Lessons Learned
~Thursday, July 2, 2020~
Day 18-travel day
What a day, and not the best planned. But we’re learning right? Breaking down camp at Del Mar, we allowed about 3 hours, which nearly took about 4. No coffee, no breakfast, just go. Jeff took care of the water/sewage stuff (not a fun job), reorganized the truck, and managed the outside checklist, while I took care of the inside stuff, basically making sure to secure the things that could rub against the cabinetry, fall, or slide in a simulated 7.0 earthquake while traveling. Two things I forgot to do again….lock the food drawers (which Jeff caught), and locking the pocket doors in place (which neither of us caught). We hit the road about 10:00 with Jeff taking the first leg. We found out that the Google search address for Richardson’s was incorrect. Their service and sales addresses are reversed. Once we arrived, we didn’t have too long of a wait. We had an appointment with Steven (our GoPower solar expert and just all around knowledgeable, nice guy). Our approach today was to just have Steven take a look at the very specific issues we were having, which only took about 25 minutes. After the inspections were made, we took the trailer with us and in the meantime, Steven would order the parts and install everything on the 15th or however long it would take to fix things. Our plan is to stay at Devin and Hannah’s until the work is completed before we start heading north. The list:
The DC power for the USB’s not working. Steven tested these things to make sure they were “hot” and they were. Said he would contact Lance for troubleshooting.
The slideout sensor panel has been blinking green and red. Need that checked out.
The bracket above our master bed is not secure and needs a new bracket.
The ceiling in a spot looks like a bad patch job (cosmetic).
The shower stall when the water is directly hitting the back, is leaking water into the living room area under the fireplace.
The main awning had an issue with retracting on its own after it got wet.
After wrapping it up at Richardson’s, then came backing the rig out of the parking lot. It looked so easy. I directed (which is not my strength), and managed to get Jeff back but at the cost of nearly “pinching” the trailer (where the trailer/truck hit each other). OMG. That could have been VERY bad. So we switched jobs. Jeff got me out pretty good, until the service guys got involved. Too many chiefs! After about 20 minutes (I’m sure everyone was having a field day inside), we made it out. Still no food, and stressed, thank goodness we found a Habit Burger. Only 30 miles to go until our next destination….Lake Jennings in Lakeview. As fate would have it, we were not meant to have Habit. As we were trying to find a parking spot for the trailer, we were headed down a dead end (not something you want to do when towing). So nothing to do but back out and turn around which thankfully we were able to do. Lesson learned…..aim for stops where you see truckers exiting. We decided to just keep going and eat at the campsite.
The windy somewhat steep road to Lake Jennings concerned us a little…..could we actually get our 29 foot trailer even there. I think this does cross the mind of every novice. Once we got to the entrance, I realized we didn’t have our site # and missed the left turn where the RV’s are supposed to go. If I had remembered to look at our calendar, I would have seen that I had written it down there. Oh well. We will get with the program soon! Hey, we made it to a campground before dark anyway. Luckily a camp host had spotted us, and asked us what our site was, and escorted us the correct way. The RV sites sit high above the lake (reservoir). We’re not on the lake view side, but it’s still a wonderful change of scenery. I had my fill of beach camping for a while. Since we’re here only for 1 night (all we could get with the 4th of July week), we are not unhitching, just leveling. Everyone, including Sadie was thirsty, and hungry. We got a few things set up, then whipped up a late lunch/early dinner of spaghetti and quesadilla. Lesson learned…….NEVER have a travel day with an empty stomach. Jeff did not sleep well the night before and it was an exhausting day, so got some shut-eye in the late afternoon while I did some journal work. Between sentences, I made our first batch of cookies in the RV and I must say they were delicious.
I think the smell made the neighbors envious and guess I should have delivered some. After a much needed nap for my hubby, we took a walk through the campground. I would say it’s 50% campers and 50% RV’ers, with most sites being pull thru's with easy access. They have a huge, covered playground area, unfortunately closed due to COVID, horseshoes, fishing, boating, quite a few trails which we’ll be doing when we arrive back, little free library kiosks for the kiddos, and really clean showers/bathrooms. All this for only $37/night. We now see why everyone is giving this place a 5-star review. It’s really beautiful, very clean, with so many great sites (ours is not one of them). In fact we’re going to see if we can switch our site #79 to one we just found on our walk, for when we arrive back here on July 8th. On our walk we took a side trail to watch the sunset and check out the views.
I didn’t think we’d be hungry since we had a late lunch, but when hunger calls, dinner answers. Whipped up some Trader Joe’s Indian dinners (they’re delicious and inexpensive when you don’t have the inclination to cook). Had a near full moon to eat outside by and rehashed the trip so far. Fun to reminisce. Tomorrow-another travel day. So to recap what we learned today:
Get plenty of sleep and hydrate the night before
Make breakfast the night before (oatmeal in a jar, breakfast burritos, smoked salmon bagels-anything you can eat while breaking down or eat on the road)
Always know your site # and contact info. before arriving at your next destination.
Know your check-in windows. If you know you’re going to be arriving late, make sure you have your after hours contact info.