We're at Bull Run Regional Park just outside of Washington, DC. We got here on Monday and we'll be calling this home for the next three months. I'm working as a camp host part time so our stay here is in exchange for my work. While here Matt will continue with working from "home" and I'll continue to handle my informatics business. All in all it feels good to be settled for a little while. We've had a chance to look around some and I think we're going to like it here.
We left the 95 degree days behind at the Sawmill. We also left the noise, drag shows, disco lights, pool parties and the occasional half clothed man behind too. Our time at the Sawmill was certainly interesting. We love the area. It's close enough to Matt's parents (who thankfully never wanted to visit the trailer) so that we don't feel obligated to see them every day but close enough that we saw them quite often. I think that has actually been good for Matt.
The trip from the Sawmill to Charleston took about 9 hours. This is interesting: Every park we stay in the check out time is 11:00 AM the day of departure except the Sawmill. Its departure time is noon, with a very generous late check out policy if you need it. In fact, if you are so inclined, they'll let you stay until 7:00 PM for a mere $10. They certainly are meeting the needs of their clientele and know the party boys aren't going to get up to get packed up and out of there before noon so they go with the flow and usually make an extra $10 bucks from their customers for not a lot of work.
After lifting Gracie into the truck we were off. Gracie does two things really well. She eats and sleeps. Sometimes she'll play but most of the time she's snacking or has made herself a bed and is asleep. She's on phenobarbital for a seizure disorder and I think that is partially why she is so much like a slug. If possible she has also gotten fatter. We try and limit her food and take her on multiple walks per day but it just doesn't seem to matter with Gracie. The good thing is she isn't seizing anymore. Gracie has this annoying habit of jumping at the cars she sees driving down the opposite side of the road and snapping at the air. I am sure she sees the motion and is just trying to catch whatever it is that she can't see but it is incredibly distracting when she is right behind you smacking against the window. I am afraid her little brain will fall out if she doesn't stop doing that.
Nine hours is about all we can handle in one day. When we got to Charleston we were all tired and ready to stop for the night. We didn't arrive during normal park hours so we had to contact the night ranger to be let in. This apparently is not supposed to be a problem according to the campground reservationists but when we talked to the ranger he seemed to be amazed that anyone would be checking in that late. When he finally opened the gate for us and met us at the campground he apparently miraculously remembered that people do in fact some in late and found our paperwork. We did a quick detach put down the stabilizers, hooked up the power and water and called it a night.
We had a nice visit with some friends, visited one of our favorite restaurants and got our winter clothing out of storage. We hit the road on Sunday headed to a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) in Enfield, NC which is just outside of Rocky Mount, NC. It took almost 10 hours go get to Enfield and by the time we arrived we were bushed. Just as an aside Gracie slept through the entire trip. At one point I got worried about her and asked Matt to make sure she was breathing. I guess Gracie has discovered the best way to while away the time on a long trip.
Charlotte, on the other hand, stays awake the entire trip. She lays on Matt's lap the entire time. When it's really hot that can be an unpleasant place for her to be but she needs to be right up there in the middle of the action in case anyone needs a Jack Russell Terrier. If they do, she's ready. I hate to tell her that almost no one needs a Jack Russell Terrier on a moments notice.
We don't feed them on travel days until we get to the campground. That has, to this point, eliminated car sickness. This also means that Gracie is not in the mood for doing a lot of walking around. She's ready for dinner when we stop.
We noticed that the campground was for sale as soon as we arrived. The place was spotless, well groomed but our guess not in a place where a lot of people go for vacations. The staff were efficient but not at all friendly or unfriendly. We did a rapid unhook (unlock the hitch and pull it of the truck), hooked up the power and took the dogs our for a much needed walk. We got the feeling that the owners were desperate to get out of this campground business. Part of this came from the signs all over the park about what you can and can't do. The notice about the Internet connection was the best of them all. They use a satellite Internet service so there are bandwidth limits, problems with weather and apparently periodic problems with the hardware. The notice on the park's log in screen listed all of these problems and ended with a curt we aren't responsible for the operation of the Internet notice. We weren't there long enough to really need to do anything we couldn't do with our phones so it didn't bother us at all. Quiet desperation was the feeling I got there.
The park at Bull Run is nice and quiet. Matt likes that. It's getting to be the off season so the park isn't very full. On Tuesday we took the Metro down to DC for some time at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It's one of my favorites. It wasn't very crowded and we got to go into the butterfly room. It's a heat and humidity controlled room filled with grow lights and tons of butterflies. It is quite beautiful and we had a great time watching them fly about. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time at the museums over the next three months.
On Tuesday we found a place called Wegman's Grocery Store. Think of it as a Whole Foods combined with a Costco and a couple of restaurants thrown in for a good mix. This place is amazing. They have 4 long steam tables with all kinds of prepared food, a long salad bar, a huge cheese bar (Matt loved that) and all of the stuff you'd find in a regular grocery store too. The place was massive and has become our destination for all food shopping now.
Today (Wednesday) was laundry day - my most hated day. We can go about two weeks if we're good before we must do laundry. We were at that point today when I packed it all up and drive over to a local laundromat called Hailey's. It isn't owned by Hailey anymore. It belongs to Aleia who bought it from Hailey. Aleia is from Mexico and speaks some english. She likes to talk to customers so she can improve her english so she is very outgoing and friendly. While I washed my clothes I found out all kinds of good stuff about the laundromat and the people who come in. Aleia is also quite a gossip. I loved it. The only down fall of the whole thing is that they have Telemundo soap operas playing really loudly. Aleia told me she thinks they are stupid but watches them anyway. I like Hailey's because they have big washers and big dryers. One load of dark/colors, one load of whites, one big ass dryer and I'm done with laundry in an hour. It was funny to see what people were wearing to get their laundry done. You could tell who was actually desperate and who was just getting a chore done. The guy next to me was dressed in his biking gear and had 4 washers going. He was desperate.
It's raining tonight and I love it. I've got the window next to my side of the bed open and I can hear the rain. When it rains a little harder you can hear it on the trailer too. Very relaxing and cozy. Gracie has scrunched up a little rug that we keep at the front door into a little pile and is sleeping on it. It doesn't look comfortable but she is really out of it. Charlie is asleep on my pillow (and growls every time I move) and Mattie is playing solitaire. All in all a nice relaxing night.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Trailer Life
Several of you have wanted to see pictures of our long-long trailer and how we live our day-to-day lives in a very small space. Let me first say that Matt and I rarely argue. We may become snippy but we're both somewhat laid back and respectful of each other that we can live in close proximity and not drive each other nuts. I have to admit that would not have been the case with any previous relationship I've had. The biggest space challenge is when we're both getting dressed to go out. Since our clothes are at opposite ends of our sleeping space we have to take turns getting dressed. Not a big deal but a little different than what most people go through on a daily basis with their spouse. Our biggest challenge so far has been where to store all of our stuff. It's amazing how many "junk drawers" you actually have until you move. We currently have a bin of junk drawer stuff without a home here on Mabel Rubain. We're working on a solution but it will take some time.
