Camping: The first 24 hours

[Neal]

I'm 3 years into this and my first 24 hours of camping is always hell! Is this just me? I can return from camping a few weeks ago and my first day out is filled with chores, maintenance, re-organizing, putting things away that I "may" have bought in between trips, removing stuff, etc. This "house" sure seems to have a high dynamic situation of change with each trip. You'd think you could just get on board and go and then setup and say ahhh. Nope. Today was replacing a leaking black tank gate valve, oh joy (o-rings replaced), replaced wipers, moved tupperware from under dinette to hopefully a better location so I can get to them without low crawling under the dinette table, and various other odds and ends. Is this normal or just me? Okay, it's 24 hours now and I'm finally settled in. Ahhh.

 

[Just George]

Normal, hummmm not sure what that is. For me it's just the opposite. I almost always end our outing with a list of items to address. Sometimes I'll check a few off during some down time during our travels. Generally when we hit the road there are no known items to address. I typically have the coach at the house and fully set up for a few days prior to our travels so that provides an opportunity to for a final "pre flight" & to make any final adjustments. When we return the coach gets a full cleaning inside & out & I work my way through my list. Once it's parked in storage, generally about a week after our return, it's ready to roll with the exception of loading our clothing & groceries.

 

[sheridany]

Happens on every trip it seems something breaks or doesn’t work. I used to get upset but I don’t anymore. It’s life and as long as I can use it and don’t have to cut my trip short great. One thing I have started doing is preventative maintenance on things in advance like changing wiper blades etc to avoid problems on the road. Slide motors fasteners, seals, annual on the oasis etc. I am probably going going to change out the oasis pump before it goes rather than wait for it to fail. I am probably spending $ that I don’t have to but that’s just me. The tank gate o rings have been added to my list. Thanks for that tip.

 

[MapNerd]

I have avoided all of this by never ending my first trip

 

[jmltech]

@Neal - Maybe it’s because your a tinkerer and subconsciously always looking for something that needs to be fixed If that's the case, I have a large“honey-do” list that needs to checked off!

 

[J&JD]

We are super lucky to be able to keep the coach at our home, but it is a tricky angle through a gate to get into the back corner of our yard. Unless we position it perfectly, we might not be able to open all the slides on both sides. With this in mind, we clean the coach the last day of our trip. It makes coming home less of a hassel too. Jerry is always tinkering with the coach, so we are all set for a trip except for food, and extra clothes if on a long journey. Judy D

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

We are also fortunate enough to be able to keep our coach at home. Since we live on two-plus acres and have an easy access, it makes life a lot easier. Hoping to build the "coach house" later this summer or fall to provide a fully covered storage area.

TJ

 

[J&JD]

Happens on every trip it seems something breaks or doesn’t work. I used to get upset but I don’t anymore. It’s life and as long as I can use it and don’t have to cut my trip short great. One thing I have started doing is preventative maintenance on things in advance like changing wiper blades etc to avoid problems on the road. Slide motors fasteners, seals, annual on the oasis etc. I am probably going going to change out the oasis pump before it goes rather than wait for it to fail. I am probably spending $ that I don’t have to but that’s just me. The tank gate o rings have been added to my list. Thanks for that tip.

Very smart to change the summer loop pump as I’ll just about guarantee you that it will go out sooner rather than later and at the most inopportune time. ? I left the other two old style pumps in place as we almost never use the Oasis to heat the coach as we have the fireplace, heated floors and heat pumps (in a pinch).