Eshelman
New Member
Well...after a painstaking 3 month wait, the time for me to head out to Reno to pick up the new Hawk finally arrived! Steve at FWC was great to work with and Kirk did an awesome job on the install.
Thanks so much to everyone here for all the great info on FWC's. By far the best way (along with talking to owners) to do your homework/research before buying a FWC.
After an unfortunately long day at work on 6/23, I busted out of SLC heading west on I-80...doing my best to escape the gravitional pull. My install was scheduled for the following morning at 10AM in Reno. Easy...might even have time for a few hands of poker in Wendover.
Busting out along the flats of Nevada and making good time.
Quick pit stop/history lesson near pilot peak. Apparently things were still lookin up for the Donner Party at this point...
Pulled off I-80 about 20 min. east of Reno to crash for the night. Pretty much nothing around and relatively flat...sweet. Woke up to find that I wasn't as far away from the hwy as I thought
Woke up fairly early with the sun beating down on me and decided to head out in search of breakfast and caffeine. Ended up at a place called Peg's Glorified Ham and Eggs. I put the hurt on their corned beef hash and several cups of coffee. Yum...
Walking back to the truck after breakfast I noticed this bad boy out of the corner of my eye. Looks good. Time to go get mine installed.
Met up with Kirk at the FWC's shop and the fun begins.
Started at 10AM and I was driving away at noon, even after a full walk-thru and debugging a few issues. Normally, I would have spent the weekend crusing around the Tahoe area...especially since I have never been there....but unfortunately had to get back to SLC. So, I went to the gas station and filled up and tried to scrub the 5 billion bugs off my window that I had apparently decimated on the drive the night before. Made a quick stop at the Truckee river on the way out of town for a couple of photos and a quick celebratory canonball into the river.
Stopped for a beer (had to make sure the fridge was operational) and to check the turnbuckles after 50-60 miles. Didn't seem like they had budged at all. Comforting for sure.
After that stop it was a beeline back home. Only occasionally nervously looking into the rearview to make sure my new toy wasn't about to fly off the truck onto the hwy
Pulled into the driveway and cautiously approached the garage. (Side Note: I had of course done the math and knew it was going to be really close...but wasn't sure how much sag to account for). Wasn't going to be a big deal if I couldn't fit it into the garage, but sure would be nice if I could. Feeling pretty darn good right about now....
The wife and I make a few cocktails, pop the top of the camper, plop down on the couch and thoroughly enjoy our upgrade from tent camping.
***Fast Forward a week to July 4th for our first outing***
NOTE: My apologies for lack of photos from here on out, but there was simply a lot of playing and not enough photo taking.
The wife and I head up to Stanley, ID for the long weekend. Met up with some of our friends who had just come off a week on the Rogue River. We had an amazing capsite at Alturas Lake. Basically, great weekend with good friends, great hiking, swimming, and general relaxing....
Redfish Lake - Not only a great launch-off point for some great backcountry adventures, but a great place to relax for the day as well.
Went for a day hike up to Alpine Lake. Turns out there was still a bit of snow up there
Zeus starting to question my friendship after chasing a few sticks into the semi-frozen lake.
All in all, a great first outing with the new camper!
Thanks so much to everyone here for all the great info on FWC's. By far the best way (along with talking to owners) to do your homework/research before buying a FWC.
After an unfortunately long day at work on 6/23, I busted out of SLC heading west on I-80...doing my best to escape the gravitional pull. My install was scheduled for the following morning at 10AM in Reno. Easy...might even have time for a few hands of poker in Wendover.
Busting out along the flats of Nevada and making good time.
Quick pit stop/history lesson near pilot peak. Apparently things were still lookin up for the Donner Party at this point...
Pulled off I-80 about 20 min. east of Reno to crash for the night. Pretty much nothing around and relatively flat...sweet. Woke up to find that I wasn't as far away from the hwy as I thought
Woke up fairly early with the sun beating down on me and decided to head out in search of breakfast and caffeine. Ended up at a place called Peg's Glorified Ham and Eggs. I put the hurt on their corned beef hash and several cups of coffee. Yum...
Walking back to the truck after breakfast I noticed this bad boy out of the corner of my eye. Looks good. Time to go get mine installed.
Met up with Kirk at the FWC's shop and the fun begins.
Started at 10AM and I was driving away at noon, even after a full walk-thru and debugging a few issues. Normally, I would have spent the weekend crusing around the Tahoe area...especially since I have never been there....but unfortunately had to get back to SLC. So, I went to the gas station and filled up and tried to scrub the 5 billion bugs off my window that I had apparently decimated on the drive the night before. Made a quick stop at the Truckee river on the way out of town for a couple of photos and a quick celebratory canonball into the river.
Stopped for a beer (had to make sure the fridge was operational) and to check the turnbuckles after 50-60 miles. Didn't seem like they had budged at all. Comforting for sure.
After that stop it was a beeline back home. Only occasionally nervously looking into the rearview to make sure my new toy wasn't about to fly off the truck onto the hwy
Pulled into the driveway and cautiously approached the garage. (Side Note: I had of course done the math and knew it was going to be really close...but wasn't sure how much sag to account for). Wasn't going to be a big deal if I couldn't fit it into the garage, but sure would be nice if I could. Feeling pretty darn good right about now....
The wife and I make a few cocktails, pop the top of the camper, plop down on the couch and thoroughly enjoy our upgrade from tent camping.
***Fast Forward a week to July 4th for our first outing***
NOTE: My apologies for lack of photos from here on out, but there was simply a lot of playing and not enough photo taking.
The wife and I head up to Stanley, ID for the long weekend. Met up with some of our friends who had just come off a week on the Rogue River. We had an amazing capsite at Alturas Lake. Basically, great weekend with good friends, great hiking, swimming, and general relaxing....
Redfish Lake - Not only a great launch-off point for some great backcountry adventures, but a great place to relax for the day as well.
Went for a day hike up to Alpine Lake. Turns out there was still a bit of snow up there
Zeus starting to question my friendship after chasing a few sticks into the semi-frozen lake.
All in all, a great first outing with the new camper!