This is a picture of our little kitchen. It's small and we haven't really cooked in it yet but it's workable. We usually have an inaugural dinner of Hamburger Helper Lasagna when we are camping but we haven't done that yet. I really ramped down the kitchen stuff when we moved into the trailer. I have the basics but some of the things I didn't use often, like my stock pot, didn't make the transition. We do have a neat device that is like a slow cooker without electricity. You fill up the pot with whatever crockpot meal you want and bring it up to a boil on the stove. Then you put the metal pot into a plastic liner that insulates. It cooks throughout the day and by the time you get home it's dinner. When we get to VA next week I'm going to try some making some crock pot chili (yes, with beans).
This is the trailer looking aft from the kitchen. What you can't see is Gracie's crate. It's next to the couch. Most trailers would have a dinette where Gracie's crate is located but there wasn't one in the trailer when we bought it and it's turned out really well. Gracie and Charlotte both ride in the truck with us when we're traveling. Gracie isn't trustworthy when we're not around. Even though she's over a year old being in the kennel so long before we got her has stunted her level of maturity so we are still dealing with puppy behavior. We're here most of the time so she's out playing with her toys, chewing on our rugs and basically laying right where you need to be. She is a very, very, vary lazy dog. We take them both out for a walk each night and Gracie will just stop walking when she gets tired which is about 100 feet away from the trailer. We make her go for a walk anyway. She doesn't like it.
Here is our bedroom/office. We have a couch in the trailer (previous picture) that we can use to work on but we seem to migrate to the bedroom and work there. The cellular modems we use are not very good so when we have things to do that require we have a better connection we head out to a Starbucks, grab some coffee and go to work. That doesn't happen too much but on occasion we've had to resort to the kindness of Starbucks. Charlotte is in her usual place, on top of all the pillows. Her job is to bark at dogs and cats that are outside during conference calls. She does that very well.
The trailer has a fold out awning that keeps the sun out of the windows and allows us an outside spot for grilling and hanging out neither of which we've done yet. Matt has a bug phobia and hates to be outside. I'm looking forward to sitting outside on a cool evening in the VA woods with a fire burning in the fire pit. I have a feeling I'm going to be alone in that. Notice the stars on the awning. We're in a gay campground and everyone decorates their trailer. We were here for almost 2 weeks before we got with the program. We were looking a little poor there for a while. Now we are all set. We have LED star lights that change colors. I think their the best lights in the park now except for the couple with the disco-ball (yes, seriously they have a disco-ball).
We're a month into our adventure and having a blast. We've experienced some technology issues but for the most part we're working. Still no TV but that's not been a problem. We've learned the lesson of a place for everything and everything in its place. That is key to living in a small space.
Thanks for the emails and comments. Keep them coming.
Todd
This is a picture of our little kitchen. It's small and we haven't really cooked in it yet but it's workable. We usually have an inaugural dinner of Hamburger Helper Lasagna when we are camping but we haven't done that yet. I really ramped down the kitchen stuff when we moved into the trailer. I have the basics but some of the things I didn't use often, like my stock pot, didn't make the transition. We do have a neat device that is like a slow cooker without electricity. You fill up the pot with whatever crockpot meal you want and bring it up to a boil on the stove. Then you put the metal pot into a plastic liner that insulates. It cooks throughout the day and by the time you get home it's dinner. When we get to VA next week I'm going to try some making some crock pot chili (yes, with beans).
This is the trailer looking aft from the kitchen. What you can't see is Gracie's crate. It's next to the couch. Most trailers would have a dinette where Gracie's crate is located but there wasn't one in the trailer when we bought it and it's turned out really well. Gracie and Charlotte both ride in the truck with us when we're traveling. Gracie isn't trustworthy when we're not around. Even though she's over a year old being in the kennel so long before we got her has stunted her level of maturity so we are still dealing with puppy behavior. We're here most of the time so she's out playing with her toys, chewing on our rugs and basically laying right where you need to be. She is a very, very, vary lazy dog. We take them both out for a walk each night and Gracie will just stop walking when she gets tired which is about 100 feet away from the trailer. We make her go for a walk anyway. She doesn't like it.
Here is our bedroom/office. We have a couch in the trailer (previous picture) that we can use to work on but we seem to migrate to the bedroom and work there. The cellular modems we use are not very good so when we have things to do that require we have a better connection we head out to a Starbucks, grab some coffee and go to work. That doesn't happen too much but on occasion we've had to resort to the kindness of Starbucks. Charlotte is in her usual place, on top of all the pillows. Her job is to bark at dogs and cats that are outside during conference calls. She does that very well.
Here's the trailer from outside. It's a MaxLite but the name is a misnomer. This trailer is anything but light. It's very well equipped which means that it is on the heavier side of what our truck can pull. It's made of an aluminum frame with fiberglass panels so it's sturdy. Not like the newer models made with 2x2s and corrugated aluminum. I'll deal with the weight and mileage hit for a more sturdy trailer. Since we'll be camping where it's cold the extra insulation and central heat will be welcome. Those aren't generally available in travel trailers.
We're a month into our adventure and having a blast. We've experienced some technology issues but for the most part we're working. Still no TV but that's not been a problem. We've learned the lesson of a place for everything and everything in its place. That is key to living in a small space.
Thanks for the emails and comments. Keep them coming.
Todd
Friday, September 12, 2014
Times A Wastein'
As our time here in the Saw Mill Resort and RV Camp comes to and end, I have some thoughts about our life in a tiny house versus the 3800 sq ft house we lived in before. In a word I'm loving our tiny house it and to my utter and shear joy Matt is loving it too. I thought if anything was going to bring this adventure to an untimely end it would be that Matt hated it and we would be forced to find a place more settled to live. It's not without some challenges.
The dogs are settled into their routines pretty well. We take them out on long walks every day and since we're all in the trailer together they get to be closer to us than when we had the house. There isn't a lot of free space with the two of us and two dogs so we're pretty much together anytime we're in the trailer together. The dogs don't mind at all and look forward to their walks. The problem I foresee is when we change locations. The routine will change and they might be a little anxious but I think, after a while, they'll learn the pack up and go routine and things will be fine.
Medications and doctors are another challenge. So far we've managed to use the Publix Pharmacy to get our refills. Our doctors have been really great at authorizing our refills even when we're out of state so that hasn't been a problem. I have some specialized meds I take so I have to be right on top of those and give the pharmacy extra time to get those filled. So far so good.
The mail situation is pretty easy. When we left Charleston we had our mail forwarded to a private mail processing center in Houston, TX. They scan the envelope and send the scan to us via e-mail. We can then ask them to send it to our location, open it and scan the contents and send that to us or just shred it. So far we've only had two things forwarded to us here in Florida and it worked out perfectly.
We bank with Bank of America since there are branches in all 50 states. Matt's paycheck is directly deposited but if we need a bank they're pretty easy to find. The best part is making deposits by taking pictures of checks and sending the pictures to the bank. We've used that service without any problems so banking is pretty much as simple as you can get.
