📦 Part 2: Before Your First Trip: Packing & Campsite Setup

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Casitas are masterclasses in efficient design, but space and cargo capacity are at a premium. Over-packing doesn’t just clutter your living space; it robs your tow vehicle of fuel efficiency and risks overloading your trailer axle.

Packing: The Art of the Lightweight Egg

• The “One In, One Out” Rule: Space is finite. If you bring a heavy cast-iron skillet, you probably don’t need a full set of heavy stainless steel pots. Prioritize multi-functional items (like nested bowls and collapsible strainers).
• Watch the Cargo Weight Rating: Check your Casita’s safety placard for its Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC). Remember that a full fresh water tank, a full water heater, and full propane tanks eat into this weight limit before you even pack a single t-shirt.
• Distribute for Balance: Keep heavy items low and centered over or slightly forward of the axle. Use soft bins or duffel bags for clothes instead of hard suitcases—they conform much better to the Casita’s curved overhead airline-style bins.
• Secure the Cabinets: Fiberglass trailers bounce on the highway. Use tension rods inside the refrigerator and cabinets to keep items from pressing against the doors during transit. There is nothing worse than opening your camper door at a campsite only to have a jar of pasta sauce fall out and smash on the floor.

Setup Steps: Arriving at the Campsite

When you pull into your campsite, don’t rush. Take a deep breath, ignore any onlookers, and follow a systematic order of operations to get perfectly leveled and stable.

• Step 1: The Site Scout – Before you back or pull in, get out of your vehicle and walk the site. Check for low-hanging branches that could scrape your roof or AC shroud, and locate your hookup posts (water, electric, sewer) to ensure your cords and hoses will reach.
• Step 2: Backing In & Side-to-Side Leveling – Backing into a site doesn’t have to strain your relationship. If you are backing up with a spotter, use these three golden rules to make it seamless:
  – Use Your Phones or Walkie-Talkies: Call each other on your cell phones or use walkie-talkies. Do not yell. Keep a continuous stream of communication going (e.g., “You have 5 feet… 4 feet… clear on the driver’s side”). If the driver stops hearing the spotter’s voice, stop immediately.
  – Mark Your Target: Establish a clear mark on the ground where you want your right or left trailer tire to finally rest. Draw a line in the dirt with your foot or lay down a bright ground marker. This gives the driver a concrete target to aim for in their mirrors.
  – The Driver’s Rule of Sight: The spotter should stand where they can clearly see the rear clearance of the trailer and see the driver’s face in the driver-side mirror. If the spotter cannot see the driver’s eyes, the driver cannot see the spotter’s hand signals.
  –Level It Up: Once positioned near your mark, check your level.
• Pro-Tip: To skip the hassle of jumping in and out of your vehicle to check a physical bubble level, I highly recommend using the Beech Lane Wireless RV Leveling System. It has been an absolute game-changer for me. I mounted the sender inside my trailer just above the closet door on the top left; it fits perfectly there and you really don’t even notice it.
• How I use it: When I first pull up to a site, I open the phone app and it automatically connects to the sender in the trailer. After I choose my ground mark where I want my wheels to land, I watch the app on my phone while backing up. A lot of times, the trailer will find a perfectly level spot on its own right before I even reach the mark, allowing me to just stop right there and call it good! If you do need to raise a side, just back onto your leveling blocks until your app or level shows you are perfectly flat. Chock the trailer wheels immediately once you are level side-to-side.
• Step 3: Unhitch & Front-to-Back Leveling – Disconnect your safety chains, breakaway cable, and 7-way plug. Unlatch the coupler and use the tongue jack to lift the trailer off the hitch ball. Pull your tow vehicle forward. Now, adjust the tongue jack up or down until your level shows the trailer is perfectly flat front-to-back. (This is critical—if you aren’t level, your 3-way refrigerator won’t cool properly and can actually damage itself).
• Step 4: Drop the Stabilizer Jacks – Use your crank or a cordless drill to lower the rear stabilizer jacks until they firmly touch the ground or jack pads. Crucial warning for beginners: These are stabilizers to stop the trailer from rocking when you walk inside; they are not jacks meant to lift the weight of the trailer off the tires.
• Step 5: Main Power Hookup – Make sure the campground pedestal breaker is turned OFF before plugging anything in.
  1. Check that the pedestal breaker is in the OFF position.
  2. Plug your surge protector / EMS into the outlet.
  3. Flip the pedestal breaker ON to let the surge protector analyze the pedestal. Verify that the indicator lights show clean, safe power.
  4. Flip the pedestal breaker back OFF.
  5. Plug your Casita’s heavy shore power cord directly into the surge protector.
  6. Flip the pedestal breaker ON a final time to send safe power to your trailer.
• Step 6: Water & Sewer Connections – Always connect your pressure protection at the source to safeguard your plumbing.
  1. Screw your brass water pressure regulator directly onto the campground water spigot first.
  2. Attach your water filter to the regulator (if using one), then connect your blue or white drinking water hose.
  3. Run the other end of the hose to your Casita’s City Water Inlet connection and tighten it. Turn on the campground spigot slowly and check for leaks.
  4. Finally, hook up your heavy-duty sewer hose with the translucent 4-in-1 elbow adapter to the campground sewer drain, ensuring a smooth, sloped path using your hose support.

🏡 Road Ready Tip: Turn Off the Water When You Leave

Whenever you leave your Casita unattended for the day—whether you are going out to dinner, hiking, or exploring town—always walk over to the campground spigot and turn it completely off. If an internal plumbing line or fitting ever leaks while you are away, your water pump or the pressurized city water will continuously pump gallons of water directly into your trailer. Turning the spigot off takes two seconds and eliminates the risk of coming back to a flooded camper.

⚠️ Common Campsite Setup Mistakes

• Forgetting to chock the wheels before unhitching from your vehicle.
• Using your stabilizer jacks to try and lift or level the weight of the trailer.
• Attempting to run your 3-way refrigerator while the trailer is sitting unlevel.

🏕️ Road Ready Tip

When backing into a tight site, turn off the radio, roll down your windows, and communicate calmly. If you lose sight of your spotter in your mirrors, stop moving immediately!

📚 Next Guide

🟢 Hooking Up Water, Sewer & Electric

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