January 16th:

Steffie Sodel, a dear friend dating back to before Jen was even born, came to visit us with her significant other, Les. They both live in the retirement community of Solivita in the Kissimmee area. We had a truly memorable lunch out at the Ft. Pierce Jetty Park area restaurant, Bluewater Beach Grill. They specialize in your not-so-typical-beach-side-fare.

After a long talkative lunch, we strolled down Jetty Park along the jetty inlet and the four of us parked ourselves on a wooden bench swing watching folks fishing and the sea birds trying for their catch as well.

Camping Life Evaluation So Far:

A good friend texted me the following: “Now that you have been rrrrving for awhile now, it might be fun to do a post about your daily routines, like cooking, chores, setting up and breaking down, doggy duties, stuff like that. Did you pack too much or too little? How often do you shop for something you wish you had brought?  Is the rv big enough to have some alone time if one of you needs it? Pet peeves?” These are great questions so we will answer them in this post!

Daily Routines

Ken does almost all of the cooking. He enjoys it. We have a 3 burner propane gas stove with large btu burners. We have a large residential sized microwave/convection oven. We also have a one burner propane outdoor grill. Ken has become accustomed to the arrangement, so we’ve adapted to the smaller counter space, etc. The hardest part about cooking here is the cleanup! Human dishwashers only (Ellen).  Many of the meals are purposely done for leftovers as another meal. This is just smart management. We try to buy fish fresh locally and produce as well. One of our favorite staples to get is a pork tenderloin roast. We barbecue it and then use it in future meals for asian dishes and sandwiches. We eat out, either lunch or dinner, about every three days.

We do laundry on Sundays. Ken and I take turns each week. We actually make our bed every day! It’s easiest if we both do it together. Vacuum interior on Mondays and sweep daily. As for food shopping, we get enough food to last us for 3 to 4 days. Our fridge is an 8 cubic  foot model including the freezer. We figured out how much fresh and packaged foods will fit per shopping trip. We also have a good idea what we’re eating menu-wise. All of this does take more time than if we were living at home, but honestly, it’s all part of the fun.

How often do we shop for something we wish we had brought?

There were a few occasions where we needed things we left behind, like a loaf pan, a food scale, and microwave containers. We have a nesting plastic set at home which we’ve owned for more than 30 years and forgot it behind. We can’t find these anymore. So, we ended up having to buy a Corning Ware set. We also left behind a funnel, but we bought a nice silicone collapsible one.

Doggy Duties

We both share in the care of Pogo. I am in charge of mixing her dehydrated food while Ken takes her for a walk. She can’t wait the 5 minutes it takes if she sees me doing it! Ken feeds her in the AM since he awakes well before I do. We both walk her at night. We make a temporary run for her with a 20′ cable that we attach to either a leg of the picnic table and something else close by. We rigged a sliding shackle on the cable which attaches to her collar. Her favorite thing is to jump on the camping chair and take a snooze.

I give her showers from our rear outside hot shower.

Setting Up and Breaking Down

This is down to a routine. We made a couple of labels with the label gun to remind us of a few things on some switches. The most time consuming part of departure and arrival is dealing with the toad/dinghy/Ford Focus. It takes time to attach everything including safety cables, electric umbilical, towbar hookup, breakaway cable, protect-a-tow (screen that goes under the towbars to prevent stones and debris from hitting the car) and the intelligent braking system.

Inside the RRRV, everything needs to be stowed securely, Pogo needs to wear her harness, the room slideouts need to be brought in, table needs to get stowed, the hydraulic leveling jacks need to come up, windshield covers come off, etc. Also, a final pumpout, disconnect all hoses, put bikes on bike rack on car. Reverse on setting up.

Pack too much? Too liitle?

We have plenty of room to spare. We could have taken more clothes. The closets are 1/2 full. Do we need more clothes? No! I’m wearing my favorite comfy clothes. Same with Ken. I really think we packed just about perfectly. We did buy a quite a few things since we’ve started, but most of these are gear for the RRRV.

Alone time? Privacy?

Ah, it’s hard to have alone time in a 30′ motorhome. The best way we’ve found this to work is to just leave! Either by car, bike or walk. Typically, Ken may want to do a long bike ride that requires a drive in the car to get there. I’ll drop him off and then I have my alone time as well and I can drive where I’d like to go before he’s ready to be picked up. Sometimes I leave in the car while Ken stays in the RRRV and vice versa. Every few days this is a necessity for both of us.

Breakdowns and repairs

Our new RVI3 brake system broke down (died) as we were getting ready for the trip from Titusville to Ft. Pierce. Ken had to drive the car while I drove the RRRV. RVI was closed for the Christmas holiday week, so we didn’t get the new unit until a couple of days before our trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Since this is a brand new version of their product, it had a software glitch in it. The new replacement worked beautifully on the trip to JDSP.

Winnebago informed us of a recall on an electrical switch. We needed to bring it in for the screws to be tightened to a certain amount or we would risk a fire in the RRRV. We brought it in to an authorized dealer in Cocoa on 1/23. On 1/24, after this work was done, we had a small electrical fire right at that very part they “fixed”. The microwave shut down and we had no AC at all. The next morning, we brought the RRRV back to the dealer who then replaced the switch and assigned a different technician to perform the installation. No cost to us between the extended warranty and their sloppy work. But, it was a big inconvenience to be without any AC for the night and early AM. Plus mileage and time.

One issue we’re having is that our gray tank sensor system isn’t able to give us a reading below 2/3 full. This is the tank that fills quickly. It would be nice to know when we’re hitting 2/3. We tried a few suggestions we found on the internet. No luck yet. But, it’s caused by greasy slime on the walls. Yuck.

We’ve grown accustomed to the camping life

We’ve been blessed with warm sunny days here in southern Florida, and we’re enjoying each other’s company. We’re happy campers! And, speaking of happy campers, here’s Ken’s Happy Cow kite:

If you want to view his video, here’s the link: Ken’s Happy Cow