One of the biggest changes that has come with our Tiny House adventure is that we don't have TV of any kind. No DirecTV and no over the air TV. I do selectively watch a couple of shows that I can get through iTunes or Netflixs but in general we don't have TV. Gone are the nights wasted sitting in front of the TV for the night. Now we read, write, go to the pool, take the dogs for a walk and at times spend some time reading the news online. That leads to one challenge that we haven't really addressed adequately -- Internet Access. We have 2 cellular modems that sort of work Sometimes the streaming is OK. Sometimes the surfing is OK. But a lot of the time its a challenge to even Google to load.
When we first got here I was having some serious TV withdrawals. I had my shows planned out all week, the DVR was programmed and I spent too much time watching things rather than doing things. Now I have two shows that I like to watch. I catch them on iTunes when I get a chance. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a documentary but streaming with the cellular modems is very expensive and until we find a park with free WiFi we'll be severely limiting our TV time. I can say now, after being without TV for over 3 weeks that I don't miss it. Too many other things to do.
One of the biggest changes that has come with our Tiny House adventure is that we don't have TV of any kind. No DirecTV and no over the air TV. I do selectively watch a couple of shows that I can get through iTunes or Netflixs but in general we don't have TV. Gone are the nights wasted sitting in front of the TV for the night. Now we read, write, go to the pool, take the dogs for a walk and at times spend some time reading the news online. That leads to one challenge that we haven't really addressed adequately -- Internet Access. We have 2 cellular modems that sort of work Sometimes the streaming is OK. Sometimes the surfing is OK. But a lot of the time its a challenge to even Google to load.
When we first got here I was having some serious TV withdrawals. I had my shows planned out all week, the DVR was programmed and I spent too much time watching things rather than doing things. Now I have two shows that I like to watch. I catch them on iTunes when I get a chance. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a documentary but streaming with the cellular modems is very expensive and until we find a park with free WiFi we'll be severely limiting our TV time. I can say now, after being without TV for over 3 weeks that I don't miss it. Too many other things to do.
I haven't spent a lot of time (any) cooking in the trailer. It seems like at the end of the day once we're both ready to stop working the last thing we want to do is cook in the trailer. We need a little break. We generally go out and explore the local eating establishments. Sometimes we really lucky and sometimes we really unlucky. I think as time goes by we'll cook more in the trailer but for now getting out and about town is more along the lines of what we're ready to do at the end of the day. We have a full stove with an oven and a microwave. We keep the refrigerator stocked with sandwich meats and cheeses and drinks so in a pinch we can always eat at home.
We did have one really strange lunch. We were at Matt's parent's house doing laundry and as the last load dried we decided to try a bbq restaurant just down the street. The menu looked pretty good when we sat down. Matt loves mushrooms so when he saw fried mushrooms he had to have them. We were the only ones in the place but it took forever to get the appetizers. When it finally arrived our waitress was laughing. She thought one of the mushrooms looked like a penis. She couldn't get over it and had to take a picture of our food. That was the highlight of the meal. The rest of the food was really bad. How they stay in business I don't know. I suspect they are a front for the local mob and launder money. There is not another reason in the world that restaurant should still be in business with food that bad. Most of the food we've had has been pretty good. We've purposely stayed away from the chain restaurants and tried local places. One place we tried, The Taco Bus, was out of this world good. The food is authentic and it's actually cooked in an old school bus. It's a bit of a drive down to Tampa from where we are but as we're running around town on errands we might just have to try it again.
Speaking of errands we've had a couple. Matt sold his car (the BMW and love of his life). We just couldn't justify having two vehicles. We had a hitch problem that took us to Camping World. Let me say that I've been impressed with them from the day we bought Mabel Rubain. The hitch was a little low so I went in and had them jack it up a little. The hitch itself weighs about 75 pounds so it was a job hiking back to the service department with it. But one of the employees saw me and drove a golf cart down to pick me and the hitch up and drive us down to the service entrance. From that point on it took about 15 minutes to get an adjustment and that was it. No charge, great help, very caring people. I'm really liking Camping World. I can see now why they are so successful in what they are doing.
Mabel Rubain has had some hiccups here lately the biggest being the galley grey water tank not being drained. This model has a grey water tank for the galley, and a separate one for the shower and bathroom sink. Good idea in theory. The problem is the drain for the galley tank is at the front of the trailer and the drain for all other tanks is in the rear of the trailer. Out drainage hose fits perfectly in the rear drains but not in the front drain. Not knowing we filled up the galley tank and didn't realize until after we had drained the other tanks that the galley didn't drain. It only contains soapy water but since it's over full it makes the galley smell bad. I think tonight I'm going to drain it on the grass. You're not supposed do to that but what's a little soapy water among friends? Other than that Mabel Rubain is working well. The temperatures have been around 95 each day and the air conditioner struggles to keep the trailer cool - especially on humid days. We've had some pretty intense thunderstorms with heavy rain and have had no leaks!
One final thing we've learned. Everyone at the park decorates their camp site, trailer or motor home with lights. When you walk around at night it looks like everyone is having a disco party. We came unprepared so when we took a trip to Ikea we found some really cool LED lights that we could hang from our awning. Now we fit into our neighborhood.
In two weeks we'll be headed north to Bull Run in Virginia where we'll stay for 3 months and then possibly up to New York for a couple of weeks in January if we think Mabel Rubain can handle the cold. We'll test out her cold weather features when we're in VA and make a decision then. Eventually we'll head south again but that timeframe is still up in the air. That's the nice thing about this life. We can basically decide where we want to be and when. No rush.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Driving Home:
Location: Charleston, SC
The trip home from New York was tough. We broke it up into two legs. One leg down to Virginia and the other leg from Virginia to South Carolina. The bright part of this leg of the trip was seeing my favorite aunt. I tell people to imagine a cross between Lucile Ball and Auntie Mame and you'll have an accurate picture of this wonderful woman. She has and still does play a big part in my life so getting to see her was wonderful. Even if it was brief. We're planning a trip back to the area in September and plan on spending about 3 months there.
Getting back through Baltimore was a little easier this time since we followed the truck hazmat route and avoided the Baltimore Tunnel. That took us out of our way a bit but we avoided driving through the city at rush hour towing a trailer. The last time we did that it at 2:00 AM and there was little traffic. This time would have been at peak rush hour. I shudder at the thought.
We ended up on the beltway at rush hour. That brought back many memories. While serving as a corpsman in the Navy one of my many duties was to drive an ambulance. To this day when I hear sirens I get a big jolt of adrenaline. I would really like my lights and siren back. Matt says no.
About 20 miles from the campground the trailer's brakes started to squeak. There was no place to pull over so we continued along the beltway. When we finally found a place where we could safely pull over we discovered that the automatic breakaway braking device had triggered and was intermittently applying the trailer brakes. The solution was simple -- reset the breakaway device. Another one of those little details that you learn as you get on the road.
We stayed at Bull Run Regional Park for the night. It is a beautiful park with mostly pull though sites. Not being an experienced backer-upper yet I always appreciate a straight in shot. We were only there for a night and then we packed up and headed back down the road.
