Last weekend, we had our first "real" trip in the camper. The interior is still unfinished, water is still unplumbed, many other things remain to be done... but we had a mobile bedroom, bathroom, dining room, and galley and we got out to use it. In short, it was delightful.
There were a few things on the to-do list for the trip. One of the most important was proof of concept for the composting toilet. I couldn't bring myself to spend ~$1k on a Sea Head or other one so we went with
this one, as a $115 DIY kit. Based on recommendation from another user, we used Arm & Hammer kitty litter (their Naturals version with corn fibers) as the medium, and as an ensemble, everything worked out very well. My biggest concern was my wife's ability to be comfortable with it, and it passed with flying colors.
The other very important evaluation was how the truck did with the Eco hubs. I just put
this post on the MTV forum about my experience, but they are well worth doing in my opinion. The truck just rumbles down the freeway without issue on the flats and is no slower on the hills than it was with the bevels installed. I don't know yet exactly what it did for my mileage but I believe there is a significant bump there (see other thread for details).
Beyond that, I knew that we'd get some pinstriping due to living in the NW, with all the trees and shrubbery. I didn't expect it to all come within (literally) the first mile of driving off pavement. We were going to a lake in the woods via a FS road which I found on the internet. We turned onto it in a meadow, and everything was fine crossing the meadow. Leaving the meadow, the "road" turned to the north and narrowed. Significantly. Which I thought would be temporary. Because it was a road I found on a map on the internet...
I was wrong.
Turns out it was actually an OHV trail and sized more for SxS's and ATV's. It even had some small rock gardens which we just rolled through with incredible ease. It was fantastic, but there was no turning around until a junction. We eventually got to one, and the road we found was actually wider, but unmarked. It was pointed the right way, so we took it back to the more developed area and found a spot at a different lake. I accepted the fact we'd get pinstripes, I just thought it'd take a while longer.
We had a great three days in all, and everything worked like a charm. Our fridge is HUGE, the solar charges in an instant, interior lighting is great (didn't have any on our first trip), the bed is comfy, it's awesome having windows(!!!!), and we again had a kayak and inflatable boat with us to paddle around in. The other great observation was the work I did to insulate the box seems to have really paid off. Some have a tendency to heat up like an oven, but ours remained quite comfortable in direct sunlight all day. I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the effort, but it sure feels like it was now.
Still on the high priority to-do list: sink with running water, fully wire up the inverter with 110V to the camper, complete the bathroom/shower, and provision for an outdoor shower.
I only took 2 pics, as we didn't even get out of the truck when we were running down the trail, but it at least proves we were out there somewhere (Santiam Pass if you're wondering).