Coming up for Air

Arrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhh! I am about ready to call this whole thing off! Who would ever have thought that it would be so difficult to check the air in the tires of a vehicle. Well, with this RV, it is a royal pain.

A little before our shakedown trip I decided to check all the air in the tires. Low and behold, the guage I have for my cars didn't work and I had to go to "the Depot" for a special truck tire gauge. (Tires inflated - 0; trips to the Depot - 1). This was only to discover that yes, the tires were in fact a little low. No problem, a quick trip to the local gas station and I would be right as rain. So off I go. The front tires were no problem, but then I came to the rear ones.

The rear wheels on this RV are "dualies". Normally the problem is how to get air into the inboard tires in this setup. Fortunately, the rig came with valve extenders installed on both rear wheels. (Tires inflated - 4 of 6; Trips - 2). The outboard tires are where my frustrations began. Valve extenders are not normally used for these tires, so none are installed. However, the valve is on the inboard side of the wheel. This means that in order to check the air or inflate the tire you have to have a gauge or hose that fits through one of the holes in the rim. These are about 1.5 inches in diameter and of course, neither my gauge nor my fat little fingers will fit through. Nor can my hands fit between the wheels to get at the valve from the other side. Hmmmmmmm......I know, I can put some valve extenders on the outboard wheels just like on the inboard! Not so fast. I got some extenders (Trips - 3, tires - still 4), but I could not get them through the holes either. So, back to the Depot for some different extenders (Trips - 4). These ones fit through the hole, but I could not fit my hand in there to tighten them onto the existing valve stems. Picture me laying on my back half under the rig with my head practically stuck under the wheel cursing loudly.

So finally, I give up and take the whole rig into the service center and have them look at it. Best part was the guy comes out and looks at the wheel and says, "You know, they make these valve extender thingys for just this sort of thing." "Gee," I say, "Really?"

Trips - 5, Tires - 6. Finally!

Shakedown 2010! (Part 1)

When we first decided to take this big trip, one of the things that all of the experienced RVers we talked too suggested was make sure and take the rig out for a couple of trips to figure out what works best for us. When the U.S. Navy takes out a new ship, they call it a "Shakedown cruise"; they take the ship out to sea and exercise all the major systems. For our Shakedown cruise we decided to go camping in the Monongahela National Forest in wild and wonderful West Virginia!

We found a good looking spot on the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac River called Big Bend campground. A hotspot for swimming, kayaking, and fishing; it looked like a great spot for our Memorial Day Weekend 2010.

Since we have the rig at home now, it was easy to pack up and take care of last minute maintenance like getting the tires filled. An interesting note here, it was much more difficult than I thought it would be to fill the tires with air. The rear wheels are dual-ies and require some sort of valve extender in order to be able to fill the outboard tires. Our rig did not have these so it became a chore to find some and then get air into the tires.

Anyway, with that all done we finally got on the road. We almost got more than we bargained for right off the bat. About halfway there it started pouring rain, a good old fashioned thunder boomer. We of course turned the wipers on and wouldn't you know it, we had our first bona fide mechanical breakdown. After a couple of swipes, the passenger side wiper blade came loose from the wiper arm and started scraping across the windshield. Normally and easy fix, just pull over and pop it back in. Trouble was we were on a country road in the middle of nowhere West Virginia with five or six motorists behind us already angry with us for driving too slow over the hills. Now we had to slow down just so we could see far enough down the road to get to the next place to pull over. We finally managed to fix it and got going again, both Janelle and I thoroughly soaked. Then, about five minutes down the road the darn thing does it again! After about two more rounds with the wiper we finally beat it into submission and it stayed put the rest of the trip.

We finally pulled into camp, still in the pouring rain, un-hooked the dinghy and cooked dinner. It sure was nice to not have to go outside to set up a tent or cook on the fire/stove. Plus, we could go potty right there without having to get wet either! Life is good.

The next day dawned bright and clear, as soon as the lovely fog and mist rolled out of the canyon. The campground is at the end of Smoke Hole Canyon and true to its name it was quite lovely in the morning with cool temps and a mist hanging over the hillsides like smoke. We made a quick breakfast and took the dog for her first hike in the woods. Boy was she excited! She actually got away from us when we opened the door to the RV, but she only ran about ten feet before she realized she had no idea where she was and came scurrying back inside. She loved exploring as much as the girls though and the river was great fun. It was pretty muddy the first morning but by evening it was clearing up enough to fish pretty well. John caught a smallmouth bass and Lily caught her first fish as well. Alas, poor Cate. She was determined to fish all night long if that is what it took, but the fish got the better of her this day. I think she would not have been so upset by that if her sister hadn't caught anything.

The next day was even more beautiful and we spent the whole day lounging by one of the calmer spots in the river and swimming. Some nice campers in the site near us even let Cate use one of their inner tubes. Almost made up for the lack of fish.

Monday finally arrived and we packed up our things and headed home. A successful shakedown all around. Be sure to check out this slideshow for some pics of the trip!

See you on the road!

