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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Post

Sorry to have gotten our posts out of order with that Anniversary Post, but I couldn’t pass up that special occasion with all its special memories (Barf!).

When we last posted about our trip back to our South Carolina “home”, we were overnighting in a handy Walmart parking lot with about a half dozen other RVs.  We got a good night’s sleep despite a very heavy rainstorm.  Of course with my luck, it was still raining cats and dogs (very large cats and dogs) in the morning when we were going to leave.

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You’d think that it would not be a problem towing a car behind the motorhome, but with our Honda Element, before you can drive you have to go through a specific procedure with the automatic transmission or you can severely damage it. 

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After starting the engine, you have to move the shift lever in this direction with a five second stop in each gear: P-R-N-D-2-1-2-D-N, then idle the engine for at least three minutes.  Once that is done, the engine can be shut off, the trans left in neutral and the steering wheel unlocked.  Then you are good to go.

Of course that meant having to go out in the pouring rain.  Even with a raincoat and a boonie hat, I still got soaked.  Probably would have been drier if I had gone swimming.

Once the Element was done, we headed down the highway for the last part of our trip.  It rained on and off most of the way, but when we pulled into the campground, it had stopped.  Thank heavens, one bath a day is enough.

We set up in our spot.  Because the campground is heavily treed, out came the portable satellite dish.  It is a necessity for us, have to catch those “Everybody Loves Raymond” reruns.  ;c)

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The site has only 30 amps, but the power pedestal did not have a GFI plug on the 20 amp side, so I was able to use my current adapter.  One side plugs in to the 30 amp side, the other the 20 amp, then you can plug into it with your power cord and you have 50 amps. (If the 20 amp plug has a GFI socket, it won’t work).

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I showed the set up to the campground owner and offered to pay the 50 amp price, but she said it was okay.  No argument from me.

We are here for about 3 weeks, so we set up some of out more homey items, like the steering wheel table I made from some plans our friends gave us (thanks Steve and Karen!).

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I have some minor maintenance items to putter around with, including driving up to Gaffney, SC Freightliner shop and get a replacement hub cap for the one we lost on our Sioux Falls trip.  Can’t wait, that missing hubcap really bugs me.

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We had one unusual surprise when we arrived and it has to do with this:

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Why is a container of Tide upside down in the kitchen sink, you ask?

I was getting some items out of our cabinet over the washing machine and found the shelf was covered with Tide, making a real mess.  I had to take everything out and clean it up with numerous paper towels that Marti was handing me.  It wasn’t obvious why the container leaked, it was upright and the cap was on tight.

Then we found this, a crack in the bottom of the container.

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Of course the container is nearly full, so we have to find another one to transfer the liquid into.  Since the Tide has Downey fabric softener in it, is is really slimy.  It took several hand washings to get it out of my skin.  Yuk!

The best part of being here is seeing the grandsons.  We watched Andrew at football practice last night, his team was undefeated last year and the whole squad is back together again this year with their same coaches.  Maybe a second winning season is in the future?

Today Owie was over visiting with us, doing what he and Marti enjoy the most, playing video games on the Wii.

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It is going to be a great visit.  :c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

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16 comments:

  1. nothing worse than leaky laundry soap..well there are worse things but we won't go there..we had a shampoo bottle spill all over the shower in the trailer once..a soapy sudsy mess!..
    enjoy the time with the 'grand boys'!

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  2. You have arrived at your latest appointment on the Grandkids suffle. Glad you got there safely if a little soapy.

    It is just doing my little heart good to hear about the problems or inconveniences of towing 4 down since I've always thought a tow dolly was a second choice way to go. After the swimming you did and Karen and Al's troubles, I'm feeling pretty good. Drive Ruby up, strap down the wheels and go. For overnights we don't even take her off.

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  3. That was a neat surprise with the laundry soap, at least it had softener in it so your hands will be soft and loverly.

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  4. A couple of questions for you. I've never seen an adapter like that. I assume that grey box is part of the adapter. Is there a 50 amp plug on the bottom to put your power cord in, and is that grey box also a surge guard?

    Second question is about your steering wheel. Does it tilt up into a horizontal position? If not, I'd like to see how you made that table. :)

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  5. We have a cheater plug like that and have yet to use it. We always run into a gfi.
    Nifty steering wheel table. You might have to give us all instructions :)

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  6. Mother Nature sure has a way of making RVing "fun". Have a wonderful time with the grandkids. That really is a neat looking table.

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  7. Ewww, what a mess with the Tide. I'll have to keep an eye out on the bottom :)
    Nice to be at the grandkids again!

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  8. How boring would rv life be without all the entertainement/issues it provides.....lol

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  9. Glad you arrived Safe and Sound and extremely CLEAN;o)) Between the rain and the detergent...you are clean inside and out...LOL That detergent had to be a mess to clean up. Thanks for the 30,20,50 demo. We have been looking at that and wondering if it works...I guest it does!! Why won't it work if it is GFI?? Inquiring minds want to know:o)

    Enjoy the family time!!!

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  10. The adapter has a grey box that you can plug a 50 amp plug into. There is no surge protector in it. I plug my surge protector into it and then my power cord into the surge protector.

    It can only be used on a non GFI protected socket, a GFI socket will trip off. The GFI senses an electrical problem and trips, even though there is no problem and is perfectly safe.

    I've had this adapter for 3 or 4 years and is only the second time I've been able to use it. Non GFI plugs on power pedestals are rare anymore and electrical standards now require one. I guess when the power pedestal gets replaced one day it will have a GFI plug in it.

    Knowing now that the non GFI plugs are very rare, I don't think I'd purchase an adapter today.

    I guess I have to post about that table in an upcoming post. My steering wheel does tilt a little, but not enough to lay a table flat on it. I have a fold down leg that evens it out to level. I'll show it in that upcoming post.

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  11. We have essentially the same procedure with our Saturn Vue, but I would likely not have gotten wet:) No, not because I would have sent Anneke out, but if it was raining that many cats and dogs, we would have just sat until it stopped:)

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  12. Have you ever wondered how you manage to get in more messes than the rest of the RV'ers? Liquid detergent is one heck of a sticky mess.

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  13. We had a mess under our kitchen sink at the stix and brix once caused the same way - a crack in the bottom of the bottle. Luckily it was glass cleaner, and a little easier to clean up, but still a mess just the same. Yuck!!

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  14. Interesting to read about the five seconds in each gear. Our CR-V says nothing about that, just shift through the gears, but does mention the five seconds in just the drive mode before going to neutral for three minutes, then the turn off. Funny you should mention the Tide. We just had a half bottle of Dawn detergent do the same thing, only all over the countertop. In a rough bump, the bottle flipped, the cap pushed off and out it came...got the cleanest countertop around now! Got to do a better job of stowing stuff before traveling, I guess!

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  15. Ah yes, that, "The whole house is moving" thing.
    I discovered early on just what a mess you can get in the fridge if certain things aren't "just so"?
    In Ontario (Canada) they have milk in bags. We used to get these, but gave it up a long time ago. Anyway, they don't travel well in an RV fridge.
    This I know.
    Best to go with milk in a carton. Man, that was a mess, but at least it was contained to the fridge.

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  16. Your adapter is very clever and I love the little nook you created with the steering wheel. Very classy.

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