visit to Chilliwack

[delesseria]

Hi,
Andy and I will be visiting Chilliwack in the next week to talk to Reace about a 15b. We've started a list of things to talk about, but we would welcome any suggestions to make the visit most productive.
Thanks,
Tom

[gbaglo]

I think the first thing you have to do here is describe the type of camping you've done, your interests, your desires, kids or no? pets, previous trailers or tenting. The more we know about you the more people here can help.

For a start, do you like camping in unserviced sites away from other people, or resort style with full hookups ?

[Brian B-P]

Take photos of the demo models. There are features that I might have seen, but don't recall in detail. Not everything is shown in the website. For me this is largely mechanical, electrical, amd plumbing features, but I'm talking about anything that you care about.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Take photos of the demo models. There are features that I might have seen, but don't recall in detail. Not everything is shown in the website. For me this is largely mechanical, electrical, amd plumbing features, but I'm talking about anything that you care about.

I second this. Take a zillion pics of the interiors and exteriors of all the models including those on the finish line as they will show the most options and/or modifications. Then you can peruse them at leisure and ask questions.

Addendum: Don't forget to open exterior hatches and bench seating to take pictures.

[dbailey]

Rather than pictures, take video. Actually, make that "in addition to pictures".

We took a video of the interior of the 19 when we werre in Chilliwack, and found it very useful 6 months later when our memory had faded. Later wished we had done the same for the 17.

I find video better at showing the relationship between spaces.

Start the video, hold the camera at eye level, and wander around looking at everything, opening all the hatches and doors and drawers, sitting in the dinette, sitting or lying on the bed, ...

[delesseria]

Thanks for the suggestion Glenn. We have no pets or kids. Our camping has mostly been for participation in triathlons and bicycling events. We use a two-person tent for car camping for 2-4 nights. We will probably continue to look for campgrounds that have flush toilets, but we have some primitive campsites in mind. A full hookup site would be a luxury only if the cost isn't much different from a non-hookup site. Except for a nice dinner, we bring all of our own food and cook on a two burner Coleman. We like to be outside while camping, so while the cooking and some food prep will be inside the trailer, I expect we'll continue eating outside which means we'll have the option to leave the dinette folded down into a bed rather than changing it every day. The tipping point for upgrading from tent camping came this summer with setting up/down the tent in the rain and "showering" after a triathlon by hunkering down by the side of the car with a jug of warm water.

Pictures and videos. Excellent idea! My camera wasn't even on my mind. Thanks Brian, Karen, and Doug.

Tom

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by dbailey

Rather than pictures, take video. Actually, make that "in addition to pictures".

Great idea, Doug. I think I would stand in one spot - such as just inside the door, and slowly pan in one direction from one extreme to the other. That way I could go back and just use slow forward and reverse to virtually look at the trailer interior. The perspective of someone walking around can be hard to follow when just watching it on video.

Even without video, recent cameras have panorama functions which let you make a combined wide sweeping view, rather than just disconnected images. Most smartphones have a clever version in which you move the phone/camera smoothly around and it captures the whole panorama in one very wide shot. That could help with the relationship between spaces that Doug mentioned.

[dbailey]

Your eye has a natural field of view. A picture that is wider or narrower than this looks distorted, and the distortion can be subtle. Too narrow of a field of view and things look smaller than they actually are. Too wide of a field of view and the things that are closer to the lens look bigger, relative to the stuff further from the camera. Panoramic shots are really difficult to interpret correctly, and it doesn't come naturally. This is why I think a video is a better choice than a bunch of pictures.

If you move the camera about, it will help you resolve the issues you get from the field of view of the image. I'm not suggesting you hop around like an crazed rabbit -- move slowly and smoothly. And take those wide sweeping pans whenever you're in a spot likely to be occupied by a head.

Just for fun: here's a picture of a temple in Singapore than I stitched together from a couple of individual shots. Care to guess the angle at the join of the two sidewalks, coming out of the left and right of the picture?

[gbaglo]

Can you get the external shower for hosing off after a ride? Sounds like you might need it. That and the water heater, of course.