Things I figured out in Denver

We feel that we're finally settling in a little and finding a little time here or there, now that we're stationary for a little while. I've had a few posts in my head in a note on the bulletin board since we stopped in Denver, but hadn't really had the time to put it all down in the blog. I had a lot of long, quiet time on the trek West, these thoughts went along with that drive... I'll post bits and pieces of them over the next couple of days.

Go for a little trip before going for the big one.

While we aren't unhappy with how we took off, and as I've written before that each journey is its own, and this journey wouldn't be the same if we'd done it any differently, in hindsight I'd have to recommend that if you're planning on taking off on any long-term, full-time RV trip, it would be a good idea to take a short trip or two first. Originally, that was our plan, but for one reason or another those small trips never materialized. I think what those small trips would have helped was not having to learn everything all at once, all at the same time. There's a lot to know and a lot to adjust to living like this. Doing a small trip or two first would have given us a little less to learn right off the bat. At the very least, camp for a little while in one location that you know - and try to do everything you can and/or think you will on your trip while you are there. That way you'll have a little safety net before you set off. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we did things the way we did. It's just a hindsight recommendation for others.

Buy the right rig up front.

I'm very x10¹³⁴ happy about our purchase. What we bought seemed to be the right choice at the time, and I can only say that it was the right choice 100%. Sure, I'd love to have a class A with three bedrooms, but I don't particularly want to spend what I would have had to spend to get it. I'd rather put those resources into museum visits, fishing equipment and other niceties on our trip. By saying "buy the right rig", I'm essentially saying - don't buy expecting to trade up - you won't, and even if you do, you'll lose money on the deal. Buy a rig with a good reputation too - quality is one thing you can't fix after the fact. Full-timing is very different from vacationing, so look at a rig with the features/quality you need up front. Having the kids sleep on the couch in the kitchen might be great when you're all running around on the beach for the weekend, but doing that day-in, day-out will cut into your alone time, their sleep time, and everyone's happiness-in-general - even if it saves you $15,000 in rig-cost. We researched and bought the very best I could find, and I'm not only glad I found what I wanted, but spending what I spent (considered pretty expensive for a fiver) has been worth every penny.

Those Class A Guys

I'll admit it. I have ClassA envy. I'd love to have the kids with me when we are driving down the road. I'd love to be able to pull into a spot, press a button and have a sturdy, 100% electronically levelled RV at the push of one button. The kids would really enjoy having Satellite TV that tracks as we're driving down the road, giving them 140 different choices of what they could watch. Really, those rigs are generally built very well and would probably not need some of the fixes, upgrades and detail work that our trailer has needed. Class A people are generally better-regarded at parks, and may sometimes get a better shake about things than us trailer-folk (remember the million-dollar motor home in RI?). Besides, how slick would it be to roll into a place in the rain, never have to get out to get any part of things situated and have everything just how it should be, not to mention packing up to leave goes from 2 hours to about 8 minutes... so yeah - I have class A envy.

That being said, I'm very happy with what we've got. The rig cost about 20% of what we'd have needed to spend to get a comparable class A. There was only one made that I've found that had the kind of setup we'd need. Most of the rest would have put the bunks in the master bedroom, and that's no way to live full-time ;) (for us). It also would have been tough in Elkhart and Iowa where I had to have the rig taken away to be worked on. While we could always go get a hotel room - I just like having my own bed at night.

I guess what I'm saying is that just because someone doesn't have a class A doesn't mean they aren't serious about what they are doing. We could have bought one, and afforded doing so, but there were reasons we went the way we did - and everyone just needs to make that choice for themselves for their own reasons. Next time you see an RVer, ask them why they bought that rig specifically, if you're interested. You might be surprised how much thought was put into that particular one - maybe even more thought than most people put into their house.

Break-downs happen...

I know that Jill already posted a bit of this, but I had to put my own twist on it all, for the sake of history. We hadn't had a breakdown yet, but of course one had to come. Its just too many miles for something not to go wrong. The injector that I thought was the problem back in WV - turns out could have just been a preliminary sign of this issue... hopefully we'll never know.


The problem, it turns out, is that the FICM (at the dealership they called it the FICK'em -- which I will forever refer to now as the FIC Me) - Fuel Injection Control Module - went bad on the truck, which is why I could limp it along for a bit, but then it just died and wouldn't catch. No fuel, no fire.

Anyhow - everything is all fixed now, with an oil change and an alignment to boot. Even the brakes were checked out - so I think we're back in good shape. Towing sucked, and was a tad bit more than I'd expected, but we'll go sign up for one of those service plans and we won't have to worry about that again.

I'm glad that I listened to my phone on this search tho. You see, as I was sitting in my dead truck on the side of a busy freeway (or 'the toll road' as they call it here) I tried to find towing options. There were 4 or 5 good options, but with the map the way it was, and how I put it in, when I'd try to touch any name the phone would bring up the same shop. Well, after the third or fourth misclick to the same shop - I decided that had the be the company I called. I'm going with that instinct from now on. Not only did Moore's Towing and Service show up quickly, act professionally, and generally live up to as the best towing company I've dealt with, but they recommended who I should take the truck to - even excusing themselves from the service because they probably didn't have all the equipment I'd need to get it fixed quickly. WOW - honesty in car repair - novel concept.

Randy towed the truck ++ and the trailer, on the back of his rig to the campground I was trying to limp to, and after a little trouble with figuring out the campsite did something I'd never thought I'd see. He backed up the tow rig, the truck, and the trailer - twice, in one shot both times, to get them into position - and put the trailer exactly where he wanted it both times. GOOD Tow drivers amaze me.

After sitting in camp last night, and cleaning out the entire contents of the truck over a couple of beers - I was resigned to fate. This failure was going to be in the 5K range, and I was going to have to decide - this truck, or new truck with warranty... And I cleaned it all out, down the the coins in the ashtray. I spent last night pulling everything I had in place - radios, floor mats - all of it. I was certain this was going to be the big expense, and a new truck would be cheaper.

