RVing

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Settling In

I’m already falling into a semblance of a routine here. It helps that I’m staying with family who can show me the ropes, like the best places to buy groceries and get whatever I need.

My friend and I went out for dinner last night to a place called Ruby Tuesdays. I remember eating at one of those restaurants eons ago. It was very good! The US has so many nice chain restaurants. When I got home, I crashed. I didn’t realise how tired I was!

Today, I went into Suffolk to get a few groceries. It was a mob scene with everyone getting their Thanksgiving supplies.

Okay, okay. The Applebee’s is right next to the Walmart, so I stopped there for lunch first. I mean, you’re not supposed to get groceries on an empty stomach; right? And two full meals for $12 including the tip, can’t beat that! 🙂

Discovery of the day: you can buy beer right in Walmart in Virginia!

My spot is pretty good. I have access to power and water, but we’re on a very busy main road so it’s noisy and the rig shakes when anything bigger than a half-ton truck roars by. I think I will be able to get used to that steady drone, though. The most irksome thing is the most irksome thing everywhere I park: leveling. I didn’t even try to get level last night figuring I would sink deeper into the spongy ground overnight. I was right. This morning, I got myself acceptably level side to side, but the nose is a little lower than the rear end. It’ll do, though. For one thing, I’m out of leveling boards. Plus I spent the whole summer with the nose being slightly higher than the rear end, so I know I’ll get used to it.

It’s grey and damp out, but definitely on the warm side of the temperature scale!

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My Awesome Shower Just Got Awesomer

I had a number of packages waiting for me today and one contained something I have promised to buy for myself for four years and haven’t because I had more serious upgrades to make. It wasn’t the money but the principle. As soon as I had my rig all made over, I could start adding frivolous little niceties, such as this beauty:

This showerhead not only has an on/off switch (so no more wasting water because I don’t want to lose the temperature), but also rain and massage options. I’m off to try it out! 🙂

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The Curse Has Lifted!

I landed safe and sound and without any real incident in Suffolk at about 11:45 this morning. The drive from Stafford wasn’t bad, but some of the back roads to get here were a little rougher than I remembered them being when I drove them in the rental car.

A combination of fatigue, rum, and Applebee’s fajitas got me to bed at the unholy hour of 9PM last night, so I was up and at ’em very early. I decided to take advantage of the early hour to leave the Walmart while the lot was empty and very manoeuverable. It was too early to be hungry or even want coffee (!) so I chose to drive for a bit before stopping for breakfast. Once I got underway, I decided I wanted a Cracker Barrel breakkie.

As it turned out, I hit the Cracker Barrel in Mechanicsville at about 9AM. I knew I’d have no trouble finding parking in that area, especially so early on a Sunday morning when most stores would still be closed, so I had no qualms making the impromptu detour.

I didn’t take that many pictures on this trip, but here are a few:

My new rig sitting proudly in St Clair. Miranda looked so forlorn alone there last time!

My new rig sitting proudly in St Clair. Miranda looked so forlorn alone there last time!

Coming out of a lunch break, I found this handsome fellow admiring the view.

Coming out of a lunch break, I found this handsome fellow admiring the view.

They are called RV lanes, idiots!!! (Thanks for the RV lanes, Flying J!)

They are called RV lanes, idiots!!! (Thanks for the RV lanes, Flying J!)

This impressive setup was plated in New Brunswick. It's rare to see RVs plated in the Maritimes. I wish I had enough hitch rating to be able to do something like that and get a little scooter!

This impressive setup was plated in New Brunswick. It’s rare to see RVs plated in the Maritimes. I wish I had enough hitch rating to be able to do something like that and get a little scooter!

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Good Ole I-95

I’m at a Starbucks in Stafford, VA, about 30 miles south of Washington D.C.

It was cold in St Clair overnight, but nothing like it was in Saratoga. I left the furnace on super low and it only kicked on once, at 4AM. I was very comfortable and slept like the proverbial log.

When I got up at 7AM, the morning sun had already warmed the rig five degrees and was melting the rime of frost off my vehicles. I went for a walk and discovered I did not need my winter coat. The air was a little chilly, but the sun was very warm, promising a lovely day.

I took it easy pulling out of St Clair, gently easing up the big hill and navigating my way around the construction at the top. I drove steadily, but paused at each rest area. I breathed a sigh of relief when I hit Maryland since PA roads are just like Quebec roads: in crap condition and under construction. 🙂

With the Maryland state line came the crossing of the Mason-Dixon line just moments after. And, like magic, autumn fell back several weeks, with the trees having brightly coloured leaves again.

