Travels Of The Ball Family

It was a very quick decision to go ahead and buy the Mallard M26.  This was going to be our 'last trailer'. It had everything we wanted the way we wanted it...and it looks good too, inside and out.  The Mallard brand is made by Heartland exclusively for Camping World. They make another brand called Wilderness with an identical trailer called the 2625 BH. I did a little research and found that as far as complaints go the Mallard brand has fewer than most brands. The RV industry is a weird business. The trailers are made by hand and although they are made on an assembly line there are definite differences from one trailer to the next. The way things fit or are lined up, how the caulking is done around windows and doors, etc. Quality control is notoriously bad. It isn't uncommon for new trailers to have issues.  Our old trailer is an example. I discovered an electrical issue with the wiring of one of the rear tailights, The brake and turn signals would not work properly when t

We finally decided to buy a new camper. I'm not quite sure what pushed us over the edge but suddenly we were in the market. It was decided that we were going to shop for our 'last camper'.  There were a few requirements.  There had to be a separate master bedroom that could be shut off from the rest of the trailer. There had to be bunk beds for the grandchildren. We had to like the way it looked. The bathroom had to be human size...big enough to get dressed in. The kitchen had to be full sized, with a realistic amount of counter space and storage. There had.to be regular seating and dinette seating. There had to be an outside mini-kitchen. The unit had to be capable of boondocking for a few days. The unit had to be easily towed by our truck. There had to be enough storage space to be able to put the essentials away. We had been looking at different floor plans for a long time and had settled on two different bunk house layouts. They were similar with the exception of the se

We purchased our travel trailer on 9/9/17. It is a Palomino Stampede S-195 SD.  It is a hybrid which means the main trailer is like a conventional trailer but the bunks fold out almost like a pop-up. It's a real space saver and allows for lots of floor space. Right Side Left Side Floorplan We really like the layout. It's a bit tight when there are more than three people trying to move around but a little planning helps to ease that. I would like to move up to something in the 25' range without the fold down bunks but that's a far off ...maybe.

When we purchased our trailer we had a 2005 GMC Envoy for towing. I checked all the specs and we were within the towing capability of the vehicle. When I picked up the trailer we measured the drop and decided immediately to add a special weight distribution hitch. I was surprised at how well it leveled out the GMC. I also had to install an electronic brake controller. Even though the GMC was wired for a brake controller there was none installed. It was easy. 2005 GMC Envoy Although the GMC was capable, it was on the line for towing power. I did some research and there were three suggestions for upgrades. The first was to add a transmission cooler. The second was to add a cold air intake to the engine. The third was to install a custom computer chip for controlling the shift points. We had hoped to do some longer trips in the future so I considered the upgrades. In the late winter of 2017 my Mother passed away. Due to some money coming our way right away we decided to upgra