After leaving Virginia we headed down I-95. It was a long and boring drive made worse by how slow our progress was due to the trailer. On a good downhill we can get close to 70 but the next hill easily slows us down to 55. Outside of hills we average just under 60 and that's about it. The truck has a special transmission setting for towing. It alters the way the transmission goes into low drive and keeps the RPMs up. Supposedly this makes towing easier. It also drastically reduces our fuel economy. Generally we can run about 450 miles on 26 gallons of gas without the trailer. Towing Mabel Rubain drops that down to 260 or so before we have to fuel up again.
Our dog Charlotte is pretty much a trooper. She likes to get out at rest areas and see what other dogs have left behind. Charlotte gets so enthralled with peeing on top of other dogs pee she doesn't stop. She pees and walks and squats all at the same time. She can make 4 or 5 spots in the matter of minutes. as far as she is concerned she is now the owner of all the land between Charleston and New York. Gracie is a little less a trooper and more of a curmudgeon. In general Gracie Mae doesn't like anything except sleeping and eating. Anything else and she's grumpy and growling. When she goes she has to find just the right spot to pee and it must be pristine. No other dog must have ever gone there. It can take 10 minutes of walking around in the hot sun waiting on Gracie to make her selection. This whole new adventure has been a big change for them but I think they're getting more used to the trailer and the new sounds they hear. Gracie is sleeping though most of it.
By the time we made it to Charleston the dogs were tired of riding, we were tired of riding and we didn't drop the trailer or unload. We took what we needed and called it a night. That's when we made our 4-6 hour rule. I'm sure we'll run into circumstances where we'll have to break the rule but in general we're going to try and make things easier not harder.
We're in Charleston waiting for the house to close and then we're off to Florida to visit with Matt's mother for a month. Now that Matt and I are married dare I say visiting my mother-in-law. She'd probably fall over in a dead faint.
The trip home from New York was tough. We broke it up into two legs. One leg down to Virginia and the other leg from Virginia to South Carolina. The bright part of this leg of the trip was seeing my favorite aunt. I tell people to imagine a cross between Lucile Ball and Auntie Mame and you'll have an accurate picture of this wonderful woman. She has and still does play a big part in my life so getting to see her was wonderful. Even if it was brief. We're planning a trip back to the area in September and plan on spending about 3 months there.
Getting back through Baltimore was a little easier this time since we followed the truck hazmat route and avoided the Baltimore Tunnel. That took us out of our way a bit but we avoided driving through the city at rush hour towing a trailer. The last time we did that it at 2:00 AM and there was little traffic. This time would have been at peak rush hour. I shudder at the thought.
We ended up on the beltway at rush hour. That brought back many memories. While serving as a corpsman in the Navy one of my many duties was to drive an ambulance. To this day when I hear sirens I get a big jolt of adrenaline. I would really like my lights and siren back. Matt says no.
About 20 miles from the campground the trailer's brakes started to squeak. There was no place to pull over so we continued along the beltway. When we finally found a place where we could safely pull over we discovered that the automatic breakaway braking device had triggered and was intermittently applying the trailer brakes. The solution was simple -- reset the breakaway device. Another one of those little details that you learn as you get on the road.
We stayed at Bull Run Regional Park for the night. It is a beautiful park with mostly pull though sites. Not being an experienced backer-upper yet I always appreciate a straight in shot. We were only there for a night and then we packed up and headed back down the road.
After leaving Virginia we headed down I-95. It was a long and boring drive made worse by how slow our progress was due to the trailer. On a good downhill we can get close to 70 but the next hill easily slows us down to 55. Outside of hills we average just under 60 and that's about it. The truck has a special transmission setting for towing. It alters the way the transmission goes into low drive and keeps the RPMs up. Supposedly this makes towing easier. It also drastically reduces our fuel economy. Generally we can run about 450 miles on 26 gallons of gas without the trailer. Towing Mabel Rubain drops that down to 260 or so before we have to fuel up again.
Our dog Charlotte is pretty much a trooper. She likes to get out at rest areas and see what other dogs have left behind. Charlotte gets so enthralled with peeing on top of other dogs pee she doesn't stop. She pees and walks and squats all at the same time. She can make 4 or 5 spots in the matter of minutes. as far as she is concerned she is now the owner of all the land between Charleston and New York. Gracie is a little less a trooper and more of a curmudgeon. In general Gracie Mae doesn't like anything except sleeping and eating. Anything else and she's grumpy and growling. When she goes she has to find just the right spot to pee and it must be pristine. No other dog must have ever gone there. It can take 10 minutes of walking around in the hot sun waiting on Gracie to make her selection. This whole new adventure has been a big change for them but I think they're getting more used to the trailer and the new sounds they hear. Gracie is sleeping though most of it.
By the time we made it to Charleston the dogs were tired of riding, we were tired of riding and we didn't drop the trailer or unload. We took what we needed and called it a night. That's when we made our 4-6 hour rule. I'm sure we'll run into circumstances where we'll have to break the rule but in general we're going to try and make things easier not harder.
We're in Charleston waiting for the house to close and then we're off to Florida to visit with Matt's mother for a month. Now that Matt and I are married dare I say visiting my mother-in-law. She'd probably fall over in a dead faint.
On Our Way Again
Location: Dade City, FL
We left Charleston on a clear and hot Tuesday on our way to Florida. Before you wonder, yes we do know how hot Florida is in August. In fact we're enjoying 100 degree temperatures as I write this. The trip down was uneventful however it was long. We try to limit ourselves to 4 hours not more than 6 hours of driving per day but since we were late getting out of Charleston we decided to make the drive down to Dade City in one day.
Matt has been promising his mother that he'd visit this summer. We needed someplace to be after we cleared out the house so we decided that we'd spend August in Dade City and head up north to Virginia in September. We both prefer colder weather so we won't mind welcoming the first cold snap leading up to winter. Right now our plans are to stay in Florida until the middle of September and then head up to Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, VA. We stayed in that park on our way back from New York after we were married and really wished we had more time to spend there. The plan is to stay through the end of the year. We'll be close to my favorite aunt and will be able to spend time with her. After the first of the year the plan is to move up to Liberty Harbor RV Park outside of Jersey City. We don't have any idea how long we'll stay. Matt's current book is based in New York and he wants to spend some time there as part of his research. Matt spends a lot of time making sure the details of his books are accurate and that takes some research. I tease him that I think he likes the research better than the writing.
We're basically waiting for the powers that be to bless the sale of the house. We spent a week packing up what was left after the estate sale, throwing away items that we couldn't give away or donate and relying on the kindness of our friends Mina and Sarah to let us store some things that needed to be temperature controlled in their house. The week was brutal for two reasons. First we had to make some very hard decisions about giving up things that we loved. Second, even though we only had our bedroom, the kitchen and the lanai to work though the task was monumental. The heat didn't help nor did the boxes of books that we kept and carried up a flight of stairs for storage. I guess that is what happens when you marry a bibliophile.
August in Charleston is really hot and humid. When you go outside it's like someone threw a wet blanket on you. We worked hard through those days filling up a dumpster we rented to get rid of the things that Habitat for Humanity wouldn't take. We left the house very clean, unlike when we moved in. I never imagined that over 10 years later we'd be moving out. After our last move we both decided to never move again. This time we had no choice.
