Cats in an RV

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Saratoga Springs To (Almost) New Jersey

I’m at the last rest area before the New York Thruway ends in New Jersey and I will be shooting west towards Hazleton, PA. My ETA is early for a Walmart, so I’m taking a long charging/lunch break here.

I forgot that I didn’t tow in the spring (LOL) so I was a bit taken aback that my Thruway toll was $20.80!

It was beyond bitter cold in Saratoga last night, dipping to at least -10C. There was a rime of frost over my vehicles this morning. Even if my batteries were behaving properly, I could never have kept the rig at a comfortable temperature all night. I instead did the long johns + tons of blankets + two CAT heaters method of getting through the night. I read till about 10:30PM then slept soundly till six (an excellent night for me). I switched the electric blanket on for a bit (it draws 3A), then waited for day break to turn the furnace on to warm the rig enough to make getting underway a non-excruciating event.

I don’t like to have breakfast right away at any time, so it made sense to just dress and go, then stop for breakfast at a rest area. I left the door to the cab from the house closed so that I could get heat while driving.

There was a lot of traffic between Saratoga and the Thruway, then barely any. If there aren’t been so much construction, it would have been a thoroughly forgettable and easy drive. My destination for today is the Walmart in St Clair PA. Tomorrow, I’ll aim for a Walmart in Fredericksburg. And Sunday, I should make it to Hampton Roads by early afternoon.

I know that RV specialists are going to scoff at what I’m going to say next and give me 50 billion reasons why what I’m saying breaks the law of physics or something, but having a toad makes the whole rig steadier. When I was driving around without the toad, my rear end swayed something fierce and the RV felt like it was bouncing up and down the highway. Now that I have a toad again, the driving feels much smoother and I’m not getting blown as easily into the shoulder when being passed by a big rig.

I stopped at another rest area to check the state of my batteries. The solar charger was registering a full charge at 13 volts and change. The battery monitor agreed that I had 13 volts and change but said that I was at only 77% capacity. The inverter turned on (not connected to anything), told me it was reading 13 volts and change, screeched, and turned itself off, just like the old one did when it was trying to handle too big a load (I was drawing on a couple of amps from the fridge). I turned on the RV engine and all three monitors reflected 14 volts and change, confirming for me that there is nothing wrong with the connection between the house batteries and the mechanism that allows me to charge while driving.

So it looks like everything is working as it should except for the most crucial part of my system, the batteries. They are more than four years old, have been subjected to extremes in temperature, and have low amp hours. My experiment is complete. New batteries are in order.

The wifi on the Thruway isn’t working today; I tried to get on with my iPad at every one. I’m now on my computer using my cellular connection. There was a man sitting next to me here and he asked me how the frell I managed to get online and that he had tried at every rest area so that he could sign up for work tomorrow. It was a bit more of a sob story than that, but nothing I haven’t heard out of the US in the last few years. I turned on wifi sharing and asked for his phone. It refused to connect to my network, but my iPod had no trouble. So I kept his phone and handed him the iPod. He spent all of five minutes doing what he needed, handed me back the iPod, and said in a choked voice, “I made the deadline to sign up for work tomorrow! Thank you! God bless! Happy holidays!”

I can’t tell you the number of times before I got internet on the road that I wished a random stranger would share their connection with me. I was so happy to be able to do this today for him. Macs rock!

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Nothing But Respect For US Customs

My mother had time to make crêpes this morning, which felt like a proper send off and left me optimistic that I would get to Saratoga Springs tonight. I pulled out at about 9:00 and was waiting in line at customs by 9:55. It took about 10 minutes to get to the booth.

I got the same kind of customs agent as I did in 2011, one for whom even the most straightforward story would not make sense. “It doesn’t sound like you work.” “Driving through the US to get home makes no sense.” “Spending time with a friend over the holidays makes no sense.” “You see that green arrow that says secondary inspection? Go there, park, and go inside. Your documents will be waiting.”

My initial reaction was disbelief that I would have to go through what I went through in 2011 once again.

Then I realised that they had pulled over all the RVs and that the folks ahead of me had five yippy dogs. This meant customs wouldn’t go into their rig and they would get an extra grilling. If I stayed the course, kept my story as simple as possible, and emphasized that I had plenty of money of money for a few months in the US and that I was heading home, I suspected that I would get through in record time.

I was right. I had to expand on my story a couple of times, adding more details, until the agent literally threw up her hands, sighed, and said, “You’ve been asked these questions before; right?” Mm-hmm. “Never been denied entry?” Nope. She shook her head, handed me a slip of paper marked ‘cleared’ and said, “Just go.” I was out in less than five minutes.

I was getting back into the RV when another agent came up to me and asked me where I was going. I said I’d been cleared and he replied, “Not by me.” I wish text could convey tone because this guy was in a great mood and just going through the motions. I felt so comfortable that I actually replied, “Oh, you must be the fruit guy!” instead of, “Oh, you must mean the agricultural inspection!” He burst out laughing.

He asked if I had pets and I replied my cats. He then asked me to come inside with him to watch out for them. Every other inspection, I’ve had to wait well away from the rig.

Bitha and Nee’s papers are not up to date. Because of their age, vaccines are not recommended. I’ve never been asked for their paperwork and decided to take a chance. Well, the subject came up for the first time. He said, as he poked around the kitchen, “I’ve never heard of anyone being asked for papers for their cats. Are yours pretty old?” I replied that they were and he said the same thing the vet told me, that vaccinating older cats is bad for them! Then he said that anyone who would expect me to have them vaccinated to get across the border would be a ‘jerk.’

He finally opened my fridge and gasped. “Your relish jar exploded,” he informed me sadly. What is it with me and condiments?!

He cleared me for agriculture and then that’s when everything went to hell in the proverbial handbasket. You were expecting the other shoe to drop, weren’t you?

I’d had to unhook to park because there was so little room to park everyone. I was given the option not to, but I wanted to be as cooperative as possible. I don’t know if I was flustered and missed a step or what, but I could not get the e-brake back off the truck to move it into position to tow. It was cold and the agriculture agent guessed that it had seized up because of the weather. He got in and did something and got the e-brake working smoothly again. Then, he and another agent asked me to get my tow setup manual and helped me hook back up properly. I’m telling you, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried to hook up your tow bar for the first time while being assisted by US Customs Agents!

More later. I can’t get online with my cell phone without access to wifi first, so I’m at the McDonald’s doing that. I’ll write about my trip to Saratoga later.

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Shiny Floors

My Allure vinyl floors are holding up pretty well, but don’t look great after two and a half years. Gaps between seams that appeared small at first seem bigger now, there are lots of scratches and marks, and they are dull. I know that a lot of that has to do with my not being a great housekeeper. I just sweep and vacuum regularly and wash them once a week with water and vinegar.

After doing all the work in the rig this summer and having people traipse in and out, I decided my floors were due for a deep, on your hands and knees, type of cleaning. And since I was going to do that, I decided to look into restoring shine to vinyl flooring.

What an education that was! I learned not to use all in one products but rather to start with a cleaner and then apply a non-wax finish. I found a couple of reviews for Armstrong Cleaner for No-Wax Floors combined with Pledge With Future that seemed promising.

Being in Canada, I figured that I would not be able to find these two products easily, but I could use the information to find something comparable. During my Walmart run yesterday, I spent a few minutes in the cleaning supply aisle and actually found both products!

I decided to tackle the floors today and it was really a divide and conquer type of project. I started by moving the litter box to the dressing room while the cats were sleeping in the study, then shut the pocket door, leaving me free to do the front part of the rig.

I further divided the front into quarters, starting with the area around the lounge chair. I began with a thorough vacuum, then I washed the floors carefully, dried them, and applied the Pledge product. A half hour later, the area was dry, so I was able to move the chair and ottoman back and do the other half of the living room. I continued like this all morning, moving furniture, cleaning, and drying, until the whole room was done and my furniture back in place.

In the late afternoon, I was able to tackle the back part of the rig. I did the study first, moving towards the dressing room, and let that floor dry while I made dinner. After that, I was able to move the computer chair and other items backs into the study, then do the dressing room starting from the kitchen and moving backwards.

I am very happy with the result! My floors look shiny and clean and getting them to that point didn’t require much effort beyond the furniture shuffle. I am curious to see how the finish will age and am a little concerned that you’re supposed to strip it and start over every six months. I do a deep clean of the entire rig every six months anyway, so if I have to add that task, it’s not a big deal.

(Neelix was hilarious during the latter part of the day. He parked himself in the kitchen and flattened himself against the floor to watch me from under the pocket door. He was very happy when I finally let him back in!)

I’ve got one picture of the floors and then I’m forcing upon you pictures of my hilarious brood.

I forgot to grab a before picture of this area, which was really bad because of all the fine layer of litter dust, but believe me, this is a huge improvement!

I forgot to grab a before picture of this area, which was really bad because of all the fine layer of litter dust, but believe me, this is a huge improvement!

Neelix's new favourite position. It cracks me up.

Neelix’s new favourite position. It cracks me up.

Neelix in one of his many adorable sleeping positions. He cracked an eyelid when he heard the camera turn on.

Neelix in one of his many adorable sleeping positions. He cracked an eyelid when he heard the camera turn on.

Tabitha sleeping in the funniest position I have ever seen her in. Her chin us up on top of the desk.

Tabitha sleeping in the funniest position I have ever seen her in. Her chin us up on top of the desk.

Those two pretend to hate each other, but I frequently catch them sleeping together. Neelix ALWAYS looks adorable when he sleeps.

Those two pretend to hate each other, but I frequently catch them sleeping together. Neelix ALWAYS looks adorable when he sleeps.

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Bissel Magic Vac Update After Six Months of Use in an RV

I’ve been using my Bissel Magic Vac for six months now in my RV. I never thought I would say this about a vacuum cleaner, but I adore it! Using this vacuum is no more onerous than using a broom and actually does a much better job.

I still don’t think it’s a good vacuum for carpets, but I have all vinyl floors and it works beautifully on them while using so little power. It takes just a minute to run the vacuum all around the rig and another couple of minutes to run it without the beater bar along the edges and in nooks and crannies. I started by storing it in the toilet room, but it’s now pretty much permanently plugged in in the living room and stored under the ladder, ready to suck up cat litter when I clean the box.

My only complaint about this vacuum is so minor it’s nitpicking. Because this is essentially a hand vac with a long (removable) handle, the power button is very low, so you have to bend down to turn the vacuum on and off.

I highly recommend the Bissel Magic Vac for RVers without carpet.

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I Love Me a Nice Wall

Eagle-eyed reader Vicki noticed some plywood behind the arm chair in the living room.

Colour me crazy, but while I love living in an RV, I don’t love having a steering wheel in my living room. I also don’t love that my Tabitha decided to relieve herself on a seat in the cab. I cleaned that up, but once a cat has marked its territory, only blocking the access can guarantee there won’t be a repeat performance. Add to this that I’d like more insulation between the cab and the living area of the rig and that I like to have privacy from the windshield that is controllable from inside rather than relying on the windshield cover. Finally, even an RVer loves having a dark hole to stash a bin of stuff when impromptu visitors are incoming!

In the last four years, I experimented with curtains and paneling to block the cab from the rig, but still keep it accessible. I concluded that a proper wall would be the only way to achieve the desired division.

So my mother had me buy a sheet of plywood that we had cut by BMR (a québécois chain of home stores) into three panels. The two of the panels on the ends would be fixed and the middle one would be a door, like so:

There's still work to be done, obviously. We will be putting some trim around the door to close the gaps as well as handles on both sides to make it easier to move. And I will, of course, be painting the whole thing yellow, like the rest of the room.

There’s still work to be done, obviously. We will be putting some trim around the door to close the gaps as well as handles on both sides to make it easier to move. And I will, of course, be painting the whole thing yellow, like the rest of the room.

I need to move some of that to the basement. :) The greenish yellow garbage bin is a shoe storage container that will live between the cab seats from now on.

I need to move some of that to the basement. 🙂 The greenish yellow garbage bin is a shoe storage container that will live between the cab seats from now on.

The door was originally going to be on hinges, but having it be a removable panel gives it a slimmer profile.

This project was bigger than it seemed at first glance because of the limited amount of room we had to manoeuvre behind the seats. The driver’s side panel was particularly tricky. We had to remove the ladder and bookcase and then reattach them. My prototype ladder was sawed in half and thrown out. I know the area looks much better now, but I’m a little sad to lose all that hard work. 🙂

It is darker in the rig with the cab blocked off, but I have the option of leaving the door open during the day. The benefits of the wall definitely outweigh the negatives!

I had hoped to close off the back of the ladder and turn it into a vacuum closet, but the space is just a little too narrow. I think that is for the best as the open space looks nice and airy. And besides, the new shelving allowed me to repurpose the over fridge cabinet into storage space for the shop vac!