It's All in a State of Mind

So we got the obligatory map of the U.S. for the window on the rig. As we travel, we can update the map with new stickers of each state that we visit. Since we picked up the rig in Ohio, we already have Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and of course Virginia. By the end of our trip, our map will be full of all the states across the northern part of the country, plus part of Canada!

Just Add Water

Some of you loyal followers of the Field clan already know how much I enjoy fishing, particularly fly-fishing for that most beautiful, elusive and wiliest of fish, the native brook trout. Well I figured this trip was the perfect opportunity to introduce the girls to the sport. A quick trip to Wal-Mart and $50 later and all the girls are outfitted with poles and reels; including a special "Barbie" rod/reel combo for Meg. It's pink with butterflies on it if you are interested.

Once I got them home and unwrapped from the ridiculously complex packaging, we strung them up with line and had our first casting lesson! They did great! In the photo here they are all aiming for the manhole cover in the middle of the street, first one to hit it gets $0.25. (Lily won).

Next step is to make sure they all catch some fish! After all, for kids just learning its more about the catching than the fishing. Stay tuned!

Dinghy, Part Deux

SUCCESS!

I finally got everything set up and was able to tow the Subaru! Here is what everything looks like when it is attached. Setting it up and connecting it all is quite the chore, however. I confess that the first time I hooked it up at the storage lot it was lucky that I was parked on gravel. As I drove away and glanced in the rear view mirror, I saw a 10ft long furrow behind the wheels of the dinghy. Note to self, be sure the emergency brake is off before driving away. Well since then I have made two successful short trips with the dinghy in tow. Nothing has come detached and all the lights work and the car drives fine after being towed. So, I am declaring success!!! Next step: the bike rack!

Can I Show You My Dinghy?

Now that we had the RV all set, our next task was to get the Subaru ready to tow. We learned on our test visit to Shenandoah that the RV is not that difficult to drive over long distances, but it is very inefficient for short trips to go sightseeing or to the grocery store. So once again I started my internet research to find out what I needed to do in order to tow the car. I learned two things fairly quickly. First, a small car towed behind a large motor home is known as a "dinghy." Second, getting a car that did not come from the factory tow ready is not easy.

First, you need to have a trailer hitch on your RV. Check. Then you have to have a tow bar that connects your RV to your dinghy. Okay, no problem. However once I started looking around I again discovered that there is an incredibly large industry in this country devoted entirely to RVs and the many accessories that go along with them.

Turns out tow bars are not cheap, and they are fairly technical. Oh, and don't act too quickly if you think you found a good deal. You need to be sure that the tow bar you are getting matches up with the tow brackets on your car. What? Tow brackets? What's that? Oh, you mean your car does not have tow brackets installed already? Uh, no. Well then you have more work to do. Yea!!

So before I get the tow bar I have to get the tow brackets; and before I can get the tow brackets I have to get the tow bracket mounting kit. Turns out only one company out there still makes a mounting kit for a 1993 Subaru. A few benjamins later and there is a 75lb box on the porch. I love the internet!! (BTW, if your interested eTrailer.com had the best prices I could find for everything I needed.)

But wait, you can't just tow your car. Highway safety regs say your towed vehicle's brake/turn lights still have to work while it is being towed. That means I need to wire my dinghy's taillights. This way that idiot barreling down the freeway three feet behind my dinghy at 65mph while texting his girlfriend with one hand and drinking his coffee with the other will have a split second of warning and hopefully not learn the hard way what a safe following distance is. So back to the internet I go for a wiring kit. No problems there, the tech support guys at these mail order places are actually very helpful.

Once I finally got everything together I enlisted the help of a great friend (who happens to be the head mechanic at a local car dealer). He put the car on the lift and had the thing installed in about 15min. I was in awe; that job would have taken me at least a day and a half and 5 trips to Home Depot. He got the wiring installed too, very professional.

So the Dinghy is ready for it's close-up. Next we have to hook everything up and give it a test drive! Stay tuned!

Maiden Voyage

Well the snows finally melted and I figured it was time to take the RV out of storage and give it a test run. What better opportunity that the Leesburg Baker's Dozen Moutain Bike Race. Mark, Brent, Tim and I were all racing so I brought the rig home to get it all set up.

Okay, so who ever heard of "de-winterizing"? Well, I am now an expert. After reading and re-reading the owner's manual 15 or 20 times I finally felt like I was ready to tackle the job. Turns out it is not that hard, just intimidating for a newbie like me. I only had to drain the tank and start over once! Not bad for my first try.

So after that, the guys stopped by and we loaded up all our food and gear for the weekend and headed out to the race site. It was on a farm and so we got to test out the RV's off road capabilities as well. Without any problems we found a great spot for our pit area for the race and set up camp:











We successfully cooked dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. We had fresh coffee and best of all, a hot shower after the race! We did learn some lessons though. For example, the fridge has an automatic shutoff safety feature if the rig is more than six degrees out of level; good to know. Looks like we will be buying some leveling blocks. All in all I would say the trip was a rousing success. I am pretty confident that I can work all of the systems in the rig. Next challenge: setting the Subaru up to be towed as our "dinghy!"