First campout with camper

on 6-18-07 i took my truck camper to the scales, it weighed 2600 lbs. So now i finally know the weight of this camper. Of course the Stable Lift system added 450 lbs to the weight of the frame. The A.C. unit weighed 110 lbs. I added 3 large deep cycle batteries and a 2000 watt inverter. Those 3 batteries probably added 150 lbs to the weight of the camper also. Also the shipping weight of all of the aluminum siding, edge molding, and roof materials was 400 lbs. So just those items added 1000 lbs to the frame work. Of course i put an oversized fridge in the rcamper also. This weight also included a 13" t.v., Satellite dish, and Receiver, plus the Thetford cassette toilet, and a microwave oven.

On 6-21-07 I took The camper out for it's first camping trip. I also towed a Jayco pop up camper behind it, Mother in law and Aunt's camper. Of course I drove thru some winding curves, up and down hills to the Lake. I was a little nervous due to the fact this was the first outing and I had to get use to the top heaviness of this camper. Plus I had my 6yr old grandson in the truck with me. I had added air bags to the rear leaf springs and this helped with the weight of the camper plus the pop up I was towing. Well everything turned out alright and we arrived at Lake Livingston whithin an hour from the house. I drove most of the way between 55mph and 60 mph. On the curves i had to slow down to 30 mph at times. WE camped out at Wolfe Creek Park on Lake Livingston, Texas, for 4 days, Family Reunion time. I got to say that the fridge i put in worked perfect. I had plugged it in a day before we left and then loaded it up with food. I kept it plugged into 110 volt until departure. I then plugged it into the inverter and it ran perfect. I ran it on the inverter for 4 hours and everything was kept cold and everything in the freezer was still frozen. I bought the fridge from Home Depot for $199.00. Well when I got Home Sunday, i was wore out and tired. I just let the fridge run on the inverter and the 3 deep cycle batteries. I wanted to see just how long it would run. Well it ran from 9am Sunday till Monday at 3pm and was still running when i unplugged it from the inverter. Everything was still frozen in the freezer and cold in the fridge. So i don't know how long it will run off of the inverter, but I am impressed so far. Also I installed a 13,500 btu Carrier A.C. unit on the roof and it will freeze you out, just like i like it. We had rain everyday while camped out and there were no leaks, another good omen. On Friday morning I was the short order cook. I cooked up a pound of bacon first and then when family woke up I was cooking them eggs and toast to go with the bacon. I was Yelling out the window, Order up, Dan's chuck wagon. I also had my coffee pot going, had to make 5 pots. Well we all had a good time and everyone that came up and looked at my camper was impressed. Most said it looked like a store bought camper and couldn't believe the detail. I had to give about 30 tours while at the camp site. I did some rough figuring and i would say that it cost me $12,000 in materials to build this camper. That does not include saw blades, drill bits, sand paper and other items you will need to have a finished product. But the one thing i can say, it was a rewarding project that kept me busy for about 8 months. I enjoyed the project and the Glen L camper plans were very well written.