The Worst Summer Turns Into the Worst Year

It has been awhile since our last article and that pretty much has been the result of avoidance to just put all that has happened since September in writing. The last time we took the Roadtrek out of state was the last Saturday in September. We went to an event in Pennsylvania and took the Roadtrek to go there and back the same day.  That was fairly uneventful other a small thing at the location of the event which is something to share because when driving any van RV - not just a Roadtrek you need to be aware of what you are parking on if you have to park in a field or on the grass. This event was at a park and parking for the park was limited so the park opened up several grass fields to park on. The day was beautiful - sunny and pleasant but the days before it had rained hard and a lot - what else was new?!  We drove down the  entrance road in the park and was stopped by a gentleman who was directing where to park. He pointed into an open field and directed us to go into one of the spots toward the left. I looked ahead and saw that a good deal of the grass and dirt area was mud. I asked if the ground was solid - adding that if we go into the mud we will sink. That is not an exaggeration. With the weight and the ground clearance of the Roadtrek if get into the mud you will sink - and possibly not easily get out of the mud. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "Oh!" and pointed to the same area he pointed to before. I headed into that area and stopped where he had said to park. I could see as I pulled forward into the spot that I was going to be in trouble if we stayed there. The mud was deep and I did not even stop, I kept going through the open space in front and through onto the more solid ground of the area between the parked cars that served as a road. I drove around looking for a more solid place to park. I came across a grassy area that some cars had parked in and went there. I pulled through a soft spot forward onto solid ground. When we got out of the car I saw that the tires in the space just behind us that I just drove though made ruts about four inches deep. Where we stopped was solid and we hiked over to the location of the event - and while it was much smaller than we anticipated we spent about an hour going through it - twice.  We headed after that to our usual PA stomping grounds and had a pleasant day and a nice dinner before heading home that night.

Four days later I woke up with a pain in my shoulder that ran down my left arm. It was the worst pain I have ever felt - and since one hears that an unexplained pain in the left arm could indicate one is having a heart attack, Meryl said - we are going to the hospital - and we did. I spent 10 hours in the hospital - "being observed" and was told I was just fine  - no heart attack. I was told to go home and I said - "What about my shoulder?" which was still hurting A LOT.  To which they answered, we don't know, go see your doctor.  The doctor found a variety of minor things, gave me a couple of prescriptions and told me that for the pain, take Extra Strength Tylenol. I asked how long this would last and he said "6 to 8 weeks".  Great!  And, indeed, I was in pain of varying intensity for eight weeks. And during that time, I had a great deal of difficulty driving because of how the seat belt would pull on my shoulder no matter if I was the car, our passenger van, or when I tried sitting in the Roadtrek on the driveway. There was no way that I could drive on the few trips we had planned for October, much less be able to get by comfortably living inside even for a few days. That ended all plans for travel. And the worse part was we were not taking our usual end of RV season trip to get the Roadtrek ready by dumping the tanks at a campground sewer dump hole to be ready to winterize. Not good - but as it turned out in the end, maybe the best thing that could have happened.

Early in November it was bothering me that we had not driven the Roadtrek since the end of September and we really should take it out for a drive - whether far or near but it had to go out. I was even willing to try to go out of state with it - for a same day there and back trip, but still the weather was not cooperating. We settled for a trip out the the East End of Long Island - about 100 miles or so just to drive the Roadtrek - and that is what we did. Totally uneventful and just for the sake of driving.  At the end we filled the gas tank and I bought two bottles of Seafoam gasoline additive to put in the gas tank to run through the generator when I ran it two ours each month in the winter with an electric space heater running to put at least a half load on it. This is recommended by the generator company and I have been doing this monthly since the Roadtrek was new. Two cans is just a little more than is needed for the number of gallons in a full tank and I just put all of both cans in - a little more can't hurt.

Mid-November we had to winterize. I figured that the usual gallon of water that I put in the black waste tank to keep it wet when we last traveled in August (for couple of days) would get dumped into a bucket and carried into the house to flush down the toilet. (When we got the Roadtrek and were faced with the need to dump without having a place to dump the black tank, I bought a plastic pail and wrote on it "Doody Pail" so that it would not be used for anything else. 😉)  We were all set to winterize. We pulled the macerator hose out, I started the engine to put a little boost into the RV batteries, pulled the black tank handle, and with Meryl holding the nozzle over the pail, I pushed the red macerator button. I could hear it running but not as loud as usual. Nothing came out of the tank.  My first thought was that even though we had charged the batteries a few days before maybe the Roadtrek needed to be plugged in. There should be nothing in the grey tank as that was dumped completely and not filled back with any water on the last trip in August. We pulled out the power cord and plugged it into the 20 amp outlet outside the house as we always do. Again, we got set up to dump the tank, and again a running macerator - low volume - and nothing came out. We have dumped on the driveway before. We have never had a problem. The van is on an small incline front end up but that has never mattered. I thought that maybe the van had to be level this time for whatever reason. The Andersen Leveling ramps came out and I put the Roadtrek up on the ramps and level. Again - nothing came out of the macerator. Off the ramps, we tried again - and this time not only did nothing come out but I could smell a burning order from under the van - OH BOY!  Had we run the macerator dry to the point that we just burned out the motor. We stopped and put everything to do with dumping away.  We still had to winterize and if there was any water in the black tank I would overload the black tank with RV antifreeze and keep our fingers crossed that it would not freeze. We winterized the Roadtrek as we always do - following my own directions from this site - which I print out and keep with us while we do it just so we do it all and in the correct order. And we were doing this with my bad shoulder and arm which still hurt some.

