 A driver waved us down on the freeway and pointed to our fifth wheel tires. At the same time, our truck displayed a message reading, “Trailer brake disconnected.” Heeding the warnings, we pulled off to the side and got out. Smoke emanated from the front driver-side trailer tire. As Bob approached, he saw flames. “Fire!” he yelled. I ran to unlock the RV door and grab the fire extinguisher. By the time I got to Bob, he had already pulled out the gallon of water we carry in the truck and poured it over the flaming wheel bearings, resulting in a lot of steam. “More water!” Bob shouted over the traffic noise. I dashed to the truck and snatched some water bottles to put into his hands. Then I bolted back to the trailer door and snagged what was left of our case of water bottles, about 20. As I handed Bob one after another, he poured them over the hot bearings in an effort to cool them off. Determining Our Next Move That mission accomplished, we assessed the situation. The front driver-side tire bowed out on the top, making the fifth wheel undrivable. Should we call Coach-Net, our roadside assistance provider? we wondered. What would they do? They couldn’t tow our rig in that condition. We decided we needed to remove the bowed tire from our RV. Bob lay on the asphalt and jacked up the fifth wheel. I stood by watching passing cars and semis, trying to coax drivers to move to the next lane. Fortunately, this happened near where the third lane ended and vehicles had to move over anyway. You don’t realize how fast traffic is moving until you’re stopped on the side of the road. A word of caution, drivers: If you ever see a stalled vehicle on the highway and can safely move to the next lane, please do so. It can make a world of difference to the people in an already difficult situation.  Getting to Safety Bob succeeded in removing the tire and the wheel hub, which was also leaning out. Without the hub or wheel bearings, putting on the spare tire was out of the question. But with the weight of the driver’s side of the rig on the remaining tire, Bob couldn’t get the bottle jack out from under the trailer axle. We quickly dislodged the factory-installed jack from under the passenger seat of the truck. That gave Bob the extra lift he needed to remove the other jack. Whew! Again, we weighed our options. We were about 2 miles from the next exit. Could we nurse the 18,000-pound fifth wheel along on only three tires to get it to a safer area? We decided to take the chance and crept down the emergency lane with our flashers on. I jumped out every few minutes to remove broken tire pieces that lay in our path. About 1.5 hours after our ordeal started, we succeeded in getting off the interstate and onto a nice flat dirt area about 20 feet from a two-lane road, where we could evaluate the damage. Bob discovered that, in the fiery heat, the washer on the spindle had melted to the outer raceway. He called his mechanic buddy Roy to chat through our options and came to the conclusion that we needed a new axle.  Saying Goodbye to Our Home A state trooper showed up. Bob asked him about leaving the trailer, possibly overnight, so we could go to the Phoenix metropolitan area to get parts. We were about an hour outside of Mesa, Arizona, our destination for the birth of our first grandbaby. The trooper informed us we were on an Indian reservation and advised us to contact the reservation authorities. With an OK to leave the trailer overnight on this Friday, we disconnected it from the truck, got it as level as we could, and grabbed some clothes and toiletries. Then we said goodbye to Tagalong, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him mostly in one piece.  I drove so Bob could call around for an axle. Our search led us to Cliff’s Welding, which has specialized in hitches, tow bars, trailer hitches, and RV accessories since 1964. We headed straight there, explained our situation, and discovered the shop could get an axle for our rig by Monday. (Another place we called had said it would take two to four weeks.) Finding a Fix The catch with Cliff’s was that it wouldn’t be an EasyLube axle, like the one in need of replacing. Because of that, we really needed to replace the second axle as well. Since Bob has never liked the EasyLube functionality, we decided to go for it. But Cliff’s wouldn’t go to our trailer. We had to get the trailer to the shop. One of the workers told us he had towed a number of trailers, even overweight ones, on three tires from the same area where we had left our fifth wheel. We asked how he did it and learned he ratcheted the bum axle to the frame to give it higher clearance and drove back roads at 35 to 40 mph. Based on his recommendation, we elected to attempt to move the RV on our own, waiting until later in the day so there’d be less traffic. Our son DJ went down with us in his truck to follow behind and keep an eye on the trailer. About three hours after we left Mesa to retrieve our home, we returned, thankful to have it off the reservation and in the same vicinity as us.  Counting Our Blessings Cliff’s offered to let us stay in our rig in the shop’s parking lot over the weekend. But because of the Arizona heat (yes, even in September) and the RV’s leaning to the damaged side, we opted to stay with family in the area instead. We thank God for keeping us safe. His angels were definitely watching over us. The incident happened close to our destination, family, and resources. Our home could have gone up in flames. Instead, we were able to get it to the best place it could have been for the work that needed to be done to it. We were blessed with a bed to sleep in (thanks, Mike and Susan!) and had everything we needed. We’re especially grateful to the driver who got our attention and alerted us to the situation in the first place. Thank you, sir, for your kindness. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life. 
