Anyone who owns an RV would probably tell you that there is usually a "situation" for every trip. We've certainly had our fair share over the years. One of these days I will blog about our most unforgettable (and not in a good way) trip. It would just take up too much space right now...
Our first trip in the new camper (Bonnie as Jason calls her- the truck is Clyde) was going to be a nice relaxing weekend down in Tennessee on Watts Bar Lake having some beers with the old man. The trip would be about 11 hours with a perfect halfway point in Virginia to stop overnight. Kids excited: check. Parents excited: check. Grandparents excited: check. As usual and right on time however, the gods of 'vacatious interruptus' started frowning on us and decided once again that a vacation for us just wasn't in the cards. We fought back bravely, with Jason staying up late trying to finish the A/C install (Hiccups? CHECK!) Seriously, taking out a tiny roof vent to drop an air conditioner in it's place would seem trivial for the mechanically inclined. HA! NOT when they use some kind of airplane glue when originally installing said vent. But we overcame that hurdle (amongst our youngest checking in on us every 10 minutes) only to have a big work issue blow up right before departure. It was one that would require Jason staying around Friday to finish up a job, and needless to say we were all pretty deflated. Score 1-0
My solution do this dilemma was to find a more local place for our first trip and at least try to alleviate some of the disappointment for the kids' sake. (take THAT vacation gods!) Score 1-1 Doing some quick searching, I found what appeared to be a great state park just under 2 hours away. YAAAAY It's ON!
Our first trip in the new camper (Bonnie as Jason calls her- the truck is Clyde) was going to be a nice relaxing weekend down in Tennessee on Watts Bar Lake having some beers with the old man. The trip would be about 11 hours with a perfect halfway point in Virginia to stop overnight. Kids excited: check. Parents excited: check. Grandparents excited: check. As usual and right on time however, the gods of 'vacatious interruptus' started frowning on us and decided once again that a vacation for us just wasn't in the cards. We fought back bravely, with Jason staying up late trying to finish the A/C install (Hiccups? CHECK!) Seriously, taking out a tiny roof vent to drop an air conditioner in it's place would seem trivial for the mechanically inclined. HA! NOT when they use some kind of airplane glue when originally installing said vent. But we overcame that hurdle (amongst our youngest checking in on us every 10 minutes) only to have a big work issue blow up right before departure. It was one that would require Jason staying around Friday to finish up a job, and needless to say we were all pretty deflated. Score 1-0
My solution do this dilemma was to find a more local place for our first trip and at least try to alleviate some of the disappointment for the kids' sake. (take THAT vacation gods!) Score 1-1 Doing some quick searching, I found what appeared to be a great state park just under 2 hours away. YAAAAY It's ON!
The vacation gods don't take kindly to being out-maneuvered, and I imagined them laughing maliciously as they threw a couple of gremlins at our new camper. Things seemed fine that Friday night, as I was loading up the fridge and stocking supplies for the trip. We were planning on leaving Saturday late AM and at least getting one night away. Suddenly the inverter started acting funny. The fan kicked on and off and on and off over and over. It appeared to be wigging out. Jason started pulling things apart in order to see what was going on. He checked fuses and connections, pulled out and read over manuals while I got on Google seeing if anyone had a similar experience. He did notice a loose connection at the battery. Good. After tightening it appeared that things acted normal. With a heavy sigh of relief, we told the kids the trip was back on. We were sitting in the thing getting ready to go to bed when suddenly the radio turned itself on. Then the microwave beeped. It said "2". Then it kept saying "2" until the display was full and wouldn't take any input from us. Then the inverter started doing it's new trick just to join in. *Facepalm* We threw our hands up and just went to bed at 1AM. Score 2-1
Jason is very driven, and when faced with problem he's on it like a dog on a bone. By the time I woke on Saturday, he was already back out in the camper looking around some more. Lo and behold. Another loose connection was discovered,even worse than the first one. !!! This little $10.00 part right here, a battery kill switch. Not only was the connection loose, the switch was bad. It was the smoking gun we couldn't find the night before, and we started getting our hopes up again.
Jason is very driven, and when faced with problem he's on it like a dog on a bone. By the time I woke on Saturday, he was already back out in the camper looking around some more. Lo and behold. Another loose connection was discovered,even worse than the first one. !!! This little $10.00 part right here, a battery kill switch. Not only was the connection loose, the switch was bad. It was the smoking gun we couldn't find the night before, and we started getting our hopes up again.
Jason bypassed the switch until we could get a new one installed and we were on yet again. The roller coaster ride was finally over! Score 2-2
Locust Lake State Park turned out to be a gem for us. The nice gal in charge of making reservations let us drive in and pick the spot we wanted first. The spot they assigned was just too uneven. Saturday evening we made our fire and sat outside while we ate supper. After a couple of intense rounds of UNO we made our s'mores and relaxed in our lounge chairs taking in the forest views. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.....
Locust Lake State Park turned out to be a gem for us. The nice gal in charge of making reservations let us drive in and pick the spot we wanted first. The spot they assigned was just too uneven. Saturday evening we made our fire and sat outside while we ate supper. After a couple of intense rounds of UNO we made our s'mores and relaxed in our lounge chairs taking in the forest views. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.....
Sunday morning we woke up to a gentle rain casually tapping on the roof of the camper. The forecast didn't look wonderful, but we had already decided it would take a monsoon to keep us from hiking that day.
I made the usual camping breakfast of scrambled eggs, with the added little treat of cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven. Unfortunately, in my hurry to pack, I only brought along instant coffee. YUCK- Note to self: get a new coffee pot!!
No matter, the skies actually started clearing and we went exploring the trails we were camped close to.
No matter, the skies actually started clearing and we went exploring the trails we were camped close to.
It does a parent's heart good to hear "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" 100 times during a trip, no matter how small or simple. The kids will definitely remember our first outing with the new camper, I'm just thrilled the memories will be fond ones! Score: 2-3 We won this round!
Rearview Mirror:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good: Locust Lake State Park, weather cooperating, a private spot to relax
The Bad: Kill switch, instant coffee, forgetting a few minor necessities
The UGLY: Gremlins, angry vacation gods
The Bad: Kill switch, instant coffee, forgetting a few minor necessities
The UGLY: Gremlins, angry vacation gods