Where's The Cheese?

However your path may have taken you here, somehow you are now the owner of a new RV and there comes the day when you have to take it out on its first overnight orientation.  Well, not only is that highly recommended, but also it just makes sense. We soon found out that there are always going to be the little things that get missed.  Prior to the big day, we had ordered what we thought was everything from Amazon and our local Camping World.  As we began stocking the RV, we found out some things fit, some things attached well with 3M Command Strips and others needed a bit more persuasion. 

On a personal note, it took me three tries to get the proper electrical cables and adapters to make it from our house to the RV, so we could power up our air conditioning unit.  I highly recommend watching YouTube videos to learn best practices from fellow owners.  Another good tip I found on YouTube that makes sense, is to not use your clean city water hose as your black tank flush hose. There is much to learn and many to learn from.  Every trip is an adventure and an opportunity to share your knowledge and gain new experiences that will enrich your time on the road.

It is exciting to load up the RV, and head towards your destination.  Check in time was 2pm, which gave us time to have a good lunch, double check the RV and drive to our park to settle in.  Remember as you drive that you are in a vehicle probably much larger than your daily drive.  Curbs, cars, stopping distance and overhead obstacles will need to be observed with care as you gain increased driving experience and skills. In advance of the booking, we drove our car to the site so we knew where we were going, how to get there and what to expect when we got there.

With as much preparation as possible, we booked our overnight stay at the MotorCoach Resort, a local park that is only a few miles from our house in Chandler, AZ. Upon arrival, we checked in and parked in our assigned space.  We worked as a team to make sure the utilities are setup and working properly.  Electrical power, city water, and sewage were the basics.  Once we lowered the levelers and made sure all 4 legs were down firmly on the concrete pad, we checked the slide outs for clearance.  A quick note on the levelers, make sure as you lower them that they are not going to be on top of your water, electric cables or other obstructions. Take things slow and work as a team to look out for each other as you setup.  Look for any water leaks at your connections.  Make sure breakers on your power post are in the proper position.  We use a water pressure regulator and a water filter to give us the best possible water quality and protect our internal plumbing.  We have a surge protector on our electrical feed to show us the available power is properly wired and safe for plugging into our home. With the external connections made, we are ready for preparing the inside for our overnight stay.

Did you know that you have to turn the refrigerator ON for it to work?  We had assumed you turn on the power and boom, you are ready for the refrigerator to chill out.   Turns out, after about an hour we decided to open it and check the thermometer.  It was 76 degrees and warm, so we knew about the slider on the fins and moved it to the coldest setting.  An hour later, no chilling.  My wife starts investigating and finds there is an ON button on the refrigerator and it is not on.  We did see great results once the switch was in the right position.  In fact the refrigerator got down to 29 degrees and we found that according to Google, 40 is the preferred temperature for refrigerators.  Lesson learned!

While all that is going on, we are extending the sliders and awning.  Mental note, make sure the stabilizers are down and contacted before extending. Also weather can change quickly and your awning can be shredded if not reeled up at the end of the day or in any high winds.  Make sure you retract the awning whenever the wind is above 10mph or at the end of the day. We were busy making the bed, setting the A/C to a good temperature, checking the shelves to make sure everything traveled well and is in place.  As night approaches, we are closing the drapes over the cockpit area getting ready for our overnight stay.  It’s time to check the refrigerator again and we are able to move food from the cooler we brought into the now chilled refrigerator. 

Our thoughts turn to dinner and for the first time we are firing up the propane stove.  Our next door campsite neighbors, also new to the RV world, warn us that the glass top, is not a cooking surface.  They learned the hard way, applying heat to the glass surface causes it to shatter and that is a dangerous mess no one wants to deal with.  My wife and I agree to keep it simple and limit our meal to a single pot of Hamburger Helper.  We had purchased some microwave safe bowls and plates, but probably could have got by with paper plates/bowls and plastic cutlery.  But it was a little more work, a little more grey water than we needed to do, but on an overnight it’s okay to splurge a little.

Night time is always a struggle in a new place, on a new bed, and the sounds may not be familiar.  We may not have picked the most peaceful place for a night’s stay.  On one side we had the interstate, the other a Truck Stop and across the road, a drag race track.  We learned that noise ordinances do not apply on the reservation where we were staying and the ¼ mile track kept busy with dragsters until midnight.  My wife, who is the smarter among us, chose earplugs and a Benadryl.   She had no trouble sleeping.  I would recommend, that on a first night's stay, until you get adjusted, a sleep aid and ear plugs if you want to get a full night’s sleep.

Morning arises and the sun starts to shine into our little mobile home on the prairie.  My wife, early to rise and early to grab a cup of coffee, promises me a delicious breakfast guaranteed to rival any Egg McMuffin that I’ve ever experienced. True to her word, within a half hour, there it was.  A Canadian bacon and egg sandwich on a muffin.  A sight for hungry eyes.  Upon closer inspection, and upon first bite, it became clear something was missing.  I peel back the muffin and give it a look.  Where’s the cheese?  She was quite honest and said it didn’t make this trip, maybe next time.

All things considered, it was a great first venture into the world of RV’ing.  The truth is something will always be left behind and maybe, just maybe it will make it on the next trip.  We packed up, made sure all was secure, shut down the power, drained the water, unhooked our connections and readied for our trip home.  We locked all the storage doors and did a walk around the RV to make sure there were no obstacles or items left behind.  As we climbed into the cab to begin our journey home, we both were feeling excited and accomplished.  We were ready for our next adventure on the open road.