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 A day off work midweek gave us a rare opportunity to travel outside of our normal weekend relocations. We packed our rig, connected it to Gulliver, and set out for higher elevation so we could boondock in cooler temperatures, oblivious to the series of unusual travel day events that was about to begin. During our pre-travel walkaround, I noticed a missing screw in the trailer’s skirting. Although seemingly a small thing, it warranted fixing before hitting the road. Otherwise, the notorious winds of the South Dakota prairie could cause it to flap so much that it would crack. We unloaded items from the bed of the truck so that Bob could get to his tools. He found what he needed and replaced the screw. Damage averted. Power Deficit A few hours into our trip, we encountered another issue, this time with the truck. As the flatlands of the Mount Rushmore State transitioned to the Black Hills, Gulliver seemed to have trouble climbing. Normally, his turbos kick in, enabling us to maintain our speed and pass other vehicles on ascents — even when towing. Bob had the gas pedal floored, but the speedometer kept dropping. Although we didn’t slow more than the RV in front of us, this was unusual behavior for Gulliver. Knowing the issue could be the activator that switches between the exhaust brake and the turbos, we flipped off the exhaust brake and said a prayer. About 15 minutes later, the turbos started acting properly again. We thanked God and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing a climb up a dirt road awaited us before we could reach our chosen destination. The turbos fluctuated some more but then continued working, and we made it. After ascending the hill, however, I found the truck’s tailgate down while Bob was parking our rig. It seemed the washboard dirt road had caused so much vibration that it knocked one side of our tailgate off its pin. We’re not sure when the tailgate came dislodged but, thankfully, it didn’t cause any damage to the trailer during turning. Time Trials We were able to set up without incident, although we did notice a fresh layer of dust on our furniture, another result of traveling on the dirt road. I glanced at the clock inside our rig. It registered an hour later than the time on my watch. When did the time change? I wondered. We thought all of South Dakota fell under the Central time zone. A quick Google search revealed a split down the middle of the state, leaving the Eastern portion on Central time and the Western part on Mountain time. Good to know.
As we retired for the night, I set the alarm on my phone for 6 a.m. as I had to work the next morning. When the alarm sounded, I didn’t want to get up, despite sleeping for more than eight hours — or so I thought. I dragged myself out of bed even though the sun hadn’t risen and checked the news on my phone. Wanting to research a location, I opened Google Maps and was surprised to see my picture, indicating my whereabouts, in Michigan. My image quickly moved to the correct location and, as it did, the time adjusted on my phone. Because my device thought I was in Michigan on Eastern time, my alarm had actually sounded at 4 a.m. local time. No wonder I felt so tired. I went back to bed and woke up nearly two hours later, pleased to find the sun also ascending. You might also like The Key to RV Success.  As we traverse this great country, we often find ourselves in the path of storms. We endured wind storms in New Mexico, a close-call lightning strike in Georgia, and tornado warnings in Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. When you live in an RV, like we do, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather so that you can be ready to take action if needed. Because of our experiences, we feel pretty prepared for unexpected situations, but they’re still not fun — or convenient. Here are some measures we take to batten down the RV hatches and be storm ready. Closing Slideouts and Awnings When we leave our rig for any period of time, we make a point to close our awnings. We’d hate for a gust to pick up one of our two shade coverings while we’re away and yank it off. Wind can also wreak havoc on our slideout toppers. Not all RVs come with these. We had them installed when we bought our rig to protect the slideouts from sun and heat and to prevent accidentally introducing debris on top of the slideouts to the inside of the trailer. These toppers are lightweight, making them easily flappable in wind. If we’re likely to get hit by a severe storm at night, we might close our slideouts before going to bed to avoid being awakened by the toppers slapping against the RV. If we’re not sure the storm will bring heavy winds, we’ll take measures to clear the paths of our four slideouts before bed so that we can close them quickly and easily should we need to. This includes moving items, such as my office chair, out of the way so that we can simply press a button without thinking and close the office slideout.  