A descriptive look at traveling and full-timing with our second RV, a fifth wheel toyhauler.
Laura and Sasha started this adventure in April of 2005
for a two week vacation in a truck camper.
The Road Trip of 2009! Laura & Sasha's Excellent Adventure
The Next Adventure Begins!
Norm & Lou - Not Moving to Post Falls, ID
Just Enjoying Good Hospitality at Norm & Lou's House
October 31st, Saturday - Happy Halloween Everyone! Finally meeting Norm and check out our new rig! We got to Norm's just in time to go to the Senior's Dinner. Very nice dinner at the Senior's Center. It seems there are a bunch of people who come here from California to retire. This area is geared for seniors, with a nice community to boot.
November 1st, Sunday - Made the deal - Our Truck Camper and Trailer for Norm's Fifth Wheel Toyhauler! Wanted to get everything out first which is a bunch of stuff, then switching over stuff into new rig, I am sure I will need some new things, thankfully there is a Walmart here.
We actually have quite a few pictures for Sunday so scroll down to see. We went to Coeur D'Alene Lake with Lou and Norm. This is a HUGE lake in Idaho.
November 2nd, Monday - Happy Birthday to Brenden Lawrence and Mary Beth Dunn Wilson! Well, today Sasha called up the Rails people to confirm the appointment and they stated that the rails that were ordered were the wrong ones. Major confusion on their part, which means there will not be an appointment tomorrow. They also stated that the part - if we are lucky, will come in on Friday, not so lucky, Monday. As we will see, we were not lucky as far as the rails are concerned, but lucky in other areas.
So instead of getting depressed about the time spent here, Sasha showed Norm how to empty the black tank of the truck camper, I had gotten everything out of the truck camper beforehand.
Norm's RV Park!
November 3rd, Tuesday - Bad News, the rails are not put on the truck :( But we showed Norm how to get the camper off of the truck. We backed up the truck so that it was perpendicular to his garage, and got the camper off of the truck. There was enough room so that he and Lou could still get into the back to check the systems including the refrigerator (it was taking a while to defrost). We also winterized the truck camper.
As you can see, we got ourselves here an RV park - the truck camper and trailer on one side, the toyhauler on the other.
Norm is getting to understand how to move the jacks after we
got the truck camper off of the truck.
Although this picture is not the best, the sun is coming in at the wrong angle, I think of it another way, that the sun is shining on this great deal, that all is right with the world.
Now we should try to get everything out of the trailer....That will be even more stuff but it can be done. I got Sasha to get his Motorcycle out of the trailer first so that I could get to the 6 crates that held most of the foodstuff.
Sasha went with Norm in our truck to the place that had the rails so that he could get familiar with the place and understand what went wrong. As long as he has a warm fuzzy about the place, then I do not feel so bad.
November 4th, Wednesday - I packed the main part of the rig - got things figured out as to where things should go. It was a little overwhelming at first - I mean, we had a 18 foot trailer filled to the gills with stuff - all organized and lots of stuff on the walls. Now, the toyhauler has plenty of room, but we can not put anything on the walls as there are no hooks. So what that means is we have to figure out a new system.
What I did was really look at the storage for the household stuff - we have a ton of foodstuff, medicines & toiletries, cleaning supplies, books, and that sort of thing. So what that meant was that instead of using crates in the garage area, I wanted to have it all accessible in either the kitchen area or in the bedroom. In order to do that, I utilized the space under the sink. It is HUGE! So why not use it. So stuff like our huge spaghetti pot, crockpot and large bowls went in there, plus our extra amounts of wheat and oatmeal.
We found we needed a few items, especially things like flannel sheets, a place for our toothbrushes and soap (because the wet bath of the camper - there were suction cups for the toothbrush holder and soap holder and now those would not work.) Plus we needed a few other things, like small boxes for extra stuff in our medicine cabinet.
We also needed a step stool - a total D'UH moment - sold our step stool when we had the house as it was not necessary in the truck camper and trailer. But how were we to know, right?
And again, Sasha found that he had forgotten his shaving mirror at the Batal's Utah house - he has now left his shaving mirror at each one of their houses. It is going to get harder and harder to find the exact one he got in Virginia.
