RV There Yet?

RV There Yet? is the dreaded question children ask before you have even left the driveway! In our case, the THERE is not a destination but rather a STATE OF BEING. Let me explain. We have been on the road six weeks now and the great days have been hard to come by. It seems like there is always something that creates frustration and/or tension. So what have we learned so far?

I learned that if you stop banging your head on the overhead compartments, the stars don’t really shine during the day and the headaches lessen each day you don’t do it again. From what I can research, I gave myself a class two concussion which should mean my vision will stop being blurry in about two months!

I don’t miss Whitney Drive or owning a house. I do miss our friends, the impromptu happy hours, and the familiarity of places I frequented. It is comforting to know everyone when you walk in and have everyone know you when you go to (your place or church goes here.)

I REALLY miss the Florida sunshine. In the two first two weeks of residing in New Jersey, it has been cloudy or rained most of the time, we have had fierce winds followed by thunderstorms, and been threatened by two tornado warnings close by.

We learned, if you open the vent over the kitchen sink before making toast, the smoke detector won’t go off. Not burnt toast mind you, just toast.

As you may have read, I am a graduate of the Lazy Days Driving Course and have the certificate to prove it. That ain’t nothin!’ When we left Virginia Beach for New Jersey, we drove up Route 13 which is a two lane road going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Kathryn kept her eyes closed in prayer for twenty minutes until we reached the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. Not because of my driving but the beautiful scenery she never saw!

Thank you Jesus for Dylan’s RV Repair in Sewell, New Jersey. We had an appointment before we arrived for our possessed water pump which ran whenever it wanted to. The appointment was none too soon as we were up two nights turning it off, until they came to our rescue. This pump stumped all the experts on the Facebook Forums, the Factory Help Line, and experienced RV’ers alike. They quickly assessed that it was a shorted pump module. Of course that meant breaking camp once to take it to their shop, and a second time for installation once the parts came in, but I got more great driving practice backing into our site between the trees! Kathryn is a great spotter!!

If you ever tow a Honda Fit behind your motor home, and the check engine light comes on next time you drive it, it’s not the engine or transmission. It’s the indicator light telling you it’s time to change the oil. Or so it thinks it time to change the oil because of the mileage put on while towing.

There are fifty-three buttons and switches inside our motor home, and that’s just upstairs not counting the basement. We have now learned what most of them do including how to switch from DVD to TV, cable to antenna. We are currently watching TV on the antenna. Previously, I had no idea old TV shows never end, they just move to networks like COZI, WELL-HD, jTV, This Network, Get TV and NHK World from Tokyo. And we get at least half a dozen shopping channels including Global Mall TV, again from Tokyo, but his one is in Japanese. Who needs satellite?

Kathryn has been having real stomach issues even though she only eats once every three days or so. Add to that the stress of all the uncertainty and frustration, the motor home mechanical issues, and the result was a visit to the local Emergency Room this past week to be sure it wasn’t heart related and just IBS. I say just, but the pain and suffering is very real no matter the cause. They kept her overnight just to be sure her heart checks out OK which gave her plenty of time to think maybe this sell everything and go on the road wasn’t such a good idea. We said we would do the trial for two years and it hasn’t even been two months.

Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor. JFK

So the Are We THERE we are looking for is that she is well, things will settle down into manageable issues, and we can start enjoying meeting people and places and visiting with family and friends. RV There Yet? I certainly hope so!