Getting Out of Potential Harm’s Way We don’t have to get the rig tow-ready when anticipating a storm … unless we know something the magnitude of a hurricane is heading our direction. Then we’d be wise to pack up completely, hook up Gulliver to Tagalong, and get out of harm’s way. With that type of storm, we should have enough notice to be able to do all that. Thankfully, we haven’t had to encounter anything like that … yet. Strong winds have the potential to destroy parts of the trailer, or blow debris into or onto it. In the tornado warnings we experienced, for example, we made a point to seek shelter away from RVs, knowing they were the biggest threat. Because weather can change quickly, we’re also careful not to park in low spots that can be subject to flooding. This is especially important since our truck is not four-wheel drive.  Riding Out the Storm
Sometimes the best course of action is to hunker down and let the inclement weather pass. Not all storms produce heavy gusts or threaten destruction. Thunder can be difficult to sleep through, for example, but it’s usually short-lived. Rain doesn’t cause much damage unless we’re moving in rainy weather. Then water can get inside our rig around the wheel wells. Hail can be destructive, but Tagalong sustained hailstones measuring about 1.5 inches that left no marks. The hail didn’t even harm our solar panels. Wherever we find ourselves, we try to keep a level head, be aware of our surroundings, and have a game plan in mind should a sudden storm arise. You might also like The Logistics of Full-Time RVing.  Bob finished upgrading our RV’s power, and we left our rig for three weeks to go on our annual bomber tour with the Commemorative Air Force, hopeful that the efforts we had made to rewire our fifth wheel were successful. It never dawned on us that we might not be able to open our RV slideouts upon our return. Stuck Closed The weather warmed in Michigan, where we left Gulliver and Tagalong at my brother’s, but we had left the air conditioning off to save on unnecessary power consumption. It didn’t make a lot of sense to cool the trailer with nobody spending any time in it. We did keep it plugged into shore power to run our refrigerator, and that was about it. We took comfort in knowing that Bob could monitor our RV’s power remotely while we were away. About one week into our three-week excursion, Bob noticed a low level on our trailer power. “What could be wrong?” we wondered. A check of the weather confirmed my brother’s farm had been subjected to thunderstorms. That could have caused a neighborhood power outage. My brother verified a temporary power outage had been restored. So he went to investigate the electrical connections for our rig and quickly discovered the problem: It appeared an animal of some sort had stepped on the cord and managed to disconnect it in the process.  Steve reconnected the power cords and fixed the issue — or so we thought. Wanting validation that our refrigerator was indeed running, we asked him to open our dining room slideout so that he could get into the kitchen. After holding down the slideout rocker switch for a full minute, nothing happened. The slideout wouldn’t budge. Since we’d had difficulty with that particular extension opening in the past, we suggested Steve expand the bedroom one. That didn’t move either.  Troubleshooting Steve confirmed that shore power was on to the trailer and that the batteries were charged. He asked if there was a breaker box he could check. Unfortunately, the breaker box also required opening that one slideout to get to it. He plugged his electrical tester into an outlet he could access and found that the trailer did indeed have AC power inside. The lights turned on inside the rig, proving that it also had DC power.  Bob guided Steve through trying to open the slideout using the onboard digital control panel, which we’ve found success with in the past. It still wouldn’t budge.  Completely stumped, and unable to do anything about the situation, we asked Steve to see if he could hear the refrigerator running from outside the rig. He could, and he verified that our propane was still working. We had left the fridge on the electric/propane setting so that it would run off electricity if available and switch to propane if not. We rested easier knowing the refrigerator was working properly and went on with our bomber tour, pushing thoughts about not being able to open our slideouts to the backs of our minds. Finding a Solution At the end of our tour, we returned to Steve’s house, opened the door to our RV and, sure enough, the slideouts wouldn’t expand. Bob tried using an app on his phone to no avail. Unsure what to do, he tried one more option: He turned the battery disconnect off and then back on. After that, we were able to open the slideouts as usual.  It seems either the animal issue with the power cords or the outage caused a problem with the slideout controller. As with a computer (Bob was an IT guy most of his career), when something goes wrong, restarting it should be one of the first troubleshooting steps.
