Well, this weekend was the maiden voyage of our new old popup camper.  As expected, there were a few hiccups.  We did our best to have the camper ready to go, but inevitably a few things were overlooked.  The good news is that the cables I installed into the lift system worked great.  Raising and lowering the roof proved effortless and I was very happy to see that they held up against the test.  In fact, I am happy to say that the trailer went up without any major problems.

There was one small issue I guess you could say.  I had opened up the zippered window on the end of the kids bunk.  That wouldn't have been a disaster, but the poles that hold the canvas upright have a clamp that had weakened over time.  When the thunderstorm struck, the downpour was more weight than the canvas could handle, so the water ran down and into the open window.  As the bunk was flooding, the kids were yelling to me and advising me that there was a leak.  I didn't hurry, because I didn't expect it would be a flood. 

Since we were unsure as to how waterproof the camper would be, we were trying to get a large tarp over then camper when the storm hit.  My advice to anyone else out there is to put the tarp up before you raise the roof.  It makes things much easier.  So back to the bunk end, I zipped it up and was trying to put the pole back up when the canvas ripped open near the corner.  Things were looking down for our hero...

I did some makeshift patching and got us set up as best I could in the rain.  The kids ended up sleeping on the bed made from the dining area instead of the bunk on the first night.  Day two was much better.  I picked up some fabric repair glue stuff and patched canvas up.  We propped up the foam mattress and ran a fan under the setup to dry it out.  That did the trick and the kids were able to sleep up there on the second night.  The weather held out on day two and three, so we managed to enjoy the park much more.

The only other real dilemma was that sink leaked a little and needs a little bit of plumbers putty to seal it up again.  Other than that, I think the weekend went really well.  We've learned a few things and can't wait to do some more camping in our new old camper.