Driving out of Charleston for the last time wasn't really a big deal. I drove right pass the turn off to the house on my way down to I-95 and then south to Dade City without really giving it a thought. The trip was long and uneventful. I rolled into the campground at about 7:00 PM and that's when all the fun started.
Our trailer is 31 feet long and it takes some work to get it backed into a campsite. Matt was about an hour behind me so I had to try and get the trailer into the campsite before it got dark. The narrowness of the road, an ill placed fence and no one to guide me was making my attempts at parking Mabel Rubain difficult. After about 5 aborted tries someone from the campground came over and asked if I would like some help. His name was Brian and we managed, after some additional aborted attempts, to get Mabel Rubain into the slot between another camper a fence a tree and a picnic table. All that was left was to unhitch and get the water and power on. Easier said than done. Getting the hitch undone is usually a two man job. It's a special hitch that is designed to balance the load between the truck and the trailer. The hitch itself weights a good 50 or 60 pounds. The problem is the trailer part of the whole contraption doesn't always unhook without some jumping up and down on the rig or getting the truck to jiggle just enough to make it come loose. That is hard to do when you're alone. Once it did unhitch I managed to get the tow chains too tight so they wouldn't unhook from the truck. After I resolved all of those issues I realized that our spot wasn't even so I had to hook up the trailer again and move it to a more even spot on the site. It's still not even but at this point if I don't fall out of bed it's good enough for me.
After all of that maneuvering I had managed to get the back end of the trailer very close to the utility stand where we needed to hook up for water and power. It was so close that I couldn't get the bay door open to get out the power cable or the water hose and filter. That meant that I would have to crawl into the other side and pull all of the equipment out that way. By this time I was out of breath, soaking wet with sweat and ready to get the air conditioner running. If nothing else was going to happen that night the air conditioner was going to be on and running at full blast.
Matt, of course, arrived after all of this. Both the dogs and I were grateful to see him. They had been sitting in the truck watching this whole maneuver and actually being quiet. I was surprised. Matt was their hero though. He took them out for a walk they desperately needed.
As I write this Charlotte is asleep curled up behind me. Gracie is asleep in her crate and Matt is dozing off next to me while mumbling something about not writing bad things about him. This is our life and so far it's been a little challenging. Each day we learn a little more about our rig. Today we managed to figure out the awning. Tomorrow I'm going to be figuring out the process for emptying our tanks. One or two more things and we should become more experienced and this whole process will get easier. We have 28 more days here to figure it out here in Dade City. Then it's up to Virginia where we'll get to learn all about the furnace. That should be fun.
We left Charleston on a clear and hot Tuesday on our way to Florida. Before you wonder, yes we do know how hot Florida is in August. In fact we're enjoying 100 degree temperatures as I write this. The trip down was uneventful however it was long. We try to limit ourselves to 4 hours not more than 6 hours of driving per day but since we were late getting out of Charleston we decided to make the drive down to Dade City in one day.
Matt has been promising his mother that he'd visit this summer. We needed someplace to be after we cleared out the house so we decided that we'd spend August in Dade City and head up north to Virginia in September. We both prefer colder weather so we won't mind welcoming the first cold snap leading up to winter. Right now our plans are to stay in Florida until the middle of September and then head up to Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, VA. We stayed in that park on our way back from New York after we were married and really wished we had more time to spend there. The plan is to stay through the end of the year. We'll be close to my favorite aunt and will be able to spend time with her. After the first of the year the plan is to move up to Liberty Harbor RV Park outside of Jersey City. We don't have any idea how long we'll stay. Matt's current book is based in New York and he wants to spend some time there as part of his research. Matt spends a lot of time making sure the details of his books are accurate and that takes some research. I tease him that I think he likes the research better than the writing.
We're basically waiting for the powers that be to bless the sale of the house. We spent a week packing up what was left after the estate sale, throwing away items that we couldn't give away or donate and relying on the kindness of our friends Mina and Sarah to let us store some things that needed to be temperature controlled in their house. The week was brutal for two reasons. First we had to make some very hard decisions about giving up things that we loved. Second, even though we only had our bedroom, the kitchen and the lanai to work though the task was monumental. The heat didn't help nor did the boxes of books that we kept and carried up a flight of stairs for storage. I guess that is what happens when you marry a bibliophile.
August in Charleston is really hot and humid. When you go outside it's like someone threw a wet blanket on you. We worked hard through those days filling up a dumpster we rented to get rid of the things that Habitat for Humanity wouldn't take. We left the house very clean, unlike when we moved in. I never imagined that over 10 years later we'd be moving out. After our last move we both decided to never move again. This time we had no choice.
Driving out of Charleston for the last time wasn't really a big deal. I drove right pass the turn off to the house on my way down to I-95 and then south to Dade City without really giving it a thought. The trip was long and uneventful. I rolled into the campground at about 7:00 PM and that's when all the fun started.
Our trailer is 31 feet long and it takes some work to get it backed into a campsite. Matt was about an hour behind me so I had to try and get the trailer into the campsite before it got dark. The narrowness of the road, an ill placed fence and no one to guide me was making my attempts at parking Mabel Rubain difficult. After about 5 aborted tries someone from the campground came over and asked if I would like some help. His name was Brian and we managed, after some additional aborted attempts, to get Mabel Rubain into the slot between another camper a fence a tree and a picnic table. All that was left was to unhitch and get the water and power on. Easier said than done. Getting the hitch undone is usually a two man job. It's a special hitch that is designed to balance the load between the truck and the trailer. The hitch itself weights a good 50 or 60 pounds. The problem is the trailer part of the whole contraption doesn't always unhook without some jumping up and down on the rig or getting the truck to jiggle just enough to make it come loose. That is hard to do when you're alone. Once it did unhitch I managed to get the tow chains too tight so they wouldn't unhook from the truck. After I resolved all of those issues I realized that our spot wasn't even so I had to hook up the trailer again and move it to a more even spot on the site. It's still not even but at this point if I don't fall out of bed it's good enough for me.
After all of that maneuvering I had managed to get the back end of the trailer very close to the utility stand where we needed to hook up for water and power. It was so close that I couldn't get the bay door open to get out the power cable or the water hose and filter. That meant that I would have to crawl into the other side and pull all of the equipment out that way. By this time I was out of breath, soaking wet with sweat and ready to get the air conditioner running. If nothing else was going to happen that night the air conditioner was going to be on and running at full blast.
Matt, of course, arrived after all of this. Both the dogs and I were grateful to see him. They had been sitting in the truck watching this whole maneuver and actually being quiet. I was surprised. Matt was their hero though. He took them out for a walk they desperately needed.
As I write this Charlotte is asleep curled up behind me. Gracie is asleep in her crate and Matt is dozing off next to me while mumbling something about not writing bad things about him. This is our life and so far it's been a little challenging. Each day we learn a little more about our rig. Today we managed to figure out the awning. Tomorrow I'm going to be figuring out the process for emptying our tanks. One or two more things and we should become more experienced and this whole process will get easier. We have 28 more days here to figure it out here in Dade City. Then it's up to Virginia where we'll get to learn all about the furnace. That should be fun.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Todd and Matt Get Married The Main Event
Matt and I got married on May 29th, 2014 in City Hall in New York. We got married. Not gay married, just married.
