Done something really stupid?

[ski3pin]

A classic, thanks Alley-Kat!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

If anything, it is the "Ted" way of getting into 1000+ tourist's photo journals. Buses were literally stopping on the road so everyone could hang out the window and get their photos.


See Ted,Ski was right,you are a celebrity.
I have seen that culvert.Easy to miss.Looks like the truck came out ok.
But I like the "anti-theft" devise.You should market that.But don't quit your day job just yet.
Enjoyed the pic Ted.Did you just drive out?
Frank

 

[highz]

One nice thing about getting older is the selective memory. I know I've done stupid things, but I've conveniently forgotten them. Even so, I do have a vague memory of getting stuck in desert sand that had blown over the road and realizing the shovel wasn't in the trunk (was tent camping then).

Re. spare keys: I do something similar to Craig. I keep my truck and camper keys on separate key rings. If I lose one, there's a spare truck key hidden in the camper and a spare camper key in the truck. Of course, if I lose both sets, I'm screwed.

 

[camelracer]

Being lazy can be costly.

Last weekend I was heading into camp at Pismo and decided to just tow the Jeep instead of unhooking it and driving it in separately. Went down a small, 2 ft, drop off and heard a loud crunch - this can't be good. Got out and the camper door is hanging on 1 hinge and then falls to the ground. I guess when the truck went down the drop off the Jeep was pulled forward into the camper.

Luckily the back camper wall wasn't damaged but the door is toast and the tow bar is tweaked. I didn't have much privacy for the rest of the weekend and I'm pretty much grounded until the new door gets here. On the plus side the Jeep kicked a$$ all weekend.

 

[craig333]

Ouch, that is the definition of suck right there. Well thats one thing you won't do again.

 

[super doody]

Craig's confession reminded me of an amazingly-clueless -- yes, stupid -- camping-related error that I made many years ago. (it was even at the same elevation -- 7800' and probably the same month...what are the odds of that?!)
It was my first camping trip to Steen's Mt -- the crown jewel of southeast Oregon. It was fall, but the loop road was still open, and I drove up to camp in the little BLM campground at Jackman Park, arriving after dark. I set up my small backpacking tent (this was at least 2 trucks ago and long before the camper era), put the Thermarest pad in place and...hmmm...where's my sleeping bag?
WHERE IS MY SLEEPING BAG?!?!

I had forgotten to bring my sleeping bag...and at 7800 feet in fall in arid southeast Oregon it can cool off mightily at night.

I didn't have a heavy parka with me either. I did have a huge vinyl-canvas zippered bag -- like a giant cargo bag that zips on 3 sides, so I used that like a bivi sack to try to retain warmth. It came up to mid-torso...which was better than nothing.
I made it through the night without lapsing into hypothermia and death...

The next morning I was eager to light the Coleman stove to make warm food and coffee. I then discovered that the only flame-producing means I had was a book of matches, containing just two flimsy paper matches...maybe just one. (nowdays I think of Survivorman Les Stroud and all the clever ways he has of making fire -- but I was not and am not that experienced). I'm not and have never been a smoker, so I don't have thousands of trials of flawless use of paper matches, and many times I've gone through a couple of paper matches to get one lit. But I got lucky and got the stove going and made warm stuff to eat and drink.

My next task of the day was to drive down the mountain to Frenchglen to buy a of box of strike-anywhere kitchen matches. I didn't buy a sleeping bag, but after enjoying the great Steens loop that day I camped below 5000' where it was warm enough in my funky cargo bag.

But I learned from these mistakes, and I created a master "Trip List" of anything/everything that I might take with me camping. This was a long time ago, but computers existed (not at my house, but at work), and I created an Excel spreadsheet of this master "to bring" Trip List so that I could print out a fresh copy to aid in packing for each camping trip.
The power of The List is that I only had to do heavy-thinking once to remember what to bring -- at the time I created the list. After that all I have to do is look at the list and don't check off an item until it's in the rig. (any item on the list that I won't bring -- such as Sorel boots for an August trip -- gets lined through) I used it for many many years, only abandoning it when I moved into the camper era, since most of my camping equipment (and guidebooks, camera tripod, etc) live in the camper or truck now.

Live and learn.

Thats whats so great about the camper. You can leave all your gear in the camper. The worst part of any camping trip is packing and unpacking all of your junk.

 

[Ted]

Camelracer, you can probably sell the window and the lock to cut the cost of having to buy a new door. Somebody I know backed into a beer truck at a gas station and busted the door window. Fortunately I, er, ugh, he was able to get a new one from FWC.

 

[MarkBC]

... Somebody I know backed into a beer truck at a gas station and busted the door window....

"He" saw all that beer and got overly excited maybe?

 

[ski3pin]

Somebody I know backed into a beer truck at a gas station and busted the door window. Fortunately I, er, ugh, he was able to get a new one from FWC.

More info needed...................time, date, location, photos?

 

[Riverrunner]

While getting ready for a short trip tonight I decided I should test the "city" water connection. Plug in hose, water on, tighten up fittings.... I guess I should have checked that the faucet was off or taken the cap off the sink drain...

