Dear Hubby agreed I plan our vacation trip and he would drive....I think I got the loosing end of the deal!
It's hard to try to get what everyone wants to do into an 8 day trip. So far we've decided to:
Day 1: Leave Central Florida arrive in Savannah, Ga.
Day 2: Enjoy Savannah
Day 3: Leave Savannah, Ga arrive in Asheville, NC.
Day 4: Enjoy Biltmore Estates & Asheville
Day 5: Leave Asheville, NC arrive at Stone Mountain, Ga.
Day 6: Enjoy Stone Mountain Park
Day 7: Leave Stone Mountain, Ga arrive at High Falls State Park, Ga.
Day 8: Enjoy High Falls State Park
Day 9: Leave High Falls State Park, Ga arrive Home in Florida
Girl M wants to ride a train, and we had planned on leaving Asheville, NC and head to Bryson City, NC to ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railway but the RV accommodations were pretty sketchy so my next thought was to stay near Cherokee, NC. but I just wasn't feeling it and I really didn't want Dear Hubby to have to drive mountain roads too much. Stone Mountain has a small train ride and we've never been there.
Currently we do not belong to any camping discount groups but I have yet to find it a problem. We do have AAA and a few campgrounds show discounts with it. We have joined Coach-Net. We knew having an older tow vehicle and camper we better have a little back-up. Dear Hubby is very mechanically savvy but what if it's too big for the side of the road fix.
Many RV parks don't take online reservations and you have to fill out a reservation request form online and they will call you. I did that for Savannah Oaks RV Park in Savannah, Ga and they called me about 9:30pm to make my reservations. Calling that late is odd. But I made my reservations and now I only have three more to go!
I prefer to camp at State Parks. I like the quietness and real camping feel. But I also have to have electric and water. We can make it a few days without sewer. I was able to make reservations for High Falls State Park, Ga online at www.reserveamerica.com. Easy reservation yet! Picked my days, picked the spot available, looked at the site pictures and paid! Done!
Now I'm browsing the world wide web for suggestions for the Asheville, NC area campground. I would like to be pretty close to the Biltmore Estates since we will be leaving our precious poochies for the day. I don't really want to cut the tour short just to make a long drive back to let the dogs out. I finally found a KOA that looked good. We've never stayed at a KOA before.
The Stone Mountain RV park reservations should be an easy call to book. Nope the hold on the phone was over 30+ minutes! I ended up finding online reservations while waiting on hold. Done!
Reservations done, now to pack up the camper!
Until next time.................
Bonnie
Monday, June 25, 2018
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Our First Adventure
Our first adventure out was pretty good. The trip to my Mom's took us about 2 hours since we didn't want to take the toll roads the entire way.
Kitchen/Dining Room
The drive over to my Mom's was a little nerve wracking, but the only thing that happened was two outside compartment doors came open, Girl M, jumped out and shut them and we were on our way again. The locks are seized so I'm ordering a few new ones.
Getting set up in my Mom's yard was a little crazy with so many helpers. The ground was very sloped and we ended up having to use long boards of wood to level the trailer. We've decided to order the Tri-Lynx Leveler system bundle from Amazon. Much lighter for me to help with and a smaller carrying area.
The first morning my Mom's husband came out and let us know that our hot water heater was watering his yard. It did it to Girl M & I at the house but we tried to show Dear Hubby and it didn't do it again. He ended up replacing the relief valve and we had hot water all weekend.
We really need to figure out the thermostat. We froze to death the first night then the second night was much better. We're thinking of just having a little digital thermometer near the thermostat so we know how cool it is in the camper.
For a good laugh: We were trying to figure out all the switches in the kitchen. There were two hot water switches and a switch we couldn't figure out. We read owner's manuals, browsed the internet, read a couple threads and finally I asked Dear Hubby to turn it off and the overhead lights in the kitchen turned off! We are geniuses! We did figure out that two hot water switches in the kitchen. One is for the LP and the other is electric.
The tow home was uneventful and our trip was great. We really love the layout of the camper and everything so far works and is in great condition. I joke with Dear Hubby that we got us a gold nugget here!
I am excited about our upcoming trip later this month.
Until next time..........
Bonnie
Kitchen/Dining Room
- I thought the LED bulbs were fine, Dear Hubby thought they were too dim.
- Refrigerator worked perfectly!
