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| goworldtravel.com |
Story thanks to Laura Weaver and Passport America Newsblast. Link provided below:
Monday, October 14, 2013
When we decided to "motor home" it, we weren't quite sure what we were getting oursel ves into. Of course, the allure of traveling and the excitement of our adventures were prominent in our minds. However, we had never camped before and weren't quite sure of what to expect during our first extended road trip. In fact, we had a Plan B to fall back on just in case things didn't work out for us.
First and foremost, the thing you need to keep in mind when spending so much time in a motor home is the fact that you are sharing this experience, as well as the limited space, with your traveling companion. It is imperative that you are able to communicate, cooperate and consider this person.
Our morning routine is a "song and dance" of sorts: taking turns using the water, the facilities and the space. Our movements and habits need to be carefully choreographed to stay in sync with each other.
I carefully time turning on the water in the sink to put in my contact lenses while he lathers in the shower with the water off. He opens the medicine chest for his grooming items as I brush my teeth, leaning over the bathroom sink. He reaches up to get his clothing out of the overhead cupboards while I bend low, retrieving mine from the bottom ones. We have everything timed perfectly.
However, there have been times when things didn't run as smoothly — especially in the beginning when we were still learning how to communicate, cooperate and coordinate our actions. One particular event stands out in my mind (and probably always will). Just about everything that could possibly go wrong, did.
We had been on the road for several days before staying at a beautiful campground in upstate New York. Even though there were not many campers that night because of freezing weather conditions, we were all given sites in the same area, so were camping side-by-side.
My husband arose early, choosing to use the campground's heated shower/bathhouse in order to not disturb me and let me sleep a little longer. Besides, because it was literally freezing, our water supply source froze overnight, so he was waiting for the weather to heat up so we could use our own water. Unfortunately, the weather didn't heat up quickly enough.
When I awoke, I decided to bathe in our own shower because our little dog badly needed a bath, and it's easier for me to bathe her in our shower at the same time I'm bathing. I flipped the water pump switch on so I could use our reserve tank, as well as the water heater switch. My husband informed me that we needed to dump after my shower because our tanks were pretty full, and we weren't certain we'd be at a campground that had the sewer hook-up at our next stop.
As I finish bathing our little dog, I noticed water not going down the shower drain, covering my ankles. I called to my husband to 1) grab a towel and start drying off our wet dog, and 2) release a little of the gray water into the sewer drain because the gray water tank was too full, and I still needed to bathe.
Since my husband didn't answer me, I stepped outside the shower stall, grabbed a towel for the dog and walked into the living area, dripping wet. To my surprise, my husband had opened all of our shades and blinds , including the drapes that cover our windshield.
Then I saw him, animatedly talking with our neighbor. He happened to look up into our motor home via the windshield — as did our neighbor. Imagine my humiliation as our neighbor started to wave to me, realized I was totally naked and then pretended he didn't see me. Yikes!
Needless to say, my husband quickly came to my rescue, apologizing profusely and promising to never open the window coverings again without my knowledge. As he went outside to take care of our overflowing gray tank, I hopped back into the shower only to run out of water — our freshwater tank was empty.
I trekked to the shower house, literally shaking from the cold, to complete my shower. Realizing I left the water heater turned on in the motor home without any water, I raced back as quickly as I could. Luckily, no damage there was done, although I was surprised considering the way the morning had gone so far.
After this disastrous event, my husband and I had our "talk." It was from this mishap that we set up the three C's: communication, cooperation, and consideration. Motor home living has been smooth sailing ever since.
Laura Weaver is a freelance writer who travels extensively with her husband and dog in an RV. She enjoys writing about a number of subjects, including her RV travels. Believing everyone has a story to share, she especially enjoys writing about true life experiences.
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