So - morning of the next day (today), and the new tow shows up. It takes him some time to hook up, because he's not Randy (sorry John) and is having a little trouble with the axle, but we finally get moving. I've called the dealership - and all seems well. When we get down to Harold Ziegler Ford, which Randy recommended yesterday, I'm generally pleased. They seem to have put another truck on hold to take care of me in my broken down state so that they can get me out that day (forgetting that I tow my HOUSE, I'm not entirely inconvenienced by the breakdown, which once they figure out is kinda novel to them). We're taking a wait and see approach as to what the problem is, but because I'm a priority, they'll have it figured out 'within an hour' after I arrive - psshaw. Never seen a dealer actually mean that. They meant it.


Within an hour of sitting down and them looking at the truck they came in with a real estimate - down to the penny - this is what we found, this is what we think, this is what its gonna cost. The total was so much lower than what I had in my head that I don't think the Service Writer has ever had someone who he handed a Plus 1K estimate to be so happy. I think it made him uneasy. :) At that point I added the other services (oil, alignment) and said get'r'done.

Bottom line is this - Elkhart was the place to break down. Right campground (open), right tow company (not sure I'd have gone to a dealer without that recommendation - ask and listen rather than flying blind), right fix-it shop (I'd recommend them by name). While this failure was expensive, the dealership did everything it could - without my asking - to help me out. Even found a way to get me fleet pricing on the fix, saving me a few hundred. Paul the porter (at age 82) made my day with his stories, and the two Jacks, while corporate, did what they could to make me welcome and I left without the usual feeling of dealership slime. They are a good dealership - they are good people. Go there, if you break down anywhere close - or if you're just in the area and looking for a Ford.

The good thing about all this is that it proved a concept I had in place when we planned this trip. I have redundancy in most things I do. I bought a fifth-wheel thinking that if the truck ever died I'd still be able to keep the house, have the van to travel in and ship the truck for repairs. In a Class A you can't sleep in that when its getting fixed. Everything is coming together, and learningly working well now.

My apologies for the long post - its been a long couple of days and I wanted to remember as much of this as possible. Someday it'll matter to the girls. ;)

Fall/Winter is upon us, and we're still headed North - a long way North...

The temps dipped enough that we had to turn on the heater last night. 42 is cold enough for us to need to bump the two furnaces on, which means two things. 1-We're not anywhere near Assateague anymore (yes, we still talk about how hot that was). 2-it is going to start getting expensive and noisy. See, propane isn't included in the nightly hookups. I have a sneaking suspicion that's one of the reasons off-peak is cheaper.

I'm going to run out and get some electric space heaters so that we can use those during the day to keep things evened out. They should put enough concentrated heat out to keep the areas that need to stay warm toasty, without adding any expense on our stays. Then, we can use the furnaces at night to keep things safe. Right now I think that's a good plan - we'll see where I'm at in a couple of months. ;)

Good news is that at 42 this morning it wasn't that bad in the trailer. I deliberately have the thermostats set a little low (65) to see what we can live with. As anyone that's full-timed before will tell you, everything is a learning experience. I'm figuring that the girls will learn about staying under their blankets, that footy pajamas are the best thing ever, and what it's really like to live in the winter. The house was always warmer in the bedrooms, so when we had the thermostat set reasonably, it was usually warm, quite warm, at night.

I fear a little for Jill - she doesn't have any footy pajamas. Could be a long winter. :)

Found it!

So, on Assateague we had yet another power problem, and that was just not the place to fix it. Chincoteague got busy and I vowed that I would trace it down no matter what it took when we were in Delaware. There's a lot of technical stuff in here that I assume people know, yet I KNOW people don't, so skip to the end and just think - whew, that's fixed... if you're so inclined. :)

/begin technical mumbojumbo

I tried a lot of things - starting with the generator, then thinking that it must be the charger - but the charger showed the proper voltages at the proper times where the wire connected (it has different modes depending on what its supposed to be doing, and each was exactly in line when tested with a meter). And the battery meter I put in was showing a positive flow of amps to the bank, just much smaller than I was accustomed to. So, I ruled the charger out.

I tested the batteries individually, and they were weak as can be, but none worse off than another. I check all the fuses that I can find, all test OK. At this point, I checked the wire running from the charger to the batteries - it showed to be connected - so I was stumped.

I spent that first afternoon running around to marine shops since we were in Ocean City, MD figuring that they would be pretty similar systems. Boats and RVs have a lot in common as to self-contained living spaces, but much to my surprise they either weren't willing, or weren't able to help. It was like the question I was asking was foreign - enough to have one of the guys at the boat ship tell me he just sells them, and had no idea how they actually worked. (*note: I must assume that he knew the V-shaped closed part of the boat went in the water and the open, softly-padded sitty-surfaced part went up, so maybe he just didn't understand all the systems). ;) I finally went to a boat repair shop, described to the mechanic on duty what I was seeing and we were in agreement - it had to be a bad battery bringing down the system (I have 3 total). Possibly even bad enough to the point that the plates got warped, therefore totally trashing the batteries.

Another day of running through tests and working through what it might be, with no results finally runs the batteries down to a point where the coach won't respond. So, still not knowing quite what the deal is, I go to Walmart and pickup a battery that I know is good, and wire it accordingly, and wait for (now Chincoteague) to continue troubleshooting.

In Chincoteague I tested, and ran, and retested, and figured out that I could charge the coach battery with the car & jumper cables, running a couple of hours at a time. SO temporary fix in place, we continue to enjoy our time on the island, and I run the car every night for a couple of hours. No big deal - I'll fix it when I can tear the belly out, since I've now got it down to a short in the wire that runs from the charger to the battery. See, now that wire isn't testing through with the ohm-meter, but in order to get to it I have to take out the walls they put in hiding all that stuff.

