Installing A TV the Hard Way!

Yesterday, Lori and I went to Wally World and looked at Tv's for the bedroom of our RV. Ya, Ya, I know, what a couple of spoiled brats needing their tv for the bedroom...Ok, your point? Anyway, they had a Vizio for a decent price . We went ahead and bit the bullet and brought one home. This morning, while completing a long and growing list of Honey Doo's, I decided to hook up the tv. Now ya see, we have the trailer on the front jacks but not the rear and it bounces a little when you walk around. I opened the cabinet it goes in and pulled out the tray. I set up the TV on its stand and was not able to get any cable signal (damn cable company workers anyway) so I went down to the other tv and started to move cables around to see if I could get signal up there. I found the loop and had just hooked it up when Lori Ann decided to do something which made the trailer move! Yep, you guessed er, I hear this loud crash and cable all over the place. Seems the Tv fell off the cabinet, the cable goes tight and pulls the plug right out of the wall and everything is in a heap on the floor. With the second volley of potty mouth, Lori took off. I could see her and Walt as they rounded the corner onto Hill Rd! I was so upset with a mess all over that I was not a happy camper. Now it even gets worse...I pick up the Tv and see the cable plug is at an angle. As soon as I touch it, it falls out rendering the Tv useless. Another volley of potty mouth and I could see neighbors gathering to see who was being killed. As always in a calm and collected manner, I carefully package and quietly walk to the truck and after finding the receipt, decide it is better than nothing to see if they will exchange it for a non wrecked one. Much to my surprise, they gladly returned the item and I decided to buy a swing arm bracket to secure this one to. Dont think they will like it too much if I brought another one back!

Got it home and installed the bracket, hooked the tv on and set it up. Nice set up and we are ready to go again.

What a Nice Weekend

Thursday night, we finally got out of town at about 6:30. Some traffic, but no problems headed south. As we approached the area of Vancouver, we needed a potty break and Walt needed a run. We pulled into the rest area only to find the lot completely full. We decided to keep going and then saw a lane for the RV dump area. We pulled in and Lori told me it was too far to go to the bathroom. I mentioned to her we had a bathroom in the trailer and she was shown the water pump. We took care of business and Walt took a run in the woods. We were pretty proud of ourselves with this 'Fancy Inovation'. Back on the road and now traveling through Portland, Or in the dark. We found the Rv park ok and had the honor of setting up in the dark. A little adjustment in the site to line up for the connections and we were getting everything set up with little problem.

As I pulled the lid to hook up the water, I was shocked to see two connections. Now what kind of test is this. One was blue and the other red. Now what? There is nothing in the manual about the red and blue hookups! Ah, another camper drives in and parks a couple spaces down. I walk over, head lowered and acknowledge my rookie status. I was shocked when he gave me a blank look and told me he never had heard of this either. A flurry of phone calls, looking at other sites and lori finally reading the brochure found the blue hookup is city water and the red is well water. A near disaster (in our eyes) was averted. We were set up, tucked in and off to sleep after several attempts to get the TV to work right. I felt I was getting ripped off when the brochure tells me there are 30 some channels and I could only get 6 or so. I soon realized a quick change from air to cable on the setup makes it all work! We continue to learn. Lori dreamt of endless hours shopping at the outlet mall and me of relaxing and watching all those new found tv channels...

Friday morning was relaxing and after breakfast, Lori was twitching to hit the outlet stores. After about 30 minutes, we get a call that her mom and dad were already at the RV park. Soon they were shopping and we (dad and I) were doing alot of sitting and waiting! We had a great camp dinner and after watching tv, it was a very restful night.

Saturday, the ladies were off to to the stores and we were off to Camping World for a few small items. In the afternoon we headed to Silver Falls stae park. A nice hike and great scenery greeted us. We took some country roads back through grass seed country. The big rigs were working the fields harvesting seed. What a sight.

Back to camp for a barbecue and the walk across the field to Starbucks. Walt enjoyed the attention he got by hanging with us outside drinking coffee. He was so tired from all the exercise he slept all the way home.

As for the ride home, we were all hooked up and ready to go by 11 am. We had a white knuckle run through Portland as the traffic was very heavy. Once in Wa the traffic cleared and we only had to fight head winds. On the trip south we averaged 12.9 mpg and north, it was down to 11.6 mpg. The truck and trailer felt a little different in that wind as it caused what I call a little bucking like the trailer was tail heavy. Once we were on a road were the wind was not center on, it quit doing that.

