My nephew, David, became the most kind and PATIENT teacher I have ever known. He wanted to build our (Flossie, his mother, and I) confidence so his mantra was "you got this!" He left us with tasks to do together and after awhile came to teach us what we could not figure out on our own. We are so grateful for his expertise and love in helping us on our journey.
For a laugh, here are a few of the things we encountered:
The water-
We first tried to connect the water hose to the hot water tank and were connecting it to the pressure gauge for the hot water tank.
We read that we needed to empty the waste water and my neighbors, Jeannie and Wally, were there visiting Bill, and we solicited their help. They were sorry as it turned into a smelly situation. We did find the correct valves and intake but not before Wally got a splash or two and Jeannie a whiff! But we have that part down pat now! Of course, we may never use that bathroom ...... just in case!
We then flushed the system and spent time trying to find where the potable water went in (and learned from David that the word potable has a long o) and proceeded to fill that tank and clean it with a bleach mixture. Cathy and I then spent an hour and a half trying to find the water pump. We opened each of the 8 compartments at least twice thinking we had missed it and, of course, not knowing what we were looking for anyway! David was busy putting a new step and kick plate on the door and installing the bike rack and we did not want to ask him for the 800th thing (in the meantime Bill is dying. He was confined to sitting on the couch and not helping!). David finished, walked in to the RV, took out the kitchen drawers and said, "Here's the water pump.". Then he turned around and saw the button on the opposite wall-which in the RV is 18" away- and said, "Is this the button you are looking for?" Are you getting the picture? At that point we all had glasses of wine in our hands so we toasted and congratulated David on his expertise!
The above gives you an idea of our mechanical expertise. Thank God for David! The saga continued. We ended up leaving one day late but all was well and our little home on wheels is cozy and well organized (again in part due to David and his mounting organizers all over the RV). Thelma and Louise also gained some knowledge. When the propane man was graciously in the RV (he was checking our house water system) David informed him that we would be learning each step of the way. We in a chorus answered, "There will be kind men all across America!" And yes, David, we will buy mace!
We woke up on Tuesday to a pouring rain and 33 degrees. Poor David was inflating all the tires to 65 pounds, putting and locking the bikes on the rack, finishing touches inside, rebuilding the table, draining and refilling the potable water tank and finishing the kick plate. We finished up securing everything and making our home comfortable.
We woke up on Tuesday to a pouring rain and 33 degrees. Poor David was inflating all the tires to 65 pounds, putting and locking the bikes on the rack, finishing touches inside, rebuilding the table, draining and refilling the potable water tank and finishing the kick plate. We finished up securing everything and making our home comfortable.
We left to David videoing our departure and a dedication of our trip to Mom and Dad. We were singing, "Off we go into the wild blue yonder", which we sang often as kids to commemorate Dad's naval service. Finished it off with "California here we come!" Dad will be watching and protecting us from on high and Mom will be working the rosary at Brookline.
About two hours out we had gotten to Pawley's Island. Chapman wanted to know if we had taken a nap! We had filled up with gas and, of course, neither of us minds stopping at any point. We ate at Landolfi's in Pawley's Island. Highly recommended to us and absolutely delicious! We will return.
We realized the back step is haunted. It refused to retract even though the motor to retract it ran. By the time we stopped on the other side of Savannah for the night and tried to turn on the inside lights that battery was dead as a doornail. Our genius driver, Cathy, parked under a light so we did not have to turn on the inside lights! Figuring out what runs what (propane, battery, electric or gas/generator) is our challenge!
Due to weather and exhaustion we decided on a hotel for our first night. We ate at the bar in Ruby Tuesday's in order to watch the Olympics (Flying Tomato what happened? Shaun was gracious in his loss. A lesson for us all.). The pairs figure skating took our breath away with its beauty. The first American win by a woman in luge took our breath away with fear. Our waitress was good, Shannon, but we decided she was not as competent or beautiful as you!
In our room we watched more Olympics and crashed!
We are now on our way to Cheryl and David's in Minneola, FL for a couple of days. The beauty of sisters is that we complete each other sentences and haven't stopped laughing.
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