Anyway - after pulling everything apart I find out that the culprit in this whole mess is a fuse. A 50 AMP maxi-fuse that not only had I tested, but had traced as the likely problem early in this endeavor. See, it failed because of a surge, like it was supposed to do, when I was running the generator on Assateague. However, it didn't completely fail. It left enough of itself connected so that it tested ok when I used the meter, but wasn't thick enough to carry the electricity from the charger to the battery banks, therefore showing a small reading of power into the batteries, but not allowing them to really charge at all. See, I should have just replaced the fuse, but RVs aren't built like cars. The fuse in block A-1 on this unit isn't always your left taillight. Being built by hand you have to run everything down individually - they don't make diagrams.

/end technical stuff

Anyhow - mystery solved and not at too much expense, except for some sanity. Jill and I have figured out a few things and probably my most important from this problem is this: RVing is all about experience. I can't go to school to figure out all the little peccadillos I'm going to run into with this rig, and even if I went to school, what happens on my rig is different than what happens on yours. I can read until my eyes are blurry about every possible problem, except the next one I'm going to encounter, because that one is different than what anyone else will encounter. Now, sure - some things are always similar, just like with car problems, but there's something about throwing the whole house factor together with it that makes it ultra-unique.

Now that we've got that down we will just keep moving forward and experiencing whatever is thrown at us. As Jill said, we're starting to feel settled and like this is where we want to be. Yes, we both had moments in the last couple of weeks where we wanted to quit, walk away and not feel bad about it. Heat, humidity (multiplied by 5) on top of broken things and frayed nerves will do that. But we also vowed to stick through it, and now we are on the other side and happy about sticking around. Well, maybe until the next thing breaks... (just kidding).

nggh.. Shay 'ello ... to my liddle fren'...

Meet ol' Blue. We've become quite the friends this week. Forced to buy him for the lack of hookups, and Jill's fondness for Laundry and showering the girls, he and I have spent some quality time together this week and I just thought you should all meet my newest (and possibly most single-purposefully-minded) friend.

It's a subject we haven't broached at all because I think most people are afraid to talk about it - unless they are camper/rv'ers (and then they don't need to talk about it). So, just know these facts... we have a freshwater tank, and two tanks for waste both fore and aft. One holds black water and the other gray. Ol' blue here is for only the gray water, which is just pretty much dirty laundry water, hence not too toxic. Not that we couldn't put black water in a little guy like this if necessary, let's just say I'll go a long way not to have to put black water in a little guy like this, and leave it at that. :) The systems are pretty much self-contained and I only need to hook up some hoses and touch some external valves and move stuff around, then wash it down (wearing Nitrile gloves the entire time of course), so it's all in all a pretty clean existance. They make lots of little gizmos and gadgets to make it even easier and better, and I've bought a few - plan on buying a couple of others, but for the most part - it's a pretty simple and easy process. If you have any questions, feel free to ask because I have no shyness about any of this kind of stuff any more. :) Enjoy your indoor plumbing all. :)

Unclutterering. (from an outside source).

Jill sent this to me with a subject of simply: 'Saw this and liked it...' And I thought, we should share this, because it may mean something to people who are following along. Then today, Jill got a note from someone I don't know (but I've heard about) saying they were uncluttering because our changes inspired them, so I knew I had to post it...

From Unclutterer.com:

Choosing simple living

An unclutterer is someone who chooses to live without the distractions that get in the way of a remarkable life.

Contrary to what you might assume, the most important word in the definition of an unclutterer isn’t distractions (or what we also call clutter) or even the goal of a remarkable life. The pivotal word in the definition is chooses.

The pursuit of an uncluttered life begins with a choice — you choose to practice simple living. No one can force you to be an unclutterer, and you don’t stumble into a simple life by mistake. Even people who lose all of their possessions in a catastrophe are not unclutterers, as they might choose to fill up their homes and lives again when circumstances permit.

Choosing to live an uncluttered life starts with wanting to get rid of distractions. Once this desire is present, you begin to see your life from this new perspective. When your mindset has changed, your actions will follow. Getting rid of clutter is usually the first outward sign of your choice to be an unclutterer.

From these first steps, you continue to choose to live simply every moment you’re awake. There will come a time when you stop acknowledging this moment-to-moment choice, but you continue to make it (or not make it). Then, when you turn your focus to the things that matter most to you, your reward is the remarkable life you desire.

It all begins with a choice ...

We made a very big change to go from what we had (and nobody really was truly aware of HOW MUCH we really had), to where we are now. We now have a 10' x 10' storage unit, I'll say mostly full, not packed to the rafters by any means. It is really full of sentimental stuff that we should pass on and things that we know we'll want when (if?) we go back to a static, land-based, housing lifestyle. On top of that we have 6 boxes in the truck (all of which just needs to be 'handled'), and the stuff in the fifth-wheel, most of which we need (always just one more clean-out away from being perfect). :)

It'd be a big change for most, but if you knew me, and how much I've uncluttered, you'd be afraid actually. It was one of the biggest steps in the process I think. If anyone wants to know what it took for me to go from - hey, I might have a use for that at some point... to - That's so heavy, and bulky. If I ever need anything like that, I can just buy a new one (but I'll probably never need that.) - just ask me. Its a life-changing decision. :)

Updates...

Hey all - We've finally settled in and are finally getting down to routine. Work in the daytime, kids to bed, personal time at night. Its a little funny to me how little some things have changed since we were in the ol' sticks and bricks (RV slang for a house), but how much other things have changed. I'm hoping to change my schedule a little more to be more in line with the kids. I've been saying that for a long time now, so I'm sure Jill doesn't believe it - but it'll come. My guess is that next week will have a significant push toward that direction - true boondocking.

