🎶”I’d rather be in some dark hollow where the sun don’t ever shine.  Then to be in some big city…“*🎶

It was a cold, damp weekend at the Home d’Pug RV this weekend.  Eager to get out of the big city we decided to not let the weather hold us back.  On Friday Rachel had the day off.  She took the opportunity to sleep a little later than normal (lucky girl).  By late morning she had the car packed, the pugs in their safe places within the car, and was on the road to the Poconos.

Meanwhile, I was in the salt mines working hard.  (Yes, I know, “Poor Jeff”)  After work, I headed up the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike.  An hour and a half later I joined Rachel and the grumble.  We were all so happy to be at Home d’Pug RV for the weekend.

Repair needed to be made

Since we bought the rig last July one of the nagging problems that needed to be fixed was the temperature and pressure relief valve on the hot water heater.  If it drips slightly you most likely need to replace the valve.  The temperature and pressure relief valve on our hot water heater did not drip.  Water poured out of it when the temperature and pressure increased.

Have you ever looked at the location of the temperature and pressure relief valve on the Suburban hot water heater?  There is not much room to work in there.  Also, not sure if I had the right tools for the job.  So we called in a professional to do the repair.  Cost a pretty penny to have a mobile RV repair person come to our site.   It was worth it in the time not spent and aggravation of having to break camp to take the rig to a local (relative term) repair shop.  Sit around while they did the repair.  Then come back and reestablish camp.  There are better ways to spend your time away from the salt mines.

Finding a mobile RV repair person was a little more difficult than one would have expected.  The managers of the KOA gave us a recommendation of a repair service.  Called them and left several voicemails.  Tried emailing them, no response.  Then I went to the great equalizer – Google’s search engine.  Found Trailside Mobile RV Service on Thursday afternoon.  Willing to wait for a time he would be able to schedule an appointment, Tim was gracious enough to squeeze us in on Saturday morning.   An hour later, the wallet lighter we had hot water for the first time.  Life was good.

Time to Relax

Saturday we ran a couple of errands, had breakfast and came back to Home d’Pug RV.  While the rain subsided we set up some plant pots around the site.  Added blocks to the base of our canopy to help stabilize it in the wind.  The rain started to pick up after we walked and feed the grumble.  The entire weekend the rain would stop and start.  We got a chance to start a campfire, share a bottle of wine and enjoy some of the nature around us.

Pump out time

RV tank gauges are notorious for not be accurate.  The tank indicators on our 89 Allegro don’t work at all.  Tried cleaning them.  Still nothing.  Not sure if it worth the time, effort and expense to put in new sensors or just let it go.  Time will tell.

As part of our seasonal rental, we get two pump outs a month as we do not have a sewer hookup on our site.  After doing the Sunday breakfast dishes we asked the office to schedule a pump out of the black and gray tanks before next weekend.

Lesson of week

Spent a good part of the balance of Sunday morning vacuuming under the sofa and dinette benches.  Looks like these areas have not been cleaned is a while (a long while).  I went to vacuum the bedroom area and noticed the carpet in front of the bed was wet.  First thought was that one of the pugs peed back there.  This was not the case.  We discovered the low point in the RV’s gray water system – the shower drain.

Evidently, the gray tank was filled past capacity and backed into the shower and out.  The good news is, the pugs were not in trouble and there was no new leak in the water system.

The lesson learned

When you think it is time to empty your black and gray tanks, it is too late.

The calendar now has a reminder to call for a pump out every other week and after a long weekend.

The takeaway from the weekend

Even if things go wrong.  🎶”I’d rather be in some dark hollow where the sun don’t ever shine.  Then to be in some big city …”*🎶

 

* Dark Hollow – written by Bill Browning • Copyright © Carlin America Inc, BMG Rights Management US, LLC