Spring Recommissioning

Dewinterized for the 3rd time yesterday afternoon (thanks to two much needed winter trips). Also did a thorough general cleaning, airing out, and systems testing. Found out even us frequent campers make mistakes.

Reinstalled one of two previously completely empty propane tanks (note to self - don't leave the furnace on after winterizing). Removed other empty tank for later refilling this week.

Hooked up water and flushed out system. Forgot to put the drain plug/anode rod back in the Hot Water Heater. Lots of water running under the trailer is a sure give away that something is wrong. Fortunately this was all on the outside of the rig!

DW put up the antenna and we watched parts of the NASCAR race during breaks/while cleaning inside. Picture was crystal clear at over 20 miles from nearest stations in DC area. After cleaning was all done, we put the slides in, unhooked water and electricity, hooked up to the truck and turned the trailer around so we can make quick getaways out of my son's lot. Unfortunately, someone forgot to put the TV antenna down. Tree limb only did minor damage. A trip up on the roof with a drill and some patching sealant fixed the damage.

All-in-all a fruitful and lesson filled day! We're ready for Hilton Head and the SC/NC Spring Rally now!

Been there done that on all 3!
I feel your pain.... glad for you that things weren't worse!

Tom and Kathy Ireland

I feel better now about myself seeing that a fellow seasoned RV'er has some bouts of CRS along with me. Last week when picking up ours at the dealership that gave us free winter storage after some service and repairs my DW and were so excited we made some basic mistakes. I could not get the keyless entry to work, item on repair list, so I figured it was bad again. Notice unit was to low to get TV under so went to raise unit and nothing. Opened the door no interior lights basically nothing working. Happiness now turned to frustration. So a short trip to office to get some help to evaluate the situation and help. Well, all you have to do is, TURN ON THE BATTERY SWITCH, DA,( new acronym Dum *&^@). Remarkable the winterized hibernating BH came back to life. Second thing was trying to remember where I put the Anode rod so I could fill the HW heater. Not far from unit itself. Lying inside heater unit compartment, open your eyes DA. So after numerous laughs and jokes about CRS (cant remember SH with IT) we were on our way. I love camping and every year something new to enterain and talk about at rallies. Endless material.

We also moved a lot of "stuff" out of the cargo bay and into the new toolbox in the bed of the truck. I'm amazed at how much room I actually have in there. Will probaly be able to set up a blow up air matress for those nights after saying something dumb to the DW (also falls into the Dumb A-- category Jim!). And yes, CRS is becomeing a more frequent occurance. Also forgot the I can't get up the very small hill from my son's lot onto his driveway without being in 4 wheel drive if it has rained in the past week (espevially if I'm backing up it), and also forgot that I have to stop and be in Neutral to switch into 4Wheel Low. Hopefully, I used up a month's worth of CRS in one day!.

It is really amazing how much CRS we can store. But thanks to our DW the side effects are limited. Maybe I should just calm down and laugh more at my mistakes and bloopers. A flawless outting may never happen but a flawless response to the challengers is within reach. If I could only get my backup partner, no need to use aconym here, we all know who they are to be visible to me in my mirrors all the time I think I will be on top of this thing.

Good luck with the backup partner always visible in the mirror! I lost mine at least five times yesterday. She did save the TV antenna though!

When I lose sight of my back up partner, I just simply stop. When she comes up to the window and asks why, I just simply state that I could not see her. Works better than hollering or backing into something I shouldn't.