Today was a work day. Well, the work that is necessary to put away one of our conveyances. We had checked weather a couple days ahead - it was supposed to be cool and dry for getting the HitchHiker put away. We picked an RV park somewhat near our storage unit, based on the fact it has long paved sites... we thought this would be a good way to get the 5th wheel cleaned up (prefer to do that on a paved site) and ready to go in the storage unit.
What is that old saying about the best laid plans? Oh yeah: "What the hell were you thinking??"
Mother Nature greeted us today with a drizzle. OR, it may have been the air sweating because it is so damn humid! Goodness knows I was dripping wet while working outside. I tried wiping down the outside of the coach while tanks were flushing and draining... that wasn't possible with the drizzle. It did smear things up nicely.
The sites at the RV park are paved... and plenty long. No mention that they are the width of a Volkswagen Bug - the old ones, not the newer wide ones. Our tires were right at the edge of either side of the blacktop... so, I got to walk through the soggy grass. And to make it even more fun, they had mowed just before we pulled in, so I got to have all that chopped up grass sticking to my shoes.
I worked outside while Joan organized and packed up inside. We planned to move stuff from the coach to the truck once we were in the storage unit; it is long enough that we can get the back of the truck in there along with the HitchHiker.
Once at the storage unit, Joan swept it out...
I lined up the 5th wheel so we could move her in...
That red thing on the right side is the tonneau cover for the truck bed. Getting that on and off may be the most work when we switch from 5th wheel towing mode - it is heavy. And, you have to lift it up at truck bed height and line it up perfectly to keep the metal tabs that hold it in place from scratching the paint. It would be relatively easy with 4 young strong guys... it is more of a chore with one old guy and his much younger Blonde wife. We stored the tonneau cover in the storage unit while we were gone, so it has to come out before the 5th wheel goes in.
Joan is getting ready to raise the door to its full height while I back it in...
With the 5th wheel in, we removed the hitch from the truck bed (another very heavy item) and put the tonneau cover on the bed of the truck. Eight bolts hold it in place, and they have been conveniently placed so you have to twist yourself up like a pretzel to bolt it all up.
Once this work is all done, we can start the unloading. Damn, I am already tired. We filled up most of the truck bed and all of the back seat area of the cab. Then, a scant 38 miles to the house, and we get to unload all that same stuff. Yes, we have duplicates of most stuff that stay in the house, the boat, and the 5th wheel... but, when traveling in the winter, you wind up taking a couple seasons worth of clothes... and the VuQube and receiver... the pizza maker... my anvil collection. No, it just feels like it. Toiletries alone take a couple trips... I remember when we were young, we had a bar of soap and a toothbrush each. No, I don't miss those days, but we were able to travel a lot lighter.
We were able to put away most of the stuff before convincing each other that the stuff would still be there tomorrow... hopefully, all my aches and pains won't still be there. I am SO looking forward to the jacuzzi tub in the house.
There is a tread right now on the C-Brats about "Is it Time?" The topic is: when do you know it is time to give up boating? Heck, the boating is easy - it is all the moving in and out when you switch from the RV to the house to the boat that wears me out.
Yeah, I am thinking, "It is time... time for me to try to soak out some of these aches."
Home, sweet home.
No comments:
Post a Comment