The new car lasted less than a week before it’s first ‘owie’
You know the new car feeling – it smells new, it’s all shiny and clean and perfect. You don’t park in crowded parking lots and you’re extra careful getting in/out, placing groceries just so. Then, a truck kicks up a chunk of gravel that hits the windshield at the worst possible place and crack – there’s a crack in the windshield. And, it can’t be filled – the whole windshield had to be replaced.
I’m still careful, I still love my car – but the perfect new car feeling is gone and it will be years before I get the ‘trusted, reliable old companion feel’.
The first year round-up of trailer mishaps and unexpected maintenance.
I knew that living in the trailer, rather than just traveling occasionally, would mean more frequent maintenance. But, since this is my second trailer, I hoped that I would at least avoid any expensive rookie mistakes. So far, that seems to be the case.
I had an electrical problem in July – fixed by a quick trip back to the factory (they could schedule me in immediately, unlike my local RV repair folks).
While staying in a particularly flood prone RV site while selling my house, the stabilizer jacks developed some rust – I’ll have to deal with that soon. I have sandpaper and bought some rust-resistant paint.
The water pump is experiencing a known problem where water can backflow into the fresh water tank and overflow it when hooked up to city water. I have a fix for that in progress (not really a problem over winter when I’m boon-docking effectively all the time).
Two mishaps this week:
I was removing the back grate on the stovetop and a chip of the enameled top came popping off.
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| A chip in the enamel - so sad |
Then, I was filling the fresh water tank and the 6-gallon water can slipped out of my hands. The gravel around here is sharper than I thought – the fall put a pinhole into the plastic near the top. So far, the duct tape helps – but it still leaks a bit. So now I’m looking for an effective patch.
I already posted about the wind collapsing my sun shade and bending a couple of the crossbar segments. Not really expecting anything could be done, I emailed the Paha Que customer service folks – and was happily surprised to hear that they can fix it for me – or send me a few segments so that I can fix it myself. YAY – great customer service!!
Small upgrades for the new year!
I’ve been thinking of ways to decorate the interior without adding a lot of time in setting up/breaking down for travel. I got some command-hook strips for hanging pictures and a couple of plastic (lightweight) magnetic picture frames. While the magnetic part doesn’t work in my trailer, they work well with the command hooks and now I have 2 4x6 picture frames for the back wall. I’m planning to put up my favorite travel pics in an evolving display. After their tour on the wall, pics will go into my new ‘En Plein Aire’ travel photo album!
I love ‘command hooks’
I have a really hard time doing any permanent changes to my trailer. But, I’ve found so many great command hook solutions that let me decorate the interior and still be completely reversible.
I can see using these little clips in a lot of ways!
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| These skinny hooks are perfect for my Escape Calendar! |
We rely on those command hooks...still working on personalizing our interior.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to see how much you are enjoying your life.
We have made it to AZ...may stay in Benson for a bit.
I'm looking forward to seeing you both and checking out how you've made your Escape home.
DeleteI followed your advice on litter box systems - it has made the whole litter box issue SO much better. I tell everyone about it!!
I know exactly what you are talking about. I didn't drive my trailer on the interstate for a month for that reason alone. I still park in the furthest spot at the mall and walk so someone doesn't fling open their door and ding mine. After about six months it wears off though, and you just realize it is what it is.
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