Lunch was had at the West Virginia welcome center and shortly thereafter, I exited the state safely and made it to Virginia! By this point, I had to drop a layer as the weather was positively balmy!

The last part of the day was difficult as I was on secondary roads and battling increasing traffic. It was really hard to manage the high speed limits, frequent traffic light, and idiots who would dart in front of my rig as I was trying to slow down, cutting my stopping distance to a barely sufficient length.

Stafford is a little farther north than I would have liked to be tonight, but my ETA onto I-95 was about 3:00, not leaving me much time to find an alternative overnighting spot if the first one didn’t pan out. I called the Walmart here and the ones in Fredericksburg and no one would give me the okay over the phone. They all said, “Pull in and come and ask in person.” So I decided to start with this one and then move on to the ones in Fredericksburg if I wasn’t given permission. Thankfully, I was.

It’ll be a short drive to my friend’s place tomorrow. I should arrive in early afternoon.

I am officially declaring that my batteries need a funeral service, hence why I am at a crazy overcrowded Starbucks desperately trying to get as much charge out of my computer and iPad as possible.

With everything off, I’m getting the same voltage across the board, about 13, at the batteries themselves, the big fuse and shunt, the inverter, the battery monitor, and the solar monitor. Inside, the voltage is a couple of points off in the battery bay, but still above 13.

As soon as I turn anything on, voltage drops to 10.5 volts. I can’t even turn on an inverter, not my new big 1,000W model, not my newer 300W one either. The fridge runs, but barely, occasionally giving me the ‘low voltage’ error message. My battery monitor agrees that my batteries are at a full charge, but that voltage is 10.5. I have a hard time believing the issue is my wiring as I am overgauged at every step of my electrical setup.

Moreover, I’ve been having to add water like crazy to my batteries the last few months. Yesterday, I thought that would help and when I added it, the water sizzled! I’ve never heard that before! I really do think that the last year or so of the rig being plugged in almost constantly boiled my batteries dry. Needless to say, my new bank is going to get a watering system!

Lack of computer charging power not withstanding, it’s been another great day on the road!

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Steady As She Goes into St Clair, PA

What a great day on the road!!! I love my new rig!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have found NO disadvantages with my new setup so far, except my truck having worse fuel consumption than did my car.

I now have:

-a slightly less fussy towing system (yes, a review is forthcoming)
-improved braking power (I actually don’t notice any difference, but I like the idea that my heavy toad is slowing down on its own)
-a steadier rig that drives straighter and truer
-an improved turning radius
-not an iota of loss in my RV’s engine power or gas consumption! Miranda has no idea the truck is back there!

This trip feels almost like a do over for me. My rig is not only in great physical shape, but has many improvements. Self-employment has offered me more mobility. I feel as giddy as I did when I left Quebec in 2008, as though all the past failures and setbacks never happened, except that I get to keep all that knowledge and experience.

One of the things I’m working on is managing my stressors, the biggest one of which is getting fuel. I would get so worked up over finding the ‘right’ gas station that I would drive till the gas gauge needle was deep in the red and I absolutely had to use the next service station. Now, I’m making an effort to stop before the critical point so that I can exit, look for a good option, and move on if I don’t find one.

I was just about in the red when I hit Hazleton this afternoon. The first exit had tons of fueling stations, so I got off, picked the best looking one, and realised only after I was committed that getting out might require a slightly tighter turn than I could make with a toad. I looked at the turning space and experience told me that the turn would be super tight, but doable. Well, my new tow bar allows for slightly tighter turns than did my old one and the truck just swung around as smooth as can be!

This wasn’t a great fueling stop, however, because I ended up having to go through very steep-hilly and under-constructiony Hazleton to get back onto I-81S. But with only 30KM to go, I was feeling very good and glad to be landing just before dark.

With 6KM to go, traffic ground to a halt in a construction zone and it took half an hour to drive the last 6KM to the exit, with another 6KM to go down a steep, twisty road in growing darkness. Was I glad to arrive feeling very zen into that construction zone and to know that the steep and twisty grade was ahead of me! I pulled into the Walmart at bang on 5’oclock. By the time I came out of the store with permission to park, some fresh ravioli (I put homemade red sauce in the fridge to thaw today), mozzarella, cheesecake, and crudités to tide me over till dinner, it was pitch dark out.

The weather is noticeably better than yesterday. I was comfortable walking across the parking lot in my fleece hoody while at this time yesterday, the hoody, winter coat, tuque, and gloves were unable to ward off the chill. It’ll be cold overnight, but nothing like yesterday.

Mmm! I think my casserole is ready!