As I was trying to tighten up the hose fittings I thought...Hmmm... water is coming out of weird places.... Oh $hit! Turned the water off and opened the door to find I was filling the camper with water from the inside out...

Run to get a bunch of towels and the shop vac. Time to mop up... I guess I'll have more loading to do in the morning that I thought. Windows open, vent open, door open, storage bays open, and fantastic fan on... Good thing it's been warm around here lately.

Headed out in the morning into the coast range to do some boondocking. Haven't used the camper since I got it and need to get her dialed in.

 

[MarkBC]

While getting ready for a short trip tonight I decided I should test the "city" water connection. Plug in hose, water on, tighten up fittings.... I guess I should have checked that the faucet was off or taken the cap off the sink drain...

As I was trying to tighten up the hose fittings I thought...Hmmm... water is coming out of weird places.... Oh $hit! Turned the water off and opened the door to find I was filling the camper with water from the inside out...

Run to get a bunch of towels and the shop vac. Time to mop up... I guess I'll have more loading to do in the morning that I thought. Windows open, vent open, door open, storage bays open, and fantastic fan on... Good thing it's been warm around here lately.

Great story -- classic! I could visualize it well from your description...like something from an old sitcom.

 

[craig333]

That is a classic. I just got home. An entire cabinet full of stuff on the floor. I remember looking at the latch, not sure why I didn't hook it. Only bad part was a can of coffee all over everything.

 

[N'kwala]

Drove the legendary Hill in a VW vanagon --Hwy 20 from Williams Lake in British Columbia to Bella Coola. (For those unfamiliar--brilliantly scenic but a 20% grade --really--over 10 really winding kilometres. Got to the bottom, decided to take photos. Drove into town, looked to take more photos. Oh Damn! I'd set my camera on the VW bumper back in the park at the Hill's bottom. 20k back. Found intact camera. Told myself I am an idiot, repeatedly.

And yes, I've got a couple of locking myself out of vehicle stories, too, but those seem abundant here...

 

[ski3pin]

I have hesitated on sharing this one. It is a tale about what happens when you hurry and you’re tired.

We were loading the camper up the night before leaving on our Spring Break adventure. The Lady had filled the fridge with our supplies. As I was adding other things to the camper, I noticed the fridge was not running. Why does something like this happen right when you’re leaving on a trip? Damn! I looked at the control panel. It said E2. Is that some kind of error code? Back in the house, I pulled up the operating manual. There was absolutely nothing about error codes. Double damn! Why isn’t the fridge running? Was it possible that the DC line wasn’t working? Would it run on AC?

Everything came out of the camper. I found the AC cord for the fridge. I removed the inside basket full of food and then pulled up hard on the fridge to remove it from its mounting plate on the floor. I carried the fridge inside and set it on the table. I plugged in the AC cord. The fridge did not start. Triple damn! I checked the control panel again. It still said E2. I looked again and realized how stupid I was. The panel is upside down when you look at it from the lid opening side. Think about the squaring off of numbers on digital displays. The panel actually read 32. It was not running because it was already down to temperature.

 

[MarkBC]

I have hesitated on sharing this one....

But don't you feel better, ski3pin, now that you've confessed?

 

[craig333]

I feel better

 

[Ted]

You even pulled the fridge and brought it inside to troubleshoot?! That is a good one. But I won't bring it up when we camp. Well, maybe I will, but I won't tease you or rub it in. Much. Oh hell, who am I kidding? I'm not letting you live this one down.

 

[ski3pin]

...........................just when the Lady has started to taper off on the "the fridge is E2" when she checks it while camping. But, I deserve it.

 

[Taku]

That is truly a classic ski - pulling the fridge! Double classic. Not a camping story, but someday will tell the one about almost ripping off the drivers door of a Honda Accord while backing up in deep snow. And my girlfriend still married me after all that foul langauge.....

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I have hesitated on sharing this one. It is a tale about what happens when you hurry and you’re tired.

We were loading the camper up the night before leaving on our Spring Break adventure. The Lady had filled the fridge with our supplies. As I was adding other things to the camper, I noticed the fridge was not running. Why does something like this happen right when you’re leaving on a trip? Damn! I looked at the control panel. It said E2. Is that some kind of error code? Back in the house, I pulled up the operating manual. There was absolutely nothing about error codes. Double damn! Why isn’t the fridge running? Was it possible that the DC line wasn’t working? Would it run on AC?

Everything came out of the camper. I found the AC cord for the fridge. I removed the inside basket full of food and then pulled up hard on the fridge to remove it from its mounting plate on the floor. I carried the fridge inside and set it on the table. I plugged in the AC cord. The fridge did not start. Triple damn! I checked the control panel again. It still said E2. I looked again and realized how stupid I was. The panel is upside down when you look at it from the lid opening side. Think about the squaring off of numbers on digital displays. The panel actually read 32. It was not running because it was already down to temperature.

Ski had a similar problem,but mine seemed to be an actual E1 in the read out.What happened was the voltage safe switch,I keep it on high had reached it's lower limit.The battery had been drawn down lower than the 12v something that turns the fridge off.I played with it, than since we were about to head out I just moved the switch to medium and it started up .
Nice to know that the voltage switch works.
Frank