Bathroom
- Dear Hubby found the toilet had a sprayer. Fancy!
- Girl M wants paper towels in the bathroom
- New shower head fixture-Oxygentics-Ordered & installed by Girl M! (Removed & re-installed by Dear Hubby because it leaked like crazy!!)
Bedroom
- Mattress topper -4" Memory Gel -slept wonderfully!
- TV & mount-ordered (Arrived after we left for our trip)
Outside
- Replace exterior water inlet/outlet fixtures-ordered (replaced)
- Decide if we want to add antenna-Ordered & installed. We only received 5 channels but in Orlando we had 83 channels! It works!
- Surge protector 30Amp-Ordered & currently using!
Getting set up in my Mom's yard was a little crazy with so many helpers. The ground was very sloped and we ended up having to use long boards of wood to level the trailer. We've decided to order the Tri-Lynx Leveler system bundle from Amazon. Much lighter for me to help with and a smaller carrying area.
 |
| Tri-Lynx leveler bundle |
The first morning my Mom's husband came out and let us know that our hot water heater was watering his yard. It did it to Girl M & I at the house but we tried to show Dear Hubby and it didn't do it again. He ended up replacing the relief valve and we had hot water all weekend.
We really need to figure out the thermostat. We froze to death the first night then the second night was much better. We're thinking of just having a little digital thermometer near the thermostat so we know how cool it is in the camper.
For a good laugh: We were trying to figure out all the switches in the kitchen. There were two hot water switches and a switch we couldn't figure out. We read owner's manuals, browsed the internet, read a couple threads and finally I asked Dear Hubby to turn it off and the overhead lights in the kitchen turned off! We are geniuses! We did figure out that two hot water switches in the kitchen. One is for the LP and the other is electric.
The tow home was uneventful and our trip was great. We really love the layout of the camper and everything so far works and is in great condition. I joke with Dear Hubby that we got us a gold nugget here!
I am excited about our upcoming trip later this month.
Until next time..........
Bonnie
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Good News & Bad News
Good News & Bad News!
The good news is I found the shelves to the refrigerator in one of the cabinets! The bad news is the refrigerator quit working after a few days. What did we do before the internet? After reading many RV threads about refrigerator troubleshooting and watching YouTube videos we have two choices: Call a mobile RV repair service or try to fix it ourselves.
The refrigerator has no power on the inside control panel or interior light. After checking the inside fuses we worked our way outside. There is power at the outlet and after checking the fuses on the outside circuit panel we've come to the conclusion that it must be the circuit boards, either the inside display panel or outside circuit board. It was cheaper to buy both and replace than to just order one or the other. RV Refrigerator workings are quiet simple. They usually only have two problems, electrical or refrigerant. We eliminated our to electric and decided to replace both circuit boards ourselves.
We were more nervous replacing the circuit boards than we should have been. The inside replacement was very easy, just unplug and plug in and we were ready to to go to the outside circuit board. Now it's not for the faint at heart and we took photos of the bad circuit board hooked up so we would know where all the wires went but our picture taking skills were very lacking!
Once everything was hooked up we re-attached the battery and plugged the camper into shore power. The refrigerator display panel came on but the inside light still wasn't working and we got an error code. After reading through the very confusing installation book again, I found where the limit in and limit out needed a jumper wire installed. The wire was provided but we overlooked it. How did I miss this step? Once installed, the control panel came on no more error code and we are in the process of cooling down!
I cannot believe we fixed our own refrigerator! Thanks YouTube, internet and prayers!
Kitchen/Dining Room
The good news is I found the shelves to the refrigerator in one of the cabinets! The bad news is the refrigerator quit working after a few days. What did we do before the internet? After reading many RV threads about refrigerator troubleshooting and watching YouTube videos we have two choices: Call a mobile RV repair service or try to fix it ourselves.
The refrigerator has no power on the inside control panel or interior light. After checking the inside fuses we worked our way outside. There is power at the outlet and after checking the fuses on the outside circuit panel we've come to the conclusion that it must be the circuit boards, either the inside display panel or outside circuit board. It was cheaper to buy both and replace than to just order one or the other. RV Refrigerator workings are quiet simple. They usually only have two problems, electrical or refrigerant. We eliminated our to electric and decided to replace both circuit boards ourselves.