Meryl is great! She is always willing - and able - to do what I cannot do. And she did a good deal of the winterizing - with my help as much as I could help.  If you know our winterizing process one of the things we have in our Roadtrek is the winterizing valve to connect the RV antifreeze bottle directly to the water pump. There is a large, brass cap nut on the connection for the hose that goes into the bottle on this winterizing valve and it requires a variable wrench that opens beyond an inch which means the usual 6" long wrench does not have jaws that open enough. An 8" wrench does, but is just slightly too long to work easily inside the cabinet that the water pump (and this nut) is located. She was struggling with it - and I got it to fit enough to get the nut loose enough to hand remove it. Meryl turned to me and asked why is there no wrench that fits this and I explained that we would need what is called a "stubby"wrench with jaws that open big enough for this nut which are not cheap. Meryl said - "That is what I want for Christmas!" And that is exactly what Meryl got for Christmas - her very own stubby wrench to use when winterizing the Roadtrek! She was actually very happy getting it.

So, I kept the idea of going even for one day that we would get the Roadtrek out of state for one day - out and back. By the beginning of December my arm and shoulder were better and I kept looking for a day that neither the weather or obligations would conflict with - and that never happened.

We decided that in the Spring we would make an appointment and take the Roadtrek to the dealer/service in Pennsylvania where we bought it and have them look at the macerator and if it is broken, burned out, whatever, have them fix it or repair it. We recalled that on our last trip in August the macerator worked but was a little odd - it seemed to empty the tanks too quickly - not as it usually does - but the grey tank read empty - and the black tank - which never reads empty was emptied first and the grey tank was dumped that day after it - so it was still dumping then.  During this period since August, we also discovered that the Fantastic Fan roof mounted exhaust fan lid was not opening. The mechanism looks fine. The knob to raise it would turn and then get tight - as if something was holding it down. The last time it was open and then closed was a very hot day in August - near 100 degrees F. My first thought was that when it was closed in that heat the seal and the lid stuck together. The easy way to try to fix this was to take off the fan screen inside so that I can reach up into the van and reach the bottom of the lid and while turning the knob before it gets tight to give the lid a push up - BUT I was not going to attempt this because if there is a mechanical problem I did not want an open vent in the roof until the Spring!  We just left it alone. When we go for the macerator we will ask the shop to take care of that too!

This is the way it has been - and unfortunately it was all of 2018 with the Roadtrek - not being able to travel - perhaps the short trips contributed to the problems with the macerator? I don't know. The topper on the cake was one day we went inside the Roadtrek to exercise the generator and I noticed that the molding that is on the edge of the wood panel that comes down along the end of the sink counter was coming off - but not just off at an end, but had come off forming a "U" off the edge, still connected at the ends of the "U" and down about four inches. Pushing up on it to get it back in place - it does not budge. It is cold and when the Spring comes hopefully the warmth will let it expand and will move and I will fix this myself. 

So other than a cold that came, went, and came back again and maybe is going away - again, we are looking toward 2019 to be much better than 2018!  I want to thank the kind reader who recently emailed us to ask if we are alright - since there has been no article since the beginning of September!  I did answer personally and said that I would get this article finally written. I am always happy to answer our readers questions - and we do get a lot of questions by email that I do answer as extensively as I can directly back to the reader.  Things are happening at Roadtrek but, until I have reliable details, I will not write about it as right now no one really knows what the outcome will be.

The Power of Freezing Water

When I went to dewinterize this year I discovered something unexpected. Fortunately, this was not a permanent part of my Roadtrek.  Some of our readers may have seen this article from way back in May 2015.  When we had trouble filling our rear interior fresh water tank we made a fill tube that was able to get to the bottom of the tank and fill the tank from the bottom up - necessary when an air or gas bubble in the tank prevents the water from backing up the door fill hole in the rear of the van. When we were dewinterizing this year we had the same problem. We keep this little self-made gadget in the back of the van under the bed in one of our storage baskets right behind the cargo doors. It had been very cold this winter - the Roadtrek was winterized with RV anti-freeze, but apparently when I put this water fill gadget away the last time it was used some water was still inside the nozzle. When I pulled this out this year to use it, I noticed a small puddle of water inside the ziplock plastic bag I keep it in. When I took out out of the bag and connected it to the fresh hose and turned on the hose water sprayed everywhere. My first thought was the connections had loosen. I tightened those and turned on the water and got sprayed again. 

I looked closely and this is what I found:

1. Connection from  to the tube fitting - supposedly brass

Note the crack where between the sections.

2. Valve connection to turn the water on and off at the tube - metal - supposedly brass

Note the hole in the middle burst out and split in three places.

Water inside these pieces froze during the winter and burst through the metal. These were inexpensive to replace. Imagine the same thing happening if you are not winterized and there is a freeze that reaches the piped and valves inside your Roadtrek. As it is there are drafts inside the van. It did not get below 7 degrees F this winter here on any one night.  Some places can get a lot colder.

I am sharing this to show the importance of winterizing your Roadtrek or any RV if you live where it can go below 28 degrees at night over two days without the days going up into the low 40s.  Water when it freezes expands and it becomes very powerful - even a small amount of water will do damage.