Thankfully, the power upgrade turned out to be a success. We have no power issues whatsoever and are able to operate both air conditioners, the refrigerator, and the microwave all at the same time — even when not plugged into 50 amps. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life.  Our Jayco fifth wheel came with a charger converter — a device that converts shore power to DC power for use by the trailer’s battery-operated devices, such as the roof vent and fan, lights, and water pump. It also charges the batteries, if needed, when connected to shore power. Before we set out on our first RV adventure, we replaced the factory charger converter with one compatible with lithium iron phosphate batteries — another upgrade we had done for greater power and reliability. Had we not updated the charger converter, the unit wouldn’t have been able to charge our batteries, as it was designed to work with standard lead acid batteries. Replacing the factory charger converter involved changing out the guts, or wires, at the power distribution center. This enabled us to operate our rig from the batteries alone for boondocking ease. The converter allowed our essential appliances and normal household outlets to work off the batteries. That came in especially handy during our summer in Alaska. Powering Up In our fifth year of RV travel, we decided to head east. With limited boondocking options in that region due to less forest and Bureau of Land Management land, we took advantage of more moochdocking opportunities — and quickly learned that not all moochdocking power setups are the same. (We already knew this, but it became more obvious in the hot, humid months of June and July.) When we found ourselves driven out of the RV in Massachusetts, we decided the time had come to combine our trailer’s power charging, converting, and inverting functions into a single device. That would allow us to take advantage of solar power, shore power, and battery capacity all at the same time. Preparing for the New Unit Before Bob could install the new system to manage all of our RV’s power, he had to rig up three battery trays that would allow our batteries to securely lay on their sides. This enabled him to lower the shelf above the batteries, a necessity to ensure the new unit, which would rest there, would have ample air and space around it.  He also installed a fan in the RV compartment door, triggered by an electronic thermostat, to release heat produced by the batteries and power system. Most importantly, Bob had to secure everything in place for travel. We couldn’t have anything bouncing around, which could create a fire hazard. The new unit needed complete power control, including up to 50 amps of shore power. To make it work, Bob had to install a high-tech 50-amp circuit breaker. He also upgraded our three DC battery buses from something that could handle 150 amps to 500 amps. And he installed fuses for the DC system — two 300-amp DC fuses.  Rewiring an RV The bulk of the project, however, involved completely rewiring our rig to connect our power cord (for shore power) to the distribution box (charging station) to the new power system. Previously, shore power ran from the rear of the trailer to the distribution center in the middle of the coach. With the new system, we needed to run new six-gauge cable (⅓-inch thick) from the distribution center to the new unit in the front of the rig and then also run wires from the new unit back to the distribution center, like an artery and a vein from and to the heart.  Bob and I had to feed two sets of red and black wires through two 25-foot flexible conduits. He pushed, and I pulled until we got the wires through. In reality, that was the easy part. The more complicated part was running those two conduits through Tagalong’s belly. The heavy cords proved bulky and awkward, yet somehow we managed to weave them into place. Bob drilled holes in two different locations to feed the conduits through, securing the tubes as he went to keep them from moving around in transit.  With the job complete, we’re able to run one of our 30-amp air conditioners, our refrigerator, and our microwave all at the same time when plugged into a standard household outlet. And Bob can easily monitor our power usage from his phone.
