With all the "excitement" of our purchase we looked forward to our first outing with both anticipation and trepidation. I mean face it... things have not actually gone that smoothly to date.
The big weekend was fast approaching and in the spirit of that "hey we really are not that intelligent" attitude that has gotten us into this situation. our first camp will be a dry camping experience near the roots of our journey in a suburb of Chicago. Our daughter's first equestrian event of the season came at a time when none of the state parks were open for the season yet and the horse park did not have hookups available. No problem!
The weekend prior to the event we de-winterize the beast and take it for a test drive. We fill up with diesel, which at $4.00 a gallon was not pleasant and weigh the rig for the first time. That was kind of cool. 21000 lbs approximately in a mostly unloaded state.
We then proceed to have a "redneck" picnic by parking next to the semi's and popping the slide out and proceeding to relax at the lovely truck stop for the next hour while we enjoy our sandwiches and the wonderful concrete parking lot view. Oh yeah, did I mention in earlier blogs that one of the hydraulic levelers is leaking fluid? Repair estimates are around $800 I believe to replace it. $800 buys a lot of hydraulic fluid.
The big day comes around. We spend a few hours basically moving out of our house and into the RV and finally hit the road for the 4 hour drive at about 1:30. We have to stop for propane first and top off the tanks. As we go to hit the road we of course realize we had forgotten critical items so have to back track. Again, true to form, over an hour into our 4 hour drive we are still 4 hours away from our destination.
Seeing that I work from a home office, I set up shop at the dining table in the beast while my wife sets out. I have to say the Android application pdanet is fantastic. By tethering my phone to my laptop I can virtually work anywhere including the interstate at 70mph. Of course this is easier said than done.
As we head down the interstate the wind and weather continue to worsen. Wind gusts at 30 to 40mph are of course hitting the side of the RV like a sail and causing us to waddle down the interstate like a drunken goose. This seesawing action creates havoc on my ability to work in my portable office not to mention the stress it puts on Mary as the current captain of our rig. You know it must be bad when you stop to get gas at a truck stop and see the truckers muttering together in a cold sweat about the wind.
We press on and finally arrive at the horse park around 8:00. We are met by my daughter and her trainer who had arrived earlier that day and are escorted to our mud puddle, er I mean campsite. We setup, level the beast, pop the slide out and go about settling in. After numerous debates about how level the rv is we finally determine that our 21000lb rig is slowly settling into the mud. Eventually I guess we hit bedrock as we finally did get level and more or less stayed that way.
Oh yeah, it is really really cold out. We intermittently get pelted with sleet, rain or snow along with the wind. We go to bed, and being newby's decide it might not be a good idea to run the generator all night in order to get heat so we heat things up to something rivaling the surface of the sun, turn it all off and settle in for the night. Of course the sound of 4 sets of chattering teeth along with 3 dogs hogging all the blankets finally wake me up a few hours later to reheat the rig. And yes... I now know you don't have to run the generator to have heat.... who knew??? heh...
Saturday comes bright and early with a worsening of the weather. We spend the day outside watching our daughter and her friend ride in brutal weather conditions. They did great and I have to say having the RV was
everything we had hoped for. It was fantastic having a place to get out of the weather and relax and get something to eat.
Saturday afternoon we discovered that evidently we didn't reach bed rock the day before and with the steadily worsening mud hole under and beside the beast we pack up and move across the parking lot to higher and hopefully more stable ground.
Saturday evening we host a small party in the RV and have 6 adults 2 teenagers and 4 dogs. Surprisingly it was not too crowded.
Sunday comes and we discover that the shower is not draining. Evidently the grey tank is now completely full. How is this even possible? I can only hope that when it was dewinterized they did not fully empty the tank. We now go in search of a dump station... No such luck... yuck... I don't get my shower... The scene from Christmas Vacation comes to mind here, where is cousin Eddie when you need him?
Other than me being somewhat smelly, Sunday goes very smoothly all in all. The horse events were amazing and the girls did great!
The trip home was fairly uneventful with the exception of having to dodge an entire wheel that flew off a semi in front of me and proceeded to race down the interstate before crashing into a mud puddle like a bomb had gone off. I tell you that beats the heck out of a shot of espresso for waking you up!
This leads me to what I have been dreading since the beginning. The dreaded dump station... I had discovered that the hoses I had purchased were not complete and had to spend 30 minutes or so finagling it to work. We pull up, park and I proceed to hook up with major trepidation and visions of a sewer hose going wild and bouncing around like an out of control fire hose. I open the black tank and indeed the hose does pulse like something grotesquely alive but thankfully avoid the major poop storm of my fears. I then flush the tank with the grey water. Surprisingly this process is going flawlessly, until I hear my wife screaming for help on the other side of the rig. Evidently she was walking the dogs when they decided to bolt causing her to go flying face and hip first into the street and traffic while the dogs go pelting for the interstate. I of course look like a demented evil doctor or something as I come running round the rv with my rubber gloves pulled almost up to my elbows to find out what happened. Mary climbs out of the street, traffic resumes and we finally catch the dogs. I unhook, stow the hoses and drive home...
Our first camping trip was a success... Next one in 2 weeks 9 hours away but we at least have electrical at this one...
Oh yeah..the black tank still shows 3/4 full?? I can only surmise that "something" must be stuck in the tank... Ugh. now what?
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