All this did was set us back a day to get our tank sanitizing completed and flush out the bleach/water mix out of the fresh tanks. We made a trip to both Lowes and Home Depot that late afternoon and had trouble finding the parts we needed to put it back the way it was. We did wind up changing the design and now the fill the tank from the bottom gizmo looks like this:

The hose valve has now been replaced with a faucet hose bibb - from Lowes - MC76QT #867974 -- 3/4" FIP threaded inlet. This eliminated what is shown in photo #1 and also in photo #2.  The part that turns a male screw connection to a female to connect the end of a fresh water hose on the other end  is the piece we first bought at this time for the "new" gizmo and that came from the plumbing section in Lowes. When this was connected with the water running the water leaked from the swivel connection. This part was returned to the store and a trip to Home Depot's garden department led us to another of these - much better made. The name and   part number of that is "Metal Fittings Metal Double Female Adapter 1001565704" It is from Melnor and the SKU# is 42206 14351.  This does not leak at all!  The rest is left from the original.

RV Emergency Plan

I have been following several RV groups and forums and the subject of having a plan in the event of an emergency - in particular a weather emergency - has been discussed. It had never occurred to me that having an actual plan was something that was necessary, but it does make sense. Living in the Northeast, the most hazardous weather conditions are generally hurricanes and blizzards. While there are occasional reports of tornadoes in this area in recent years, when growing up a tornado was something that occurred far away from here. When traveling in an RV, however, it is important to be aware of any type of weather condition that may occur in areas that may be unlike those you are used to experiencing at home.

There has been only one occurrence for us of an actual weather emergency while on a trip in the Roadtrek, and this occurred this past October. We were in Pennsylvania and the radio weather reports were for rain - which is not generally of concern. Just as an aside - weather reports on the radio in some areas can be hard to come by. Generally, FM stations which are the most common to pick up on a vehicle radio don't bother with weather reports or even the news. AM stations in some areas are few and far between so the usual source of weather radio reports is just not reliable. We were out in the Roadtrek heading home from a dinner at a restaurant at night and we had an FM station on and we heard for the first time ever the Emergency Broadcast Signal that was not followed by the usual, "This is a test". No, this was the real thing. A sudden severe storm was heading for the county that we were in and the towns listed included the town that the campground that we were staying at is in. The time frame for the coming storm would allow us to get to the campground that was near by with plenty of time - and we continued back to the campground and our site. As we were driving the report repeated several times, each time including more localities that would be affected. There would be heavy downpours and sixty mile per hour damaging winds. We got back to the campground with enough time to get ourselves hooked up and able to get inside the Roadtrek - and while we did that we looked around us to see where we could go if we needed solid shelter. The brick building housing the restrooms and the laundry was less than 200 feet from our site in a direct path and we knew that we could get in there quickly if we needed to. That was our plan and the night and the storm played out. Without going into further detail - as I did write about this experience in an article some time after that trip - let's talk about making a plan if you learn of a pending emergency coming your way.

In areas that frequently are hit by such severe weather of all types, the campground may have its own Emergency Plan for those staying there and it is always a good idea to ask at the office when you check into the campground if there is one. If so, have them explain it to you and show you on the campground map (there always seems to be a campground map that you are given at every campground) where you are to go in the event of a severe storm, tornado, flood warning, etc. If they don't have a campground plan then you have to come up with your own.

The first thing that you want to determine is where you will go if the conditions get so bad that staying in your RV will not be safe. You want to find the closest solid building - like the brick and cinder block restroom building that we decided upon. You need to plan in advance the path that you will take to go in - and what you will take with you. If you have children with you don't frighten them but explain to them that if - for whatever reason - there was some need to leave the RV because the weather gets bad - this is where we will go and how we will get there.

One thing that we find very valuable to have and bought after our first season in our Roadtrek is a NOAA Emergency Weather Radio. (That was the year that we went through a bad storm on the road, an earthquake, and a hurricane that was coming up the East Coast heading in our direction and in the direction of our home.) The radio that was recommended to us by other RVers is the Midland WR-120 Weather Alert Radio. This is not expensive - less than $30. It can be found in some Walmarts and can be ordered on the Walmart website with free shipping to any Walmart. Ours came with an AC power adapter, a 12 volt cord to plug into the dashboard, and 3 AA batteries. It runs on any of the three. It locks into the local NOAA emergency broadcast automatically and will give you any emergency reports and weather reports for that area. It has a digital display and can be set to act as an alarm from a silent radio to wake you up in the event of an emergency broadcast. The alarm is loud and will get you up and out of bed to react to the emergency coming. For the price this radio does a lot and it gets very positive ratings and reviews.  I know that some will say - "Oh I have an app that will do the same thing so I don't need a radio."  Well, we went through Hurricane Sandy at home and during that storm cell towers went out of service. It does not help to have an app with no data service to use it with. At the same time - radios worked. In fact, we had the Midland and that worked throughout the storm and for the week after when power lines were down and emergency crews worked 24 hours a day to restore communications and power. So as part of your emergency plan get yourself a radio - and make sure that you have spare batteries on hand.  When you make your emergency plan keeping this radio on before and during this storm is essential to the plan - and if you have to abandon your RV and head for solid shelter the radio and spare batteries are to go with you.

You also want to be sure to have at least one - if not more than one - good and bright flashlight with spare batteries. If power goes out you have the flashlights - even in a small RV like a Roadtrek a flashlight helps to get around in the dark. Should you need to leave the RV - take the flashlights and the batteries.

If you need any medications, make sure that your plan includes having those medications together for an easy grab and go if you have to leave the RV. You don't know how long you will be in the shelter building. And you don't know if your RV will be there when the storm is over. Sorry - but that is a potential reality with some storms.

Be prepared to have a lot of company in the building you are running to. You are not the only ones who decided that this is "the place" to go in case of an emergency. Get comfortable with the idea of being in a crowd in tight quarters. Stay away from windows - these restroom buildings rarely have windows - and stay away from doors. Don't expect to be comfortable inside. You are there to stay safe - not to have a good time.