Fifteen years ago on May 29th we had a little (40 people) commitment ceremony at our home in California. We decided that we'd like our anniversary dates to correspond so we specifically picked the 29th as the day we wanted to marry. That was not without some challenges.
Our original plan was to get married in New York and then come home and have a huge reception here in Ravenel. We were planning on a DJ, dance floor, catering, wine, photo booth and gift bags for each attendee. The guest list was over 100 people. Then we re-thought the whole idea. At the time we were having problems with the mortgage company and we weren't sure we'd have the house in July (when we were going to have the party) so we scaled back. We started planning our trip to New York and then realized that was getting out of hand too. So we re-imagined the whole event and downsized to a simple elopement. In hind site I am really glad we downsized. We had some bumps in the road as it was.
We arrived in New York with Mable Rubain in tow on May 28th (Matt does not like calling the trailer Mable Rubain). The plan was to park, get the dogs in the trailer, turn on the air conditioner and take the light rail over to the court house to get our paperwork in preparation for our marriage on Thursday. When we got to City Hall the place was packed. Lots of couples waiting patiently for their turn with one of the clerks. We took a number and found a seat while we waited. While I sat and watched all the other couples I realized was sitting in a place where I was considered just as important and equal to all of the other people in the room. I didn't really realize how the feeling of being a second-class citizen had permeated my consciousnss. I've largely been out since I was 15 and for all this time I've had this thought in the back of my head that I wasn't as legitimate as everyone else. But sitting there in the Clerk of Courts office I truly felt included.
New York has a strict 24 hour wait peroid between the time you get your initial paperwork done and when you can actually get married. We waited about 2 hours for our turn and by the time we had the paperwork done we were past the cut off for getting married the next day. We really wanted to get married on our anniversary date so we had to get a judicial wavier from the court allowing us to get married with less than a 24 hour wait.
The waivers are given twice a day at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM. We were too late to get a wavier on Wednesday so we completed the paperwork with a hope that we'd be granted the wavier at 11:00 the next day. We'd done everything that we could to ensure our wedding happened on Thursday. It was in the hands of the court now and we'd be given the same level of consideration as any straight couple in the same situation. The clerk in that office was very nice and helpful. It was nice.
We had dinner with friends in Chinatown, had a terrific hot towel shave and trim at a barber shop in Little Italy and finally headed home tired but very happy. The next morning things got a little tricky.
Matt got up early, without waking me, and went into the city to check on our wavier. I woke up to my cell phone ringing. It was playing Matt's ringtone. He was in a panic. One of the checks we had deposited to our checking account to cover our expenses in New York didn't clear so we were overdrawn in our checking account. The bank had already moved money from our savings account to cover the overdraft but that meant we were still overdrawn. It was my job to get on the phone and get this cleared up and get the money from the check we deposited that didn't clear. It turns out that it was a check from our Scottrade account.
I decided that I'd get the them to wire the money from the Scottrade account to our bank account. That seemed to be the fastest way to resolve the problem. I called our bank (Bank Of America) to get the details for our wire transfer. When I called, was put on hold and finally connected to a banking representative. "I've got a problem. I'm getting married today and I'm overdrawn on my checking account." I have the guy who answered my banking information and he quickly pulled up my account. Then he said, congratulations on your wedding day. I was surprised at first. This was the first time I had told anyone about my pending marriage and the result was someone congratulating me. It only took a couple of minutes to get the wire transfer information. When I hung up I realized two things. First, I actually said, out loud and to a stranger, that I was getting married. And second, he congratulated me. My next call was to Scottrade. I really didn't think it was going to be easy to get this done over the phone but I was going to try. I called our local office in Charleston and easily reached an account representative. Again I said I was getting married and I needed to get some money wired from our Scottrade account into my checking account today. Again, the first thing I heard was congratulations. I explained my predicament and the representative took care of my request with no problems. The money got transferred into our checking account and we were all set to get married.
In the meantime Matt picked up the judicial wavier. No problem on that front either. On my way into the city I thought about the morning's events. I told two complete strangers I was getting married to Matt. Both were genuinely happy for me and offered their congratulations. The financial transactions I needed for accounts that listed both of us were handled quickly and without problems. It felt amazing. This country is changing.
My brother and sister-in-law were going to meet us there as were our friends Mina and Sarah. Sarah was our official witness. We only had to wait about 20 minutes until our names were called and we went to the anti-chamber to the chapel to wait. Within minutes we walked in to see the Justice of the Peace and actually get married.
For all of the prep, it only took a few minutes to actually get married. We had the familiar "do you Todd take Matt to be your lawfully wedding husband?" ceremony. We exchanged rings got choked up saying our I dos and it was over. Our witnesses and attendants all clapped and we kissed. It was a wonderful feeling.
Until I started writing this blog entry I really hadn't stopped long enough to really consider what changed in my life on May 29th and how it has changed the way I feel about my world. I really like referring to Matt as my husband and I do whenever it comes up. We live in a marriage-inequality state (soon to be changed I hope) but I refuse to discount my relationship because of local conventions. We live in Charleston which in the state of South Carolina is a liberal bastion. Everyone we know here knows us as a couple. We have joint checking and savings accounts, wills and insurance policies. And now we have a marriage license.
I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. I'm married and as a married person I have all of the rights and responsibilities as any other married person. Hopefully soon the state of South Carolina will be required to recognize my marriage just like every other marriage. I can't wait for that day.
Fifteen years ago on May 29th we had a little (40 people) commitment ceremony at our home in California. We decided that we'd like our anniversary dates to correspond so we specifically picked the 29th as the day we wanted to marry. That was not without some challenges.
Our original plan was to get married in New York and then come home and have a huge reception here in Ravenel. We were planning on a DJ, dance floor, catering, wine, photo booth and gift bags for each attendee. The guest list was over 100 people. Then we re-thought the whole idea. At the time we were having problems with the mortgage company and we weren't sure we'd have the house in July (when we were going to have the party) so we scaled back. We started planning our trip to New York and then realized that was getting out of hand too. So we re-imagined the whole event and downsized to a simple elopement. In hind site I am really glad we downsized. We had some bumps in the road as it was.
We arrived in New York with Mable Rubain in tow on May 28th (Matt does not like calling the trailer Mable Rubain). The plan was to park, get the dogs in the trailer, turn on the air conditioner and take the light rail over to the court house to get our paperwork in preparation for our marriage on Thursday. When we got to City Hall the place was packed. Lots of couples waiting patiently for their turn with one of the clerks. We took a number and found a seat while we waited. While I sat and watched all the other couples I realized was sitting in a place where I was considered just as important and equal to all of the other people in the room. I didn't really realize how the feeling of being a second-class citizen had permeated my consciousnss. I've largely been out since I was 15 and for all this time I've had this thought in the back of my head that I wasn't as legitimate as everyone else. But sitting there in the Clerk of Courts office I truly felt included.
