Thanks for asking. First night out in the new compact motorhome... we're all finding what works for us. I don't think anyone got much sleep last night. New bed, different bedding, different noises.
At home, we have a Sleep Number bed - it measures a bunch of different things, including restful sleep, tossing, if you got up and for how long... and then it gives you a "sleep score" on a phone app. "Oh, look, I got an 88 (out of 100) for my sleep score." There is nothing like that in the Roadtrek... it has a lot of techie stuff in it that we're still learning how to use, but the beds are dumb... they are just a bed. If I were going to give a "sleep score" for myself, it would be... 4. Out of 100. Joan was thinking hers would be a 5. Murphy said his was "7, maybe 8." So, we may all need a nap today.
On the bright side, the Truma furnace was the last of our main systems to be tested, and it works fine... it got down into the 40s last night, and the furnace did its job when we turned it on. So, we have heat, air conditioning, hot water, TV (cable and antenna), and the "smart" lithium batteries and inverter. Fridge and freezer work; microwave works (it's only 700 watts).
Unfortunately, our Keurig coffee maker decided to plug up, and we have no vinegar to run through it. Joan needs her morning coffee, and I need my morning hot chocolate. The campground has a coffee bar in their office, but they don't open until 8:00 and we were up at 6:00.
Murphy got fed on schedule this, but he didn't eat. His routine is off, too. The most important thing for him first thing in the morning is being able to look outside. At home, we leave the shade on the patio door up enough that he can see out, at any time. In the Aspect, Joan would raise the shade on her side of the bed and Murph could sit on the night stand to look out. There are no night stands in this compact Roadtrek. Lots of windows, but no easy "cat perch." So he spent the early morning hours (real early) going window to window... and crying.
We need to formulate some systems: how to convert from 2-couch sitting mode to 2-bed sleeping mode. There are power outlets all around the coach, but very few horizontal surfaces to put our devices for charging. We'll get it figured out; time and practice. Open space is snug, so when you move something, you have to plan ahead for where it will go so it doesn't block something else.
The main sitting/gathering place in the Aspect, and also in Wild Blue, was the 4-place dinette. There is no dinette in the Roadtrek, but there is a Lagun table that rotates and moves (can be attached in the back or in the front), but it is snug for 2 people.
We'll get it figured out. The Roadtrek is nice; and compact is what we were looking for. Murphy will adjust, too. Now we just need to get some coffee. ;-)
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I forgot to mention this in last night's post: we gassed up the Roadtrek before getting to the campground: almost 18 miles per gallon, and that was a lot of uphill driving. That's more than double what we usually got with the Aspect.
2 comments:
Everyone will settle down and learn the new routines. Murphy needs a window to look out, however. Can he maybe get up on the dash and look out the windshield (assuming you don't have curtains pulled)? You need to make allowances. It's all about the cat....
It has been a long time since we went to the Grand Canyon. Many years ago I had some work in Palm Springs / Indian Wells, and that gave us a room and rental car for the weekend. Alice flew down on Friday and we went to the North Rim - my first time. It was November, and talk about lucky! We got a cabin there, but it did snow on us a little that night.
About a dozen years ago we visited the in-laws up in Flagstaff. They had a park model at Muntz Park to escape the Sun City heat once they stopped RV'ing, so we flew the Cardinal down to meet them. I got the specific sectional charts and we flew across the Grand Canyon -- very complex airspace and designated corridors, but great views (at least for the co-pilot who wasn't so busy flying). It reminded me of Denali airspace on a busy clear day for both traffic and complexity. We learned a LOT about density altitude on that trip. For all our Alaska flying, DA was a concept but not very meaningful. Not so in AZ.
Hi Earl - you are right: Murphy gets to bring toys, his blanket, and even a collapsible tunnel (that goes across the entire floor of the van in front of the driver and passenger seats; when we're down for the night). And, of course, his litter box. It is always about the cat... pretty sure we bought that first motorhome decades ago so Smoke the cat (our first feline family member) could travel with us. We did try to bring her once in the airplane - it wasn't pretty.
I have flown over the Grand Canyon a couple times years ago - it was breathtaking! The typical non-pilot doesn't understand density altitude... or service ceiling. Flying west from South Dakota, whether to Las Vegas, Tucson, or into Jackson, Wyoming, you have quite a climb-out to plan for. Our last two planes had turbos... but, you can't turbocharge the wings (lift) and weight. Good times.
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