RV Issues or Just Lessons?

Since we got Lucky, we have learned a lot. If you want to read about the adventure of simply getting our RV home, be sure to check out our previous post, 3–4 Feet.

As you know, Lucky has not exactly been easy since day one. I like to think of everything that "goes wrong" as just another lesson for Krissy and me to learn before we hit the road full-time and no longer have easy access to service centers and people around to help us fix things. I'm not entirely sure Krissy sees it the same way, but I think she'll come around eventually.

What has been different this time is that, despite every issue we've faced, Lucky still feels like home. We keep moving forward. We even hung artwork on the walls this past weekend.

Just a little reminder: when we drove Lucky home, one of the tires was flat. The people who installed the spare didn't tighten it enough, and the spare flew off, destroying both the tire and the wheel. Since then, we've had plenty of adventures involving tire pressure and replacing the shredded spare.

We learned that the original wheel is no longer made. We ordered a replacement, only to discover it wouldn't work. The second wheel required a welder to modify it by creating the hole we needed. Then we bought six new tires and a tire pressure monitoring system. We've learned what tire pressures are appropriate at different temperatures and altitudes. We even had longer valve stems installed on the inner rear tires so they would actually be accessible for checking and filling.

Over a month ago, we took Lucky on its maiden voyage. While getting ready to leave, one of the slides refused to move. We learned how to reset the slide motor and get it working again. Thank you, Sage (our ChatGPT)! Sage has been incredibly helpful in learning, fixing, and caring for Lucky. I think Sage and Lucky might actually be best friends.

Unfortunately, not much happened on that first trip because the wind was stronger than Lucky was willing to tolerate. We learned a few things about the heater and levelers before heading home early.

The true learning experience started three weeks ago when we decided to take five dogs on a long weekend camping trip.

You would think the five dogs would be the hard part.

Instead, in a hot campground filled with millions of mayflies, the air conditioner stopped working and we couldn't get the water connection to stop spraying all over the bathroom. We tried everything we could think of, including consulting Sage, but nothing worked.

Of course, our RV guy at Redneck RV fixed both problems in less than fifteen minutes.

The AC motor had simply fallen out of place. Apparently, this happens all the time. The bathroom leak was caused by hoses that needed tightening. Unfortunately, I had been tightening the wrong one.

Everything was fixed, and we were ready to go again.

Since then, Krissy has been working incredibly hard on Lucky. We now have an awesome backup camera, a new stereo, tinted windows, a new faucet, and an RV-specific navigation system. I packed all the correct clothing, food, and other accoutrements.

Last Wednesday, before a fun weekend trip to Pinewood Campground, I decided I wanted to help.

As it turns out, I'm a good helper... but not always a good reader.

I was filling Lucky with water for the first time and accidentally connected the hose to the tank flush instead of the tank fill. This filled the black tank completely and eventually backed up into the toilet until it overflowed.

Poor Krissy had to take Lucky to the dump station because I had to go to work. Eeek!

For some reason, the gray tank emptied, but nothing came out of the black tank. Then, of course, the battery died, and we couldn't even check the tank levels. It must be empty, right?

Wrong.

Cue a new battery, registration appointments, four trips to the DMV, and three trips to the weigh station because apparently nothing can ever be simple.  Randomly, it was very heavy?!?

Snacks packed. Ready for fun!

After recovering a SnapPad that had rubbed off on a bump recovered by an amazing friend and then put back on, and thanks to Krissy's impressive parking skills, we settled into a beautiful campsite.

Half a day later, the toilet wouldn't flush.

We checked the levels.

The black tank was full.

We unplugged everything, brought in the slides, un-leveled the RV, moved everything out of the way, and Lucky headed thirty minutes down the road to the nearest dump station.

Thankfully, no one else was there because we spent over forty-five minutes trying to figure it out.

We opened the "black tank" valve.

Nothing.

We opened the "black tank" valve and the mysterious extra valve on the opposite side of the RV.

Still nothing.

The gray tank drained just fine.

We flushed every way we knew how. I even sacrificed a s'mores stick trying to unclog things.

Sage was stumped.

Redneck RV was stumped.

Nothing.

Then Krissy had the brilliant idea to crawl underneath the RV to see whether the valve was actually opening.

That's when we discovered the hidden valve.

The valve we thought controlled the black tank? It was actually for the washer drain.

The real black tank valve was tucked away behind the others.

Krissy pulled the hidden valve and—voilà!—everything emptied exactly as it should.

Talk about a lesson we'll never forget.

The rest of the trip was amazing. With every challenge, we're learning more about Lucky and becoming more confident that we'll be ready for our future adventures.

So, what do you think?

Would you be able to handle the ups and downs of RV life? Are these issues... or simply learning sessions?

Learn something from everything,

Anne