Storage Time

This afternoon we took the Edge to its storage location along St. Route 131 between Buckwheat and Wolfpen. It's not the greatest place, way too close to the road for my liking but it will have to do, there are not a lot of open space near our house. I had a bit more of a challenge getting the RV backed into its little slot, but I eventually slotted it in. Next time should be smoother. I really hate leaving it there... ...it almost feels like "family" and I have abandoned it! We'll probably bring it home again next weekend, maybe try another local park.

We also found our lost FLIP Mino HD camera. I had packed it aboard the Edge then forgot. In the future we might have a couple of short YouTube video links.

Trip No. 1 is over!

Our first day of trailer camping went just fine. We got to our site at East Fork Lake, Site No. 56, and discovered that, at least for one day, I could park a trailer like a pro. We also discovered that we needed a few more accessories. We went back out and purchased four lawn chairs and a really nice 8’ x 15’ outside rug. It fits perfectly under our awning and the color scheme and design go perfectly with the Edge. We found out later that it hoses off clean as new. Best news… …it only weighs 12 lbs!

We took a little walk with the dogs, checking out potential future sites to consider when we come back again to East Fork Lake to camp.

Flash and Sparky were great. We leashed them to the picnic table at first but they soon discovered their range and we could give them a little off-leash time.

Alvalee, Dalton and Austin came to visit. Alvalee brought some fried chicken for dinner and assorted other goodies. Along with the food the big addition was a carload of well seasoned wood. We had a great bonfire, roasted some brats and marshmallows. Then we took a nice evening walk under the stars. Austin found Orion and Dalton a “pair of sunglasses” in the constellations. Our visitors headed for home around 11:00 PM. They all seemed to have a good time. I think Austin would have liked to stay. He said he’d camp with us again any time in the future.

Diane tried our shower out for the first time. The water gets hot very quickly, it’s easily adjusted, and not a problem getting a decent shower.

The weather was great. We had a major shower just miss us around noon and the cold front that brought it in set record lows for July. It’s mid-July, four days from the hottest day of the year, and we saw a high of 72 degrees and a low around 50. We didn’t need to use the air conditioner either night, and we didn’t need to turn on the heat. It was great sleeping weather.

We discovered that our little home bathroom TV could pick up a few stations with our antennae booster. The picture size was definitely too small to see from the bed. We watched the news before we snoozed.

Day one was a very relaxing, stress-free day.

Day two found us completing the complement of stuff we needed for the Edge. We got up early, Diane fixed breakfast, and I had my first shower in the trailer. It’s a little cramped but not too bad… …beats the heck out of the public shower rooms.

We went back to our house and picked up some more clothes (we hadn’t packed for two days.) We also stopped at a couple of stores and picked up some metal dinnerware, a 5 gallon container to refill the Edge’s water tank, and a new Samsung 19” TV! That purchase was pretty cool, but I only had it operational for a few minutes before I got a call from Paul and Kelly that they had just bought a 52” TV for their house. Now that is cool.

We drove all the way around the lake to the Bethel side and let the dogs run up the dam. They were amazing. Two beautiful border collies running like the wind on an open green hill.

After that we decided to drive down to the Ohio River to check out the Steamboat Bend Campground just below Woodland Mounds Park. There are some awesome site there, half of them right above the Ohio River. We only saw a couple of sites that appeared to be open on the river side. There were several internal sites. These sites have to be reserved for a minimum of a week and can be reserved for a full month or the whole camping season. Given the view, it’s probable that the river view sites aren’t open too often.

After that little side trip we came back to the trailer. Rain threatened all around us but we were spared. That was a good thing because it assured us we would have more company, and sure enough, Alvalee showed up… …this time with strawberry shortcake and a bottle of wine.

We took another walk under the stars, checked out the movie they were showing in campground D, and headed back to the camper. It was a little cold and our fire had burned down to the embers so we decided to enjoy the strawberry delight inside.

We hadn’t been inside too long when the dogs ran to the door, tails wagging like crazy. Look who showed up at our doorstep… ….IZZY!!! Paul and Kelly were right behind. They had been to a wedding and reception and then came to visit us. Unfortunately, they went to the east side of the lake and that got them to our trailer a little later than they expected, but it was great to have more visitors, especially ones with smores to roast. The fire was really burned down so Kelly made them in the microwave. Not a problem, still smorishly good.

Everyone pulled out around 11:00 PM. Kelly was going to worked at the Red’s game on Sunday and Alvalee had to keep working to earn her CEUs.

Sunday morning Diane hopped out of bed before 8:00 AM and I follow soon thereafter. We had everything ready to go and pulled out of East Fork by 9:30 AM. But first we got our first experience emptying the “refuse tanks” on the trailer. Maybe it was our lucky day, but everything went smoothly. Not as bad as I expected.

The short drive home was smooth and my second experience backing into our driveway went really good. We had the whole trailer emptied and cleaned in about an hour. Not too bad at all.

Mission accomplished. We feel like we have a really good handle on the basic operations of the trailer and can try a trip a little farther from home the next time. In the mean time, subdivision regulations prohibit us from leaving our Edge in the driveway for more than 10 days so tomorrow we will be towing it to our storage location on St. Route 131 in Day Heights. I’m not real happy with the site. It’s too close to the road and I worry that someone might throw something at the RV, but it will do until we can find a better place.

That’s all for Trip No. 1.

Pulling Out

OK, It's about 9:45 AM, on Friday, July 18th, 2009 and just a year short of my 60th birthday I'm pulling a TT (travel trailer) out of my driveway for the first time. The dogs are excited and I'm nervous. Hope to be posting when I return how easy it was. Wish us luck.

Getting Ready for Adventure No. 1

I know it's not too exciting, but our first trip will be to East Fork Lake, a whoppin' 25 miles or so from our house. It's a good thing since I have never pulled a trailer (except for bringing this one home) and I have a bunch of concerns/questions about the whole process.

The hitch doesn't seem to be the easiest thing in the world to release, backing the trailer is totally new to me, and then there's the power, water, sewage whole thing. Hmmmm, just how easy is this going to be?

We're taking Flash and Sparky, after all, they're one of the main reasons we got this mobile dog house. We're just going to stay one day to see how the "rig" works and head back to the abode on Saturday morning. Chris will be manning the fort until we get back.

Wish us well.