The other day I wrote about the six major things I need to get done before I could comfortably move into the RV. Thanks to outrageously beautiful weather, two very good friends, a six pack of cheap beer, and the promise of Mexican food, we checked a good chunk of those off of the list yesterday.
First I want to say a huge thank you to my dear friend, Kayti McCormick and Eric Meyers. They spend the better part of 5 hours with me, taking time out of their days to come over and help me get things taken care of, keep me motivated, and help me with some very important decisions that desperately needed to be made. It's all well and good to write about my progress, and to make my to-do lists, and piddle away at the mountain of challenges ahead of me, but it's a whole other thing to have someone to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, to get ideas from, and to help me aim this crazy ambitious path.
Those six challenges ahead of me that I wrote about in my last entry were; getting the gas working properly, filling and testing the water tank, sealing the leaks in the roof, cleaning the bathroom, tuning up the engine, and installing the solar panels. Those six things are all that lie between me and moving in to the RV and beginning this wild adventure.
- We started with the Gas. The problem I had discovered was an open gas line behind the refrigerator, where the old fridge had been hooked to the gas source (yes, some refrigerators were cooled with propane). The plan was to deal with this by pulling the new fridge out, figuring out what I would need to cap the line, going to the hardware store, getting plumbers dupe and whatever else I would need, coming back to the RV, and capping the line. Luckily, none of that was needed. After freeing the refrigerator from it's place, and looking behind it, the problem was much simpler. The guilty line had an open/close valve on it. One turn of the wrist, and my propane problem was solved. We took the opportunity to clean the fridge anyway, since I had it turned up too high and had burst a bottle of beer by accidentally letting it freeze, and tested all of the propane appliances. Everything worked, except the heating furnaces that I couldn't figure out. If anything was going to not work, I'm happy that it was the appliance I can replace with an electric space heater.
- While we had the fridge out of it's spot, Kayti got to work cleaning it with her usual cleaning gusto (she didn't stop at the fridge either, my entire kitchen area is spotless). While she and Eric did that, I set about the task I was looking forward to least, cleaning the bathroom. With no running water in the RV as of yet, I made do with a bucket and several Magic Erasers, and the job ended up being a pretty easy one. Disgusting, but easy. The bathroom isn't what you would call spotless, and there's still a bit of work to be done in there (a new exhaust fan, and none of the light fixtures work so I'm settling for a battery powered touch light for now), but I could easily use the restroom, or even shower in my bathroom without feeling like I was touching someone else's butt hole.
- The RV, in truth, has three water tanks. One for usable fresh water, that is drawn up through the taps into the sinks, the shower, and the toilet, a Grey Water tank, where used water drains to from the sinks and shower, and the dreaded Black Tank, where the toilet drains to. During our cleaning, we tested two of those tanks, the Grey and the Black. Several gallons of water were dumped into both as we cleaned sinks and showers and the toilet. I am happy (ecstatic in the case of the Black tank) to report that neither has even the smallest leak. Only the fresh tank remains to be tested, but my hopes are high.
- We never actually got around to working on the roof. We ran out of daylight, and patience (waiting for Mexican food), but progress was made regardless. Sealant and scrapers were purchased, and thanks to the next few days being (chilly but) rain free, I will be able to get these minor leaks sealed tonight, as well as scraping clean my skylight, which is completely obscured by silicone roof sealant.
After this slew of work, and items marked off the check list, I only have the engine tune-up and the Solar Panels left of the major repairs. The Air Conditioners can wait till spring, and there's always things to fix and replace and improve, but the major work is almost done, which leads me to the biggest news to come out of yesterday.
I've decided, after much deliberation, consideration, chickening out and finding my nerve, that I'm going to be moving into the RV sooner rather than later. Sooner as in, as soon as the Solar Panels are installed. The solar panels I'm going to be ordering in just a couple weeks. We'd (the Tinderbox Circus Sideshow) been planning on taking the RV on it's first trial-run for a one-off show in the middle of November, and that plan stands, but I'm adding to it. The tune up will be this week, the solar panels will be a week or two afterwards, then the test-run, then if the test run goes well, I'll be moving into the RV, and using it as my full-time living space, no later than Thanksgiving.
Everything has happened so quickly, and is continuing to barrel along. Now we come to the fruition of all of the planning, the work, the donations, and the planing and the scheming. We're almost there.
-Z
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