It’s approaching the end of my
stay here in San Diego County and I must say, I not only have learned a lot
here, but I’ve got a laundry list of questions for the trainer at the upcoming
RV 101 Boot Camp.
As a member of the RV club called
the Escapees, I am going to Tucson on Tuesday to attend the Boot Camp followed
by a weeklong Escapade full of seminars, socializing and fun. During the entire
time I’m there, I will be boon docking, which is to say, I will not have
hookups for water, sewer or electricity. That in itself will provide a rich
opportunity to learn! As I imagine I’ll be busy from about 6:30 am until bed
time, I’m not too worried about this other than understanding how to keep the
refrigerator on. This could involve using the generator but again, I won’t be
in the rig all that much and bed time is usually synonymous with quiet time so
that option isn’t the best.
The real answer is Propane.
So now I have to really learn
about this. I know it’s used for BBQ grills but I’ve never done that so I have no clue. When I first got the coach, it had about half a tank of
propane and now it has about an eighth of a tank. I generally use it to heat
water for showers and dishes, and to cook when not able to use the solar stove.
I never need it to run the furnace, although during the past week temperatures
here have fallen into the 20s so I have begun to use that more often. But I do
not comprehend the rate of use and, this is really bad, I don’t know how big
the tank is. Propane can be dangerous,
too, so fire safety is definitely one of the seminars that I will attend.
Speaking of tanks, I could not
figure out the capacities of the gas tank or any of the water tanks even though
the former owner provided all the paperwork that related to this rig. Through Facebook
groups I was able to get the correct number for the manufacturer to get that
information for all except the propane. It was particularly important to know
how big the gas tank is as I’ll be leaving with a quarter of a tank and a
quarter of 75 gallons gives me a lot more than a quarter of 40 gallons. The
difference is that I will make it to Costco in El Centro where I can fill up
both the gas and the propane. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to figure out how
many gallons the propane tank will hold at that time.
As for the refrigerator, it is
very important that it be level so that it will operate correctly. Doing that
involves moving the whole rig to get it as level as possible. I do not have an
automatic leveling system wherein you push a button and voila, you’re level! I
have several wood pieces that I can put under the tires as needed. Up until
now, I haven’t needed to use them. But this campground is very hilly so I got
the opportunity to figure that out.
There are little bubble levels
all over the rig, including in the freezer of the refrigerator, and that’s the
one I check first. The electrician who fixed it a few months back said I can be
no more than three degrees off level. A bubble level doesn’t provide degrees so
I make sure that bubble is as close to center as possible, then follow up with
my iPhone level to verify. And the refrigerator has been working perfectly.
However, I still feel as though I
could be in a Michael Jackson video. You know the one where he and the other
dancers lean wwaaayyy over without falling? Yep, that’s what it feels like even
though the level on my iPhone reads within three degrees. So what’s up with
that? You guessed it! It’s question two on my list for next week.
Question three will be hoses. As
I mentioned, temps have gotten very low and there were two or three mornings
when I had no water, at least for the first half hour, due to frozen hoses.
There are things to do to keep that from being a problem, but I didn’t realize
that the weather app I used to check was for a nearby town that is at a lower, read:
warmer, elevation, so I put none of those practices into play. I did quickly
learn to make sure the electric tea kettle was full before going to bed so I
could turn that on and make coffee in the morning.
So I am indeed in the middle of a
big learning curve but even so, this is a great life! Truth be told, there were
days in the condo when the power was out for hours and hours and no one told any
of us what was going on. The pipes in the adjoining units were very, very audible
and it took a while for me to realize I was not going to be doused at any time when
the neighbors used their own facilities. In any place we settle for however long,
be it a home, a car, an office, or a baseball game, we all make adjustments to make
the experience enjoyable, don’t we?
So off I go to Tucson to see if I
can’t get that bubble to read true.
No comments:
Post a Comment