt a thump. He had backed me into a tree. Don’t know what he was watching as it sure wasn’t the tree and me. Thankfully I was moving slow enough so no damage.”

Imitation fire hose!

Al H. really secured the sewer hose but it was no match for the pressure in the hose. He wrote, “After years of using a TT, we acquired our first TC with a black tank. On our first trip to the dump station, I attached the hose as usual, stuck the other end down in the drain opening, and secured it by flipping the hinged drain cover over on it and setting a rock on that to hold it still. Well, it turns out that 3 1/2 feet of head (the distance from the valve opening to the ground) is a LOT different than 1 foot of head. When I opened the slide valve, the end of that hose launched itself out of the drain and did an imitation of a loose fire hose that would have made Robin Williams proud! Fortunately, there wasn’t much in the tank and I was off to the side, so no harm was done. Just funny!”

Please share your RVing “oops” mistake story

Humor can be the best medicine and mistakes the best lesson! Have you had some unfortunate “oops” mistakes during your RVing adventures? We would love to hear them. Please fill out the form below and include a photo if you have one. Thank you!

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