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Camp life

I took a final drive to camp to finish closing up for the season. It's been a busy summer for us in terms of camping as we spent half the summer traveling with the fifth wheel and the other half at our seasonal campsite. The weather is still beautiful. It's 27 celcius today but later this week it's going to cool off. I have a scout camp this weekend and we're busy next so it's time. I ran rv antifreeze through everything and brought in the slides. Everything is closed up.

I brought out the sxs thinking that I was going to go hunting first but it was too hot and windy. This was a good test for the newly built fifth wheel flat deck trailer as I hauled both the golf cart and sxs home from camp. Hindsight is that I should have loaded the sxs first for better weight distribution. Oh well.
 

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So....it begins.

We're heading out in the morning for a 4hr drive to our annual fish camp for may long weekend (yes, us cannucks celebrate Victoria day) which is also the opening of walleye fishing. I still have to hook up my wife's expedition to the boat in the morning but I've been hauling butt all week getting ready for it. I tend to over prepare but I figure it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Extra water. Extra gas. Stuff to set up a kitchen outside and build a shelter to keep us out of the weather. We have the snowsuits packed right next to the shorts and flip flops.
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NorthernRedneck said:
So....it begins.

We're heading out in the morning for a 4hr drive to our annual fish camp for may long weekend (yes, us cannucks celebrate Victoria day) which is also the opening of walleye fishing. I still have to hook up my wife's expedition to the boat in the morning but I've been hauling butt all week getting ready for it. I tend to over prepare but I figure it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Extra water. Extra gas. Stuff to set up a kitchen outside and build a shelter to keep us out of the weather. We have the snowsuits packed right next to the shorts and flip flops. View attachment 205225
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You are never over prepared!! Hoping for pictures 🙂
 
We were loaded up and on the road by 11am on friday to drive 3.5 hrs northeast of where we now live to the place where I've been going every year for may long weekend fishing since I was a child.
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After a couple stops along the way for gas and to change a faulty ignition coil, we arrived at our usual spot. It's been a late spring up here and unfortunately we couldn't get into the regular spot. Beyond the snow was 4" of standing water on top of sandy clay. Not this year!

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I always have a plan B when coming up in case we run into this situation. Part of it is knowing the water system and knowing the area. In the spring time, the walleye travel up the lake and river system to the spawning beds way up the river. When there's still ice on the lake, we head to our secondary campsite which was dry and pretty much straight off the highway with a tree buffer in between. We got camp set up and enjoyed a nice campfire
 

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I did't get any pictures of the actual fishing as I was busy trying to keep the boat straight in the strong winds. We limited out in an hour the first day and in 45 minutes the second day. My mom and her bf were also up fishing with us but they stayed in her motorhome in a campground in town.20260517_091917.jpg20260517_074026.jpg20260517_073804.jpg20260517_073740.jpg
 
We HAD planned on staying until tuesday however sunday morning, I decided to go drive for cell service to check the weather. One quick look showed me all I needed to know. Rain and plus five celcius all day monday. Followed by....
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Thanks but no thanks! We packed up Sunday afternoon and drove towards home an hour to our friends camp were we set up in their yard and had a fun night with them. The rain started in the middle of the night. I kept the truck connected to the fifth wheel and had only dropped the jacks to stabilize it so in the morning it was a quick get up and go in the rain. The drive home wasn't pleasant for me in the least as the truck engine was misfiring due to a bad coil. I had stopped on the way friday at the only ford dealership within 100km to pick up a coil on the way there but they were out of stock. I had my old ones sitting under the back seat so had to keep swapping them out to limp along. The issue with the truck is a couple of busted exhaust studs. Step on it in the hills and the turbo kicks in, overheats that coil and blows it prematurely. Because of the turbo in the ford 3.5l engine, it's an approximate 4k repair I'd been avoiding.

We won't be having issues with that truck anymore. It did the same thing for us last year on our trip out to BC and back. I ended up on the side of the highway changing coils then as well. I've had the truck Since 2018 when I bought it at 65k a yr old. It now has 220k on it. My wife was the one who suggested that we buy a new truck. So after we got home, I got to work searching. I went into it with an open mind exploring all 3 big brands that sell 3/4 tons as we both agreed that an upgrade in size would be beneficial looking forward if we want to change fifth wheel campers in the future. The one we currently have is halfton towable being 6900lbs dry. My f150 is rated for 12,500 and does a great job pulling it when the coils aren't acting up. I spent the day yesterday going to dealerships testing new and nearly new 3/4 ton trucks. The 2024 f250 with only 34k on the odometer is the leading candidate currently as it's 25k less in price vs new.
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m1west said:
Sounds more like an electrical issue, bad or incorrectly gapped spark plugs will cause premature coil failure. When was the last time you changed the plugs.
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Changed out all the coils and plugs within the last 20000km. All gapped correctly when installed. It's a ford thing. My brother has a 16 f150 with the same engine and only 135000km on it and recently blew his first coil. His truck has the same issue as mine. Busted exhaust studs. I actually got a quote to get both sides changed and because of the turbo, the price was up over 3k just for a backyard mechanic to do it. (the guy is actually a head ford tech at the local dealership who does them on the side as well.) So at the dealership would have been ridiculous. Plus it has the typical ford cam phaser rattle on startup. Been doing that 100000km. What's the saying? If it has tits or tires, it's gonna give you issues eventually. Plus, the water pump was starting to sweat. It was at that point
 
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You might consider not getting that engine again, my old frontier has 256000 miles of getting the piss beat out of it everyday and abused twice a day. In those 265,000 miles, I did a clutch and a rear diff, engine is still going strong.
 