I know I haven't posted in a couple of days, and let me tell you why. I got a little funky about the comment on the West Virginia post. We know nobody (that I know of) from West Virginia, and while at first it seemed a little cutesy and in jest, the more I thought of the comment the snarkier it became in my head. We post so that people can keep up with us without having it rammed down their throat. Know what you want, see what you want, comment back when you find something funny, or truthful or fulfilling. You don't even have to leave a name, in fact - we love it when we get comments at all, and so far most have been signed in some way so that we can tell who you are, but that the commenter doesn't have to open themselves up to the whole universe. That's fantastic, and all we ask. However, the WV comment was anonymous, in the most anonymous sense -- the text, the verbiage, the mocking - didn't fit with anyone we'd expect. So - my policy is now this... This is a friendly blog. We are not trying to get famous, gain followers, promote RVfor5, or do anything other than let friends and family know what's going on without having to make 25 phone calls a day. It has become a forum that we can talk on, share with you, relive the trip and all its, uh, fun and learning. There are a lot of things that I want this website/blog to become, but a snarky place for unnecessary comments is not one of them. I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't people out there that are looking at our blog that we haven't told or invited. The Internet is a wide open thing. I am just saying this - there's no need to be that way. Step up WVA person and tell us more about yourself...

Bottom line: If your comment is anonymous, snarky, and neither Jill nor I know who wrote it - its probably gonna get axed. I'm leaving Mr. WestVirginiaGetOffMyHighways as a learning experience. I'm just putting it out there otherwise.

Now - that all being said.... Updates:

Injector - I went down to Richmond today to try to get that fixed and was told rather unceremoniously by Jason that without being able to replicate it, they'd never be able to figure out what was wrong. I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong, gave them info, but if "it don't throw codes" then apparently they can't figure it out. I now have to wait until it REALLY breaks and makes towing really difficult before taking it in. Hopefully at some point it breaks just enough to tell them what's wrong without halting our trip... And they say the American car industry is in a comeback. :/

Today - I'm sure that Jill will blog a bit about our visit today, but can I just say how nice it was to visit with friends from the past. Everyone here needs to know that without the friend we visited today, none of this (and I'm talking down to the Jill and I even meeting part) would be happening. Thank you for changing the course of my life. It was fun to catch up and I hope to see you more in the next couple of weeks, not to mention on the trip back down. Somehow, we'll find a way to get you camping yet :)

Campgrounds - WOW. How different they all are. We've had - GREAT (Horse Park), CORPORATE - (First 3 days in Cave Creek), RURAL, SMALL and disconcerting (but by far the most friendly - Bardstown), TROUBLING - on so many levels (Jellystone Park), and now PURE STRANGE (here - in three days I've talked with one other camper, and it was not good). Its funny that our first park is maybe one of the best parks in the US (and now we are starting to understand why). We still have a lot of different experiences to go through, and I'm sure a lot of different types of parks to see, but I think we've run into a good mix of things. I'll post more on the different parks soon, but let me just say this - read between the lines of advertising; read comments and posts about the parks before you reserve them; unless they are in the exact, perfect location for what you're trying to do (read: not another park that rated close within an hour), research more.

I'm really enjoying the many aspects of this trip, but its going to be tough to find an RV park that will fulfill everything we are looking for. I know for a fact that it is tough to start your trek with such a good park, and that most will have a tough time measuring up. However, its also amazing to me how much personality each park has... We've just got to learn what type of park we want to be friendly with... :)

I've still got a lot to post about, but now its late and I'm going to need to get up rather early tomorrow to get a full day of work in. I can see why retirees favor this kind of lifestyle, and while I wish I could do the same, I'm glad to be able to provide and work from the road. Hopefully I can figure out everything Internet in the next few weeks and be all set for every situation. I'm sure it'll get expensive, but if that's what makes the trip happen, then whatever it takes - right?

R.

“Wild and Wonderful” West Virginia?

**Disclaimer: I had no idea Rob had already posted about our day when I wrote this, so just ignore mine!*

Jill's Journal: We left Cave City yesterday morning with no idea how far east we’d make it. The answer turned out to be 370 miles, a far cry from the old days, pre-kids and pre-fifth wheel, when a good day of driving on a road trip was easily twice that. But as Rob put it last night, we have a “lot of baggage” now and we were very pleased to get as far as we did. Especially in West Virginia…

Billed as “wild and wonderful,” we instead found West Virginia to be heavily wooded and pretty wicked. Rob and I had spent a weekend in Charleston once before and enjoyed it, but it was long before things like campgrounds became important to us. Or mountains with pulling such a big load. Rob’s truck dropped an injector in/near/around the Alleghany Mountains (or maybe the Appalachians or maybe just really big hills – we’re not even sure where we are!!) and that’s going to be an expensive fix.

The campgrounds here are few and far between and the ones that do exist can’t fit decent-sized fifth wheels. And then there’s those that don’t exist…such as the one we found in a campground guide in Beckley. No one answered the phone there, but it was after 6pm on a Saturday, so we decided to just show up and take our chances because we couldn’t find anything else. We followed the directions to a tee, found a new sports complex in its place, and us down a narrow dead-end road. This is a big problem with a large rig!! It was getting dark at this point and Rob could either back up for over half a mile or try and swing around off the road. He chose to swing around, couldn’t see part of a gate sticking out in the dark, and definitely made contact with the rear bumper of the fifth wheel. We have suffered our first casualty, luckily just cosmetic and minor in the scheme of the things. It will be a big reminder of this state, which right now ranks as our least favorite! It was a rough day.

A much-longer story heavily abbreviated, we spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot! I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but there you have it. Wal-Marts are known to be RV-friendly and before the night was over, three more fifth wheels/travel trailers joined us, as did a semi.

And we learned yet another important lesson today: we can’t live by the seat of our pants quite as much as we thought with kids and a fifth wheel! We absolutely have to have a plan. So, before leaving this morning, we’ve already booked our spot for tonight and the rest of the week. Destination: Richmond, Virginia, approximately 250 miles away. It’s a big enough city that hopefully we can get the truck fixed with no problem…now just to nurse it along that far!

West Vir-*******-ginia

I'll let you'all fill in the stars... :)

Jill says I should blog more. And I try, I really do, but I'm always doing something, then I get tired, then I sleep, then I work, then stuff to do... its still an ugly cycle. So far in and still so much to fix. I'm hoping over the next three weeks to be able to wipe any of that left-over junk out.

