Our First Week and First Mistakes
We finally did it! This is what we'd been planning for months. Moving day! As we drove to pick up Rhiannon, tensions rose. Loren's nerves were increasing, as she was the one who'd be driving our entire house an hour and a half to Silver Falls.
When we arrived, our dealer sensed our nervousness and offered to ride along to get the first tank of gas. It had been over a month since our test drive/driving lesson. Loren took to it quickly, and we were off. We loaded everything as fast as we could, and hit the road.
Going everywhere they shouldn't be!
We arrived and struggled our way through parking. Now for my time to shine: hooking up!
It so happens I've clocked countless hours on YouTube watching the pros do this, so I had it down (at least I hoped that I did).
The first night was a breeze (sans cats, mind you)! Everything went smoothly, which concerned me a bit. The next day we toured the campground, stopped at Ikea for the new-house essentials, and picked up the cats. They took to their new home surprisingly well!
So many cabinets, hiding places, and new scratching posts it's like a home made for cats!
The next day, we went for a hike. We saw two waterfalls and came home to relax. A loud humming sounds was coming from our RV. I had done something wrong. I checked the water connection first, because it sounded like the water pump. When I turned it off and unhooked it, water came spraying out of the filter.
Oh no, is this normal?
Hmm, bypass on, water pump on...
When in doubt, turn it off and on again, and so I did. As soon as I turned the water pump off the noise stopped. Okay, so it is the water pump. Why is it making that noise? This led me to ponder the inner workings of the RV water system. Does the tank keep itself slightly full is bypass is on? It was 1/4 full when there wasn't a sound. I filled the tank a little. No sound. Good? Eh, that still isn't right.
After consulting the web, I found that you do not need the water pump when connected to city water. Yes, now is the time for the resounding "DUH!" from those seasoned RVers out there. Well, at least I now have a newbie mistake I can laugh at.
A few days past, and it was time to dump our tanks. I knew exactly what to do: pull the black tank's lever, use a different hose to flush, disinfect, then dump the grey to wash out the sewer hose. I emptied the black tank as Loren stood a safe yard or two away taking pictures. Okay, now to flush. A little water comes out, but it sounds like more is going in. Good enough, I said. Empty the grey and done!
When I went to check the gauges, the black tank read 1/4 full. It must be the rinse I thought. Back to the internet. It turns out, you have to keep the tank close when flushing. Ah, another newbie mistake. It's all in the details!
We all survived (including Rhiannon) our first week! We also spent a good bit of time consulting our manual. A special thanks to Scott's RV in Vancouver, WA. Their kindness and patience gave us the confidence to make the trip!