The last week came with disappointments and issues with the new motorhome. We brought home our shiny, new-to-us Class A Winnebago Brave last Monday, August 9, 2021. We basked in her glory. The storage doubled what we had in our Class C Coachmen. The living space was astronomical with the 12-foot slide out in the living and dining area. We arrived back at our home base (Jason's parents' home) and I immediately started moving everything out of Class C and into Class A. I thoroughly enjoy organization and having everything just where it should be. "Everything has a place, and everything in its place" is my organization mantra. I take it to a serious, expert level. Labels should be facing out, color coding, folding and banding wires, biggest to smallest, hospital corners on the beds, storage bins and dividers needed to prevent shifting and co-mingling. Expert. Level. Jason understands and respects my need for control and organization of our living space and graciously let me do the RV switch mostly on my own. The hours ticked by and we found our family spread between our two RV's Monday night: Jason and I still on the tiny, short, full bed in the Class C (no bedding for the new one) and the boys in their new beds in the Class A.
By the end of the day Tuesday, we were fully in our new home and staring wide-eyed at all the space we were now residents of. Jason and I are both certain that if we had gone immediately from our 10-acre, 4000 square foot home to the 33-foot Class A RV we have now, we would have found it to be far too small and we would have rushed into some other decision to get ourselves out of this RV. But! Since we first moved into an even more ridiculously small 30-foot RV with every stuffed animal, book, t-shirt, and fork we could stuff into it, this Class A is feeling like a luxurious penthouse in Manhattan.
Wednesday was the beginning of our local Farm City Pro Rodeo and Fair, so clearly no RV work was going to get done that day. We ate all the food we shouldn't at absurd, unworthy prices, and the boys took part in all the carnival games, rides, and experiences that Jason and I were willing to pay for. At the end of the day, we spent time with friends and family at the rodeo and watched the livestock pull out an overwhelming victory of 7-1 over the cowboys in the main event: bull riding. Attending the fair and rodeo is a yearly tradition for our family, and it's such a surreal thought to think that we might not be around next year. Or even crazier - we could be sipping sundowners and watching the sunset over the Caribbean seas from the bow of a sailing catamaran instead of eating elephant ears and watching little kids riding sheep from metal, butt-numbing bleachers.
Time to get back to it on Thursday. We were the owners of two RVs, and needed to cut that number in half. So, we spent our time on Thursday and Friday cleaning up ol' Beaty the Class C so she's pretty as a picture to post for sale. Fresh sheets, sanitized surfaces, and vacuumed upholstery made our Beaty fresh and ready for her new owners.
While cleaning up and getting our first RV in tiptop shape, Jason was also googling, YouTubing, and reading website after website to get our new RV ready to tow our rig. Once we get her ready to tow, then we can set out on the road, without really having to circle back to home base by any certain time. But the wiring wasn't right. The wires are there, and the previous owners said they were there and tow-ready, but the wires had no power to them. Jason spent time tracing the wires, but no luck in finding the root of the issue. So Jason set an appointment with our local RV dealership service department, but it was another couple weeks out. This was only the beginning of a long list of problems...
Saturday, we fully committed to leaving town on Monday. Whether we figured out the towing issue or not, we were hitting the road. Both of us were on edge and itching to get back to that feeling we had when we were out on the road - footloose and fancy-free, as they say. The RV wasn't ready for such a commitment. Despite what was said at time of purchase, this ol' gal was not working, it was not at "all systems go" status, and between now (Tuesday, August 17) and our commitment three days ago to hit the road, we have come across more and more issues.
Our hydraulic jacks stopped working. Well, two of them did. One in front, and the opposite one in back. Jason was in the dirt with a shovel and 2x4 blocks of wood trying to crank them back into position before we could even move the new motorhome. Once he got the jacks fully up and out of the way, Jason put the RV in drive, forgetting the RV was hooked back up to the power source. The under compartment door rammed the power post, bending the door out of shape, and the post pushed backwards, tilting to the ground. Then, as I said, the tow wiring wasn't there. So, we ditched the idea that the car was coming with us. We're still going to leave town, we're still going to see family, and we're still going to get back to traveling again. Jason and I took the motorhome for a quick drive around town to shake her out a little bit, but we had already hit our frustration limit. We both went to bed on Sunday night fully defeated and barely grasping at the silver lining with our decision to make this life change.
We woke up Monday (yesterday) morning and told each other it's going to be a better day. How could it not be, right? We drove the RV and our car to the DMV. I stayed with the RV to get her licensed and registered, while Jason took the car down to Les Schwab to get the battery and alignment re-checked after it failed the tests at the dealership's oil change last Friday. The DMV was a well-oiled machine that got me in and out in record time with plates and registration in hand. At the same time I'm walking out of the DMV, Jason text and said he's coming my way with the car who's battery and alignment were actually in perfectly fine working order. All signs pointed to us having a stellar day, and hitting the road just like we planned.
We went home firm in our decision. We washed a final load of laundry, spent some time and had lunch with Jason's parents, then we headed out. Our plan was to drive 2-3 hours, then pit stop for the night by dry docking in a parking lot somewhere, then heading 2-3 more hours on Tuesday to hit up some of Jason's friends in Portland, Oregon. We would stay with friends on Tuesday, or parked nearby, and hit up the McMinnville Air Museum all day Wednesday. For Wednesday night, we would drive and stay on family's property near Lebanon, Oregon, to then hang out with them and more family on Thursday. If everything was still going well on Thursday, then we would take a slow, round-a-bout route back to Hermiston home base in time for the service appointment to get this RV tow-ready.