We started sleeping in the toyhauler by Monday night, and found there is a bit of a draft. Sasha told me that this rig was built in California where they do not have it so cold, therefore the insulation is not as thick and the tanks are exposed to the elements. So what that means is that there are drafts where we sleep. So we are going to get a body pillow to put at the head of the bed to keep out the drafts. He also put in spray-in foam where there were gaps between the platform and the wall. So hopefully with the foam and the pillow, there will not be the draft.
November 5th, Thursday: Today we got everything put into the garage! So happy about that. It was overwhelming at first and really Sasha had to do it, as there were tons of tools and equipment that he needs to be able to get. We also have to figure that most of the under compartments are going to be used by the batteries for the solar panels, so we can not use them for storage. That being said, I felt that everything that was in our trailer could be put in the toyhauler. We just had to figure out where everything should go.
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November 6th, Friday - more bad news the rails will not be coming until Monday mid-morning :( So Serious Shopping day. I think the guys went to at least 8 (eight!) stores looking for this bulb for one of our lights. I went to about three different thrift stores looking for a variety of items. The first I found in the first thrift shop - a body pillow. Perfect!
We also needed small containers for the medicine cabinet - wow, it has been a while since we have had a large medicine cabinet. You do not know what your missing until you get it again and find it useful.
But most of the stuff we needed to get came from Walmart. I tried to find some linens at the thrift stores but it was hard going in. Sasha first stated that he did not feel comfortable with "used" linens - but you wash them and then who cares? But could not find what we wanted which was flannel. I am sure many people are keeping their flannels for their own homes and not giving away as much stuff to the thrift stores. So Walmart we go. There was a set (I really just wanted a bottom sheet and two pillowcases, but they are always sold in sets - what is up with that?) there, $15. But how good could the flannel be for the set - probably pretty thin. So we did not get it there.
But we got some really good stuff that we needed at Walmart. I know there are those that hate Walmart with a passion, but it has served us well, as a place to stay and to get food stuff when necessary. Our refrigerator did not come with the little lips (well, that's what I call them) that sort of hold the food in. So instead, we needed refrigerator holders, they work like shower rod only they are smaller for a refrigerator. We got a couple so that we could also use them for our books and along some of the shelves.
We also got new paper towel and plastic bag holders. Now I know some of my environmental friends are saying - stop with the plastic bags - but we use these for garbage. So please tell me what I should use instead for garbage. I have yet to find a solution for that. We can recycle all we want, but there will still be the occasional garbage to be had. We also got a new garbage can for the bathroom - the rig is so big (HAHA) that we need two garbage cans. I am amazed. And to think, in our house we had quite a few more garbage cans. I guess we also had more garbage.
We also found new toothbrush and soap holders in Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. Yikes, they were expensive - but they are metal, not plastic, and they look nice for the bath. Like I had stated before, the last holders could stick to the walls of the bath, but these walls are not like that, nor do they have wallpaper; it is kind of hard to explain, but they are washable, just not stickable (yes, I know that is not a word, but it sounds good!)
At BB&B, you would think they would have sheets individually, but again No Such Luck. Where in the world did I see individual sheets sold? I know I have seen it before, but I guess it has been a while. So they had a set of flannel sheets that I THOUGHT cost $30 - double what Walmart was but softy-lofty, so I thought OK. BUT, it turns out that they were $50! Yikes again! NO WAY was I paying $50 for some sheets! Of course I found this out after I paid. OK, I have another beef with stores like that - they never show the price when they are ringing up your purchases (like you see at a grocery store) - why is that? So when it got to the end of the sale, you are slammed with the total. I looked, gasped, and said no way. Got right back in line and returned the item. When she asked why I returned it, I said it was too expensive. I do not care how many threads are in a pack of sheets, that is just crazed.
We went into TJMaxx - one of my Aunt's & Mom's favorite stores, and found these unbelievably soft, plush sheet set. Now, these sheets were $40 - not so different a price from the $50 at BB&B BUT I did not feel as though the top sheet was really a sheet, more like a blanket! So in the end, and because we were sick of shopping, I got this Soft MicroPlush sheet set. We slept on it that night, and it was like sleeping on a cloud. Worth every penny.