You might also like 7 Best Boondocking Hacks.  Having traversed this great country as full-time RVers for about five years, we had heard about a gas station/store chain called Buc-ee’s but had never visited one. We just hadn’t happened upon a store on any of our journeys east, where most of them are located at the time of this writing (although they’re expanding west). That changed on a trip from Virginia to Charleston, South Carolina, for a cruise with friends Jim and Jenny, sans Tagalong. Our I-95 route passed right by a Buc-ee’s, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. What an experience! Fascinating Attraction As we pulled into the Buc-ee’s in Florence, South Carolina, myriad gas pumps (120) stretched across the property, attracting loads of people. With Tagalong temporarily out of the picture, we had no trouble weaving through the throngs of vehicles to make our way to a diesel fuel pump. That would have been much more challenging, but still doable, if we had been towing. Despite the mammoth size of Buc-ee’s locations, the chain doesn’t allow truckers to take advantage of its offerings. Jenny and I climbed out of Gulliver to work our way to the store. Our jaws dropped as our eyes scanned the massive amount of fuel pumps, cars, and people. The Buc-ee’s beaver mascot graced pool noodles and other merchandise lining the way to the door of the store, where visitors stood eating various delectables they had acquired inside. Nothing could have prepared us for what we’d find as we entered. The expanse of the 53,000-square-foot store took our breath away. We were at a loss for where to look, inundated by the noise of customers talking and cash registers ringing, and forced to navigate the labyrinth of humans and product displays.  On a mission, we dashed around hordes of people to get in the long and quickly growing line for the women’s restroom, afraid we might not make it to a stall in time. To our pleasant surprise, the line moved almost as rapidly as it grew. Buc-ee’s employs restroom attendants to point people to empty stalls for efficiency. Thanks to those attendants, the chain has also earned a reputation for having the country’s cleanest restrooms, according to Cintas. Plentiful Offerings With our bladders empty, we moved on to more important matters: filling our bellies. Bob and Jim joined us, and before we knew it, Bob and I had lost Jim and Jenny. We continued on, undeterred, to explore the seemingly countless hot food options: burritos, tacos, BBQ sandwiches, sausage on a stick, hot dogs, Buc-ee’s chips, and much more. We even found a beef jerky counter and a wall dedicated to prepackaged jerky.  Bob wanted to get a T-shirt, so we wormed our way to the clothing and merchandise area, where a plethora of T-shirt options, blankets, shoes, stuffed animals, and a whole lot more filled shelves practically up to the ceiling. Bob snagged a shirt he liked, and we headed back to the food.  By this point, the din of the many visitors and the explosive variety of goods and food choices overwhelmed my senses. I just wanted to hurry and get my food and get out.
After setting on a BBQ sandwich for Bob and a sausage on a stick for me, we maneuvered to the convenience store part of the establishment in search of a drink. We made our selections, and a nice young gal rang up our purchases, confirming that our experience was normal every day for her. We exited the building, thankful for relief from the cacophony, and stood outside to ingest our food while watching others enter the store to start their Buc-ee’s experiences. Monumental Destination Despite the overload to the senses, Buc-ee’s does a lot of things right. Unlike most of the truck stops we’ve visited across the country, Buc-ee’s has much cleaner restrooms and much better food options, both hot and healthy. For those reasons, we’d consider stopping again. Buc-ee’s also holds a couple of world records: one for the world’s largest convenience store, at 75,593 square feet in Luling, Texas, and one for the world’s longest car wash, at 225 feet in Katy, Texas. We recommend checking out Buc-ee’s for yourself if you ever get the chance. If you find it too overwhelming, you never have to go back again. But with the myriad food and product options, the fast-moving lines to the restrooms, and the numerous fuel pumps, you just might get in and out of it faster than you would at another stop. Buc-ee’s is sure to be an experience you won’t likely soon forget. You might also like What It’s Like to Stay in a Truck Stop at an RV.  “Try not to make too many ruts,” my brother said before we pulled forward onto his property in Michigan. Not wanting to repeat our experience of having to be towed, we had called him the day before to check on the wetness of the land. Steve assured us we’d be able to park in his farm yard. “That thing is heavy,” were the next words out of his mouth as he assessed the damage left by Tagalong’s weight sinking into the soft ground, a result of 4 inches of rain the week before and ½ inch that morning. Bob spun our 18,000-pound trailer around so he could back it into position, carving 6-inch deep ruts in the process. I guess you could say we made a mark with our RV. As Bob stepped on the gas pedal to back into place, our heavy rig moved only slightly before Gulliver’s dually tires spun out, gouging even deeper ruts. Gulliver couldn’t push Tagalong out of the deep-seated grooves in reverse. Driving in forward instead likely would have been a different story.  