The last day before every trip is loony toons! We run around with our hair on fire, passing each other saying things like, “Did you grab the…..?” “Don’t forget your….!” “Don’t grab the…… I already got it!” Hokey Smokes!!!
I had to go back into town yesterday to get a new flush valve to fix the camper toilet. I also got a stair nose to protect the front edge of the slide out since we’ll be climbing up and down there. I stopped the mail and paid the taxes. Did laundry. Cooked a pork roast and finally sat down to eat when our legs would not move another inch. Fried pork roast and sauerkraut…yummmmm!
I have our itinerary printed and in the truck. I still think we have WAY too much stuff with us, but we whittle it down after every trip. Whatever happened to the days of grabbing a toothbrush and a charge card and hitting the road?
Fixing the toilet yesterday was a lot more difficult than putting the loveseat recliners in the slide out. I was hoping I could avoid taking the toilet out because that gives you a direct opening to the black tank…right under your nose. Ugh! But, in the end, there really was no other way to reach this part without removing the whole thing. I quickly took a couple of large disposable diapers and covered the hole, making sure there was no way they could fall down in the tank. That would be a disaster!
It didn’t take too long to remove the old part and put in the new one. The more difficult part was an extra step I decided to make. I installed a shutoff valve in the supply line to the toilet. That way, if this ever happens again, we can shut the water off just to the toilet and still be able to wash our hands and do dishes. The gentleman at the RV place showed me some clamps that you have to squeeze shut with a pipe wrench. By that time, my wrists were hurting so bad from all the work I’ve done over the last week, it was almost impossible. But I kept asking God to just give me a little more strength and it finally clicked shut!
The last chore was installing a stair nose on the front edge of the slideout. This was another thing they happened to have at the RV dealer. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask for black screws. I managed to salvage five from other projects and that is really all I needed to get the stair nose attached firmly. I had to take the mattress off the bed in order to lift it to put a couple of storage tubs under there. I lost the storage space from under the bench seats of the dinette so two tubs took their place. It wasn’t heavy stuff…just some blankets and light kitchen items. I took a good deal of stuff back into the house. Like I said…not enough, but enough for right now.
So that’s it. I’m fried. My back hurts. My hands hurt. Everything hurts! Too bad I quit drinking 23 years ago! We’re as ready as we’ll every be. At least we don’t have to leave at the crack of dawn. I’m looking forward to exploring a new WV State Park. I’ll report on it tomorrow!
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“Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.”
Proverbs 31:6-7 ESV
#pain, #camping, #travel, #roadtrip
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I LOVE FALL CAMPING! And, you wanna know what? I’ve never camped at the beach so this ought to be amazing!!!
Ginny you sound like us. Doing all of the stuff around home then getting the camper ready for the adventure to Colorado. We still have tomatoes in the garden so I canned some salsa yesterday and slowly trying to get things ready. We leave Sunday from NW Iowa. What is a stair nose? I think I have talked my hubby into taking the table and bench out and putting in recliners. You have a wonderful trip and relax. 😊
It is the L-shaped metal piece that goes on the front of a stair to reduce the wear. Tell your hubby, my Mr. FixIt doesn’t like change either but he thinks this is the best thing we could have done for comfort in this camper.