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Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Hoops We Jump Through (To go Camping)

Ahh, the Journey is all set up at the campground. Jacks are down, slides are out, even the portable satellite dish is up a running. The good life. But how did we get here?


I ran home from work and zipped over to the storage lot to get the Journey.

 

Unlocking the door, I open the windshield blinds. 


Have to throw a switch to turn on the  Aux Battery 12 volt systems.


Open up all the window blinds to be able to see all around the Journey as I drive.


Close the fridge doors (I leave them open when stored to prevent smells and mold).


Lite off the fridge, put it in the LP mode because it cools down faster.


Do a fast search inside to remove all of Marti's little friends.


Start the engine and let the air pressures build for the air brakes.


Pull out my tow bar gear bag.


Hook up my toad.


Pull out of the storage lot and secure the gate, then drive out a little further and secure the second gate.


Then I drive about a mile to the campground office and check in.


A quick drive to my site and then I disconnect the toad.  Sometimes the tow bar pins are a little tight and need some persuading with my rubber mallet to slide out.


Before I hook up my fresh water hose, I treat the water faucet with a liberal coating of Clorox mixed 50% with water.  I've seen too many people rinse their sewer hoses at the water faucet and pull the hose right up over the bib.  I'm not taking any chances.


I have a portable surge guard, but I want to replace it with an permanently installed unit shortly.


Check to see the circuit breakers are OFF before I hook up.  I'm amazed at how often I find the circuit breakers left ON by the previous camper.  Good way to zap yourself.


My surge protector automatically checks the plug for any problems.  All is good so I plug in.


I don't need these two items this time of year, but earlier in the summer, ants can invade the Journey.  I spray the Raid ant killer on the ground around the tires and jacks and put a 1" band of petroleum jelly around the water and sewer hoses and the electrical cord.  The little ants can't get across the petroleum jelly.


Now if I can just find a way to keep out the Stink Bugs, Marti will be a real happy camper.

When we're done camping for the weekend, we reverse the procedure.  And repeat as often as we can, every weekend we can. ;c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.


2 comments:

  1. Diana, yes he is my Superman! Notice Paul absorbs the majority (if not all) the effort to get here. My job is.... to get here! I am usually hours behind him, and basically come and collapse the first night, with little to no energy left after the week that just finished... Typically, he gets the outside jobs, I get the inside jobs... but that is when we travel and are on the road.... see? just one more reason to leave the crazy life we lead! Thanks for your faithful following of our blog! It is a bright spot for us! ~Marti

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