Listen for any warning sirens or alarms - do not ignore them. We have been in all types of situations where an alarm is going off and people just ignore it. We have been in hotels when the fire alarm has gone off in the middle of the night - up on an upper floor - and people come out into the hall look around and go back into their rooms - while others are heading down the staircase to the street. We have been in stores and malls where the fire alarm is going off and people just ignore it. We were in a movie theater when the fire alarm went off and people just kept watching the movie - while some are wisely heading for the exits - and as we were just getting out we could hear theater employees yelling at those remaining in their seats to "get out, get out!".  Don't ignore alarms!

There are some RVs that are much lighter than others. The Roadtrek is four tons - which is a heavy van. There are Class As that are large and heavy. Then there are thin walled travel trailers, small and light Class Cs, etc. Don't decide in a high wind situation or a tornado that your RV will stand up to anything. There are some very frightening photographs of RV campgrounds after a tornado or severe storm has gone through. The afternoon of writing this article I saw photos of the aftermath of a sudden storm in Georgia in which there were large and small RVs crushed by trees and a travel trailer turned upside down. This was not a tornado.  The Roadtrek and larger, heavy RVs "should" stand up to 60 mile per hour winds but look around your RV when making your emergency plan for that campsite to see what trees might fall, what electrical lines could come down on your RV, etc. - and what could block your path to your shelter should you decide to wait too long to go.

These are just a few ideas about creating your own emergency plans for each campground that you are in. You can add to these anything that you need that will keep you and your family safe. If you are not at a campground and you are, for example staying overnight in a Walmart parking lot - go into the store. This is why it is just one reason why it is important if staying at a Walmart overnight in your RV that you stay in one that is open 24/7.  If you are out in the woods all alone in your RV - and there is no time time head for civilization, call 911or the local police department and alert them to your location and that you are out there. If they feel you need to move and that is still possible, do so. If not, then tell them that you want them to be aware that you are out there and at the moment there is no need to come to help. After the storm, call them back to let them know you are safe.

Will the RV Season Ever Start?

Spring is here. Since Spring arrived there have been two minor snow storms here in New York, two freeze warnings, and nights still going down into cold temps. I have heard the word "snow" and "measurable" too many times for Spring!

In mid-March, I was thinking about de-winterizing. The temperatures were in the upper 50's and 60's during the day with nights no colder than the 40's. I told this to Meryl and she simply said, "I wouldn't." Of course, I came back with look how good the weather is. She said, "No, don't do it."

She has since said to me, "Aren't you glad that I said not to de-winterize yet?" The temps were dropped into the low 20's that night - in April!  Well, I have said it before, Meryl is always right! In some parts of the country there is still snow coming down - and here in NY we have been in a "polar dip" - Spring and polar should never go together...

There is a very reliable weatherman on NY television - the channel's slogan for him is "He always gets it right!" and most of the time he does. Last week he looked at this week and said the 70's would be back again. So far that has not happened and this week he is saying the same for next week. I am hoping that next week he really is right. I very much would like to de-winterize and know that the Roadtrek is ready to go. But I am waiting.  At this point I am hoping for the last week in April. It would be nice to consider getting in and going even for a day or two and I know that I could do that with the antifreeze still in the system and using no water, but it is just not the same. It is so much easier having full tanks of water and using the facilities the way they are intended to be used.

If you are considering de-winterizing and you are in the Northeast, think twice about it and follow the  forecasts on temperatures. It would be a shame to have gone all winter with no problems and then de-winterize only to have everything freeze in April. Well. Meryl is always right.

And, it is after April 1st and the campgrounds are open! I guess they will wait and so will I. 

Soon. Soon.

Is WInterizing Necessary?

This may seem like a strange topic for an article after I have posted various articles over time about winterizing and how to do it, but recently I have been reading a number of posts from RVers (not necessarily Roadtrek RVers) on various groups who are asking "Do I need to winterize?" or "I didn't winterize and suddenly there was a sudden freeze last night and no water is running? What do I do?" My first thought when I read these is why didn't you think about this in the Fall or, at least, before you heard the temperature was going to drop? I try to be polite and understanding as the therapist side of me comes out and try to give advice on what to do now that it is too late.

I understand that some areas of the country that never got really cold in the past have been getting cold - but with last year's winter when there were ice storms in the South and sudden deep freezes where there had not been for many years before, wouldn't one take precautions this year. It seems not. I also understand that some live in their RVs full time and while many head to where it will stay warm during the winter, some have job commitments in one place and can't just pick up and go to Florida. Florida, by the way is one of the hardest places to get a vacant campsite during the winter - or so I am told - and if one is thinking of heading to the warm Florida sun from December to February or March, make a reservation well in advance.

Some RVs have heated water tanks and are able to stay out in the freezing temperatures without having to be concerned, but I recently read a cry of help from someone who "went away for the weekend" (obviously, not with their RV that has tank and plumbing heaters when plugged in 24/7, but evidently they forgot to leave them running) and when they returned found the entire water system had frozen. And what could they do? Not much but try to thaw it out, if the outside temperature was not going to cooperate. And this, thankfully, so far, has been a mild winter - at least in some parts of the Country that are usually colder.Tank and plumbing heated RVs need an ongoing power source to keep those running and without failure. 

