Setting up camp at night in the dark? You don’t know what you might wake up to…

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 by filling out the form below with your own RV mistakes and “oops” moments. There have to be many among both our seasoned and newbie RVers…

Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories! Every week I wonder if it will be the last week for the column but you wonderful readers continue to send in your and other’s RVing “oops” stories. Please keep submitting your stories to keep this column going!

There’s a solution for every problem… but beware of donkey dung

Susan R. writes to us about a whole series of misadventures on their Memorial Day camping trip. She writes, “These ‘oops’ happened while tent camping, but I did learn some lessons that I now apply to RVing. We used to have a ski boat that we would throw all the camping equipment in then cruise out on Lake Mead in NV, find a beach, and camp for the weekend. One Memorial Day weekend we got a late start and by the time we drove three hours to the lake, the sun was setting.

“We quickly put the boat in the water and started to search for a beach to camp on. Being Memorial Day weekend, most spots were taken. We finally found a nice little cove with a big beach (I did wonder at the time why no one was camping there). We pulled in and immediately heard donkeys braying in the distance. My cattle dog heard them too and immediately took off.

“Then we found out that the tent poles and stakes didn’t make it into the boat. To this day no one will cop to that mistake. 🙂 There was a big Mesquite tree nearby so I figured we could somehow tie the tent up to the branches and make good. Since it was dark and everyone was starving, I started the briquettes on our little barbecue and figured the steaks could cook while we dealt with the tent.

“Then my 7-year-old son started screaming because he was getting eaten by mosquitoes. I have never seen so many mosquitoes in one place in my life! There were huge, thick swarms of them. All of us were getting attacked and my daughter started running and tripped over the barbecue. All the food went into the dirt and she received a nasty burn on her shoulder. Thankfully I have a big first aid kit and was able to treat her. While trying to console two screaming kids, we finally got the tent up enough that we could get inside away from the mosquitos and we had PB&J sandwiches for dinner inside.

“In the morning, I noticed why no one was on that beach as there was a huge puddle that was full of mosquitos and larvae. My husband wanted to move, but the dog was still MIA and I couldn’t leave him. It took a few hours, but I ended up filling the puddle with dirt and we found some big branches to better prop up the tent. The rest of the weekend was uneventful, and thankfully my dog returned Monday afternoon when we were packing up to leave. He was hungry, exhausted, and reeked like donkey dung, but I was so thankful to have him back.

“I learned quite a few lessons that weekend. First, never set up in the dark because you never know what is around you. Second, always put the dog on a leash when first arriving. Third, make absolutely sure that everything important, like tent poles, makes it to your destination. Fourth, a good first aid kit is invaluable. Finally, there is a solution to every problem. Happy Camping!”

Misinformation from the designated rally “parkers”

Paul G. and wife know how to park their rig. The designated “parkers” didn’t. He wrote, “We arrived at a Good Sam Rally (those were the days) and expected the parkers to know their job. DW was at the wheel so I disconnected the tow and cleared the area. It took them five minutes to get her crosswise in the site. I watched, trying to refrain from laughing. As they were discussing what to do I asked where they wanted the DS back corner of the coach. I signaled to DW to follow me. One move forward and one move backward and the coach was in place. The problem was their inadequate instructions; DW is as good a driver and parker as anyone else. She has gotten a round of applause from the ladies when she gets out of the coach after parking it.”

Don’t leave the pump running!

Patrick M. didn’t realize the pump was running and narrowly avoided disaster. He wrote, “It was our first big trip with our new, tiny travel trailer. About four days in, as we broke camp for a travel day, we accidentally left the water pump on. No real harm, right? Except that during our travels that day, the hot water faucet in the kitchen jiggled open, so the water pump began running constantly, pushing water out the kitchen faucet and into our gray tank. We discovered none of this until a few hours later, opening up for lunch at a roadside stop. “That sounds like a pump running,” I said. Yes, running, and very hot, with the freshwater tank depleted, and running on empty. Praise to the RV gods, disaster was avoided. The freshwater tank was only half full, so the gray water tank did not overfill, and that workhorse little water pump fired up again when we actually gave it water to pump.”

That reminds me…

Here’s one of my stories where I was reminded of our honeymoon in a rented RV by the story above. We had never actually camped in an RV before when I rented it for our honeymoon to Canada. It was from a private party and they were short on instructions. When I turned on the water faucet and nothing came out, we figured they rented us a defective RV. Went to town and bought a 5-gallon jug, filled with water and used that for our trip, never knowing there was a switch to turn on the water! The contract advised us to dump and fill with fresh water or pay $10. We paid the $10 never knowing what dumping meant or how to do it. At least the fresh water tank was still full!

Tug that sewer hose!

Nancy L. writes about her disastrous first time dumping. “Almost every RVer has a sewer story. Here is the one I tell all new campers. As a single retiree, I had not long been on the road. One morning it was moving day. I hit the bathhouse, put on my cool summer sundress, packed up, and drove to the dump station. At the time, I had not yet put any extensions onto my holding tanks. This meant I had to get down on my knees to hook up the hose. Did that, stuck the other end in the appropriate hole, pulled the valve, and Oh MY! The end of the hose had three little catches. Only two were secured, letting the hose come completely off and drenching me with the contents. Fortunately, the station had a hose so I could clean up the mess. As you might assume, I hit the shower again, the dress hit the garbage, and I never again forgot to give the hose a quick tug before pulling that valve.”

Call the electrician

Neal D. wrote about learning a valuable and expensive lesson about GFCI outlets. “The sleeper sofa in RV #1 had an inflatable mattress. There was a convenient overhead outlet to connect the pump, which both inflated AND deflated the mattress. The first time we used it it went well until it was time to deflate it. The pump did not work. Several remedies were considered before deciding to remove the mattress from the sofa and put it atop the bed in the bedroom.

“During my ‘effort’ to place the unwieldy, inflated mattress atop the bed, I smashed a bedside outlet. Thus, we needed an electrician and called one. Before he arrived, we discovered that the outlet for the air pump was on a circuit with a GFCI outlet near the kitchen sink.

“We reset the GFCI outlet and the pump again worked. So, air mattress back to the sofa, deflate, close up the sofa, and replace the cushions. Meanwhile, the electrician still came and replaced the trashed outlet. Moral #1, GFCI outlets may be on circuits with other, non-GFCI outlets. If an outlet goes ‘bad,’ make sure all GFCI outlets are reset. Moral #2, electricians can repair RV electrical problems.”

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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