I haven’t blogged for a couple of years. Don’t know why except that life seemed too boring to blog about. I am now traveling again so thought I would start blogging to keep friends and families informed.
I bought a 2015 Arctic Fox camper in the beginning of December. It was in great shape and had all the bells and whistles. My friend, Garry Wamsley, found it for me after I asked him to keep an eye out for one.
A couple years ago I had thought about buying a camper van or motor home but then decided it would be cheaper to just stay in hotels. Then I got a cat, Misty, about a year ago. Hotels aren’t too cat friendly and cats like to have their own space. So, here we are. Misty and I on the road south to California and Arizona and who knows where else.
I had to get the camper outfitted with all the things I need to be comfortable – mostly cooking stuff. Courtney helped me do some things like put in a shelf in a big cabinet and a peg board in a sliding pantry. That helped with storage.
But I finally got ready to leave yesterday, Monday, January 29th. It was pouring down rain and I was loading the last of the stuff and filling the water tank (It had been winterized.) Well, I get into it and see water streaming down the floor from the bathroom. Oh, shit!
I turned off the water and water pump. Mopped up the floor. Then turned the pump back on to see if I could figure out where the leak was coming from. Of course, it was the back of the toilet which is about 2 inches from the wall. I used my phone to take pictures and sent them to Courtney and Garry. Garry was out walking and Courtney couldn’t do much as he was at work.
I went to the fabulous internet and found a YouTube video of a guy replacing a water module on the back of his toilet. So, I took the toilet out, put it in the trunk of my car and drove to the RV dealership up the road and got the replacement part. Got home, put it in, and lo and behold, it worked! Yay!
I turned on the kitchen sink to wash my hands and I hear water flowing but none is coming out the sink. Look below and there is a hose not attached to anything with water rushing out. Again, I took pictures and sent them off to Courtney and Garry. Garry was in the shower this time. So, I decided to go to Lowe’s and see if I could get a cap to close it off. I heard a couple texts come through but I don’t text and drive so waited until I got to Lowe’s and looked. It was Marilee saying, “Don’t buy anything. Call Garry!” I called Garry and he said there was a push on piece of the faucet that needed to go on that hose.
Back home again and I found that the pull-out faucet hose end was hidden so I hadn’t seen there was a place for that other hose to go. Pushed it back together and I was back in the water business. Again, thanks, Garry!
By this time, I was soaked through to the skin and looked like a drowned rat (from the rain, not the leak) but decided to leave anyway. I figured if anything else went wrong, I would just figure it out on the road. By the time I got the camper loaded, house closed up, cat stuff situated, It was around 2:30.
I have driven a truck and camper many times in the past but this was the worst time ever. It was raining so hard that I couldn’t see the white lines at times. Traffic was terrible, as usual, but even worse because of the monsoon rain coming down. It took me almost an hour to get through Tacoma. I decided I wasn’t going to go far and stopped at Millersylvania State Park about 4:00 for the night. I was so stressed and my shoulders were aching from the white-knuckle ride that I was tempted to stay there forever!
I had leftovers to eat and was in bed by 9:00. Misty had been pretty good in the cab of the truck but even she was kind of freaked about the noise of the rain on the way. She took a while to sniff and rub everything in the camper. It was her fist time in it. It poured rain on and off all night, but we were both pretty cozy.
I am not an early bird type of person so didn’t leave until about 9:30. Plus, I wanted to let the work traffic die down. It had rained a bit on and off before we left but it had pretty much stopped and was blue skies. We got through Portland pretty well, not much traffic. It rained on and off but at one point about 50 miles from Portland there was the biggest deluge I have ever seen. The car in front of me almost came to a stop, idiot. But it only lasted a couple miles.
We went to gas up at a Fred Meyer. I already had a list of things I needed so shopped too. Then came to Armitage Park campground near Eugene. Got here about 2:30 and plugged in and put the sewer line in. First time for that in this camper. Almost couldn’t get cap off and had to hit it with a wrench to get it to move.
Came in and plugged in phone. The outlet didn’t work. When I was drying my hair this morning the dryer would kind of surge with power then went out. I thought maybe I had blown a fuse or breaker. I checked them all and nothing seemed wrong. I finally went out and found out I hadn’t pushed the plug into the post good enough.
Used my handy dandy Instant Pot and made dinner tonight. The Hall Family recipe for burritos. From dried beans and raw meat to dinner in an hour. Love that thing.
The campground has cable but I realized I don’t have a cable ‘cable’ so guess I might have to get one. I do have my Fire TV so might try to watch something tonight.
That is all for my first day and a half adventure On the Road. Not sure how well the wifi, etc. will be in the future but will post updates when I can.
Millers' Time 