Backing into the driveway was a little harrowing. As I stopped to set up the turn, a car sped up and was not going to cooperate, He drove around me and then my concentration was shot. Thee tries later, we were in and unhooking. We are getting used to what needs to be done to easilly unhitch and hitch the trailer. All in all, what a great weekend. We are hooked and enjoy the great times an RV bring. Dont forget our bike though. Stay tuned as we embark on a two week trip to Wyoming in August!

A Shopping We will Go

Preparations are underway for our first official campout (as in not a shake down or see how stupid we can look) with the Mountaineer. We are traveling to the Portland-Woodburn RV park located just feet away from the Woodburn Outlet malls. Lori has been in training and plans to be on a first name basis with shop keepers on the first day. Her parents are joining us on Friday and we will use the pull out/inflatable queen size bed on the couch. That should be interesting. The nice thing is this time, we have most of the regular stuff loaded and only need clothes and food. It took three days to get it all loaded last time and we were exhausted before we left. Weather promises to be good and a fun time is ahead.

A Rookies Tale part Duex

Posted: 06/29/08 04:35pm

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Well, here I sit at home after a wonderful weekend and shake down cruise. Thursday was going fine except problems with installers...another forum...another day...and as I was about half packed. got called back to work. Thought, no problem, get off a little early and we can hit the road on our maiden voyage. Worked till o dark 30 and was very tired and about to blow over the installer problem. By the time I got home, my nerves were already shot.

We got on the road and not a word was spoken for almost half an hour! I was so stressed from other things that it reflected in my confidence on this trip. at first. We negotiated the hills south of us on US 101 and I began to settle down as I got used to those sounds and rattles. By the time we hit Astoria, OR, I felt like a grizzled veteran. My wife was talking to me again and we even turned on the radio.

We pulled into the Fort Stevens KOA with our friends the Falls waiting anxiously for our arrival and a fun weekend in our new trailer. OK, were was the advice from this forum about how to reserve a site at a campground...oh ya, I forgot to ask. Ok, I guess when you say 28 feet long they think you mean both truck and trailer. At least we got a quiet spot but away from our friends. Set up went well and within 30 minutes, we were getting diner ready and walked up to their site.

Only problem all weekend was the shower and oh ya the bathroom incident. The shower first. Did you know there is a lip on the door when you enter that you are supposed to step over? That hurt the first time. Oh ya and for the bathroom, lets just say my hint to anyone besides me who were not aware, ALWAYS use the fan! Nuff said...

A little anxiety over dumping the black water today. but we left on time and had a great drive home. Even worked the parking lots for a Latte and later for lunch. Getting pretty good with this stuff. Remember from my first story, the backing nightmare? First try with a slight correction and I was off the road. I even gloated to my neighbor who was disappointed at the non event. Some people. I dont remember who gave me the advice on this forum about placing your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel and turn the way you want the trailer to go, but thanks, it worked great. Thanks for puttin up with my ramblings...I am having fun now!!!

Posted: 06/25/08 03:29pm

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(A Rookies story from RV Net)

My wife and I just purchased a new Montana Mountaineer last week (285RLD). They got it all ready and we were off to pick it up. Two sleepless nights of asking myself questions on everything from setup to backing had me pretty stressed. We got to the Dealership and had a wonderful and educational "walk Through" which took about 2.5 hours. They installed a new auto slide 5th wheel hitch put on and it was time to go. Bad thing was, they were so gracious and informative, it was now rush hour in Tacoma, WA traffic. Great, pulled small trailers but never a 5th wheel! We got out and onto the Freeway ok for the 1.5 hour trip home. Traffic was very heavy and I eventually started to gain confidence as the trailer was following great and I was purring along in our 07 Dodge 3/4 ton Diesel. Now the big problem...I needed to get something to eat. Never had to consider where I can and cant go. Ok, Wal Mart would work. We pulled in and hit the sandwich shop and were feeling like pros already. We and two motorhomes occupied the entire back lot except that one truck that parked right where I need to go. Now for backing 101 and again it went well. All that lack of sleep... Made it home the great backing down the driveway extravaganza. Friends and family had gathered to watch and offer backing advice. I even think there was a hot dog vender there. After a few trys, the trailer was parked, set up and we were putting those necessities in like matching plates. Wow, it's really different to have a trailer! Friday we leave for a two night shake down cruise not too far from home. Ya, you guessed it...not alot of sleep trying to remember what needs to be done. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Thought you might get a laugh and possibly remember your "first Time".

Welcome to our blog

Welcome,

I started this blog to document our travels throughout the west. We want to share with friends and family the tales and tribulations of our 'Adventures. Enjoy and let us know if you have questions or comments.