BRDof3...Rob

I keep enough clothes onboard that I don't have to pack any. My son usually has enough for a long weekend. Food, toys, and anything extra for a specific trip and we're ready to go. It still seems like we pack for a long time each trip, for some reason. Maybe because I'm impatient to get started.

You get your pics up and I'll get ours. Kool-Aid Days was OK, but I wish we could have been there.

Great. There goes my "easy street" retirement plan. Now I'm back to selling toothbrushes with plenty of life left in them, for a fraction of the cost at high-end retailers. Danged do-gooders.

What time does this bus go back to the AK Lodge? (As I'm getting off at EPCOT)

I picked up a portable air compressor last year that fits in the pass-through compartment. I check before every trip, I can take it to the storage lot if the TT has been sitting there for a while, and I take it with me if I'm gone for longer than a weekend. It's nothing major, but it will handle the TT tires. You can't prevent a blow-out but you can reduce the odds a bit.

Quick! Get a tag fairy on that post right away. We'll all get cooties just looking at it.

Not much to add to this list. When I'm gone for a week or more I take the portable air compressor, it's small enough to fit in the pass-through storage. That lets me keep the tires checked when they are truly cold. I've learned to keep a pillow and blanket for all the kids in the camper, they never seem to remember to bring one of their own. We keep leashes and a tie-out for the dogs, and some play toys. An extra length of white water hose. The tip on extra fuses is good. We also have a supply of washers for the hoses. They fall out from time to time, and without washers your water connection

They need a sign that says, "Beware! Jumping into an ice hole will result in an iced hole." Great report Dan. Looking forward to more.

Looks good Dan, we'll be waiting for some trip reports on it.

He knows that any true Fiend would never show up if beer wasn't being provided, so he's keeping his trophy safe. Smart move there.

Watch out, Lou. He's on to you.

I see a team somewhere between Lou's picture and the cast of Gilligan's Island.

Or fall apart, however it turns out. Good luck to our newset "undercover" commandos!

You have to use all the numbers that we discussed. The GVWR of the tow vehicle and the trailer. Those 2 numbers, added up, must not exceed 90% of the tow vehicle's GCVWR. The tow rating isn't useful, because the "tow rating" depends on how heavy the tow vehicle is at any given moment. You need to use the maximum numbers. If you cannot find the GCVWR in the owner's manual (look again), then try calling the local dealership for it. Talk to the service people, not the sales people. They should be able to look up the GCVWR for you.

It should be in the specs section of the owner's manual. The tow vehicle's manual, not the trailer.

GVWR- gross vehicle weight rating. The maximum amount the vehicle can weigh, fully loaded GCVWR- the maximum that tow vehicle and trailer are allowed to weigh, combined. "tow rating"- worthless information dry weight of a trailer or a tow vehicle- see previous You don't tow your trailer empty. Don't bother with the empty weight. The tow rating that the salesman gives you doesn't mean anything. You have to have a tow vehicle/trailer combined weight no more than 90% of your tow vehicle's GCVWR. Find out 90% the GVWR of the tow vehicle, then subtract it from the GCVWR. THAT is your weight allowan

To answer the 2nd question, it's possible. Just keep looking- on manufacturer's web sites, forums, etc. You have the numbers you need. GCVWR x 90%. That tells you the max amount of weight you can safely tow. From that number, subtract the GVWR of the van. This will be your MAX trailer weight, fully loaded. Forget weight information that you see on the trailers. The only number that matters is the gross weight rating. After all, you don't tow your trailer empty when traveling, so why use the dry weight? Keep looking, you will be amazed by what you find out there.

I think I got mine through etrailer.com

I wouldn't even try it. You'd be way to close to your max, even if you left all your clothes at the house. There's too much at risk here to cut corners.

The only way to secure it is to either lock it to your trailer, or lock the power box it is plugged in to. You might find a locking mechanism that encloses the connection between your umbilical and the surge protector, but I don't know if they make those. If you're really qworried about theft, you can get these units and have them hard-wired to your TT. I've had this thing in private CG's and public, good neighborhoods and not so good. No attempt made to steal it yet. Most people wouldn't know what it was even if they noticed it, I'd bet.

Without the GVWR of the trailer, we cannot answer that. The basic rule is GVWR (trailer) + GVWR (tow vehicle) cannot exceed the GCVWR of the tow vehicle. It really should not exceed 90% of the GCVWR. You can tow anything you want. The issue is making sure you tow it safely. Things to remember: The "towing capacity" of the van is worthless. Only the above numbers mean anything, which is why a salesman will not give them to you. The salesman is not a reliable source of info. His/her job is to sell the product. Anything else is interference.

You'll probably be able to do it, but you do have some homework. First, get the max towing capacity of the van, max combined vehicle weight of the van, and the gross weight rating of the van. You'll find a lot of help interpreting these numbers. Like Bill said, you are looking at a heavy, and long, trailer if you want that kind of sleeping space. Good luck with the search.

I have a $250 unit that I bought last year. That represented a lot of hours in the humid heat umpiring ball games last year, but it is worth it. It has only cut us off once, that I know of. That was during a storm last summer. As far as I'm concerned, it was worth the hours in the heat.

Yeah, but it'd be worth it.

If I ate a meal that was roughly the same size as my current body, I'm pretty sure that I would not have been able to crawl away on all fours, much less walk in my normal manner. Which is not to say that would be against trying, just to see if I could do it.