First Timer Intro Thread - SLX 175RD

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 06:50 PM

Hello All,

My name is Taylor and I couldn't help but join the forum.

I am 25, married (since 9/2014 but we've been together since we were 16 in High School) with 2 pups. I live in Abilene TX. My wife and I have gone camping A LOT! We have a beautiful state park just 20 minutes or so away. Started going there when her mom would visit and stay in her class C.

We kept buying more and more stuff for tent camping. Eventually bringing everything "but the kitchen sink" with us. Luckily, a lot of that is still very useful. Like the camp kitchen/outdoor burners for bacon and so on.

I've known for a few years she wanted to get our own camper, but just wanted to make sure we were being responsible. In December, I put my "master plan" into motion. I purchased a 2007 Trailblazer (trade in at the GM dealership I sell for) with 61k miles knowing that it has a 5200lb tow rating.

Fast forward to Monday Feb 6th, on our way back from signing the documents for the sale of our home. We stopped at our local Jayco dealer and she fell in love with the 175RD. I'm about 6'1" and somehow only grazed my head on the roof mounted A/C controls. So I was sold as well.

I told her that we had to wait for a few more months before we could move forward. She was heartbroken. I was still determined and on Thursday, I picked up this beauty! One of the best parts about this story is, it was her idea to go camping that weekend anyway!

So, Friday was our maiden. Everything was wonderful! The Trailblazer did great, we cooked and had friends over. Good food/drinks, fun times.

The dogs settled in quickly and we had a great weekend! While packing up Sunday, we did a few personalized touches with 3M command strips.

This week, we've received our Amazon goodies. load leveling springs, hayden 678 trans cooler, trans temp gauge, 4" mattress topper (the bed leaves quite a bit to be desired, but I understand) spice rack holder and a 25' AUX cable so that we can move the TV outside and plug in to the radio inside to use the FURRION speakers for movie night under the stars.

The mods to the TB are for cheap insurance and for my piece of mind. We are well within specs for total weight, GVW of the trailer and TB as well.

8300lbs combined
4960lbs TB

Effectively making the camper 3340lbs. GVW 3500. That's with us moving all the firewood inside the camper.

I didn't expect this to be such a long winded post but I'm just excited! Here's our photos from this weekend/week.

We are headed back out to the state park Friday (even though I have to work Saturday) then off to Brownwood (75 miles away) 1st weekend of March, Georgetown (200 miles) 3rd weekend of March and WinStar Casino for Jim Gaffigan May 5th.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 06:54 PM

Little higher in the rear, but that's ok.

Since mine is a 2wd, there is a Trailblazer logo that pops off. Perfect place to put my temp gauge! It will look better tomorrow.

Lolead · 02-15-2017, 07:01 PM

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. Great looking rig and I wish you many years of happy camping. Wife and I celebrate 40 years of marriage this year and are still happy campers !

oldmanAZ · 02-15-2017, 07:15 PM

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your Jay Flight.

Looking at the food photos, one of you appears to be a chef!

**norty1** · 02-15-2017, 07:27 PM

Welcome to JOF. Nice rig and I hope you enjoy it more as you venture out.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Desert RVers · 02-15-2017, 07:33 PM

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new Jayco! Great photos! Have fun with your trailer and happy camping.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 07:41 PM

[QUOTE=norty1;490900]Welcome to JOF. Nice rig and I hope you enjoy it more as you venture out.
/QUOTE]

Thanks! We are trying to find time to meet her Aunt in Georgia somewhere in the middle. It would be mother in law, brother in law in his pop up and us. Aunt would pull her trailer too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your Jay Flight.

Looking at the food photos, one of you appears to be a chef!

Thanks!
The burgers were all her! Gourmet and it was her first time! As a group, we cooked in stations for dinner. 2 inside with the Mac and cheese (not from the box) 2 on the Armadillo eggs, 1 on the corn using the outside burners

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lolead

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. Great looking rig and I wish you many years of happy camping. Wife and I celebrate 40 years of marriage this year and are still happy campers !

Thanks! Congratulations to you 2 as well.

Vaquero · 02-15-2017, 07:47 PM

Howdy neighbor.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaquero

Howdy neighbor.

Hey hey! Didn't expect to see a local so soon! Too cool. We'll be somewhere out in the Pecan Grove section of Abilene state park this weekend. Feel free to say hi if you're around!

Vaquero · 02-15-2017, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatos

Hey hey! Didn't expect to see a local so soon! Too cool. We'll be somewhere out in the Pecan Grove section of Abilene state park this weekend. Feel free to say hi if you're around!

Just might.
Got a parks pass, so it won't cost nothing.

Stick around. These are good people.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaquero

Just might.
Got a parks pass, so it won't cost nothing.

Stick around. These are good people.

Just make sure it's Saturday after 6:30 or so when I get back from work, or Sunday. ��

I will try to do as much reading as possible and not ask the same questions as everyone else. Good information so far in my searches.

Vaquero · 02-15-2017, 08:17 PM

Likely have to be another time then.
Saturday around noon is all the "free time" I've got this weekend.
Family in Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
We'll have to plan a trip to plan a camping trip soon though.

Y'all's cooking looks too good to resist.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 08:24 PM

No worries! Feel free to drop by Lawrence Hall Chevrolet any time. Ask for the Corvette Guru or Taylor haha.

Vaquero · 02-15-2017, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatos

No worries! Feel free to drop by Lawrence Hall Chevrolet any time. Ask for the Corvette Guru or Taylor haha.

Will do.

TaftCoach · 02-15-2017, 08:31 PM

Congratulations. Great intro. I was excited for you.

The views expressed may not be mine in five minutes.

TMatos · 02-15-2017, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

Congratulations. Great intro. I was excited for you.

The views expressed may not be mine in five minutes.

Hahaha thanks!

Not sure what the second sentence means. Did I do something wrong and someone else is going to comment?

oldmanAZ · 02-15-2017, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaftCoach

Congratulations. Great intro. I was excited for you.

The views expressed may not be mine in five minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatos

Hahaha thanks!

Not sure what the second sentence means. Did I do something wrong and someone else is going to comment?

No. That's just the first line of TaftCoach's signature. You'll see it on all his posts... until he changes it.

TaftCoach · 02-15-2017, 09:14 PM

Lol. Yeah. I replaced the generic posted from my phone via Tapatalk signature.

The views expressed may not be mine in five minutes.

TMatos · 02-17-2017, 10:24 AM

I'm headed out for our 2nd trip after work this evening. Still just going to the local state park because, WHY NOT!?

I got the trans cooler and temp gauge mounted yesterday. I also picked up a Thetford SmartTote 2 27gal 2 wheel tank. The 19gal grey water seems to fill fast. Especially once we had friends over. They weren't exactly conscious of how much water they were using while washing their hands and so on.

bansai · 02-17-2017, 10:43 AM

Thanks for the awesome pics, congrats on the new camper, and of course Welcome to the forum.

The weather has been so warm here in Denver lately, I'm thinking about pulling mine out of hibernation early. Seeing your camping pictures has my cabin fever hitting the breaking point. I need to hit the road soon!

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