105 - Good vibrations

Well, I'm pretty much boondocked. Since the weather is supposed to hit 32 or below tonight I am taking the advice from the forums and the fresh water tank has been filled. I didn't disconnect the sewer hose, but I did make sure that all standing water went down the drain. It's amazing how much water just sits in that hose and ferments... gross if you think about it. Water hose is disconnected, not sure it matters or not, but just in case. And the heating pad is keeping the LP tanks warm so they don't freeze up.

We had a mobile repair guy come out to check our propane tanks this morning. He didn't find a leak. He said that we have a 35k BTU heater and that, depending on how much we run it and how much we cook, we can drain both those tanks in 2-3 weeks. He also told us that when they get down to around 1/4 tank, we will start smelling LP because of the way the valves work. He told us that we should refill them before they hit empty because most filling stations don't purge the air, and we won't get a full tank if we take in an empty bottle. In addition, we learned that during the winter months, you should take the bug screens off the heater vent because it affects your efficiency and it could void your warranty since there is not supposed to be anything within 5 ft of the vent. Even though they're minimal, he said it affects the output. Add that to the list of things that are good to know...

He was a fountain of information. He also said that we need a new toilet. Our bowl doesn't hold water anymore, and when Lazydays 'fixed' it they probably just put vaseline around the gasket so that it would temporarily seal, but you can't order parts for those toilets so I need to find our extended warranty info and see about getting that fixed. He thinks he can order the toilet and have it installed before we leave.

It sucks that he came out and didn't really fix anything, but we have peace of mind and learned a lot so it was worth it. Having purchased our rig from Michigan and had it brought to us, we didn't get a walk-thru to teach us how to live in this thing. We've been doing it by feel, and it's worked okay for the most part... we could probably have done better. We've had some catastrophes, but we have avoided several too.

Mike is at the Augusta airport waiting for his flight to Pittsburgh. He was going to fly out of Atlanta... no one likes to fly out of Atlanta. When I started thinking about it I remembered that we were 73 miles from Atlanta, and 90 miles from Augusta, which has a much more pleasant airport, so he'll avoid all the hustle and bustle and foot traffic.

I'm here with the trailer. Our truck is in the shop so we couldn't pull the trailer with us, and I didn't want to leave it here to freeze with us gone, plus Gracie can't fly and I can't just leave her here either. I'll be here for ten days... it's good that I've been learning how to make things work and the tanks are filled.

There are very few good samaritans left in this world, so today I took a thank you note with some cash to the office for our tow truck driver. He saved us over $100 in cab fare, and a lot of headache, by bringing Mike home. At first we were going to give him a Walmart gift card, but then I figured, if we paid part of his rent, he most likely won't know it until we're gone and it will be a nice surprise for Christmas when bills typically run high. They (he, his pregnant wife and their toddler) live in an RV with no slideouts, probably not much room, guessing they don't have a lot of money. Right now, we don't either, so we couldn't do much... but we wanted to acknowledge his kindness.

After Mike gets back we're heading to MS to see family for Christmas. This year my generation is going to take care of preparing the food so that mom and grandma can relax. I can't do much in the way of gifts, but I can do that. In addition to the regular crew I'll get to see my Aunt Rose, and I think Brian is going to drive out as well. Laura is still in California and if I could devise a way to get her to MS I would, but I only have $150 in flight credits and the tickets were waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than that. So... I can't make that happen, but he'll be heading to CA in a couple of weeks to bring her home for good so it won't be too long a wait.