Shakedown: Flowing Lake County Park

I am a ten year veteran of teardrop traveling but am finding my prior experience in a Little Guy (LG) does not give me much wisdom when it comes to the Camper-Inn. The LG was a basic shell to sleep in and not much more.

My first double digit road trip will be in 5 days and I will be gone a total of 18 days. This is nothing to the 10 and 12 week road trips I've done in the LG. But I now have so much more to learn about traveling in the CI. I say traveling because that is what I do. I am very seldom in the same spot two nights. When I do stop it is usually not at a campground but rather a truck stop, rest area or even a Walmart parking lot. Anyplace that offers a bathroom 24 hours.

Wait wasn't this thread about Flowing Lake? Yes we drove 54 miles roundtrip to spend one night in the CI. We ate before leaving and got there at dust. So we spent a few hours playing cards and games and in general just checking out how I raised the back of the sofa and put in battery puck lights. It rained all night and I only ventured out once when nature called. In the morning we just jumped in the Outback and drove off in our pj's.

Flowing Lake itself is nothing to write home about other than it is a spot close by where you can have full power, rest rooms and a campfire.

So back to the shakedown. I've been reading other threads about more battery power and how to extend the ways to charge them. The cabin lights seem to draw a lot of power and I find them blinding when sitting in the sofa. My answer was to place several battery powered puck lights throughout the cabin. They sit very well on the front shelf behind the sofa. And a few stainless steel washers placed on the ceiling and walls adds additional places. For example one of the puck lights I placed on a washer that was glued to the ceiling between the center grab bar and ceiling fan. The puck light used here is a spot light and the illumination it gives is good for eating or playing cards.

I have several other flood puck lights that I placed in the cabinets. I doubt they will get used much but will also serve as a battery storage place. Remember part of the reason for them was to conserve the trailer battery. The trailer also has two small flashlights hung in scabbards attached to the walls.

Here is the trailer sitting in the driveway before we left.

 

Could you post some pics of the puck lights in use? I also use accessory lights - I have 4 small but handy lights that I will move between the galley and the cabin or across the campsite using paracord. They're so light and easy to configure. I recommend rechargeable batteries though:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W7YPYHQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I suspect that for your kind of traveling, you’ll get plenty of recharge time with the tow vehicle. Don’t have any electric fridge experience, no insights there. But I’ve been posting about power conservation based on high power consumption (CPAP), for off-grid destination camping.

Do you have a fridge? That would make a big difference. But if you draw down to say, 60% at night, then charge to 90% during the day, you may be in very good shape for long trips.

I did receive some LED bulbs that I hope will plug right in the existing CI fixtures - will post about that.

 

I bought the pucks at Home Depot. I can't remember the brand but they are nothing special. The only thing you need to be concerned with is the light color and whether you want a flood or spot light. This is a spot light with two brightness settings. About $10 each.


This is the same light in a different location.


These are flood lights and are very cheap. Three for $10.