Unfortunately, our plan was not to be and blew up about an hour into the drive out of town. Our generator we had running for the AC quit working. Jason pulled over and checked the generator - it smelled like it had flooded. Awesome. Take two on "No AC in the RV" for us. But we kept pushing on, with battery-operated fans being used to try to cycle the dash AC back through the living space. Then the dash AC stopped blowing cold air. Ughh... That's it. We're jinxed. We were not meant for this. How many things have to go wrong before we take the hint that we're just not supposed to be living in an RV??? Then, on a whim, Jason tried to start the generator again. SUCCESS! Generator was working, and the AC was flowing ice cold air throughout the RV. Instead of dry docking Monday night, we decided, with the generator issues, we'd better find a place to hook up. We found a great, quick stop over at Lewis & Clark Campground and RV Park. Just one hair-raising drive over the very narrow Bridge of Gods and on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
But once we got there, we realized we didn't have a hose to hook up the water - we left it in Hermiston. Another bump, another tick against us in RV living. Not only was the RV having problems, so was our youngest, Cord. His congested nose was starting to get the best of him, and when he crashed out in the front seat about 10 minutes before getting to the RV park, we knew he wasn't feeling well. Our well-thought plan of attack is unraveling and we haven't even gotten through the first night!
So we set up camp at Lewis & Clark Campground, gave Cord some medicine to, hopefully, sleep off the crud in his nose, and crossed our fingers we were full throttle in the morning.
Cord had a rough night, waking up multiple times to what sounded like a barking seal choking on a fish. When this morning came, and before I was even awake for the day, Jason had made all the calls and sent all the messages: Cord is too sick to be around anyone. Our plans are cancelled. No family visits, no friends' dinner, no museums. And we had to be out of this campground by 11am with no where to go. Jason had also taken our dog for a walk, and noticed the cover of one of the rooftop AC units had blown off while we were traveling through white-knuckled, side-pushing gusts of wind yesterday. Add it to the list. And since that RV list of problems was starting to get too long for comfort (Hydraulic jacks, generator, tow wiring, AC cover, etc), Jason found a nearby Camping World and we set out to see if they could solve any of our problems. Before leaving the RV park, we stopped off to dump our black tank (the gross stuff) at the exit. The camp manager came out and said their water is turned off for the next 3-4 hours due to an emergency of some sort. Jason attempted to empty our tank, but the meter continued to read full. Add it to the list.
The drive to Camping World was full of hope - and the smell of sewage due to what had to be a very full waste tank. Jason suggested we could leave the RV with Camping World for a few days while they give the RV a once over and complete our required maintenance fixes, and we can spend those days in a hotel room - perhaps one with a pool and room service, while we wait on the repairs and Cord recovers.
As we took the exit towards Camping World, Jason said, "I'm just going to say this out loud - we are NOT buying another RV today when we see all those shiny new motorhomes with no issues." Turned out, Camping World was a bust. They did not have an AC cover that we need, nor do they see one in
their warehouse, and they have no idea when they could have one in for us. Then we moved from the Parts counter to the Service counter to see about all our other issues. After the young gal behind the desk went through all of our issues and made a list of everything we needed, she said the earliest she can schedule us was late October. Brick wall. Again. Jason and I went back out to our RV to brainstorm and collect ourselves. Once we took a breath and talked through our issues, we realized the only one that can't be put off until our service appointment at our local dealership, is the holding tank. We can not continue to drive and live in this RV, if we cannot clear out the waste holding tank. We found and called three other RV service shops. No one can fit us in. We began to think our only option is to throw in the towel, pack it up, and head back to home base. All because of poop.
But we continued to dissect and figure things out - what did we need to do to get the tank cleared out? Same thing we had to do for the tank at home, could we do at this Camping World's free dump station right across the parking lot from us? We rolled up our sleeves, went BACK inside AGAIN to the parts department, and gathered what we needed. We drove ourselves over to the dump station, weaved a hose through the RV window and into the bathroom toilet. Jason watched for any sort of action coming from the drain hose, and I manned the hose wand at the toilet. SUCCESS! Sort of. The indicator light says we're half full now, but water runs through the tank, and the smell has subsided. Ok, the poop has been handled. Now what? We needed a place to stay and we weren't mentally or physically prepared to spend hours driving to get there.
Jason ended up finding an RV resort about an hour away. And that's where we're headed now. We're booked at the Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort for the next two nights, and I'm hoping it's as dreamy as our last RV resort stay was. Give us a fresh pep to our step, a glimpse back into the positive side of the choices we made to get us here in the first place.
Maybe that's exactly what this RV life is: tremendous highs mixed with frustrating obstacles that cause us to take a step back. Maybe these trials and errors are just a part of the road that gets us to lasting memories. Gets us stories that are hilarious to reminisce about, but miserable in the thick of it. Moments where we have to lean on each other because everything around us is falling apart. Perhaps that's what makes the tough times worth it.
So here's to moments that make us and not break us, determination to keep the dream alive, and making a long list, shorter.
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