Picking up the RV from winter storage was exciting – it meant that our first trip was coming soon and we would finally hit the road and start our ‘official’ retirement! We delayed pickup by a day when high winds were forecast in Rochester…didn’t seem like the best idea to drive it for the first time when it was crazy windy! So, when the day came, Mark drove it home (about 45 minutes) with no issues – not bad considering it was his first time behind the wheel other than a brief 10-minute drive in December when we took ownership. At our rental townhome, the driveway is REALLY short and there is really no place to park the RV for more than an hour or two…so the plan was to park the RV at Mark’s sister’s house while they were out of town – nice large driveway in the suburbs, five minutes from our house. There, we could get it loaded up and ready to travel. Minor glitch…we couldn’t power the RV from the outdoor plugs at her house. We had the necessary adapter that would convert from 30 amp to 110, but we later learned RVs can’t be connected to GFCI outlets! Since we couldn’t plug it in, we couldn’t test it to be sure the electrical system was working properly and we would be okay once we arrived in Maryland. So Mark reached out to one of his cousins who he thought might know someone with access to a direct 30-amp power connection. Well, turns out this cousin, who lives 10 minutes away from us (but was on vacation in Hawaii when he and Mark spoke), has a 30-amp power outlet at his house because the prior owner had an RV and wanted to be able to connect it at home. He also has a dump station. OMG! 😲 So, by Tuesday night, we were able to plug in, know that everything worked properly, and start up the refrigerator & freezer so they’d be cold to add the food a week later. AMAZING! What a stroke of luck and great thinking on Mark’s part to reach out to Jim (and so generous of Jim to let us use his driveway and power!).
When it was time to relocate the RV from Mark’s sister’s to his cousin’s, we made it really interesting by stopping at the gas station to fill up and tank and put air in the tires. It’s amazing how such simple tasks become so stressful in a new, much larger vehicle! The gas station didn’t have a sign indicating clearance height, so we were watching closely to make sure we had enough room (we had plenty) to pull in. And, filling a 50-gallon gas tank is quite a joy, especially as gas prices are on the rise. $92 later, step one was complete. Then, over to the air pump. Hmmm, doesn’t reach all the way around to every tire. Okay, get one side done and we’ll worry about the other side later. Oh, and the valve stems are WAY too short, so stop at the auto parts store to get extenders so it’s actually possible to put air in the tires (we have six of them, by the way – four in the back, two in the front).