My Roadtrek does not have any tank or plumbing heaters. It does have an interior water tank that holds less than half the water capacity of the exterior water tank it also has. There is a way to isolate that tank from the outside tank and only have water running from the interior tank. (Summer Mode/Winter Mode) This is supposed to be a way to travel in freezing weather with water. The problem is that this only works if the interior of the coach is heated 24/7 which means plugged in, run on the generator, or be able to recharge the coach batteries which will eventually run down that are needed to ignite the propane furnace and run the furnace fan that will move the hot air around inside the Roadtrek. And even this is only good to a certain exterior outside temperature. Then there are the outside waste tanks. If you run water from this interior fresh water tank, where does that water go when it runs through the sink or toilet. It goes right down the drains into the grey tank or the black tank that are both outside hanging under the van close to the ground where it stays the coldest. Will these freeze? Oh yeah! Will the pipes coming and going from these freeze with water in them. Yup, that too. There are new Roadtreks that have a different type of hot water heating system that is supposed to dump its contents outside automatically if the temperature gets toward freezing. That is good for the hot tank, but what about the waste tanks and the fresh tanks? I have not heard anything about what happens to those.

So Roadtrek or not, what do you do? (And this is all my own opinion - but formed after hearing about all of not what may happen but what does happen.) Well, the obvious is winterize and travel or stay in your RV without water through the months that will potentially freeze. What else could be done? If one's RV is not winterized and you do not have heating systems to keep all of the water system from freezing, it is extremely important to pay attention to the future weather forecasts. Yes, the weatherman is often not right. I know one nationally popular weather forecasting network that likes to make disasters out of everything and will emphasize the negative and rarely reports any weather in a positive way. I am sure that one beautiful sunny normal day they are going to report that dangerous sun rays will bring imminent disaster to anyone who goes outside. But there are several weather services including the National Weather Service that when the reports of each are taken together and compared, the chances of a more accurate forecast are greatly increased. If with this approach there is agreements that the temperatures in the coming week are going to go below freezing and there will be no daytime warm up well into the 40s, it is essential to winterize or move quick to where it will be much warmer. Winterizing is not hard - if you read my step by step guide to winterizing and you install a winterizing valve on your water pump - or get one of the hand RV antifreeze pumps that I also talk about in my step by step guide to winterizing - you can winterize in less than a half hour. It is not hard to do and the longest time required is waiting for tanks to drain on their own. RV antifreeze at Walmart is less than $3 a gallon and with a Roadtrek all you need is two and a half gallons. With another RV with more plumbing you may need more - but not much more. What do you do for water - you can do what we have done when winter traveling while winterized  and some modify this by still flushing the toilet with RV antifreeze instead of water - either pouring it in from the bottle or filling the fresh water tank with RV antifreeze to do this. Is this all inconvenient if you live full time in your RV? Of course, it is, but paying to fix burst water pipes or broken valves due to having frozen is a lot more inconvenient. Think it all through. Be prepared. Know what is ahead at all times. And keep a few gallons of RV antifreeze on hand, if you don't winterize, because once the winter starts, like winter clothes that are gone from the shelves when the coldest weather is about to hit, the RV antifreeze sells out in November and they just don't restock it.

And if you have an RV with heated plumbing and tanks, and you decide to go away for a winter weekend without the RV - leave all those heaters plugged in and running... (I have to smile every time I think of that one...)

Never a Dull Moment Part 2

Welcome back! In our last article - Never a Dull Moment Part 1, we never actually got to the article that I sat down to write. We took a meandering path to why we were going to a new campground in an area where we have had a favorite campground for four years. Well we are back now to what was to be a one part article about our October trip.

The Roadtrek was packed the day before. Two days before that water went into the fresh tanks. We saw on the weather ahead that there might be some cold nights - nothing below freezing but just in case, Meryl suggested that we isolate the interior (rear) fresh water tank and use the water in the exterior tank first. This is easy to do with the various settings on the 190 and the 210. (See our Summer Mode/Winter Mode article for specifics on how to do this.) Of course, the bed was already made when this was decided so Meryl crawled under to the cabinet with the water valves, I held up the mattress so that she could get the door open and she made the adjustments to the water valves.  When the night temperatures got cold- which was to be almost the end of the trip, the exterior and larger fresh tank would be empty or near empty and we would switch over to the interior tank which is much more protected inside from the cold. We were ready to go.

We got out the morning we were leaving at about 9:15 am. If you read this site regularly I have mentioned that we live on a very busy four lane suburban avenue and while everyone should already be at work at 9:00 am, there is a constant stream of cars and trucks going past our house well after 9 am. The first thing we do when we get into the Roadtrek to start a trip is turn on the compressor DC/AC only refrigerator. All that is involved is putting the Roadtrek battery switch on and turning the thermostat inside the fridge up from off - to about mid-way which should get the temp inside up in about a hour and a half. The only thing inside the fridge is my spare insulin pen which must be kept at a temperature between 36 - 42 degrees F. After the pen is started for use it cannot be kept in a refrigerator and must be as near to room temperature as possible (more about traveling like this in a future article). So I had the pen in use with us inside one of the cabinets and the spare in the fridge - at the time - in a cold bag with two ice blocks also inside - just to keep it cold until the temperature goes up in the fridge. We are in, I am behind the wheel with the engine started, and Meryl is setting up the fridge. She pushes the test button on the Roadtrek monitor panel after the fridge is on - and she says - "We have a battery problem!" OK - what? The battery LEDs with the engine on - for every other time like this - usually shows all LEDs to the top lit indicating that the engine is charging the batteries. The lights are now down to the bottom two LEDs. Not good! The batteries are low - and apparently too low for the panel to indicate that the van engine is charging them. We discussed what to do and decided to shut off the fridge. With that the LEDs still did not go up to indicate charging but now went to G - the third LED from the top of the four. At worst we would lose the pen, at least worst we would have to start the countdown of days the pen can be used out of the fridge much sooner than we would like, at best the batteries would start to charge as we were driving. Of course, this is on my mind as we finally get to pull out into the street - which took about twenty minutes for there to be a break in the traffic. We started out with the idea that we were leaving "early" - at least for us. It was after 10:00 am and we were just turning the corner from our house.

