OOPS!

They say things happen in threes.  Or fours.  Fives?

We’ve had very smooth sailing until now.  This stop has made up for that, but we’re still laughing and smiling.

We stayed at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania.  The campground is about 50 years old according to the campground host.  Back then the trailers were not as big as they are now, and some of the corners are very tight.

“They want us to fit into THAT space?”

The road to our site was very narrow, making maneuvering difficult. The site was very short. But with a fair amount of backing and forwarding we were able to get the trailer into position and the truck off the road.

“Ummm, Honey?  I can’t find the water spigot.”

Look at the reservation slip… oops!  This is an electric-only site.  Good thing we have large tanks for “ins” and “outs.”  But we don’t travel with the fresh water tank full because of the weight it would add, so… Ask another camper where the water access is.  Hitch the trailer back up to the truck, and drive to the water.  Fill up.  Now get into our spot again. (Did a better job positioning the trailer this time!)

Since we plan to “boondock” (camp with no hookups at all) for a good portion of the winter, we look at this “opportunity” to use only the water we’re carrying as good practice.

Still smiling.

We start to open the slides that turn our narrow trailer into a much more spacious (400 sq. ft.) living area.

“SCREECH!!!”

What the…?  Haven’t heard THAT before.

A small rug that we use at the sink hadn’t been put away, and is now under the slide, between a roller and success.  It is about 18 inches inside a ½” slot.  Our fingers aren’t that small, nor long.  Cannibalize the metal handle of a fly swatter to form a dual-hooked gadget with which to snag the rug and pull it out.

We spent three days and 4 nights here visiting the Gettysburg National Military Park.  We’ll write that up in a post soon.

Time to leave, and it rained overnight. We squeegee the rain off the slides, so it doesn’t end up inside the trailer.  Wait.  Why is that slide topper (like an awning over the slide, to keep leaves, etc. off the top of the slide) about 10 inches too far back?  Why is that end cap missing?  Why is that other end cap broken?

We have the first damage to the trailer.  Did we mention that the campground was too small for our rig?  We apparently clipped a tree at some point without feeling it. Two inches closer and we would have met the tree with the body of the trailer resulting in much worse damage.  So… disappointed that we have damage to fix, but we’re glad it wasn’t worse.

Finally (we hope!) as we return to the truck from a rest stop we notice…

The tailgate is DOWN!  Oh shoot!

We lost a few small items from the bed.  Apparently one of us had accidentally pressed the tailgate release on our fob at some point.

Phew!

We’re ready for a few problem-free weeks of travel now.  We deserve it!

10 thoughts on “OOPS!”

  1. Whoops…oops…and uh oh.
    Oh well…stuff happens and I think all in all you two are doing mighty well.
    You earned a few weeks of smooth sailing!

    Xox

  2. I see your “random thoughts” about availability of recycling and agree 110%. Bill and I spend a lot of time figuring out potential locally available recycling and failing that bring loads of recycling home after camping trips and rallies. I don’t know what I’d do in your circumstances. In general I wish campgrounds (and campers!) would be a lot greener. Sorry for your bumps but they are definitely learning opportunities and we all have them 😜

    1. Yes, it’s disappointing, D’Nise. In our last campground, they actually had a huge dumpster for SINGLE STREAM recycling. We were shocked. We’ve decided that we’re going to carry a large tote in our truck and keep our recycling there until we find a place to recycle. We also volunteered to take on the recycling at next year’s rally. With 800 people in attendance, I’m hesitant to even estimate how much recyclable materials went into the waste stream. Sad.

      1. So all of our recyling is commingled or single stream. Look up single stream recycling MRF on YouTube and there are some great videos. I’ve been on many tours of our local MRF and it is pretty awe-inspiring.

        I want to hear all the details about your 800 person rally recycling project when you get them figured out. Bill and I attend a week long 120 person rally each Spring and we had already made up our mind the do the same thing this coming year. Of course ours is much smaller and only 220 miles from home. And the best we are expecting to do is keep actual recyclables out of the trash. Not sure how much change we can effect on all the disposables used, but we’ll keep trying 🙂

    2. We found that in the few short weeks we RV’d as well! Even on a trip to a family wedding in O R last year, via plane, we were surprised and appalled at the lack of recycling! Who would have guessed that little NH/New England was so much further ahead in recycling!

  3. You two are bringing back lots of memories of our Van Gogh trips/adventures. I’m sure you’re learning that it seems to require constant awareness of what you’re doing especially when stopping for the day or lunch and again when leaving. We decided to create a checklist to be sure we covered all the bases. (Except for that time we pulled out of Albuquerque and were still plugged in. LOL!)

  4. We have enjoyed all of your emails. This one just confirms that travelling with a trailer of that size is just not for us.

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