This thread got me to thinking about our personal dos and don'ts that we learned (and still learning).
I think the most educational trip we took was in the spring of 2018. We came away with some hard rules after that one:
1.When planning or just looking for fuel stops actually look at satellite and street views of your planned pit stops to have an educated guess on being able to navigate the gas station/truck stop and to have a good idea where the diesel pumps are.
2. No kids inside the trailer until setup is done.
3. This is a big one to us now - Wheel chocks are in place before the trailer is unhitched and never, not ever removed before the trailer is re-hitched to the truck.
Our trouble began in Kansas City. The girls had a dance competition in Excelsior Springs, MO so we booked an extended weekend at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park. The trip was fairly quiet and uneventful up to Kansas City. Now I have to tell you my wife can get a little anxious in heavy traffic especially when we're towing. She gets a little stressed and that can put her in a not so pleasant mood (tons of fun we we drive through Houston to visit my sister). Anyway, coming into KC the fuel gauge was between 1/4 and a 1/2, which should have been plenty to get us there. However we ran into heavy traffic on I35. I think there was a wreck, and after a long, long slow down we finally made it past the Missouri River. About this time I mentioned to her that we would need to stop for fuel soon as I was below a 1/4 tank now. She took this as we needed fuel now its an emergency! Googles up the closest place with diesel and makes me take the next exit. Really though what I meant was don't let me pass the next truck stop. But she is the navigator and I try not to argue too much because google is never wrong and if it is it's not her fault she steered me through the surface streets of North Kansas City pulling a 36 foot trailer to end up at a piss ant little corner gas station that did happen to have a diesel pump that even without a trailer I couldn't have gotten my dually in to anyway. So at this point I'm getting pretty aggravated because we are now at an 1/8 of a tank and finding fuel has become high on the priority list. We end up getting back to the highway and making it to the truck stop that was just a few miles from where we originally exited. That inspired rule 1.
Rules 2 and 3 kind of came about at the same time. After our sightseeing trip of North Kansas City we finally make it to the state park. We stopped and spoke to the camp host. Really nice retired guy (most of them usually are), he pointed us towards our spot. That state park was really pretty, kind of hilly and all wooded. We back into our site and the host gave us our tag for our windshield. Dear wife and I, after the extended driving, well neither of us was in the best mood. We got the trailer positioned and started to set up without really talking a whole lot. We set the wheel chocks and unhooked. Wife started puling slides out and doing whatever she does inside while I hooked up the water and electric and my outside stuff. The kids get in the camper to square away their bunk room. Off to our left the next spot was about 100-150 feet away, there was a family there with a couple little kids and across the street from us was another couple (first timers) backing in their fifth wheel with the camp host giving them a hand and checking them in. I get just about done and she comes out, this is funny, and tells me it's not level we have to hook the truck back up so we can put the leveling board under the driver's side. So I take a deep breath and say ok. I unhooked everything I just installed. Our spot kind of sloped slightly downhill away from the street and then after the pad the land sloped down more off into the woods. When I parked I put a rubber chock behind the back wheels on both sides. But now that I was going to have to pull up and then back onto a board on this side I pulled the wheel chock on my way back to the truck to rehitch. It was going to be in the way and I knew there was a chock on the other side that would have held it just because it really wasn't that much of a slope. Well, dear wife already pulled the chock on the other side without me knowing. The kids were still in the trailer. So when I yanked out the wheel chock, for I mean like a nano second as slow motion just started, I thought "why was that stuck in there?" Then before I could shove it back in the trailer started rolling backwards. All I know now is I have to stop it. Because I'm superman I jumped in and bear hugged the tire and at the same time I somehow threw my leg behind it too. The trailer stopped rolling and when the dust settled I was standing there with my right foot squarely underneath the rear wheel of the camper. It hurt and would not budge at all. I tried slipping out of my shoe but that didn't work either. Lovely wife came around the corner to asses the damage (and probably chew my ass for screwing up). When she saw my face she got the message that I wasn't in a good spot. LOL, she screamed and the camp host and couple from across the street came running over. The family next to us saw the whole thing go down and was already running over. The camp host was able to get my truck jack under the axle and lift the wheel up high enough for me to finally slide my foot out. I sat down and pulled off my shoe and sock to see how fucked up my foot was, I mean there was a 10,000 lb trailer sitting on it for a good 2 minutes. Nothing, it was red and sore but otherwise fine. It hurt that night and some the next day but that was it. I was very lucky that I ended up way more embarrassed than hurt. Oh and my favorite part is that after we put the board under the left side to level the camper, it ends up more cockeyed than it was before we moved it.