Today was really a bad day. It started off bad with the mud. That red - cakey - stick to everything - color all your clothing - ick. And since it rained, and the grass was washed away from anywhere that was near the hookups - it is everywhere. Pants, knees, shoes (which I had to change for the inch of mud caked on the bottoms (that picked up rocks throughout the campsite)), steps, cables, hoses... everywhere. I have to find a better system for the mud. Then, the drain is 2 1/2 inches above the bottoms of the hoses. We haven't had any talks about the hoses and the dumping and the fun of all that... so I won't start now - however, not gonna let that happen again either. Lots of lifting, purging, heaving... If you haven't experienced it, don't. :)

Needless to say I was 2 hours behind schedule and grouchy.

Then - Jill wants to go all the way to Richmond... or, "let's get to the VA border, and 'then we'll see'." :) If I were in a car, if I were in her say - MR2 - then yeah - I'm all about that plan. Sadly, we aren't. And as much as I want all that freedom - I'm happy with Charleston... Let's get halfway there today, not push, and then follow through tomorrow. Well, with the late getaway, the tough drive up through KY (traffic and heat), well, we shoulda...we coulda, but didn't. :) We pushed. -I- PUSHED.. hard. I got gas milage that people would scoff at. Foot-in-the-floor kinda numbers whenever possible. I spent more on Diesel today than I have in poker for... (ok.. a month - I had a final game.. it was fun..) :)

West Virginia became my least favorite state today. :) It's hilly, poorly road-managed and... well...geez... its just got some really crazy hills - all with really sharp curves and grades - not meant to be pushed, aggressively, by a Ford, with a notoriously problematic motor... and poof. Injector. I know it. I felt it. And tho I was able to limp it into the gas dock, get it refueled, and then restarted... I'm worried from there. We made it the rest of the way tonight, but this is not my first rodeo. I know its coming back - so I already have the plan for an appointment early next week in Richmond. Hopefully I'm able to limp it in, and if so - hopefully I'm wrong.

I also got to put the first scratch in the RV today. Running down a road that was supposed to hold an RV park we ran into an ugly dead end. And while I was sure I could swing it, and rotate out - Jill heard a crash and a scrape. Its all cosmetic (pictures tomorrow) but its still painful. I hate this state that told us there was a campground ovur thar, then thar weren't (sic). :)

To top WV off we've now gone the full circle..... I'm sure that we will have campgrounds that are worse. I'm sure that we will have campgrounds that are less level, less friendly, less 24 hour shoppable.... but tonight is a Wal-Mart parking lot. We tried three campgrounds tonight, albeit without reservations. And the best one (ok - the only one that answered the phone) told us - "we got a spot for a couple of 25 footers. You can try it if'n y'unt to." Pass. (I mentioned #3 above). I decided to punt, and even in this tiny pittance of a town, it took us two full passes to find the WalMart. Who tucks away a WalMart from the road (and we were BOTH looking for it... on the right side. geez)?

Anyhow - everyone is settled down. The kids had an ok day (aside from the ultra-late bedtimes) riding in Daddy's truck and watching movies. And, above all, Jill and I learned valuable lessons. This will be, barring catastrophic (or fecundant) news, our longest trek. I don't anticipate doing this many miles in three weeks (well, except for maybe Sara-toga- --) because its just not 'our' journey. We won't leave anywhere now with a 'go-with-it' plan because three kids and a 42-foot trailer just don't allow that. "Let's see how far we get" is now banished... yes - BANISHED from our vocabulary. Unfortunate for late-night movie watching, YES. Happy for planning our trip... much more so :)

Anyhow - as I listen to the melodious tones of the vacuum car running around and sucking up the crap that people leave on the ground for no good reason (he's been here for 3 hours people... you really drop that much crap out of your cars nightly?) I think its time to hit the hay. I've got another long trip tomorrow, and a good part of it is through West Virginia...***redacted*** ... I don't wish what I typed on anyone. :)

g'night all.

Not All Campgrounds are Created Equal

Jill's Journal: We left Louisville, eager to hit our first new town. Here we are, officially on the road, and our first weekend is the Fourth of July (which means everything everywhere is completely booked)! Not the best planning on our part, but sometimes you just can’t anticipate these things. We of course thought we’d have a month of this under our belts by now.

My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown had a cancellation for two nights and we snapped it up a few days ago. We are not yet schooled in campgrounds, but I think today was a huge lesson. The Horse Park was palatial compared to this! I had no idea. This is very rustic and tiny, which is fine and charming all on its own, but the spot we were assigned to is meant for pop-up campers and tents, not a 42’+ fifth wheel. It’s surrounded by trees and odd angles and when we saw it, I was certain there was no way to back our home into it. It would take an act of God to fit…or at least Rob’s amazing driving skills. Somehow he, with the direction of our new neighbor Johnny (who drives truck for a living), backed this thing into that crazy space. I think all 38 of our new neighbors came out to watch and I’m certain several bets were placed on whether it was even possible. But Rob did it!

We have woods right behind us and trees so close we can touch them out windows and are on such a grade that it feels like we’re going to topple right over, although Rob assures me we won’t. Our new neighbors are the friendliest things in the world. This must be what camping is all about – everyone is instant best friends. There are campfires everywhere tonight and the 65+-year-olds are the biggest and noisiest partiers out there! Hilarious.

We did meet another full-time RVing, homeschooling family, which was awesome. I spoke to both the mother and to the now 21-year-old daughter, who is now settled down with her own family but has grown up doing this. Both raved about it. The mother told me we’d never want to stop and settle down and the daughter told me it was the most fabulous childhood imaginable. She said she loved it. Very encouraging.

Washers, and Dryers and Desks -oh my!

