OK, Now What?

May 15, 2009 is day 1 (one) of the great RV adventure. We moved the 5th wheel from our old home to our new lot in Meridian, ID where we have established a beachhead. A nice RV park with all the amenities (lots of folks walking around talking about the weather) that we will call home until the latter part of June. We will use this time to discover the nuances of living in 300 square feet with an European sized refrigerator and 5% of our belongings.

Tom backed the 34 footer into their spot with effortless dexterity only making 12 passes to get it just right. Suzy thinks Tom was compressing the ground for extra stability. Our new neighbors, Jeff and Karla, were very non judgemental on Tom's backward backing up process. Jeff, who is an uncanny reincarnation of RE Slining, complete with congestive heart failure, two pack a day habit, grey goatee, and bald head, even the same glasses, has been very helpful. A former owner of an RV park in California he has seen it all, or at least that is what he thought before Tom moved in.

The list of learning experiences grows daily and we only hope we learn all the most important things before we hit the road. So far Tom has bruised his ribs falling off and landing on ladder as he changed a bulb near the top of the rig. He bruised his ego, leaving a faucet open that flooded the tanks, overflowed the shower and caused a small Niagra like waterfall off the left side of the rig. Note to Tom, leave the grey water valves open once hooked up to sewer. Just in case Tom wasn't making enough mistakes on his own, the TV guy cut the 12 volt line that fed the thermostat, thus rendering us without heat or cooling on a day that Suzy tells me had a low of 45 and a high of 85. Suzy took her shower that day at Golds and vowed not to return until things were working again.

Suzy has found the laundromat drill here at the park to be a cleansing experience. Having gotten three machines loaded she went to take a shower next door only to find she forgot her shampoo, so she decided Woolite would be a good field expedient. Beside making her hair more coarse then Jet's, the caustic action caused temporary blindness worse then a sharp stick in the eye.

Speaking of Jet, he has been the lone casualty in the transition, as change is not his cup of dog bones. He alternates pacing from end to end (34 feet) with hiding under the comforter draping off the bed. He is even more careful when outside, being terrified this morning by a hanging basket of petunias, moving in the wind. But we are noticing some small triumphs on his part each day. Today he did his constitutional while staying in one spot vs. trailing it out as he jumped to safety.

So we are anxiously awaiting the christening of the RV on the 25th of June when we launch for points East and North. Until then Suzy has nine more days of work before her early retirement, she has only put in 38 years so far. Then its off to Seattle for a bike trip in the San Juan Islands for Tom and then Tatum's graduation from Seattle University with a masters in guidance counseling. Closely followed by a big family reunion in Manistique, Michigan.

Stay tuned.