We were more nervous replacing the circuit boards than we should have been. The inside replacement was very easy, just unplug and plug in and we were ready to to go to the outside circuit board. Now it's not for the faint at heart and we took photos of the bad circuit board hooked up so we would know where all the wires went but our picture taking skills were very lacking!
Once everything was hooked up we re-attached the battery and plugged the camper into shore power. The refrigerator display panel came on but the inside light still wasn't working and we got an error code. After reading through the very confusing installation book again, I found where the limit in and limit out needed a jumper wire installed. The wire was provided but we overlooked it. How did I miss this step? Once installed, the control panel came on no more error code and we are in the process of cooling down!
I cannot believe we fixed our own refrigerator! Thanks YouTube, internet and prayers!
Kitchen/Dining Room
- Replace bulbs with LED's-ordered & installed (I bought this type since we don't need lighting all the way around, just directional. They are ok but I think they are cheap China made bulbs.
Refrigerator shelves (unless I find them stored somewhere)Now waiting to replace circuit boards.
Living/Entry/Girl M. Sleeping area
Rug-Done- TV
Repair below closet-fixed best we could, put the dog food/water in front of!Cover sofa/pillows-Simple fitted sheet to cover and re-stuffed the pillows.- Replace lampshade by sofa-No lampshade under $8, so I'm thinking to just replace the entire fixture with a $12.99 sconce from Ebay.-New light fixture ordered.
Bathroom
- New shower head fixture-Oxygentics-Ordered & installed by Girl M!
Bedroom
- Mattress topper -4" Memory Gel (I read that the Lucid 10" memory foam mattress is great, went to order it from Amazon.com then they were out of stock! Do I wait to see if it comes back in stock or just order the topper?) UGGGG! Nope, ordered the topper, it's great! We have a Queen short and the topper only came in queen, so Girl M & I got out our handy electric carving knife and made it fit!
- TV & mount-ordered
Outside
- Replace exterior water inlet/outlet fixtures-ordered
- Organize outside storage-Done
- New spare tire cover-Ordered & Girl M had me watch her install it!
- Re-paint hitch, bumper & frame and steps-Done
- Check out awning (previous owner never used it)-We unrolled the awning and it's in perfect condition!
- Decide if we want to add antenna-Ordered
- Water pressure regulator/90 degree elbow/filter-Done
- Surge protector 30Amp-Ordered
We're making progress on fixing this gal up. I'm excited about our upcoming weekend trip to my Mother's house.
Decisions need to be made about where to stay and what to do on our upcoming vacation week. Dear Hubby wants to go to the mountains and Girl M wants to ride a train. Ok then! Dear Hubby said I make all the reservations and he'll drive! I think I got the wrong end of the deal!
Until next time............
Bonnie
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Jayco Eagle 5th Wheel...The Begining!
Our first adventure with our "NEW" to us camper will be next weekend! It's just a little trial run to my Mother's. Travel distance is about an hour away and if there are any major problems we can always stay with her.
Our list for repair/replace in the camper is pretty simple. Just minor things and things to make it more home like. After KonMari my home a few years ago I now realize how little I need in the camper. I'm going to try to keep it simple and also bring things I use from home.
Kitchen/Dining Room
Our list for repair/replace in the camper is pretty simple. Just minor things and things to make it more home like. After KonMari my home a few years ago I now realize how little I need in the camper. I'm going to try to keep it simple and also bring things I use from home.
Kitchen/Dining Room
- Replace bulbs with LED's
- Refrigerator shelves (unless I find them stored somewhere)
Living/Entry/Girl M. Sleeping area
- Rug
- TV
- Repair below closet
- Cover sofa/pillows
- Replace lampshade by sofa
Bathroom
- New shower head fixture-Oxygentics
Bedroom
- Mattress topper -4" Memory Gel
- TV & mount
Outside
- Replace exterior water inlet/outlet fixtures
- Organize outside storage
- New spare tire cover
- Re-paint hitch, bumper & frame
- Check out awning (previous owner never used it)-We unrolled the awning and it's in perfect condition!
- Decide if we want to add antenna
- Water pressure regulator/90 degree elbow/filter
- Surge protector 30Amp
After getting our new camper home we realized how good of condition it's in. All the window coverings are original & in great condition. We found the original matching bedcover & pillow shams. (We will never use but that's cool!) and we also found all the owner's manuals and bill of sale from the original owner. Wow!
Wish us luck!
Bonnie
Wish us luck!
Bonnie
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