Waterworks... and three lessons

Word to the wise -- RV living is not for the absent-minded.

One of the most important things about traveling in an RV is making sure all your loose items are stowed. This is a rule that must be followed, whether you stop for the week, or the night, or just a few hours. When you break this rule, you suffer the consequences.

This past Saturday, we had stopped at the home of our nephew and his family, after our slide-out ordeal. They were gracious to offer their very long and level driveway to us. Thank you, Joel & Beth!

The next day, after a wonderful visit with the family and with my brother and his wife, George & Bev, we took off back to our camp site for the week, Dakota Meadows (again). Mark was driving the RV, I was driving the car. Eventually, we'll have the car on the tow dolly, but not yet.

Upon arrival to the site, Mark notifies me that the coffee pot had fallen off the counter...and spilled water everywhere. And since we couldn't move things too well because the slide still has problems, we spent the next five minutes mopping up water behind and under boxes and furniture. I tried to blame this all on Mark (after all, he was the one driving), but the fault was equally mine for not looking around and noticing that nothing had been put away before hopping in the car and driving down the road. We are still stuck in "landlubber" mode.

Lesson number one:  Always - ALWAYS - do a walk around inside to make sure everything is stowed before moving out.

Once that was all put right, I proceeded to wash up the dishes, which I should have done before we drove away. But, nobody's perfect, right? So I'm washing and rinsing, and rinsing...and rinsing. And I'm just about done. I empty the wash water from the tub into the sink and I notice it's rather slow to drain. In the meantime, I look back toward the bedroom and I notice there's water pouring out of the the shower stall onto the floor! The grey tank was full! And there was no place else for the water to go. So out come more towels, and the tile floor (thankfully it's tile) gets mopped up.

We were connected to the sewer, but we hadn't opened up the grey tank to drain directly into it. Another side lesson learned-- we now leave the grey tank open to the sewer until the day before we're ready to leave the site. For non-RVers, there are two waste water tanks:  a "black" tank that holds toilet waste and a "grey" tank that holds the rest of the waste water (from laundry, shower & sinks). These tanks must be flushed when they begin to get full. First the black water is flushed, then the grey water is flushed, which helps clean out the hose. So it's important to make sure there is enough grey water built up to flush out the hose whenever the black tank is flushed. These tanks, as well as the fresh water tank, have sensors in them, and a panel on the wall allows you to monitor the tank levels. Unfortunately, if the tanks get too mucked up, the sensors don't work and the tank monitor is more or less useless. We are employing some tactics to clean out the tanks in hopes the sensors will become more accurate, but so far they are not.

Anyway, lesson number two for the week is:  I can't wash dishes the same way I used to. Water conservation is pretty much forced upon me in this kind of living arrangement. No doubt a good thing.

"Filter must be fully closed to avoid flooding"

So after barking at my poor frazzled husband with that notorious sharp tongue of mine, Mark went out and opened up the grey water to the sewer, and I proceeded to wash up all the towels we used to clean up the flooding. I remembered that I first needed to clean the lint filter in my washer, since I had done a few loads of clothes the week before, and it probably needed cleaning. Sure enough, I was right. I cleaned it out, screwed it back in, and started up the washer. Before I knew it, water was spewing from the filter all over the floor and under the washer...and behind the washer... and into the bedroom shelves, and drawers containing things made of paper (I have since moved the paper). I had failed to close the filter completely. After my initial dismay, I had to laugh. I'm convinced the good Lord allowed this to happen to teach me a lesson...

Lesson number three:  Nobody's perfect - especially me. And I need to take responsibility for my part and be more understanding and forgiving when others make mistakes. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Sunday night, as I laid my head down onto the pillow to rest my very weary body, a beautiful gentle rain began to fall. How apropos, I thought.