Back to Basics

This week I had to get four tires installed on the motorhome. Whether I move the motorhome 1 mile or 350 miles, the preparation for travel remains the same. Of course when Nancy was alive, she had her “pink” jobs and I had my “blue” jobs. After being on the road for 22 years, neither of us needed a checklist. Now, not only must I do everything myself, I need to also be the person double checking to ensure that everything has been done before pulling out of the site. I decided to go back to the proverbial checklist system. I was actually amazed at the total number of tasks that we always completed prior to each trip.

My new process is that I go about all the tasks and then go through the checklist to make sure I remembered each task, then I double check the very important items physically. Things like making sure all the cabinets are secured and locked, the wheel chocks are removed, the antenna is down, the electric cord is stored and nothing is under the motorhome. The new process was successful as I was able to leave and return to my site without any damage.

The other major change for me as a new solo RVer, was backing into my site. My current site has a number of trees on each side of the front and back of the site. In the past, Nancy would guide me in using standard hand signals while talking to me via our cellphones. We were experts at this and were able to get safely into any RV site, regardless of trees or other obstacles. Now my challenge is to do it solo. 

Rvers are very friendly and helpful. I could easily ask a neighbor to assist me, but then I’m putting the safety of my rig in the hands of a person of unknown skill. We have all seen couples struggle to back into a site, even though in most cases they may have been doing it many times. I happen to carry four small orange “traffic” cones. I placed one cone at each front corner of the site and then a third cone where I wanted the driver’s side rear corner to end up. These sites are in the woods, covered with pine needles, with no real boundary lines to guide a person in, except for the electric pedestal  which happens to be located behind one of those trees. I lined the motorhome up with my inside rear tire close to the front corner of the site and confirmed I was in the correct spot by physically getting out of the motorhome. The rest was pretty easy because the cones gave me confidence that I wasn’t looking at an incorrect landmark. I did also get out of the motorhome two more times just to make sure everything was okay, once after I made the turn to ensure I was at the correct angle and then again as I approached one of the trees at the rear of the site. I was pretty proud of myself, as I was able to do it in one try.

I’m sure that if a site has more delineation, such as a gravel pad with grass on each side, I won’t use the cones, but I’ll keep them accessible in my tool compartment for sites without clear delineation.

In two weeks, I will leave Livingston and begin my 1,100 mile journey to my summer location in the Colorado mountains.

Until next time

Tight lines and safe travels

Covid testing and medical transport for surgery

I was very impressed with Baylor College of Medicine's process for Covid 19 testing. Initially, I was concerned that I would arrive in my F150 and truck camper requiring more than 8' 4" of clearance and it would create a fuss. Not so.

I arrived as instructed 15 minutes early, at 12:30 pm on 6/1/2020, for my 12:45 pm appointment, to discover a line of cars and a locked gate, with a sign that said "Closed until 1pm".

I pulled in behind the last car and walked up to the gate where a nice young women instructed me to bring my truck to the front of the line and informed me that they would take the oversized vehicles first and that I would not go through the parking garage, but rather part way in, where there was plenty of clearance and then get turned around and exit the same way I entered.

A couple of minutes before 1pm, a security guard checked my driver's license and order number though my closed window and waved me through the gate. Another staff member directed me into the beginning of the parking garage and turned me around before getting anywhere near the low ceiling. A few minutes later a nurse in full PPE, checked my ID,  had me lower my window stuck a swab a mile up each of my nostrils and sent me on my way. As I approached the closed gate again, the security gate opened it and waved me through. I checked my watch and it was 1:05pm. Not bad.

The next day I received a phone call from my surgeon informing me that my  Covid 19 test was negative and surgery was a GO!

My experience with Amerasolutions was just as impressive. The day before my scheduled pickup,  I received a phone call confirming all the details, twelve hours and two hours before my pickup I received reminder emails. The day of my surgery, the Amerasolutions' driver arrived ten minutes early and called my cell phone to tell me she had arrived. She took me to surgery clinic, I checked in, she left and then the nurse called the company when I was ready for discharge.  About 20 minutes later my driver came back to the clinic, picked me up and took me back to the RV park.

My cataract surgery was a success, I had my first post-op MD appointment the next day at 8:15 am and was told I can legally drive without glasses. That was good because I had driven myself to the appointment, LOL.

So I am one more step closer to getting back on the road and truly becoming a solo full-time RV.

Stay tuned, my next blog will be about purchasing and installing four new golf cart batteries in the motorhome and buying four 275/70R 22.5 tires online via Simpletire.com and getting them installed at my "local" tire shop.


Tight Lines and safe travels