The f250 has the 6.8l gas. I've read good reviews on it so far. Ford apparently admitted bad exhaust manifold bolts on the 15-21 model 3.5l engine. The rest of my f150...no complaints. It's been a good solid truck but has the issues with the exhaust studs and coils blowing.
 
I know on a diesel application most switch to a two or three piece exhaust manifold to stop manifold bolt failure. When the engine is worked hard the exhaust manifold grows longer and shears the bolts off, the manifold in pieces allow them to slip, preventing the bolt failure. So I would say the root cause is the engine having to work too hard to get the job done, therefor over heating the manifold.
 
It's official. We have listed our seasonal camp for sale. Our plan is to sell camp and look for a bigger fifth wheel camper to travel with. The fifth wheel we have currently is alright for weekend trecks and though it did great last summer on our trip to BC and back, we want something without bunks, a double living room slide as well as a bedroom slide. We have our eyes on a few nicer ones for sale bit first have to sell this one. 20260605_122612.jpg
 
NorthernRedneck said:
It's official. We have listed our seasonal camp for sale. Our plan is to sell camp and look for a bigger fifth wheel camper to travel with. The fifth wheel we have currently is alright for weekend trecks and though it did great last summer on our trip to BC and back, we want something without bunks, a double living room slide as well as a bedroom slide. We have our eyes on a few nicer ones for sale bit first have to sell this one. View attachment 206128
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The official start to a new chapter in life!!😉
 
Oh the camp drama. We've been out here 14 years and stayed out of anything drama related as we've been the ones to call it quits at the end of the night early. We've been going "up the hill" to another campsite for years in the evening hanging out with others. No problem.

Last summer started out on a sour note for me right off the bat. Our supposed friends for the past 12 years and I were alone at their campsite in the afternoon at the beginning of the season when He and I were alone. He looked right at me already half drunk and said...."you know what I can't stand? It's someone who can post on Facebook all the stuff they do yet can't go to work". I'm on permanent disability due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Some days I can do things. Others, I can't. I have a brain injury because of the accident which prevents me from working. I let it slide all summer and kept my mouth shut and head down.

Never heard Bo from him all winter. This spring they're barely speaking to me. I've ALWAYS been there to help them. Lend them a trailer to haul stuff out to camp. Went bird hunting with him etc.. We've been close out at camp. Hauled their kids around on the tube. Helped get firewood. Everything.

Last summer a couple new couples moved in at the other end of the campground. They started coming over as well. Now our supposed friends of 12 years have pretty much ousted my wife and I for no reason. It all came to a head the other night. My supposed buddy's wife has everyone quiet down to listen to an ai country song she created about our little "Kash crew" as we camp at kashabowie lake. We had no issues with the new couples. So she plays this song....has a verse about every single one of the group EXCEPT......my wife and I and another couple who have both been here the longest. It was an outright slap in the face. That was Friday night. Last night we stayed at our site while they all went partying over at the new people's camper.

We have an ongoing Facebook group chat for our little group of friends to communicate events and such but lately it's been nothing but a drunkfest comparison....oooo look, somebody passed out on the lawn at 4pm. Ooooo look...........so and so got drunk and fell into the fire. I woke up yesterday morning and left it. Just done with the BS. I didn't raise a big stink or anything, just walked away.

We'd already decided to sell at that point.
 
Sad. So sorry to hear all this. Some people can turn in to total assholes. Probably were assholes all long and not really your friend. I've been through similar. I figure most of us have, and we know it sure sucks. Good for you, walking away and moving on seems like the best move for sure.
 
Yah, it's kind of a kick to the nads so to speak. Way back when we first started camping there, we were only the third camper to move into the newer section of the campground. I was driving by on my quad and stopped to help out a guy building a shed. I'd never met him before. We worked on it all afternoon. Meanwhile the new neighbors who'd just moved in were out standing by their firepit. We started talking and before long, we were invited over that night. The other neighbor opposite side saw the fire and came down. We all kinda meshed and became the original "kash crew" along with our wives. Other couples quickly joined in over the next few weeks and the rest is history, so they say. The ones with the big fire pit built a cabin out of pallets on their site. How'd they get enough pallets 100km out to camp to built a 15x20 cabin? MY TRAILER!!!! So this kinda stings. So am I sad about selling camp? Sure. I worked my butt off out there every summer building it to what it is but the writing is on the wall when I no longer want to go and can't wait to leave when we get there.
 
That explains it, I was wondering why all of a sudden after making improvements out there every year you decided to call it quits, totally understand. That’s why I got the cabin on 80 acres, only neighbor is 1/2 mile away we get along great and he gets his water from my spring, so he kinda has to be nice or haul water. You might think about a little off grid place of your own.
 
I went through similar issues with the hunting club my father in-law had I joined in 74 we had some members die off and quit in 76
the 3 replacements were drunks after we got them in they hunted the 1st and 2nd years next year drank all the beer besides what they brought up when they left they rubbed their boots in the mud to look like they went out. It happen again the 4nd year that year my brother in law and I started looking for our own camp it took us till 81 to find it and built in 82. I still have it bought him out about 20 years ago so its my wife's and mine now.
Now the conundrum what do we do with it none of my 4 kids are interested in maintaining it (they like going up but wont help with work) one grand son will help without reservations when asked. I'm think in put it in LLC, my wife just wants to list in all the kids and grand kids names. she wants to eliminate the possibility of loosing it if one of us has to go in a home. I want to lessen the inheritance tax for them if they want to keep it.
 
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