Inger and Jeff Latreille
Back in Business
~Tuesday, February 8, 2022~
Day 604
Ah, finally a day we can put those awnings back to use. The wind has finally died down, warming up temperatures. With a cloudless day and mid-70 temps, it made tackling an RV roof project a bit less motivating. But to the roof Jeff went anyway. After getting all of the old caulk off, it was smooth sailing to install the remainder of the antenna kit (easy for me to say). We are replacing it with the exact same brand (King) because of its 5-star reviews. Which begs the question, why did it break in the first place, especially with our rig being so young? Letâs go back in time shall we, to when this all beganâŚâŚ.
From the very beginning, the inside dial has had trouble rotating the 360-degrees itâs meant to, to get the best signal. But being first time RVerâs, we had no idea just how little resistance these things are supposed to have, so one of our first mistakes was not being gentle enough in turning it. What we think happened is that had the inside dial been installed properly from the beginning, we wouldnât have had to force it as much as we were. The poor installation didnât become apparent until Jeff was reinstalling the replacement dial.

The screw configurations were the same, but Lance had overstretched one of the screws, which put stress on the internal parts, breaking down the assembly. It wasnât until Traverse City, MI (yes, 7 months ago) that one of our camping neighbors noticed our antenna tilted and broken. After Jeff promptly went up to inspect, he realized the only thing holding it in place were the wires that came with it. I shudder to think how bad it could have been if it had hit someoneâs windshield.
So in the end, we now have one tiny screw hole exposed on our ceiling which will have to be patched (hopefully we can find a match). The bright side however, is being able to tune into the Olympics and Sundayâs Super Bowl game, thanks to my hubbyâs repair prowess! â¤ď¸đ
For me, it was deep cleaning the inside of the trailer. The warmer climate of Arizona is definitely forcing the vacuum to perform double duty with all of Sadieâs shedding. Weâre hoping that by brushing her on a more regular basis, this will diminish the constant need to vacuum. Thank goodness for my cordless Dyson!! Itâs been worth every penny. From the air conditioning vents to polishing the cabinetry and everything in between, itâs so nice to have a dust/free, sparkling clean space. I certainly donât miss the old days of having to maintain 3,000 square feet.