First day on the road
OK, so you know what the say about making plans. I PLANNED to be at Raines RV at 0930 to have my satellite dish fixed. It was installed before I knew if I would get Dish or Direct TV. Of course it was programmed for the one I didn't get. I got up early and puttered around because I thought, how long can it take me to unhook and drive away? MUCH longer than I thought!
To begin with, my water hose had heat coils on it to keep from freezing. I swear it took me longer to take it off than to put it on. I had about 50 feet of heat coil wrapped around the hose with electrical tape, then covered with insulation. It took FOREVER to unwrap it all.
The night before I had flushed out my black and gray water tanks, but left the gray water open. I was going to take a shower before I went to bed and I figured the water from that would clean the hose that much more. Well, in the morning, it was clean all right, clean and frozen! This drainage hose has 3 pieces clamped together, running from my gray and black water tanks into the sewage drain. I had to get a hammer to loosen the pieces enough to uncouple them. Before I could roll the 3 pieces up, I had to dislodge all the ice. That also took FOREVER. By now my friend Shelia had wandered over, so at least I had company and help.
OK, now that I was totally unhooked, time to bring in the slides and hook the 5th wheel to the truck. I couldn't get the latch to engage on the truck. After some thought and consultation with Shelia, we decided the RV was just a hair too high for the hitch. Once I lowered the hitch I heard that distinctive CLICK telling me the 5th wheel was latched into the truck. One final check to make sure the lights worked, a good bye hug to Shelia and I was on my way.
Once at Raines RV I waited not so patiently for about 2 hours. The satellite was previously installed, I thought it was just a matter of climbing up on the roof to reset the switches. Apparently the tech had to follow the cables to find the power switch to the satellite dish and that's what took so long. It was hidden in a closet. As I was paying the ridiculous fee of $177 ($11 of that was to add a screw in the hitch cover) it dawned on my stupid self, I was going to pass within a few miles of the place where I bought the RV and had the satellite installed. They could have reset the switches in about 5 minutes and wouldn't have charged me. I'll be kicking myself for a while over that one!
OK, I'm finally on my way, just 2 hours later then I planned. I doubt I'll make it to the campground in Tn. In addition to the delay, since the truck is new, I'm not supposed to drive over 50 MPH while towing for the first 500 miles.
At about 4PM I stopped for gas and brought out my lap top to find a closer campground. Just my luck, nothing in the area that is reasonably priced and open this time of year. Oh well, I'm self contained, I can boondock! That is where you park somewhere with out hooking up to water or power.
So I spent my first night on the road at the rest stop at mile marker 108 on 81 southbound.
To begin with, my water hose had heat coils on it to keep from freezing. I swear it took me longer to take it off than to put it on. I had about 50 feet of heat coil wrapped around the hose with electrical tape, then covered with insulation. It took FOREVER to unwrap it all.
The night before I had flushed out my black and gray water tanks, but left the gray water open. I was going to take a shower before I went to bed and I figured the water from that would clean the hose that much more. Well, in the morning, it was clean all right, clean and frozen! This drainage hose has 3 pieces clamped together, running from my gray and black water tanks into the sewage drain. I had to get a hammer to loosen the pieces enough to uncouple them. Before I could roll the 3 pieces up, I had to dislodge all the ice. That also took FOREVER. By now my friend Shelia had wandered over, so at least I had company and help.
OK, now that I was totally unhooked, time to bring in the slides and hook the 5th wheel to the truck. I couldn't get the latch to engage on the truck. After some thought and consultation with Shelia, we decided the RV was just a hair too high for the hitch. Once I lowered the hitch I heard that distinctive CLICK telling me the 5th wheel was latched into the truck. One final check to make sure the lights worked, a good bye hug to Shelia and I was on my way.
Once at Raines RV I waited not so patiently for about 2 hours. The satellite was previously installed, I thought it was just a matter of climbing up on the roof to reset the switches. Apparently the tech had to follow the cables to find the power switch to the satellite dish and that's what took so long. It was hidden in a closet. As I was paying the ridiculous fee of $177 ($11 of that was to add a screw in the hitch cover) it dawned on my stupid self, I was going to pass within a few miles of the place where I bought the RV and had the satellite installed. They could have reset the switches in about 5 minutes and wouldn't have charged me. I'll be kicking myself for a while over that one!
OK, I'm finally on my way, just 2 hours later then I planned. I doubt I'll make it to the campground in Tn. In addition to the delay, since the truck is new, I'm not supposed to drive over 50 MPH while towing for the first 500 miles.
At about 4PM I stopped for gas and brought out my lap top to find a closer campground. Just my luck, nothing in the area that is reasonably priced and open this time of year. Oh well, I'm self contained, I can boondock! That is where you park somewhere with out hooking up to water or power.
So I spent my first night on the road at the rest stop at mile marker 108 on 81 southbound.
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