We also got Sasha a jacket at TJMaxx - now this jacket, it is a pile jacket with a pocket. He was always eyeballing my blue pile jacket because it had a pocket and he wanted that so desperately. But first, we could never find a men's jacket with a pocket, and second, if we could it would not fit. But finally, finally, one was found, in a place that we were SO not wanting to go into as we were wiped from shopping. A two year search ended in a TJMaxx. Hopefully Aunt Tina will read this, and I can finally thank her for putting into my mind shopping at that store is a good thing. Cause in this case it truly was.
November 7th, Saturday - Sasha splendid spaghetti
More stores and counting. While Sasha and Norm went into a grocery store to get the fixings for his awesome sauce, there was a NAPA store across the street. They still had not found a bulb for the ceiling lamp in the camper, so I went over there to see if they had this extremely specialized (NOT) bulb. So this is interesting; I had to walk all the way around the outside of the store - chose the wrong way around (don't you just hate that - 3/4 the way around and the door is on the fourth wall, well I needed the exercise, so it is ok.) So anyway, I walk in (but first I am thinking, this has got to be the biggest NAPA store ever, the outside is so big), and there are two counters - not too many shelves or displays...(and I am again thinking to myself - where is all the stuff that they supposedly sell - I hardly see anything and this is a BIG store) so I walk up to one of the employees. I say, I'd like the RV bulb 1056 and he puts it into his computer. He states, yes we have 5 of those...I say, I'll take all five. One of the quickest transactions I have ever done. Very guy oriented. No browsing needed. In, Out, Done!
Sasha made his great sauce while we played a couple of rounds of Spite and Malice, a card game that Norm and Lou taught me how to play. I love playing card games, well, I like a lot of different games, but card games, definitely. I don't bet, but love the strategy of a good game.
November 8th, Sunday - Sunday buffet, and then a winery
Norm took us to the Old Country Buffet for brunch (although it turned into lunch). Yesterday, Sasha had put the diesel cans that we own onto Craigslist, and this morning he got a call asking if they were still available. How is that for FAST? Seems there was a guy in Seattle who had a worker in Spokane (where we were headed!) and he had the cash for the buy! So we met this guy at the Old Country Buffet before we had breakfast. It was quite sweet! Gotta love the internet sometimes.
After brunch, we went for a little drive to a winery. Arbor Crest Winery was doing its holiday crates sale (did not know but had a feeling when there was a guard at the front gate and lots of cars in the parking lot.) There were a lot of people doing tastings, so we took a walk first. It seems that they tastings had been done in the historical buildings before, but they had built a more modern building, so that changed. You could still see and walk around the grounds and they were pretty cool. Unfortunately, we did not take our camera, so no pictures.
November 9th, Monday - Glorious day! The rails came in, and Sasha booked it over to the shop to get them installed. It took about 3 hours, then we hooked up the truck to the camper (about an hour to do, not bad for newbies who have not a clue). We then got the word that the tire company wanted us there at 7 AM TUESDAY! Yikes! We made sure we had everything put away, locked and loaded for travel. So here are some pictures of the interior of the toyhauler.
Lou made a fabulous dinner of shrimp tempura and Norm, Lou and I played one last hand of Spite and Malice, then watched Dancing with the Stars while Sasha tied down the garage stuff.
November 10th, Tuesday: we got up at 6:30 but it took a while to get the electrical cord (50 amps is a huge and heavy cord) plugged into the generator plug and pushed into the extremely small space. Norm came out and helped us out once again. It was perfect timing even though we were late, we got to say goodbye to him one last time.
We got to the tire place relatively quickly considering we were going slow. We did not want to jar anything if at all possible. It will take a little while to figure this rig out, how to get it tightened up, as well as making sure the kitchen, bedroom and bath are tightened up as well. It will take some time, but it will happen.
Check out Taking a Stroll through Oregon,
fleeing the snow on the way to Springfield, Oregon for solar
panels for the truck.
Check out the month, November for what we were doing and expenses of November - that will be a doozy!