Jan. 10: (Picture Lake Campground) Having turned the heat down to 55F, we awoke to a chilly but still heated RV. Not a problem though – since we do not need propane while on the road, we turned up the heat and got comfortable for breakfast.
Preparing to move is quite an operation – pack everything up securely inside the RV, retract the slide out, raise the balancing jacks, put the bikes and kayaks on the car, attach the car to the tow hitch and RV lights, attach the towing brake and finally detach the car battery.
Once we had completed all this, we discovered that the person who fills the propane tanks was not available, so we headed off to Richmond and filled up en route (at which point we discovered that both our propane gauges are very pessimistic and we had over a 1/4 tank left).
We are now camped at Picture Lake Campground, between Richmond and Petersburgh, an area rich in colonial and Civil War history. The area is fairly suburban but our campsite has a nice view to the west over little Picture Lake.
Jan. 11: With temperatures overnight above freezing and quite a lot of rain, we woke up to find much of the snow was gone (or slush). As the temperatures sky-rocketed into the 50s we decided to fill the fresh water tank. Since our first attempt led to water pouring out almost as fast as it went in, this required dismantling our bed (the pump and valves are under the frame) and calling the dealership. After tightening the valves, we were able to fill the tank, sterilize it, empty and refill. Turning on the hot water went smoothly and we are now left with only one conundrum – the process pretty much filled our “grey water” tank which holds the output from the sinks and shower. And our sewer hose is too short to connect to the outlet provided. We will deal with this if the need arises – otherwise we can dump the tank at the dump station as we leave.
The rest of the day was a work day. I have a very nice flip-down desk in the cab of the RV.
As you can see, I have a nice view towards lake as well as a view behind the RV via the rear view mirror. OK, you cannot really see this, but the lake is beyond the white swing set and is in my view when seated. (The white material in front of the desk is the windshield sun screen.)
Chuck works at the dinette. This arrangement lets me have my back to the TV which is over the dinette, so I can work while Chuck is watching sports. The internet has been pretty good at all of our campsites so far, but if it is not we have our phone wifi hotspot as backup.
The heater which is sitting beside Chuck’s computer moves as needed. It was so warm today that we turned off both the electric and propane heaters.
RV campsites seem to cater to 3 types of RVers: transients (or travellers) like us, vacationers who park their RV for months at a time and use it like a vacation home and “permanent” residents who live in their RV often while working at relatively short-term jobs such as construction.
The latter two groups often have fairly elaborate set-ups with wooden porches, fenced gardens and even sheds. I am not sure I understand the economics of this compared to renting an apartment – the site rental is certainly cheaper and includes electricity, sewers and internet but not heat. But there is an upfront cost to purchasing an RV which is relatively high.
The pictures here are of a single RV with a built-on porch, two sheds and a very elaborate garden (with a nice Xmas display).
We try to make a point of chatting with someone every day. Sometimes this is just RV logistics – that is how we learned that winter RVers use their fresh water tanks to preserve their plumbing (from a Floridian heading to the snow with his extended family of 6). The laundry room is a great place to start a conversation, as everyone is stuck there for at least a few minutes loading the machines or folding the clean clothes.