I am looking forward to full-timing in the future, but for now, just going to make small trips nearby on weekends and then longer family visits in fall.
October of 2013 I went to visit family in Michigan and parked in their yard for two weeks. They bought a newer home in January 2014 and no longer had space in their side yard, but luckily for me, there is a family campground three blocks from their new house. So I stayed there all of October 2014 and really love Michigan in the fall and am planning to return this year.
It's a treat to get up around the Great Lakes area and see all those beautiful deciduous trees. I love cold weather so I don't mind wearing a jacket; I guess when you've lived down south all your life and suffered the heat a little brisk weather just wakes one up. Makes the campfire all the better, I know that!
I made all the hilarious newby mistakes in my little 24-footer but I love that mode of travel so much that it was worth it to learn a little bit the hard way.
Had a disastrous black water dumping situation, didn't have the Rhino-Flex attachment fully fastened at the black water tank opening. Yeah.
Then there is "what the heck is that rattling around back there" for 50 miles. Even though I've used padding every place I can think of, there is still The Rattle. Of course, when you're by yourself, you stop to pinpoint the rattle, but by then, there's NO rattling sound because you're stopped. Crank up and go, rattling starts again!!!
I also suffered the deflation of my "deluxe" $200 inflatable mattress the third night I used it. I had a nightmare I was being suffocated and woke to find my backside flat to the 3/4" plywood bed platform with all the remaining partially-inflated mattress cushioned up all around me. Since I'm nearly 60, with all the attendant aches and pains, and the bed on this model is crammed in back next to the bath and you have to scoot to get out (in perfect conditions) I'm sure I could have been a comedy act trying to extricate myself from The Venus Fly Trap Mattress Debacle. Of course, upon pulling out and reading the instructions AFTER I'd installed the thing, it says to use the hand inflator only for subtle changes, and to use the other electric toggle for more full inflation. Didn't do that. I used that hand inflator like it was a bicycle pump every single time it felt less than "deluxe." Sigh.
Thank goodness I had the foresight to makeup the cab-over bed for an alternate choice of a place to sleep that night. My dog kept looking at me like I was nuts.
Hey, maybe this post belonged in the Funny RVing Stories? I'm sure there will be plenty more....
Thanks again for the nice welcome.
Linear Mode