New York has a strict 24 hour wait peroid between the time you get your initial paperwork done and when you can actually get married. We waited about 2 hours for our turn and by the time we had the paperwork done we were past the cut off for getting married the next day. We really wanted to get married on our anniversary date so we had to get a judicial wavier from the court allowing us to get married with less than a 24 hour wait.
The waivers are given twice a day at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM. We were too late to get a wavier on Wednesday so we completed the paperwork with a hope that we'd be granted the wavier at 11:00 the next day. We'd done everything that we could to ensure our wedding happened on Thursday. It was in the hands of the court now and we'd be given the same level of consideration as any straight couple in the same situation. The clerk in that office was very nice and helpful. It was nice.
We had dinner with friends in Chinatown, had a terrific hot towel shave and trim at a barber shop in Little Italy and finally headed home tired but very happy. The next morning things got a little tricky.
Matt got up early, without waking me, and went into the city to check on our wavier. I woke up to my cell phone ringing. It was playing Matt's ringtone. He was in a panic. One of the checks we had deposited to our checking account to cover our expenses in New York didn't clear so we were overdrawn in our checking account. The bank had already moved money from our savings account to cover the overdraft but that meant we were still overdrawn. It was my job to get on the phone and get this cleared up and get the money from the check we deposited that didn't clear. It turns out that it was a check from our Scottrade account.
I decided that I'd get the them to wire the money from the Scottrade account to our bank account. That seemed to be the fastest way to resolve the problem. I called our bank (Bank Of America) to get the details for our wire transfer. When I called, was put on hold and finally connected to a banking representative. "I've got a problem. I'm getting married today and I'm overdrawn on my checking account." I have the guy who answered my banking information and he quickly pulled up my account. Then he said, congratulations on your wedding day. I was surprised at first. This was the first time I had told anyone about my pending marriage and the result was someone congratulating me. It only took a couple of minutes to get the wire transfer information. When I hung up I realized two things. First, I actually said, out loud and to a stranger, that I was getting married. And second, he congratulated me. My next call was to Scottrade. I really didn't think it was going to be easy to get this done over the phone but I was going to try. I called our local office in Charleston and easily reached an account representative. Again I said I was getting married and I needed to get some money wired from our Scottrade account into my checking account today. Again, the first thing I heard was congratulations. I explained my predicament and the representative took care of my request with no problems. The money got transferred into our checking account and we were all set to get married.
In the meantime Matt picked up the judicial wavier. No problem on that front either. On my way into the city I thought about the morning's events. I told two complete strangers I was getting married to Matt. Both were genuinely happy for me and offered their congratulations. The financial transactions I needed for accounts that listed both of us were handled quickly and without problems. It felt amazing. This country is changing.
My brother and sister-in-law were going to meet us there as were our friends Mina and Sarah. Sarah was our official witness. We only had to wait about 20 minutes until our names were called and we went to the anti-chamber to the chapel to wait. Within minutes we walked in to see the Justice of the Peace and actually get married.
For all of the prep, it only took a few minutes to actually get married. We had the familiar "do you Todd take Matt to be your lawfully wedding husband?" ceremony. We exchanged rings got choked up saying our I dos and it was over. Our witnesses and attendants all clapped and we kissed. It was a wonderful feeling.
Until I started writing this blog entry I really hadn't stopped long enough to really consider what changed in my life on May 29th and how it has changed the way I feel about my world. I really like referring to Matt as my husband and I do whenever it comes up. We live in a marriage-inequality state (soon to be changed I hope) but I refuse to discount my relationship because of local conventions. We live in Charleston which in the state of South Carolina is a liberal bastion. Everyone we know here knows us as a couple. We have joint checking and savings accounts, wills and insurance policies. And now we have a marriage license.
I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. I'm married and as a married person I have all of the rights and responsibilities as any other married person. Hopefully soon the state of South Carolina will be required to recognize my marriage just like every other marriage. I can't wait for that day.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Our Rig
This blog entry may only be of interest to the more mechanically inclined or geeky readers. It's the details about our rig (the truck and travel trailer). So let's get our geek on!
Our tow vehicle is a 2004 Chevrolet Z71 Suburban (1500 model) with a tow package. Right now I have about 200,000 miles on it and it still runs like a top. The tow package provides a heavier suspension, bigger alternator, beefier cooling system and an overdrive mode on the transmission. Without Mabel Rubain behind us (the travel trailer's name is Mabel Rubain) we average about 16 mpg. Hauling the trailer drops that down to 7-8 mpg and a top speed of about 60 mph. The gas tank holds a little over 26 gallons. That means we get about 250 miles between fill ups when we're towing. Not great. We have to stop pretty frequently to gas up. We have a mobile app on our iPhones to track down Pilot or Flying J truck stops which generally have easy access for RVers. Some truck stops have separate islands for RVs and trailers. That is always a good thing to find.
The tow rig is designed to help level the two vehicles. Without it the trailer would weigh too heavily on the back of the truck and cause the trucks front end to point up. We had trouble getting this rig right the first time we used it but once we figured it out we were good to go. If it's not set up correctly truck doesn't handle well so it's important.
The tow rig is designed to help level the two vehicles. Without it the trailer would weigh too heavily on the back of the truck and cause the trucks front end to point up. We had trouble getting this rig right the first time we used it but once we figured it out we were good to go. If it's not set up correctly truck doesn't handle well so it's important.
Mabel Rubain is a 2007 MaxLite travel trailer. She's 31 feet long and rides on two axles. The outer shell is made of fiberglass instead of the corrugated aluminum siding that you see on most RVs. The frame is aluminum and the trailer base is steel. We can carry 60 lb. of propane on board in two tanks. When we're tied up to shore power we use 30 AMP service to our power inverter that outputs 12V DC for lights and 120 V AC for the air conditioner and refrigerator and 120 V AC wall plugs. We have a battery that charges when we're hooked up to shore power. That battery will run the lights and move the slide in an out when we don't have shore power.
The refrigerator runs on propane or electricity and will switch between the two based on what is available. If there is shore power to the trailer the refrigerator runs on electricity. When we're on the road the refrigerator automatically switches over to propane. I like this since I don't think we'd consistently remember to manually switch over when we were ready to hit the road.
There is a connection for city water. We have a pressure regulator and an in-line water filter that protects the water system on the trailer. The first time we used the water filter it blew black powder all over the place and colored the water black for a few minutes. Turns out that is normal as the loose activated carbon is flushed out of the system. For times when we don't have access to city water we have a fresh water tank and an electric water pump that pressurizes the system. Theoretically we could shower with nothing but battery power but I don't know we'll ever do that unless we go someplace like Burning Man and don't have access to hookups.
This trailer is unique in the way it handles waste water. The toilet empties into what is called a black water tank. Water from the sinks and shower empty into a grey water tank. What is unique is that the sink in the kitchen empties into it's own tank so we have plenty of grey water storage space. Nice feature when you don't have access to sewer on your camp site. However, it is an unpleasant task to deal with the waste water in general.
The layout is pretty sweet. The kitchen is up at the front of the trailer. There is a three burner propane stove and a small oven. I've looked in the oven and I can't imagine that you could cook much in there. Maybe a casserole or some cookies. It would definitely need to be something flat.