As I am driving, I am thinking about the batteries and the refrigerator. We decided that the pen would hold up in the cold bag for several hours, but I kept wondering if the battery panel would ever show that they were charging. This has happened with the generator when the batteries are low - and it takes about a half hour for the Charge LED to come on. To get to a limited access road it takes us just about a half hour from the house. Just before the highway entrance came up I pulled over into a shopping mall and we checked the LEDs - Charging! Good. One less thing to think about. We left the fridge off and decided we would wait until we stopped at a rest area for lunch to put it on. The start of this trip was certainly not dull - nor was it relaxing. Maybe I am expecting too much to relax on a trip...

Traffic to Pennsylvania was not bad - at least once we left New York State. We bounced and banged on what were supposedly recently newly paved roads - none of which actually looked like they were newly paved - or at least had, already, splits and large holes in the pavement. Not unusual - the trip out of NY and back in is always - bang, rattle, shake, bang. We stopped for gas in New Jersey - a must, as gas in NJ is about 40 to 50 cents a gallon less than where we are in New York and about 20 cents a gallon less than in Pennsylvania. We paid $1.97 a gallon. I know that gas is a lot less than this in other parts of the country, but it has not gone near to be below $2 here where we are in NY at all this year.

The "new to us" campground has a 2:30 check in time and while I did not expect it to be crowded or full, since this was our first time here we did not know what reaction we would get if we arrived there early As it was, it was 2:10 pm when we pulled up in the lane to the office. There was a big trailer in the lane in front of us. We went inside the office and we were greeted by a woman who was working with a man behind the counter who was getting the trailer registered. Each was very nice and we were welcomed like old friends. (More about this in our review of the campground in two weeks.) I did make a point of telling her that we come to Lancaster regularly and are hoping that we will be staying with them for now on - again, mentioning why. She also was not surprised like the Amish woman working here mentioned in Part 1. She gave us our site number and our key card. She said that she would open the lift gate the first time in and then you must use the card to enter after that. The gate opens automatically - same gate - same lane - when exiting.

We drove through the gate and after passing the site, not seeing it, we had a little tour of the roads through the campground to get back to it. Our back in site was closed in on three sides by large rocks that created a wall about a foot and a half to two feet high. The site looked narrow and had a picnic table taking up a corner of the rear of the space. Up from the rocks was grass mounded up around the site. It was next to a road on one side and nothing but grass on the other with the next RV site about 50 feet away. The site angled into the road. I backed in hoping to find that it was level and not have to bother with the leveling ramps. Often with a Class B you have the room to move around in the space until you find the right level area. This site was not cooperating and we were winding up off level in all directions - front low, side high. It took almost a half hour until I hit a place that was close enough. It involved being in the space diagonally and at the same time avoiding the picnic table - which had it not been there, I still think I would have found a level spot much faster. OK - get out to put down markers to find that exact spot again and test the electric box. I opened the driver's door and Meryl said "Wait!" but too late. The corner of the door hit one of the wall rocks. I sighed as I looked around at all of the other sites- most of them vacant with nothing around them but flat grass...  Electric box tested good. The markers were placed next to the tires (I have to say that sometimes getting back to where the markers are exactly is like finding a needle in a haystack - and on this trip - which has never happened before - we never did get close each night when we got back and wound up finding level all over again each night. I actually discovered one night that if the front of the van stuck out into the road (which it should not) the van was perfectly level.) We got into the Roadtrek and headed over to Roots Farmers Market for what was left of the day.

That night when we turned on the water pump it ran but little water came through the toilet or the sink. Oh boy, now what?!? I turned the pump off and then back on and turned on the sink. The water ran slow and then ran with regular pressure and stayed that way. I wondered if this happened because it was colder outside than it has been when using the water. I had the water running fine at home when I tested it before the trip so that we would have no surprises. The water ran fine that night and up to the last night when it was really cold out - mid-30's at night and it did it again. Well, whatever it was it worked itself out - and before I winterize which will be soon, I will check the water pump filter to see if there is anything in there that is slowing the flow that had to shake loose to run steady. 

I knew in advance of the trip that the next day was supposed to rain - just rain. We have found places to go and things to do here in the rain before - all too often - and I figured we would get past the day and onto what was forecast as good weather. During the day it rained heavily on and off - and even more off than on as it got into the afternoon. I was thinking how great it was that the rain would just pass, but weather on the radio was still talking about heavy rain that night. Fine. What we did not know is what was about to come.

