Any other "if I would have known then what I know now" stories to share? 

I always dump the black water 1st, Grey 2nd and flush with hose provided at the dump station.

My dump tube stores in a PVC pipe mounted under the gooseneck.

Most of these tubes are 5' long and collaspe to 12" or so. So they are pretty easy to store.

Those older stock Ford were around 175-200 hp. It may strain to haul a 12,000lb trailer up steep grades. The new duramax's are 360hp and the current 6.0L ford is 325 hp.So your older Ford will not pull like the newer ones. That doesn't mean it can't pull that trailer around Texas or other flat country. You just may not like to pull 8% grades at 7000' elevation.

I pull a 13ft short wall 2 horse 8 ft wide with solid oak cabinets up the mountins ov VA and NC with a 2001 Ford diesel.  I don't have problems.  My WHOLE rig with one horse weighs 19000#.  That is a lot for just a 2 horse, but my cabinets are massive and beautiful. 

I have a 410 rear end on the truck.  Mine is almost that size too.

 So, it sounds like I can use my 95 Ford for fairly short runs but when I go to Tennessee or Illinois where there are steep grades, I need to use another truck.

  I do have a hose under the nose of my trailer. So, when I camp I run water from a faucet through the outside connection on my trailer. Then, if I want to take a shower, I light the hot water tank and the water from the connection will fill it. Then, when I leave the campground, I put that hose under the nose on the holding tank under the trailer and dump the black water first and then the gray water and then wash out the hose and put it back under the trailer nose. So the black and grey water have separate holding tanks? Which handle is which? I have one on the left and one on the right under the trailer. (Sorry to be so elementary but I have never done this before)

I would just run some water in the sink about a gallon and let it go down the drain.  Open a valve and the water should come out of the grey water tank.    IF you open a tank up and no wate comes out, that should be the black water tank.  Go to the other tank and see if you water comes out that one. 

My tanks run out the same connection, but the balck water tank "faucet" is way back and very hard to get to.  I have to get on my hands and knees to reach it.

Went on my first test run outing with my (new to me) new trailer.  Went to a three day horse show as a spectator and took the trailer and camped on the show grounds.  All in all it was pretty uneventful, no mailboxes were harmed in the outing (sarcastic humor) but here's what I learned:

1) check for level BEFORE you unhitch.

2) If you can't get level, err on the side of the shower drain being downhill.

3) Analyse your site/parking options before you pull in.  Its too easy to just say "good enough" when you are already parked in a site.  

4) If you forget all of the above, the rubber edged sweat scrapers work really good for "pulling" the shower water uphill to the drain. 

I learned I get 4 1/2 showers before my gray water tank is full. 

I found a really cute horse-themed comforter on eBay that matches my window valances really well:

That's about all the decorating I did.  Found acrylic wine glasses at Fred Meyer.   Brought extra long extension cords and water hoses, which was a good thing as the hookups ended up being on the opposite side of the trailer. 

Next weekend is first outing to a real show with my horse.   

What did you do when the grey tank was full? Actually, what did you do for the other 1/2 of your shower? I am camping next week for 8 days and I thought that I could just run the hose into the woods and empty my grey tank once during the week that  I was at the campsite.

The gray water tank filled up the morning of the last day of the show, so it wasn't a problem.  The water backs up in the shower when the tank is full, and I would guess this is true with most trailers, as the shower drain is the lowest of the drains.  As for the half shower, I consider a shower without washing my hair a half shower since it takes considerably less time.  The tank filled up towards the end of a full shower.   Nobody was left with soapy hair

You sure could run a hose out into the woods for your gray tank while camping.  Its probably not the most correct thing to do, but its only soapy water and wouldn't do much harm.  I wouldn't do that at a show or campground where trailers are parked close together. 

I dumped both the black and gray tanks at a rest stop with RV dump facilities on my way home.

Do you know if your campground has utilities?  If its full service it will have power, water, and sewer.  If you have a sewer connection I would recommend leaving your gray water drain open, and opening and dumping your black water tank when its full.  A full tank "pushes" everything out better in my opinion - please don't make me get specific.  Maybe plan to dump after a shower, and close the gray water drain to collect some water in the tank to rinse after dumping the black water tank. 

If you don't have a sewer hookup you will have to wait and dump at a dump station on the way out, or at a rest stop on the way home.  

Some camps have a dump for grey water,dishwater, as they dont want it dumped on the ground.I carry a 5 gallon bucket and if grey tank gets full I can drain some out in bucket and dump it in the holding fixture at the campground.It is not adviseable to get caught in some states to discharge grey water on the ground.

If pit toilets are availiable you can dump it in there too.If I just had to get rid of some in the woods I would dig a hole drain it and cover it back up.

Some of them in Washington State do - since they're interstates I would guess they are in other states too.  They are marked with signs that make it pretty clear there are RV dump facilities.  If you go to your state DOT (Dept of Transportation) website, they may provide a list of rest stops with RV dump facilities.