*breath out*... finally. Finally I can start building toward getting this trip off the ground. As Jill mentioned, yes - the Washer finally is fixed. It took 3 program boards, 29 phone calls to the company, and countless (ok, I counted them - it isn't pretty) hours, but the washer if finally functioning correctly, the dryer is out of the living room and I can start moving forward with everything, rather than wait, and wait, and wait. The pic to the right is a little Picasso/Frankenstein, but the iPhone is only so cool in small spaces, ok? ;)

Anyhow - I put everything back together, put in the breather grate above the dryer, mounted the dryer vent on the wall (until I can put something in that vents under the RV) and for now, finally, peacefully, Laundry proceeds... HUGE :)

The desk is also in, now that I have space to move around in the LR. It took some work, some help from Jill, and there are little problems with it that I couldn't have known until installed, but it gives me space - I can setup my stuff on it permanently (the biggest bonus), and it actually looks pretty good. I can't wait until I can find a little time to stain and protect it, but that will come soon. 4th of July was mentioned, and is likely.

I finally feel like I'm not fighting against things, but toward something. Its a nice change and I'm sure Jill would tell anyone she's talked to (Hantje? ;) ) that my mood has improved dramatically. My list has gotten to a manageable size and I see the end of it in sight. Granted, it wasn't on the timeframe that we'd hoped, but I also didn't see so many obstacles from so many arenas come our way - I mean... a bad washer from the factory - twice? Really? The wrong kind of 30 Amp - really? Mow everything - really?

Anyway - tomorrow will be another very busy day. Lots to do, and of course some items that I hadn't planned on (like office AC units going bad... really?), but I can now say that I'll take that in stride and we'll do what we have to do to get out of here. In time, on-time? We'll see.

Wind and Rain and Storms…Oh My!

Jill's Journal: The girls and I were just on our way out yesterday afternoon to visit with friends when a storm came in very suddenly. The sky changed from bright and sunny to dark and ominous. And the wind! Violent wind, which changed direction while we were watching. The thunder and lightning and rain that came with it seemed secondary to the wind.

It was fascinating to watch…until I remembered that we’re in a trailer! Doesn’t every tornado seem to target trailers? I had visions of us flying away in Dorothy-like fashion and never being heard from again. Luckily, we held very firm to the ground. That made me feel better until I realized we’re parked right in between an old barn and a very large old tree which is leaning in our direction. Great for shade, not so great if either was blown over in a mini-twister!

Happily, the storm left as quickly as it came and the girls and I went on our merry way. I left a little bit wiser, however, and determined to pay a bit more attention to our surroundings when we park and inclement weather is a possibility! There is most definitely a learning curve to all this.

A Good Day…and Tourist Practice!

Jill's Journal: It was a good day. Rob is benefitting from me keeping the girls out of his hair and is making huge progress on his long list of projects. I’m thinking our “launch day” will be soon! Well, maybe – the circuit board for the washing machine finally arrived, two days behind schedule, and it has a whole different set of problems than the first. Perhaps if we married the two circuit boards, we might have one good washing machine? I’ve told Rob he’s been too nice in his calls to this maker-of-washing-machines-for-RVs-and-yachts…I’m ready to pounce of them. I’m a mother with three young children (translation: LOTS of laundry) who bought a way-too-expensive, especially-for-an-RV washing machine because no matter how hard I could try, I’m just not a Laundromat kind of gal. And I’m taking the inconvenience they’re causing very, very personally. Rob thinks it’s better he deal with them because one can catch more bees with honey than anger. I know he’s right, but here's my confession of the day: I am having a hard time restraining myself!

(As my dear Dad pointed out today on the phone, this delay in our plans is minor in the scheme of things. Better to have everything fixed and all the kinks worked out here rather than in some crazy little town where we can’t find a hardware store. I know, I know...)

So, while we’re still in Lexington, I decided to practice being a tourist right here at home today. I’ve always heard about a little side-of-the-road diner in Midway, Kentucky, called Wallace Station, but had never eaten there. Unsuspectingly, the girls and I headed there for lunch. Holy crap. Un-be-live-able. I had some chipotle/avacado/turkey/pepper jack creation and no other sandwich will ever measure up. Why have I never eaten there before? It’s so good that apparently Wallace Station will be featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network next Monday, the 28th. We have a t.v. but no television service, so I’m hoping to re-live the sandwich by catching the episode somewhere online. And I just may have to drag Rob to Wallace Station on our way out of town. Yum.

While still in a delicious food-induced euphoria, the girls and I then headed to Frankfort to take in some of the sights of the capitol. We went first to the quaint historic district and enjoyed the grounds of the Old Capitol building, in use since 1830 and now a museum. We happened to walk across the spot where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot on the way to his inauguration in 1900. Erika was fascinated because it happened on her birthday (albeit a little more than a century earlier) and I was fascinated because one of the first books I ever helped edit was strangely not about horses, but about Goebel’s assassination.

We then took a short jaunt over to the current Capitol with the intent of taking a tour, but either the heat or Father’s Day got the best of them and they had closed early. Beautiful grounds, however, and the girls especially enjoyed a giant floral clock with a surrounding fountain (shown in the top picture).

They were eager to get home and spend what was left of Father's Day with their Daddy, so we did just that. The happy little girl squeals from an impromptu running-thru-sprinklers session capped a super day. I think we're cut out for this tourist thing!

I did learn something very, very valuable today: when it’s 94 degrees Fahrenheit and so humid you can cut it with a knife, you can never have too much water along. The jug of water I brought wasn’t nearly enough and we stopped on the way back to Lexington to buy a couple more litters, which were quickly inhaled. These little girls play hard and one in particular definitely subscribes to the theory of “Why walk when you can run?”, so overheating could easily be an issue. I’ll be more careful to have a plentiful water supply in the future.

The things I've learned...

There are a number of lessons that I've learned or that have been reenforced like crazy this last week, and I just thought I'd blog them. Seemed a nice place to remind myself about things that are important in all aspects of life, not just on our journey. Most of these have a more profound meaning than just the surface and let me say this - just because what I wrote is about one thing, didn't mean the revelation didn't come from doing something else. :)

• Always wait for the full story before jumping to the end in your head.


