PanningForGold

Scrolling through my drafts I came upon this and thought it would make a good post. I’m not sure why it didn’t make the grade back in the day, but here ya go.

August 29, 2019. This was our third day in the RV and obviously still learning the basics.

We were mighty proud of ourselves today. We were able to hitch up the fifth wheel to the truck without having to get help and when we got to the campsite in Adele Iowa we were able to unhitch by ourselves for the first time. Life was looking good.

We put our awnings out for the first time! How cool is that? Except we realized with great disappointed the fancy little lights on one of the awnings was not working. It is time to start a list of warranty items that need to be dealt with.

We hooked up our sewer tanks for the first time. And despite reading all the horror stories, that task went fairly smooth. The only hitch was the second tank. Our ‘stinky slinky’ commonly known as a sewer hose, was too long and the dump site was up on a little rise so gravity was working against us. Made for a little more work when we unhooked, but all things considered it was quite the success.

Seeing as we had the tanks hooked up we used the washer and dryer for the first time. The RV people were not kidding when they said ‘small and frequent loads’ we were very pleased and soon figured out the extra cost was well worth it. The machines could even handle our queen sized blanket. Very handy considering we travel with five cats and two dogs.

Lastly we used the gas stove, hamburgers were on the menu. We took turns fanning the smoke alarm with a plate to keep from setting it off, we got a pretty good workout.

August 11 2021

A few updates. Not only do we hitch up on our own, we can usually do it in one go, not only that, we used to be envious of people who hooked up without making much noise when the pin hits the receiver, often there would be a loud clunk as the rv would move a little adjusting to the height. Now when we hook up or unhook its smooth as silk with very little noise.

Fancy little lights on the awning have long been fixed and all works as it should.

We have only a had few tiny issues now and again with the stinky slinky which will make good stories but not critical enough that would lead to an epic level disaster. I have found that the people who design campsites that have dump stations don’t understand the concept of gravity. More often then not the dump stations have a sleight uphill grade. One just has to adapt.

Still very happy with our washer and dryer. Last year the belt on the dryer broke. My neighbor and I managed to take it apart get it all fixed up and then by nothing short of a miracle we managed to re install the unit. No easy task having to line up the vent when there was no space to work. But fix it we did and now happily laundering again.

Found the solution to not setting off the fire alarm every time we use the stove or insta pot. You need windows open and plenty of air moving. We spoke to one gentleman who managed to set off the fire alarm when he made a campfire. His windows were open and the wind blew in just the right way. Probably a good thing they are that sensitive. I did read one facebook post where somebody covered the detector with a shower cap while cooking. The winner were the people who wanted to know if they could move the carbon dioxide detector because the dog farting would set it off.

Despite a few bumps in the road we are doing just fine and having a blast living the life. As the old time truck drivers would say, “Keep ‘em between the ditches”.