We went to a restaurant not far from the campground that night. I felt it would be better than driving a distance on already dark roads with the rain expected to start and fog being talked about. After dinner we should have just headed back to the campground, but it was early - for us -, it was not raining, and I decided to make a stop before going back just to kill some time. By the time we were back in the Roadtrek to go back to the campground, it had started to rain. It was a steady rain but not a hard rain. We had the radio on to a popular local country station and in the middle of a song, I heard something that I have only heard in tests (and having been in major hurricanes I had never heard this for any of those) - the emergency broadcast tone. This was not a test. It was an emergency broadcast by NOAA and it named the counties and towns that a severe storm was heading for. The warning said that there would be 60 mile per hour winds and that anyone outside should take shelter in a strong building. One of the counties listed was Lancaster and one of the towns included was the one the campground is in. They gave a time frame for when the storm would reach us and when it would pass. We already in the rain and that was starting to pick up. The winds were yet to come. We got back to the campground and pulled up to the gate. I discovered quickly one of the drawbacks to campgrounds that have gates and keycards to open them - you have to lean out of the window to get the card in when it is raining. The box from the Roadtrek window was a stretch and I had to take my seatbelt off to get far enough out the window to reach - hoping the whole time that I would not drop the card. (I tend to drop things at the most opportune moments.) I got the card in the slot and back out and the gate lifted. I tossed the card to Meryl and we drove in to our space. It was raining and the wind was starting to pick up but not to any extreme. Unfortunately, backing into this site required assistance from someone outside so as to not hit the picnic table. Well, I was driving - and Meryl got out. We were both getting out eventually anyway to hook up. In the time that it took to get into a spot on the site that we were close to level and then hooking up the electricity and cable in the rain - it is very exciting plugging into 30 amps when soaking wet - we both did get wet. While we were out there, I looked right behind us and up to see the electric pole that was there with its wires going right over the top of the Roadtrek - and it occurred to me that this was not a great thing to have right behind us and over us in a 60 mph wind. There was not much we could do about it now - and it, I reasoned, that it must have weathered other storms and was still standing - and it had large and long guide wires holding it in place. I also looked at the rock wall on three sides of us and imagined the rain building up into a pool that would surround us in this site. We were still out there getting wet - it was time to get inside. We had rain jackets on - and hats - but that just meant that we had wet jackets and hats to deal with once we got inside. Meryl put down some plastic covers and put hooks up on the side ledge in the front of the Roadtrek and hung up the wet jackets. While she was doing this, I went to one of the cabinets and got out our NOAA emergency weather alert radio. I plugged it in and pulled out the antenna. It had been awhile since I used it last and it took me a little while to remember how to get it to broadcast. We heard the same alert we had heard over the van radio. It also indicated that the storm was getting closer. I wondered to myself if when they say if you are outside you should get inside, if that meant standing or walking outside - or if you are in a car or - say an RV - if you should be getting the heck out of it and finding a building. The only open building here was the restrooms. In there we would not know what is going on with the alert or if the alert would be extended past the time predicted that the storm would pass. I did not say anything to Meryl and she did not say anything to me - as she was thinking the same thing. She was already planning if we could fit under the bed if need be - away from what she decided would be breaking glass from trees crashing through the Roadtrek's windows. I looked out the window at the several RVs and trailers that were near by.  They were all occupied. No one was running for cover. Foolish as it might be we stayed inside the Roadtrek which is a heavy van. Out on Route 30 that passes the campground nearby, I could see trucks and cars driving along. A bit nervous, we sat down in the front seats and put on the television. I started my laptop and looked at weather radar maps and saw projected paths of the storm for were we were sitting. At about the time the warning said the winds would arrive we could both hear them and feel the van being shaken side to side. Were we having fun yet? This certainly was not a dull moment - and I certainly was not relaxing. I thought of long past trips when we would be in a hotel and it would rain. You stayed inside and did not give much thought to it other than you were limited in what to do going outside. We were once in a hotel in a hurricane - and the electricity went out and was not expected back on for days. We stayed one night like that and found another hotel that had power the next day - walking our luggage down the staircase from the fourth floor to the car requiring several trips. Even that was not quite like this. I guess feeling vulnerable to the elements is part of the RV lifestyle... Well, if you know this site from the beginning of the articles you know why we do this now and will never go to another hotel - so it is this or stay home.

The storm did pass just around the time it was predicted to leave the area. Things got quiet outside and the van was nice and steady as the wind was gone. I was going to keep the NOAA alert radio set to broadcast if there was another alert- this one works that way, but we decided to pack it up and put it away. We did hear on the television that another part of the storm was coming late in the night - around 3:00 am or so - and sure enough, the rain started hitting the roof about that time and we fell asleep to the sound.

Well, just like the songs lyrics - "the sun will come out tomorrow ..." and "There's got to be a morning after..." - the storm was gone the next morning. The sun did not come out until later in the day but there was a morning after and all was fine. The grass was wet, but the gravel was fairly dry when we unhooked for the day to go off doing the things we do when we come down here.

The last night we saw that the front exterior tank was just about empty and Meryl went into the cabinet to isolate the front tank and turn on flow from the interior tank. Good timing as the temperature was dropping and this was what we planned for when we set the tanks at the start of the trip.

That last night it got colder than the heat pump will handle (40 degrees and below) and while we should have just gone outside and turned on the propane valve to run the furnace and heat the inside up nicely, I decided that we would just pull out the electric space heater that we brought with us - just in case. Finding a place for the heater was the first issue. There is the kitchen counter - full of things we use to go to bed and when we get up. There is the floor. We started with the kitchen counter, moving everything aside. That did not really work out. The temperature where we were sitting was getting really hot - but away from that it was cold. It was a continual dance of getting up to turn it down, then getting up to turn it back up - as the the thermostat on this space heater does work - but it is made for a much larger space and not intended for a six foot open box in front and another six foot open box behind. I tried it on the floor. Here the air was getting warm from waste height up but because it was in line of the cold from the floor and the door, it was never turning off. This was where we left it - eventually setting the thermostat on it to 51 which was the highest temperature that it reached at the floor - at least it turned itself on and off at that setting and I could fall asleep not thinking that it would burn itself out - or worse while we were sleeping. From now on - cold weather trips - we will not bother with the electric heater (we may bring it as a backup in case there the furnace does not work) and we will just turn on the propane. Propane is something that we don't really like but will use if we have to - which so far has been rare.