A Sticky Situation In bare feet (his norm), Steve ran over to get his Jeep. For the third time in our five years of full-time RV living, we had gotten Gulliver and Tagalong stuck. Only this time, we didn’t have to rely on a commercial tow truck or the goodness of fellow campers — and four-wheel drive likely wouldn’t have prevented this sticky situation. Although we didn’t pick up tire chains like tow truck driver Cody had advised after rescuing us from Jim and Jenny’s front yard nearly two months earlier, we were prepared with a sturdy tow strap, and Steve was prepared with a Jeep. Bob connected the strap to the back of Tagalong, and Steve attached it to the front of his Jeep.  This time as Bob attempted to back up, Steve helped pull Gulliver and Tagalong out of the ruts they’d created and farther back in the yard. But we didn’t get fully into position before stopping … and getting stuck again. Steve repositioned his Jeep, and he and Bob doubled the strap to shorten the connection between the two vehicles. We were running out of yard space. The trailer wouldn’t budge. Unable to move our big rig back any farther, we considered our location good and separated the Jeep from the trailer. I stacked two boards in front of Tagalong’s driver-side tires, and Bob drove forward to pull the trailer onto them and make it level side to side. Then we ran through our normal checklist to disconnect Tagalong from Gulliver and set up camp.  Piece of Paradise
We’re enjoying farm living in Michigan, eating fresh produce, listening to the natural sounds of cows lowing, birds singing, roosters crowing, farmers plowing, mowers humming, and children playing. Cool breezes refresh us, walks down the dirt road invigorate us, and hearty farm cooking makes us rub our bellies in delight — and fullness. Rural life has a lot of appeal. Each farm offers an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life where life is simpler and more serene. It can also be an incredible amount of work for those who choose to take advantage of its fertile soil and wide expanse. Our appreciation for those hard workers grows every time we find ourselves in a rural area, which is much more often than not. In our wake, we’re leaving Steve even more work to clean up our tracks — and a mess to meander when he mows. He has a plan to restore the surface of his yard. We hope carrying it out goes smoothly. You might also like The Benefits of Moochdocking.  Since 2017, Bob and I have volunteered to go on tour for two to three weeks every summer with the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona. Bob first went in 2016. It took him a year of inviting me to activities at the airbase when we lived in the Phoenix area before I finally agreed to become a member. I haven’t looked back since. We had planned to head east this year on our travels before we knew the B-25J Mitchell and B-17G Flying Fortress WWII bombers were going to do the same. As a result, we found ourselves in somewhat close proximity to them many times. In fact, we visited the tour stop in Ashland, Virginia, when we were in that state. Typically, we board a commercial airline to one of the warbird tour stops and then fly with the B-25 or both the B-25 and B-17 to the next couple of stops before flying home on an airliner. This year, we got a call from the airbase crew scheduler asking if we could help at a stop that wasn’t part of our scheduled tour segment. Since we were in the vicinity, we decided to pitch in. That meant delaying our trip from Massachusetts to Michigan to fit in a weeklong stay at a campground in Plattsburgh, New York. And that meant Gulliver got to go on his first warbird tour. Historical Significance Plattsburgh is only about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The Plattsburgh International Airport, situated on the shore of the 435-square-mile Lake Champlain, was once the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. It still features the buildings and tower that hearken back to its military days in the 1950s, during the Cold War. But the airfield’s history doesn’t start there. The airport is actually known as “the longest active military installation in the U.S.,” dating back to the Revolutionary War, with involvement in every American war thereafter until the airbase's closure in 1995. Designated as a base for Strategic Air Command, the airport’s runway spans 11,750 feet and stretches 200 feet wide. Its size made it an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle between 1981 and 2011. During WWII, the base served as home to B-47 Stratojet and FB-111 Aardvark bombers. So it made for an ideal stop on our warbird tour — other than the extra long runway. (The passengers didn’t mind, as it gave them a longer ride experience.) Call of Duty We arrived in Plattsburgh on a Sunday and watched the B-17 fly in the next day. While I worked, Bob spent most of the week wrenching on the B-17, which was due for its 100-hour inspection. Since he’s a certified A&P (airframe and powerplant), he needed to be there to sign off on the maintenance work. I was able to carve out a few hours during the week to help train two new ride coordinators on the flight system and proper procedures.  Gulliver transported us to and from the airport (about 3 miles from our campground), as well as to and from restaurants and the hotel where the rest of the crew stayed. He also helped shuttle crew members between locations and hauled tools and supplies from a hangar to the tour trailer after the maintenance was complete.  Gulliver was even on standby to tug the B-17 out of the hangar for its engine check but didn’t get called on. Instead, a tug did that job.  I took off Friday from work to help with the tour stop. Weekends on tour tend to be quite busy as passengers arrive for flight operations on both planes and purchase souvenirs from the tour trailers before we open for static tours on the ground. Then, people from the community show up to climb through the planes, take pictures, and buy mementos. The weekend in Plattsburgh was no different.
