RV having fun yet?

Driving down the Columbia Gorge



When we set out on our new lives as fulltime RVers, we knew we wanted to have adventures. Well, we are certainly having our share of adventures, though I don’t know how excellent they are. The question at this point that begs to be answered is: RV having fun yet? The answer depends on what your definition of fun is.

If you think skidding all over Kennewick streets the morning we left is fun, then we are having fun.

Waiting to be rescued

If you think running out of gas just before Rooster Rock on I-84 is fun and spending two hours in a cold rain on the freeway shoulder waiting to be rescued is fun, then we are having fun. (The gas gauge showed we had half a tank left.) Note: Good Sam Roadside Assistance promised us help within 55 minutes, then sent our rescuer miles beyond where we were to Multnomah Falls. Kevin had given up looking for us at Multnomah Falls and was headed back to Portland when he found us.

If you think spending four hours in a car repair waiting room while they try to figure out why you are only getting 3 mpg is fun, then we are having fun. Note: if your car ever breaks down in Lincoln City, Oregon, we can recommend Car Care Specialists. Though they had a shop full of vehicles in various stages of being worked on, they gave priority to our truck, and at very reasonable prices, too. While we were waiting for the repairs to be done, we had lunch at a sexist Subway. It’s sexist because it has two bathrooms: one labeled “men” and the other labeled “handicapped.”

If you think having the generator almost fall off the back of the trailer is fun, then we are having fun. The RV dealer where we bought the trailer said we could mount a platform that could hold 500 pounds to the rear trailer bumper. We had less than 300 pounds, and it broke the bumper; another few miles and we would  have been picking pieces of the generator off the highway. So we had “fun” for a couple of hours, taking the platform off the bumper, and getting the generator into the pickup bed which was already filled with two motor scooters, one motorcycle and tool boxes. We managed to get everything to fit, though we now have tool boxes in the bedroom and “living room.”

If you think getting ready to pull out only to find the trailer batteries are dead and you can’t put the slides in is fun, then we are having fun. Luckily, the security patrol at Spirit Mountain Casino where we were staying was able to jumpstart the trailer battery enough so Jon could raise the front jack up, unhook the truck and then swing it around for a major jumpstart so we could charge the batteries enough to get the slides in. Note: if you’re looking for free trailer parking, the casino is great. Every employee we encountered went out of their way to make sure things were going right for us.

If you think getting a frantic call from the young man who bought your house is fun, then we are having fun. He didn’t have any heat in the living room, and I told him we never had it either, and reminded him that we had told him about this before he bought it. This will probably be the last winter the house is like this. He works in HVAC and plans to put in central heat and air this summer. Other than this, he likes our house a lot.

And if you think me trying to sell Jon’s newly-restored vintage motorcycle is fun, you are correct. Jon doesn’t think so, however. We had been planning to spend two nights at one place, but after I told Jon someone was coming by after he got off work to make an offer, Jon decided we should hit the road.

And this is only how the first three days went.

P.S.

Day 4 went well. "Day 5 was great until we blew the brakes coming down the steep grades between Arcata and Redding, California. We will welcome in the new year in Redding.

We're off! (sorta)

Our excellent RV adventure got off to an unexpected start: We're spending the first four days in a local motel.

Getting our of our house was a hassle. We were very rushed due to the fact the lender and buyer's agent kept pushing the closing date back, so we thought we had more time, which we desperately needed due to me having various health problems and ordered on bed rest. At the last minute, the title company reverted to the original closing date, and it was a mad rush to get out by Monday night. At 6 p.m. on Monday, we were ready to move the trailer out and into a local RV park until we could leave on Friday. One of the jacks broke. There was no way I was going to make Jon go buy a new jack, then take the old one off and put up the new one, and then set up the trailer at the park in the dark with a cold wind blowing, after all the 16-hour days he'd just put in

So we headed off to the Motel 6 in Richland. We like Motel 6 because they never hassle you if you're traveling with a dog. When we found out their rate was $10 a night less than the RV park's, we decided to stay here until our departure on Friday morning after my last doctor's appointment. We got a new jack yesterday and Jon hopes to install it later this afternoon. Tomorrow, we both have doctor's appointments and a few last minute details to take care of.

We'll take Interstate 84 to Portland and then decide there if we will go south along the Oregon Coast, pretty but rainy this time of year,or brave the snow over the mountains on Interstate 5.

Holiday greetings!

We're in the final stages of packing up the house in anticipation of closing on the sale in a few days, and hope to leave for warmer climates shortly after that. While we won't be celebrating Christmas in the southwestern United States this year, unfortunately, it is something to look forward to next year. Yea! No more temps in the single digits at high noon. Double yea!Wherever you spend your Christmas journey on the road this year, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and the best for 2014.