• Just because you measured twice, does not mean that you'll only cut once.


• Live in the moment, for the moment - do not constantly be trying to get to the next moment, you may never see that moment again.


• When you're knee deep in s#!t, breath shallow.


• Fresh water is a precious commodity, as is the time and energy required for filling it. (ok, that one really is as it sounds) :)


• Sometimes it really is better to trust the instruments and shun instinct.


• Even after reading everything you can read, looking at everything you can look at about your rig - experience is still the best, and sometimes only, teacher. It tells you what you really need to know. (Though for me, a doctor/nurse that reads their medical journals to find the one treatment for what someone has but that only 2 people in the world have experienced -- that's ok too) ;)


• There are 2 kinds of 30 amp power. Know how to tell which is which.


• You haven't lived until the washer spin cycle runs at 120RPM and you're on the toilet.


• In the things that you dread doing there is usually reason. However, dread creates nothing but worry and lost productivity. Bite down and get it done.


• The pinhole leak that you've been neglecting to fix will be aimed right at you everytime you turn on the hose. Just take the 5 minutes and fix the hose.


• In every move, the last fifteen things take 5 times as long, and 3 times as much space as you planned. That, and everytime, no matter how hard you try not to - there will always be at least one box of crap that you threw together because you ran outta time.

I'm sure there will be more of these as time moves on. They are actually kinda fun to think a a aaaaa bbb ou t. (washer spin cycle again) :)

Settling in...

Well, now we've been here a couple of days and the new car smell is starting to wear off. The noises and rattles and movements are becoming recognizable (proving that I NEED to get an accumulator tank for the water system). The routine is beginning to straighten itself out again, and most importantly its all still good. :)

I still have an amazing amount of stuff to do, both for the RV and for the farm. I'm sure I'll get it done, but I know that we are both looking forward to getting on the road RIGHT NOW, and its going to delay us from that departure. However, in the true fashion of the way we are trying to live I am putting no pressure on myself to have to be gone by a certain date. Pressure and anxiety is the enemy, 'go with the flo' is the mantra... well, at least we're trying to keep it that way.

Jill and the kids were gone all day and the RV was quiet. I will be able to get a lot of work done on days like that, and, I think, once we are in a campground, on days that are not quiet in the RV I'll be able to find another spot. I just wish they made dual screen laptops. I can't wait to get the desk setup and should in the next couple of days. Working off the table is getting old. But, one thing at a time, right?

Last night I burned the pile of boxes and wood stuffs we'd accumulated over the course of our life at the house (pic above). Tonight I'm off to push through some of the projects and hopefully get at least one or two done. I need to tear into the barn aisle and really turn a harsh eye on things I just don't need. I'm hopeful that it'll be an easy task - we'll see how much crap I really have left over that I didn't have time to deal with. I'm a little afraid the amount is larger than I'm able to deal with in a day or two.

So the summary is basically this: Still a lot to do, stuck in a holding pattern until everything is done. GET STUFF DONE. :) that is all.

'We lose ourselves in the fog of everyday life...'

So Michigan has an advertising campaign, and this line just spoke to me. Actually it screamed into my ear and has been in my head for the last 10 days... isn't it perfect tho? It says a lot about our current situation and about what we're trying to do. For me, the fog lifted this morning.

I've been so busy trying to get things done that I've forgotten to look around and just enjoy life. Today - this morning actually - I started to do that, and I can't get the smile off my face. I don't know when I stopped enjoying the simple stuff. I don't know why I've missed the smell of clean air, the simple pleasures, sitting and listening to the sounds of nature. Where did all that go? Why was I only thinking worrying about what the next thing to do, the next project, the next whatever? I walked around all day with a smile on my face... happy to see that come back :)

Last night was great. What a send-off poker game. I was so happy to see everyone, make memories of the group and I have to say I enjoyed almost every aspect of last night. I did my best to ignore/blow-off the drama (you know who you were ;) ) and just enjoy the evening. Winning was sweet, but in all honesty tho I could have been out first and enjoyed it even probably more. The 20-minute back-to-back F-bomb penalty at the final table probably saved me from losing. Funny how that works. To all of you reading this that attended the game - THANK YOU. I was so happy to see all of you, and it truly means a lot that you came to the game. I'll post pictures of the trophy once I finish it - because that was the plan... :)

The picture above is what we see out the window now. I'm looking forward to posting albums of our window every day. I think that will be a neat project. Window of the day - I have a lot of plans for RVfor5.com, and it'll be a nice thing to get excited about a personal web project again. Its been a long time since I jumped at something for fun...

It'll be nice to get back to posting again. I'm not sure if anyone cares about my thoughts - but it helps me to keep it all together. I'm looking forward to chronicaling this journey - both the physical aspect and the psychological. There is so much to this trip - I recommend letting go of the fog and taking one. :)

Completely crushed...

I'd write more, but it really is very difficult to find the time right now. I'm hoping to have a chance to go back and revisit the most significant moments of this transition, but I've found that, unfortunately, the moments that are the most important to talk about - thusfar - are the moments I don't have the time to talk.

Hopefully soon, I can look back at the notes, the timeframe and everything going on and expound.

Hopefully...

Porch Light Upgrade - Star Light.

On my trip to the Harrisburg RV show I found a couple of products that were great. One of them was the Star Light, which replaces the standard porchlight with a motion sensor and a battery health monitor. It was the motion sensor I was really interested in, since black steps in blackness tend to cause bruised shins :)

They tout a lot of things with the light, and it seems a little expensive (~$100) for a light, but for me it seemed worthwhile for what it offered. Being able to walk up to the RV and see where I was going made a lot of sense. Plus, their other features:

• the slight down-tilt of the light which lit more of the pavement than the side of another rig
• the battery monitor that would tell you if you were green or red (under voltage @ 11.5v) from outside the coach
• the security of knowing that if anyone walked up they'd trip the light. Supposedly the detector can tell between a person and a squirrel...

