I Survived.....

Just a little recap of all the occurred today. I unhooked, trying to remember all the steps and left the campground before the other three motorhomes were even stirring...and it was almost 9 am. What a life!

Cloudy with rain in the forecast, I got back onto I-75 and headed north. Traffic was light which helped in the various construction zones. The morning got a little more interesting when my SERVICE ENGINE SOON light came on. Since I had to get gas I got off at the next Flying J to take a phone break, get something to eat and get gas. Called my son and talked to him about the engine. He felt the same was as I did, since it said "SOON" and not "NOW", and all my gauges were reading fine, the engine and transmission were running fine, no strange sounds were heard, it should be okay to continue my trek homeward just keeping an eye on things.

So after successfully getting gas again (yes, this is a big deal for me ), I got back on the road. The rain moved in and out all day. One thing I bought at Flying J was some RainX wipes for the outside mirrors. Once they were water spotted, it was really hard to see what was close to me. Needless to say, it never rained hard again the rest of the day.

I pulled over at a couple of rest stops along the way both to stretch and take BoBo for his potty break. At the second one it was getting hot enough to start the air conditioning so I decided to fire up the generator. Generator started without a hitch....but nothing in the RV was working. No lights, no A/C, nothing. Now I was stymied....I flipped to battery kill switch (for the coach batteries)....OOPS! That killed the generator...okay, store that in the memory bank.

Turned them back on and headed to the rest rooms...on the way back it suddenly hit me. I had never plugged the power cord into the inside plug, thus I had an open power circuit. Not going to work...unlocked the bay, plugged in the cord, refired the generator and voila! Power....it felt good to solve one problem myself.

Before I knew it I was coming into Atlanta and the traffic, while better than during the week and much better than if a game had been going on, was fairly heavy. I found my mantra was "Let them flow around me...", keeping my eyes on the road ahead and concentrating on maintaining my lane. I got too nervous trying to watch all three mirrors, the traffic ahead and be sure I was in the right lane to avoid an accidental exit or routing onto the wrong highway. Of course when I needed to change lanes I used the mirrors and the backup monitor.

The backup monitor has been a life saver. I has two level settings, one higher than the other. I initially moved it to the higher setting that gave me a broader view of the lanes behind me. After dealing with 6-8 lanes of traffic all going in one direction (most doing the speed limit thanks to the higher police presence on a holiday weekend), I experimented a little once I got north of town. I discovered that if I used the lower setting it gave me a quick visual of my lane change zone. If a car was in my view then they were in my blind spot and I couldn't move over. If not, then the side mirrors showed me the rest of the story. Now I have to decide if I want to move the top setting down to this level which will put the lower setting closer to the hitch (where the previous owner had it). Another learning experience....

I arrived at Camping World Chattanooga around 4 pm and they were open till 5 pm. The gave me the code for the campground and I did a little shopping (okay, maybe a bit more than a little ). The first thing I got was a stove top cover to both quiet the stove when traveling as well as expanding the non-existent counter space. I also got a sink cover (there are twin sinks) and that lets me put my coffee maker in the corner, just under the plug. Got jack pads, my extra water hose, a mini-dish drainer (sits right beside the coffee maker just like it was meant for that spot), a neat little expandable broom and dust pan (much needed with hardwood floors and all the sand being tracked in), a little rug for the top of the steps so the old one can be outside under the steps, and a few other little things.

Took the RV around to the campground entrance and wound my way around the sites until I found one open that appeared to be fairly level. Now came another new experience....using the levelers for the first time. First thing, one jack couldn't come down. Using my foot (since I had no tools, no little shovel, etc. with me), I finally managed to scrape it low enough that it could come down. Okay, next step. One jack had several inches between it and the ground so I used two of the 4 jack pads underneath. None of the others had enough clearance (note to self, hit the Dollar Store for 4 of those cheaper cutting boards). Back inside to go to the next step....had the instructions right beside me. Still confusing....but after about 30 minutes total time and many (way too many) trips in and out, I managed to get it leveled side to side. It's still a bit down in the front but the refrigerator is level enough to run well and that's the most important thing. (The new thermometer showed me it was running fine, will check the freezer tomorrow.)

Okay, enough fun for one day....time to walk BoBo and then clean up. Talk about hot & sweaty! Met some of the neighbors, they had two Harleys out there so had to chat. Looked at their trailer and really liked it. It was a Haulmark Low Hauler which made it really nice to pull up into. But the last two feet are totally wasted space since it's sloped down. I've seen open trailers set up the same way and I have to decide if I want to pull two extra feet in length just to lower the ramp. I am seriously considering an enclosed trailer now....good place to store my gear as well as extra clothes, books, etc. since I can get one for two bikes and only store one. Decisions.....

Tomorrow the saga continues....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna