How our RV life began

So… how did we end up traveling in an RV? We both started out camping in tents, moving on to popup campers, pickup campers, bumper pulls, 5^th wheels and finally a fully self-contained motorhome.  Why did we switch to a coach?  Because we wanted to pull a trailer behind with our kayaks, bicycles and whatever other toys we might fancy.  In April of 2014, we sold our bumper pull trailer and began shopping for a coach.  In hindsight, we really didn’t know what we were doing.  We checked out a few different coaches and decided on the Winnebago based on the features inside and the Winnebago name.  That was a mistake. 

We had the coach less than a week when I needed to take it Jacksonville, FL for a three week stay.  I “surface cleaned” what I found dirty, loaded the RV and headed out.  A few miles up the road a very annoying  beep began.  The coach thought the emergency brake was on.  Since we weren’t far from the dealership, we turned around and went to have it repaired.  A technician came out, looked at it, told me he couldn’t fix it “correctly” then and put a piece of foam on it.  A couple miles down the road, the foam fell out.  Every time I slowed and sped up again I had to listen to the beep for a few minutes.  He didn’t offer to have me come back and fix it and I didn’t ask because I thought he done the repair.  By the time I returned from Jacksonville, our warranty period had ended.  Tom was able to make the repair himself.  Because we didn’t have a tow dolly, Tom followed in our car pulling a trailer with a motorcycle on it then drove the motorcycle home.  The stay for the three weeks would be at Hanna Park in Jacksonville, FL.  Hanna Park is a great spot located near the Navy base and right on the ocean.  A short walk or bike ride takes you to the beach which is also dog friendly.  Bonus!  During the time I was there, the park was almost empty during the weekdays, but filled up with local campers on the weekends.  There was a lot to do at Hanna Park including bike trails, geocaching, beach time and kayaking on the lake.  My weekdays were spent away from the park. 

I began to really begin cleaning the RV during the evenings.  This is when I discovered what a poor job the dealer we purchased the unit from did.  The previous campers I bought from dealers, though used, were cleaned immaculately so I assumed (my mistake) this would be the case here.  We purchased the RV from a large dealer so it came as a surprise all the problems we encountered.  The filth ranged from not bothering to dust the top of the door jambs to food having been spilled between the table and window.  Mucking out all that old food and drink took HOURS!  The RV served its purpose for the stay.

Once I returned home I shampooed the carpets FOUR times trying to get them clean and scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees.  I began to do a total mucking out when I lifted the cushions on the overhead bed and discovered an ant’s nest.  We weren’t talking just a few ants.  No.  They were swarming and there were a LOT of ant eggs as well.  It was SOOO disgusting!  I ran to get ant spray and immediately doused the nest, tracking down the stray ants.  Then the worst part (for me anyway) came.  Using the vacuum I began sucking them up.  The sound it made still makes me cringe.

With the ants evicted from their cozy home it was time to begin cleaning the upper bunk.  What should have been an easy job turned into a test for Tom.  The A/C unit had dripped into the bunk area where apparently the previous owners had not bothered to keep it sealed.  It was our fault for not checking and not knowing to check for these things but I also feel the dealer should have let us know about this problem.  Tom was able to remove the rotten wood and replace it.  That man is amazing!  Besides that, there were small repairs to be made that would be expected with a coach that is 10 years old.  

On Monday, August 24, our 2004 Winnebago Minnie Winnie was packed and loaded.  It’s amazing how much food you can actually get in the refrigerator and freezer in one of these!  We planned to leave Tuesday but we were ready to head out so why not leave a day early?  The first problem?  I was enjoying my comfy king size bed too much for one last sleep.  Tom had to wake me up finally at 9 am.  No worries, within an hour we were on the road!  As Tom always says, plan for contingencies!  The first contingency was a leaking transmission hose only a couple hours down the road.  Fortunately, Tom is a master at fixing things and in no time (ok, about an hour), we on the road again. Here is a pic taken on our current trip.  We spent the night outside of Fort Walton Beach, FL in a rest area.

Tomorrow will be the big reveal of what we were shopping for a couple days ago.  I am so excited!  Stay tuned!