So there you have it. I have to say that we did enjoy this trip overall - but there was really never a dull moment. We did things we enjoy doing on each of the days - even when it was raining. We could have done without the "big" storm. It would have been nice to be able to relax more in between the fun.

Was this the last trip of the year? Well, it is with running water on board, but we are not sure if there will be a cold weather, winterized trip coming or not. That will depend on a few things yet to be seen. On the last day we emptied the black tank and the grey tank - and I did not add the usual water into the black tank to prevent it from going dry. There will be antifreeze in it very shortly. Oh, and did we love the new campground - it has its pluses and minuses. A review will be coming up very soon - with photos.

It Isn't All Peaches and Cream Part 2

We left the last article with our service call finished and our Roadtrek ready for its first really, real trip of the season. The plan was for what should be our annual trip to Maryland during the last weekend in April for the Fort Frederick Market Fair - an 18th Century market fair of the best sutlers (suppliers) of 18th Century reproductions for reenactors. I have written about this fair on this site before and you can find my article just about it on the Places To Visit page of this site. Anyway - before April I had been in a search for a campground to stay at. We will never go back to Jellystone Campground in Hagerstown again - see those articles on the Campgrounds page. Reports about the KOA that is in that area have very mixed reviews and there are too many comments about an entrance road that runs too close to the edge of a river - and since we come back late at night each day, that is something that I don't want to find out really is a problem when we get there.

Over the years this event has had very scattered weather - it can be freezing, it can be very hot, and it often rains a little on one of the days. For those hot nights - and there have been enough of those to be prepared - the A/C is essential and for that we want to be able to plug in to shore power. And aside from that the local Walmart is in an area that does not permit overnighting in their parking lot. There is RV parking at the event site which is a state park but for this event that parking requires driving through the actual event grounds which means coming in and going out at specific times of the day - which would not work for us at all. So I was on a quest - looking in every direction for a campground. In some areas finding campgrounds - at least campgrounds that are without problems - is not always easy. I finally came down to a small, privately owned campground in Winchester, West Virginia. The event we were going to is in Big Pool, Maryland which is on the Pennsylvania border on the western central side of the state. Winchester, West Virginia is not anywhere near there but with the right route it is a little over an hour away. While not ideal, that is tolerable. I looked closely at the campground rules and there was something that looked like they could be a problem - the time needed to come in to the campground (not after a certain hour) without a $50 fee. I contacted the owner and that was not a problem as long as we had a reservation as this was only for late arrivals without a reservation. Fine. I had a campground that was a strong possibility despite its location.

Now is when the weather - which has been a thorn all this past year - comes in for the first time of this season. Weather reports for Big Pool were dismal. Heavy rain storms were expected all throughout the event. While I have learned that long term weather forecasts are not to be relied on, I did not make reservations at the campground (because of the time of year they would not be a problem getting the day before needed) and I continued to watch the reports as the event got closer and closer. And the weather forecasts did not improve. This is an all outdoor event in large open grass and dirt fields. There is no cover from the rain other than under the canvas of the sutler's tents. You are walking through the mud or on whatever wood could be put down to prevent those attending from sliding into ditches and holes in the ground. For one day - OK. After a rain - OK. Not for the entire event. And it came down to when we would leave and it was decided that it would be better not to go. It turned out to be a good decision, as a friend who combines his trip to this event with a visit to his kids in Maryland did go and said that the rain was so bad that not only did the site flood but some sutlers were washed out. There was one day of fair weather in the  mud.

OK, it isn't all peaches and cream! Would it have matter if we were staying in a hotel? - not this time.

NEXT -

Memorial Day weekend was the next possible trip. We have local reenactments that we are involved with in May so travel is out. We had not planned on Memorial Day away for 2014 but now with the urge to get away, it was looking better and better. The problem is this is one of the BIG campground weekends of the year - and holiday weekends at campgrounds require non-refundable deposits and defined days to stay. For example - want to go Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - that is not possible. You have to be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday or at least pay for those days. Some campgrounds will let you cancel and get your deposit or part of your deposit back if you inform them within a certain number of days of your intended stay - but that was past at this point. I called around to see if we could get someone's cancelled reservation - nothing. If you don't make a reservation as soon as reservations open for a holiday weekend - usually a full year in advance - don't plan on going.  No Memorial Day weekend in the Roadtrek.

I have come to think in terms of holiday weekends don't have to take place on the days everyone else says is a holiday weekend. As long as we can get away and Meryl can rearrange her work schedule, we can go just about any week before or after the holiday.  So, just because Memorial Day was last week we could go another week. Other than one weekend in June that we had a reenacting event, we were open - that is if the weather was cooperating. And it wasn't. Rain and storms weekend after weekend, mid-week after mid-week. When you are going to places where what you want to see and do is outside, the weather (at least to us) matters. So the Roadtrek sat on the driveway waiting.

We did get away for the First real trip in June. And that story has already been written and you can read that here - or perhaps re-read it if you read it in June. 

And by the way - the Roadtrek outside storage compartment support arm that I mention in that article - well, I thought that I had fixed it by a slight bend to the section of the top part of the arm that interlocks with the lower section of the arm to keep the arm from falling, but that fix was short lived. When it feel on Meryl again,  Meryl came up with the idea of a large office spring clip used to clamp the two sections of the arm together stopping them from slipping apart. So far that seems to be working. This arm is riveted together and to the body of the cabinet. There are no screws to tighten and no way to replace this without drilling it out. I guess it would have been too simple to screw the support arm brackets in originally so that the arm could be removed if needed. Nothing is that simple. Well - it isn't all peaches and cream!

End of Part 2
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