Our RV Adventures

Jan and I were both up about 6:30 (5:30 in ‘real’ time) to finish up our travel day prep. Since I had done a lot of it yesterday, most of today’s tasks were inside the rig, putting away the TV and satellite stuff, setting up the trip/VMSpc computer, and stowing some odds and ends.

As always, I track everything I need to do to get ready to roll using the RV Checklist app on my Galaxy Tab.

This app keeps you on track even when you get distracted, especially important on the outside stuff. It’s a great problem, so check it out.

A few minutes after 8 am, Jan and I drove into Columbus to have our usual going-away breakfast, this time with Jim and Peri Dean, and their cute, and very funny granddaughter, Carly at Schobel’s Restaurant.

We again had to wait a while for the buffet to be set up, but we enjoyed talking with Jim and Peri, and getting to know Carly. And as usual we took longer than planned, probably talking more than eating. But our extended dining was made worse by Karma.

Jan says it was my fault, but me, I blame the cat. When we went to pay, I found I didn’t have my billfold with me. At that point, I remembered that when I went in Columbus yesterday to get oil for the rig, I pulled my billfold out of my pants and carried it in my hand since I was wearing my sweats. And then when I got back to the rig, I put it on the dashboard right where I would see it when we next left the rig.

Jim and Peri kindly offered to cover the check, but Jan said I needed to be punished by going back to the rig for my wallet. Meanie!

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So why didn’t I see it this morning, and why do blame the cat? Well, when I got back to the rig to bring my wallet back to the restaurant, I found that Karma, playing on the dashboard, had pulled out the curtain so it covered my wallet. Dang cat!

Finally getting back to the rig about 10:30, we were hooked up and pulling out at 11am, on the way to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails 122 miles away. Getting out on US-71, heading down to I-10, we immediately ran into a strong headwind, which turned into a gusty side wind once we headed east on the Interstate.

And this led to us almost being side-swiped right after we merged onto the highway. An American National Logistics truck decided to pass me on the right, on what was actually the exit lane for Columbus. I don’t know why he was passing me on the right, but just as the end of his trailer started to pass our door, a wind gust caught him and pushed him our way.

Jan let out a yelp as I was already moving to the left, but not far since I already had a pickup passing me on that side. But luckily he got past us, but came within a inch or so taking out our mirror. Whew!

We made a rest stop just past Brookshire and I went outside to check for any oil blow-by from the slobber tube, and was happy to find none. So far, so good.

We pulled into a crowded park a little before 2pm and found a very un-level site in the ‘F’ section. So un-level that I may try to move to another site tomorrow sometime. After getting everything set up and connected, and due to the fact that the last several mornings have been early risings, Jan and I both took a nap.

Afternap, while Jan was fixing dinner, I went outside to check the slobber tube situation, and I was happy to find that not only was the slobber can still there,

but the rig and the toad were both clean as a whistle, with no signs of any oil.

I did not crawl under the rig to check the slobber can contents, but both the can and the clear vinyl tubing seemed oil free. I’ll check it out further in the next couple of days.

Thought for the Day:

“Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.” — Dave Barry

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We did get in our walk this morning, the first one since Monday, what with the bad weather and all. But we did have to dodge a lot of mud puddles and soggy spots along the roads.

Coming back we sat outside to have our coffee, while Karma stayed at the screen door, meowing. So I bought her out on her leash for a while. And like every time we do this, she gets a little calmer. Shirley, her previous caretaker, came across the road to say ‘Hi’, and although Karma was a little skittish, she did allow herself to be picked up.

Coming back in for a while, I drilled a couple of holes in my prototype Slobber Can collector and headed outside and under the rig to figure out how I was going to install it.

Once I got under the rig and looked everything over, I decided to push the tubing up over the slobber tube, bend it away from the oil pan and then hang the can by the coat hanger so that the can supports the vinyl tubing and keeps it from falling off.

It does look a little kludgey, but It’s just a test model so I can see if this fixes the problem, or if the problem is still occurring at all. I hope we’ll know more tomorrow after our trip back to Lake Conroe.

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Now that I had the slobber can in place I wanted to top off the rig’s oil level that I discovered was down a little after our trip over from Lake Conroe two weeks ago. But I quickly discovered that the gallon jug of 15W40 Engine Oil that I thought I had in one of the bays was actually a jug of truck antifreeze

So now it was off to the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts in Columbus for a couple of  gallons. And lucky for me, Rotella 15W40 diesel was on sale for only $14 a gallon until the end of the month, so stock up now.

Getting back, I got a funnel out to help me add the oil to the rig. And it’s not exactly easy.

Even using a funnel only helps a little since the tubing and large hose behind the filler port means that the funnel is always tilted and that makes it hard to pour in the oil. In addition, because of the low overhead it can be hard to tilt the jug up high enough to drain it completely.

But I got most of one gallon into the engine without too much spillage, and then let it sit for while before checking the dipstick. Finding it just a hair below the full line, I closed everything back up and called it done.

Next up I started dumping the black tank and then checked the truck oil and added a quart to it. Coming back to the water bay, I closed the black and opened the grey valve, while I disconnected the shore water hose and stowed it away. Then I finished up by putting away the sewer hose and I was done with that too.

I try to always do as much as possible Saturday afternoon, which means that much less to do on Sunday morning before we leave. And of course it also helps since we’re going to have our usual breakfast buffet at Schobel’s down in Columbus before we leave. And even better we’re meeting our friend’s Jim and Peri Dean there at about 8:15. Really looking forward to it.

Thought for the Day:

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is actually a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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