I helped as a ride coordinator and flight loadmaster, looking over passengers and engines during flights. Bob pitched in wherever needed. The B-25 arrived Friday afternoon as we were wrapping up flights on the B-17 for the day. After two full days on the airplane ramp, we packed up Tagalong and hooked him up to Gulliver. The next morning, we parked our rig at the fixed base of operations for the last day of flight ops for the tour stop. We stayed for a couple of hours before Gulliver whisked us away to our next destination, grateful for the part he played on the warbird tour. You might also like RV Living vs. Vacation.  Of the three main types of camping — hookups at a campground, boondocking off the grid, and moochdocking — the last has a lot of appeal, for a number of reasons. Let’s look at the benefits of moochdocking. What Is Moochdocking? Moochdocking is the term we use to refer to parking our rig on the property of family or friends. This can range anywhere from a driveway to a spacious farm. Although no two moochdocking setups are identical, they usually include some sort of electric hookup, a way to get water, and laundry facilities.  Some arrangements have beefier electric hookups than others. With a normal 15-amp circuit, we can run the essentials in our fifth wheel: lights, outlets, refrigerator, electric water heater — and charge our laptops and phones. And if we switch the refrigerator from electric to propane and turn off the electric water heater, we can use our microwave. With a 30-amp circuit, we can also run one of our two air conditioner units. Depending on the time of year, we may not need that option. With a 50-amp circuit, we can easily power everything inside our rig all at the same time, including both air conditioners, the microwave, refrigerator, electric water heater, vacuum, and more. Dedicated Time with Friends and Family One of our favorite aspects of moochdocking is the time it affords us to catch up with family and friends. By staying at the homes of loved ones, we get to enjoy meals with them, fun activities, reminiscing, and lots of laughter. Thanks to our affiliation with the Commemorative Air Force and our experience with Continental Singers and Orchestra (where we met), we know lots of people across the country. With those friends and our spread-out family members, we have someone to visit in nearly every state. Moochdocking offers us more frequent opportunities to see those loved ones than we’d get living in sticks and bricks. Cost Savings As you might imagine, mooching electricity and water from others helps the bank account. And by spending time with our hosts, we tend to take fewer trips in Gulliver during a stay, which saves on diesel costs. That’s not to say we take advantage of loved ones in this type of setup. Quite the contrary. We realize the blessing it is to spend time with and benefit from family and friends’ generosity and are quick to compensate where possible. That compensation can come in the form of cooking meals (something Bob loves to do and is really good at), helping with home projects, reimbursing toward an electric bill, or taking our hosts out for a fancy meal — or a combination of things. Longer Stays As a result of the cost savings and additional resources moochdocking offers, we’re often at liberty to stay in one location longer. By using hosts’ bathroom and kitchen facilities, our black and gray wastewater tanks don’t fill up as quickly as they otherwise would. This in itself provides a number of benefits. We have more time to help with projects, more time to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a long time, and more time to investigate the area. That’s how we were able to do quite a bit of exploring in Virginia, for example. It’s also why we were able to get a true Cajun experience in Louisiana.  Longer stays also give us opportunities to take care of needed maintenance and repairs on our rig. The key is not wearing out our welcome so that we can return for another visit.