I ordered the light online and was able to find it for under $80. I only ordered one even though I have two porch lights because we intend to use one door more than the other.

INSTALLATION

They claim that the screw pattern matches most generic lights, so installation seemed like it would be a cinch. Same two wires, and pretty much take the screws out of the old light, pull off the butyl-taped backplate, lube it up with silicone and poof - done. In reality, it was tougher than I'd thought.

First - the screw pattern didn't match, not even close. So, after removing the old light and cleaning off the butyl residue I matched up one screw and redrilled the other three holes. This time, instead of using butyl tape, they recommend putting a silicone seam around the backing. They provide a groove to do so. I thought this would be simple, boy was I wrong.

Problem is that you're working above your head and off to one side. The ladder I was using was too small. I recommend that the first thing anyone who is installing this do is get themselves a nice little platform setup at the appropriate height. You'll see why in a moment. ;)

Anyhow -First step was to clean the area where the old light was. I used alcohol and cleaned around the entire area. Second I filled all the screw holes, old and new, with clear silicone so there wouldn't be any breaches for water to penetrate. Then, after putting the connectors on the wires correctly (white to white, black to black) it was time to silicone the back of the light. Problem of course is that you don't have a lot of space to work with since those wires are on. If you went to do it the other way, the light back will rub silicone all over the outside of the rig. [Recommendation: Two people on a platform would make this a much easier mod. Unfortunately, I didn't have that option.]

So having the light lubed up, the wires connected, I went to put the light in the right location, and lined it up with the wrong screw hole, smearing silicone all over the side of the RV trying to find the right one. I knew that not only was that a mess, it wasn't going to seal right, so I had to do it again. After cleaning up the silicone with mineral spirits (be sure to rewax the rig if you ever have to do this), I learned from my mistakes and put in some small rods (headless screws work well for this) into the correct screw holes, allowing me to put the light over them and just pushing it directly onto the side of the RV. Then, I screwed in the two non-rodded holes, removed the rods, screwed in the last two. Then, with a wet finger and a paper towel in the other hand, neatened up the silicone line around the light.

So - learning experiences here:

• even if the steps are simple, the mod might not be.
• find a comfortable position to do the mods that are above your head. Though that might sometimes be tough when out on the road, it would be worthwhile in materials, frustration and neatness.
• silicone is messy if you get it wrong. Get it right the first time.

Overall, I live the light and it does what I wanted. One thing that I would like it to have is the ability to choose how long you want it to light up. I know their goal is to scare away things that shouldn't be there, and not to use too much power doing it, but it'd be nice if they let me choose how I want it to work. A simple waterproof push switch to choose long or short would be enough.

Would I recommend it? By all means. If you're interested in the mod, more information can be found at http://www.starlightsinc.com. The website itself isn't the best maintained - the mail form wasn't working when I tried, but the info there is everything you need to know to do this mod.

Glendale RV declares bankruptcy

Very interesting week in the world of RVing for us. Seems that out of left field our trailer manufacturer filed for bankruptcy, and nobody really has much information. From the articles I've read (good one here from The Star) their last quarter stuff was pretty strong - no long-term debt, good cash position, industry on the rebound), but their press release states that they've fired the board, closed the factories and don't see getting back into the business. Very strange.

Well, very strange until I read the following article. Seems like there might have been more going on that people didn't quite focus on (article here from the National Post). What's strange to me is that its been days since the released the info, and there's nothing out there regarding any more information. Bankruptcy must be different in Canada. Here, they file, then usually reorganize in some form, then try to work through it, then if that doesn't work they quit - right? This one seems to be - Monday, everything is fine. Tuesday - we're not answering the phones, everyone is laid off and the receiver's name is Earnst and Young.

I contacted the dealership, but they've been no help. largely I'm sure because they were blindsided as much as I was. They make mention of no more warranties on the in-stock inventory they have. My question is what happens to anything I've got to get fixed? Did Glendale do anything with that? Here, GM shuts down entire brands and leaves warranties in-tact. Seems, once again, that the RV industry is a very different beast.

That brings us to 'what to do', and I think the answer is wait and watch. I have that minor leak in the coach for now, which I can probably fix at some point. Everything else seems to be working ok, and any MAJOR systems I have in place are covered by their own warranties, so - no big deal, I hope. I'm pretty handy, and I'm hoping that the major stuff stays together. if not, then I guess we'll just fix it.

One thing this did bring up in my head is that I should pay more attention to the surroundings - meaning that their denial to fix the A/V unit and the lack of response about it should have told me more about the big picture. They didn't care how they looked to outsiders, or even a current customer, because they knew they were leaving the business. "Trash us all you want, we're not gonna be here in a month". Too bad, from looking at the forums a lot of people aspired to a Glendale trailer.

Inspiration and Information - comes from everywhere...

In wandering the aisles at the public library, I came across a book that looked interesting, so I picked it up - Horatio's Drive, America's First Road Trip.

The book really discussed how it was back in 1903 - no paved or improved roads (gravel), no maps, nobody had ever done anything like it. In fact, there were towns along the way that had never seen a car. It discussed the circumstances surrounding the trip, what it took to undertake it, and how lucky we all are now to be where we are.

After reading the book we decided to check out the film that Ken Burns did (the book was a companion to the film). The film gave me so much more of an understanding as to how bad it was out there. The visuals were well done (especially the Horatio-cam), the audio was done by big-names (Tom Hanks, Tom Bodette, etc.), and the information was really well presented.

I won't go into detail about the entire story, because if you're interested in Road Trips, its a must-see, and I don't want to ruin it - the film and book basically show what happens when somebody has vision, drive and a wallet to support it :). BTW - if you rent the film, be sure to watch the outtakes. It'll give you a little more perspective as to the background of the film, and the trip! More information is available here: http://www.pbs.org/horatio/index.html