Pullin' Chocks

Musings in the New Year 2016!

Looking back and ahead seems like an obvious activity this time of year...
The first thing that jumps out at us is how much we have learned about RVing and about our rig of Pepé (tow vehicle F-450) and Penelope (37' fifth wheel trailer) in the less than three years we have been in Fulltime RV living mode.  We researched this nutty idea of fulltime RV living, for the best part of five years before we made the leap.  We certainly are not the pioneers of this concept.  Those who had gone before us greatly assisted us in learning what to expect, what we would need, and many ways to actually do it.  That is something that we find fantabulous about RVing, there is really only one way to do it incorrectly in our opinion, and that is doing it unhappily.  We figure if you are happy, then no matter how you are doing it, that is a correct and valid approach!

Our annual Treks seem to be evolving into a rhythm of "Loops".  North and up in elevation in the summer and south and down in elevation in the winter when travel destination goals and desires permit.

One of the things that we particularly like about the RV living lifestyle is all of the problem solving required.  We figure it is exercise for our retired brains.  The problem subjects are very diverse, so the adventure remains interesting.  Everyday.  It does take effort, and at first it was much more difficult, but after a short while things begin to become easier one by one.  In retrospect it is just a transition of lifestyles from living in a stationary, permanent dwelling, to living in a self-contained vehicle dwelling.  Because the systems and designs of each dwelling type are different, the operation and maintenance chores are also a bit different.  Not necessarily harder, just different.  Like anything else you go through a learning curve at first, but after a short while many things become second nature.

Then there is the excitement of the move...  What will we see at our next destination?  Who will we meet?  What problems will become available for resolution?  Moving time is always exciting.  The longer we have stayed in one location, the more exciting moving time becomes!  We never know if slides or jacks will retract, capturing us in place until we can accomplish repair.  So far neither of these hydraulically actuated systems has given us any problems we could not overcome by ourselves.

Last year we accomplished three significant items and a number of small everyday things.  The first was major touch up paint work performed by Mike the Painter at New Horizons under warrrany.  Penelope had major battle scars from the roof replacement ordeal at the end of our first year of ownership.  Mike gave us almost 3 days of hard work and the improvement was outstanding.  We completed some axle work at Henderson's Line Up Shop in Grants Pass, Oregon.  The Henderson Shop is truly outstanding.  They not only performed a six wheel alignment on our trailer they also re-welded our Mor-Ryde IS Axles onto our trailer frame.  We were surprised to learn that our trailer wheels had never been aligned before, but we also learned that is not unusual.  Some new trailer wheels get aligned, some do not.  The last big thing was that we built our own removable macerator system, and did so for half the price of an off the shelf design.  Now we can empty our storage tanks when we can't get the trailer within 30' of the sewer hookup.  The macerator system gives us over 100' of distance from the sewer!  Our design is mounted on a board scrap and has a rope handle for easy moving.

This year we will probably replace some tires on the truck.  We will check trailer bearings and brake pads on both tow vehicle and trailer.  Everything checked out good the end of last year.  Alright, back to finishing up a Sun City, AZ post, and starting one for Yuma, AZ.