The dinette has been removed and we use that space to house Gracie and Charlotte's kennels. Next to that, in the living area, there is a couch. It wasn't very comfortable at first so Matt took the cushions off of the sectional in the lanai and used them on the couch frame in the trailer. It is much better now. Also in the living area there is a small entertainment center that has a connection for cable. We carry a small satellite dish with us that we can use if we want to hook up DirecTV. We haven't done that yet. Too many other little projects that are taking up time and money right now. The floor is a laminate which is good. I can't imagine carpets with Gracie and Charlotte.
The bathroom consists of a pretty standard RV toilet and small shower. The trailer can use propane or electricity to heat water. We haven't tried out the shower yet since all of the parks we've stayed in so far have had shower facilities and right now the shower is a catch all for dog stuff. I think when we get a little more organized we'll actually use the shower. The bathroom sink is on the other side of the trailer from the bathroom/shower and is surround by a lot of shelves. We haven't organized ourselves to the point that things have found a permanent home yet but we're getting there.
Finally the bedroom. There is a luxurious memory foam queen bed in the bedroom. This is a major upgrade from the typical RV mattress and we love it. So comfortable. We fit quite nicely in it together and even have room to turn over. Charlotte still insists on sleeping on Matt's head. Some things never change. She's done that since she was a puppy. I thought that moving out of a big king bed to a queen would be a problem but so far it's been fine. The hanging space is really limited but the bed pops open and there is a ton of space under the bed. Eventually we'll keep folded clothes and bulky items under the bed. When we've been on the road for a while we find that all the hanging clothing are on the floor of the closet when we stop. It appears that things fall off when we hit bumps. We need a better solution there.
We have ducted air-conditioning that really keeps the trailer cool. I was worried about leaving the dogs in the trailer by themselves (in their kennels) until I figured out the air-conditioner was up to the task of keeping things cool. We had a test of the heating system (forced air through vents in the floor) when we took delivery of the trailer but haven't had it on yet. I like the fact that it's ducted and not just a roof unit. The bottom of the trailer is enclosed. This is actually not the standard in the industry but is for a Max Lite. Having a closed in bottom means that the plumbing and heating ducts are protected from road damage and when the heat is on in the winter it keeps the pipes from freezing (to a point). I don't know how much cold weather we'll encounter but we might linger someplace to get a taste of snow before heading back south.
It takes about 15 - 20 minutes for both of us to get the trailer ready for the road. Most of that time is dedicated to getting the truck lined up with the trailer. I have a checklist on my iPhone that I use to make sure we don't forget anything like driving off with the stairs down or the stabilizer legs still extended.
That's about it. We love it and can't wait to hit the road as soon as the house closes. I think we're going to be very happy for a couple of years at least. The idea of being able to pick the city we want to live in and go there with just a little planning is really exciting. I'm looking forward to being in DC for part of the summer. It's one of my favorite places to be.
Todd
The refrigerator runs on propane or electricity and will switch between the two based on what is available. If there is shore power to the trailer the refrigerator runs on electricity. When we're on the road the refrigerator automatically switches over to propane. I like this since I don't think we'd consistently remember to manually switch over when we were ready to hit the road.
There is a connection for city water. We have a pressure regulator and an in-line water filter that protects the water system on the trailer. The first time we used the water filter it blew black powder all over the place and colored the water black for a few minutes. Turns out that is normal as the loose activated carbon is flushed out of the system. For times when we don't have access to city water we have a fresh water tank and an electric water pump that pressurizes the system. Theoretically we could shower with nothing but battery power but I don't know we'll ever do that unless we go someplace like Burning Man and don't have access to hookups.
This trailer is unique in the way it handles waste water. The toilet empties into what is called a black water tank. Water from the sinks and shower empty into a grey water tank. What is unique is that the sink in the kitchen empties into it's own tank so we have plenty of grey water storage space. Nice feature when you don't have access to sewer on your camp site. However, it is an unpleasant task to deal with the waste water in general.
The layout is pretty sweet. The kitchen is up at the front of the trailer. There is a three burner propane stove and a small oven. I've looked in the oven and I can't imagine that you could cook much in there. Maybe a casserole or some cookies. It would definitely need to be something flat.
The dinette has been removed and we use that space to house Gracie and Charlotte's kennels. Next to that, in the living area, there is a couch. It wasn't very comfortable at first so Matt took the cushions off of the sectional in the lanai and used them on the couch frame in the trailer. It is much better now. Also in the living area there is a small entertainment center that has a connection for cable. We carry a small satellite dish with us that we can use if we want to hook up DirecTV. We haven't done that yet. Too many other little projects that are taking up time and money right now. The floor is a laminate which is good. I can't imagine carpets with Gracie and Charlotte.
The bathroom consists of a pretty standard RV toilet and small shower. The trailer can use propane or electricity to heat water. We haven't tried out the shower yet since all of the parks we've stayed in so far have had shower facilities and right now the shower is a catch all for dog stuff. I think when we get a little more organized we'll actually use the shower. The bathroom sink is on the other side of the trailer from the bathroom/shower and is surround by a lot of shelves. We haven't organized ourselves to the point that things have found a permanent home yet but we're getting there.
Finally the bedroom. There is a luxurious memory foam queen bed in the bedroom. This is a major upgrade from the typical RV mattress and we love it. So comfortable. We fit quite nicely in it together and even have room to turn over. Charlotte still insists on sleeping on Matt's head. Some things never change. She's done that since she was a puppy. I thought that moving out of a big king bed to a queen would be a problem but so far it's been fine. The hanging space is really limited but the bed pops open and there is a ton of space under the bed. Eventually we'll keep folded clothes and bulky items under the bed. When we've been on the road for a while we find that all the hanging clothing are on the floor of the closet when we stop. It appears that things fall off when we hit bumps. We need a better solution there.
We have ducted air-conditioning that really keeps the trailer cool. I was worried about leaving the dogs in the trailer by themselves (in their kennels) until I figured out the air-conditioner was up to the task of keeping things cool. We had a test of the heating system (forced air through vents in the floor) when we took delivery of the trailer but haven't had it on yet. I like the fact that it's ducted and not just a roof unit. The bottom of the trailer is enclosed. This is actually not the standard in the industry but is for a Max Lite. Having a closed in bottom means that the plumbing and heating ducts are protected from road damage and when the heat is on in the winter it keeps the pipes from freezing (to a point). I don't know how much cold weather we'll encounter but we might linger someplace to get a taste of snow before heading back south.
It takes about 15 - 20 minutes for both of us to get the trailer ready for the road. Most of that time is dedicated to getting the truck lined up with the trailer. I have a checklist on my iPhone that I use to make sure we don't forget anything like driving off with the stairs down or the stabilizer legs still extended.
That's about it. We love it and can't wait to hit the road as soon as the house closes. I think we're going to be very happy for a couple of years at least. The idea of being able to pick the city we want to live in and go there with just a little planning is really exciting. I'm looking forward to being in DC for part of the summer. It's one of my favorite places to be.
Todd
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