Helping Others We’ve always enjoyed gaining and employing skills and experience by doing manual labor. With moochdocking and longer stays, we’re more readily available to pitch in on various projects, and we take joy in it. I once termed this “tradedocking” — working for a free place to stay. Not only does this help family and friends, but it also gives us memories together. We helped paint, renovate a bathroom, lay laminate flooring, upgrade computers and equipment, do construction projects, trim trees, and more. Sleeping in Our Own Bed One of the biggest benefits of moochdocking is being able to visit loved ones for a week or more and sleep in our own bed every night. As the saying goes, “There’s no place like home.” Likewise, there’s no place like our own bed for a good night’s rest. Moochdocking is a truly welcome experience. We’re thankful for our many friends and family scattered across the country, both those who have space for us and those who don’t. Being able to visit you all is a blessing we treasure. You might also like 4 Perks of Full-Time RV Living.  The weather warmed up in Virginia, indicating the time had come for us to move on. So, we headed north to Massachusetts, trading nearly 90-degree temperatures for pleasant 70s. After two beautiful days, a heat wave brought sweltering, unseasonable 90-degree temps, giving us an extremely warm welcome. Moochdocking at Bob’s brother Bill’s, we were plugged into a 15-amp circuit for electricity, which meant we couldn’t run air conditioning in our trailer. Operating even one of our two air conditioners requires 30 amps of power. We opened all of our windows and turned on our RV vent fan in the ceiling to help propel any hot air out. Despite our efforts, Tagalong couldn’t combat the area heat advisory that brought hot temperatures and high humidity with a heat index of up to 99. The thermostat in our bedroom peaked at 97 degrees. With sweat beading on our foreheads and pooling in our arm and knee pits, we were driven out of the RV. Thankfully, we were able to hang out in the air-conditioned house.  Unlike summers in Arizona, where even nighttime temperatures hover around 100 degrees, the air in Massachusetts cools as the sun fades, making it possible for us to sleep in our own bed. On the hottest day, our bedroom thermostat displayed a balmy 87 degrees at bedtime. With fans in front of our bedroom windows pulling in cool outdoor air and our ceiling vent fan moving out hot air, we were able to doze off. Hope on the Horizon The only way to run Tagalong’s air conditioners in low-powered conditions like we found ourselves in was to power up two generators, something we’d never used them for. Since we were parked between two houses in a small community, we thought we better not try that. We had been wanting to replace our power inverter for a while for one that would allow us to combine energy from shore power and our solar panels. Evicted from our rig, we decided to fork out the nearly $2,000 to purchase the unit. And to our surprise, we found it on sale for 40% off. That sealed the deal. Before the part arrived, Bob watched videos and researched how to install the unit. Equipped with that knowledge, he ordered some other parts for the installation. Delivery day came. We had ordered a 12-volt unit. We received a 48-volt one, not compatible with our battery setup. Bob called customer service after normal business hours. The out-of-country rep said he made a call to the warehouse and received confirmation that the correct unit was in stock and would be shipped to us — scheduled to arrive a whole week later. The delay risked our ability to install and benefit from the unit before departing Massachusetts. While we waited for the replacement, Bob prepped the trailer: changing our three lithium iron batteries to lay on their sides, lowering the shelf above them to allow more room for the larger unit, and changing wires and connectors to accommodate the higher power of the new unit. Anticipation
The replacement arrived a day early. Yay! Only it was the wrong unit … again, the same model we had received the first time. Bob quickly sent it back. Lacking confidence that Amazon could provide what we requested, he ordered the correct unit — for the same price — from a different vendor. With time running out and the Fourth of July holiday potentially affecting shipping, we had the unit sent to an upcoming destination to make sure we didn’t miss it. Bob continued ordering more parts and doing more prep work to make the installation go as smoothly as possible. Meanwhile, the heat wave ended, and cooler temperatures returned, allowing us to spend more time in the trailer. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life. |
AuthorThis is the travel blog of full-time RVers Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. Categories
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