April Showers…..oh my!

Well it’s Saturday morning and it’s 4 degrees (40 f) with a continuous cold rain! I know the saying April showers bring May flowers but a little warmer shower would be appreciated. Just having my morning coffee with just a splash of Baileys and looking out the windshield at the bare trees, remembering all the buds from Tennessee, thinking we are at least four weeks behind that point in spring, when everything has sprung into life.

We had a great day visiting with Laurie’s family yesterday, a wonderful turkey dinner, great discussion, tales of their rough winter, plans for the summer, and catching up on work and family. The addition of a new pup, kept the afternoon very entertaining (who doesn’t love a puppy), and with a few minor puncture wounds later, all is good with everyone’s busy summer planned, throw a large piece of carrot cake (Laurie’s favourite) and a cup of tea, and we headed off to the coach with some packages and a bag containing five months worth of mail.

So with full hook ups for over a day the solar only brought in 17 amp/hrs, so to explain why we still brought in that much, simply the solar controller is a much better charger than the inverter. That 17 amp/ hours is the difference between 97% and 100% charged, the other reason is that the solar controller also trickle charges the chassis batteries after the coach batteries are in a float charge state. The benefits of solar goes way beyond just boon-docking in the desert.

We are going to talk about stupid today….I have put this urge off for a few days but as you know I’m not real good dealing with stupid. This will be a multipoint attack on trying to overcome a epidemic that seem to be totally out of control. Over the 18 plus months that we have been on the road I have seen a lot of stupid, but in the last few days it has come to light again. Rest reassured that no one is more against rules than I’m but in an effort to protect the rest of us it is time.

In my world you would not be allowed to drive your RV on the road until you know how to drive it, and as bad a many seem moving forward it’s when reversing is required that so many jump to the top of the stupid list, so every one needs to be able to back into a camp site with ease, as with colouring that means staying inside the lines or in the RV case staying on the designated driving areas! Seriously I have watched so many people that can not complete the most basic driving skills it is amazing and remember in my world….drive through camp sites were invented for the stupid people, now I understand that some set ups can not be backed up, most vehicles towed four wheels down or on a dolly. But all trailers fifth wheel or tag along can be backed up, and if you own one you need to be able to back it up and I mean if you can’t back it up the length of a couple of football ball fields without pulling ahead to correct your progress, you need to learn how. Campgrounds are often small and tight so learn how to back up!

We reserved a site at this park just to be called a few days later and be told that site was unavailable because someone had destroyed it! Seriously as you can see this idiot had actually almost been totally across this site, how do you do that, oh yaa your stupid! My expectations are not real high, but when you realize your in trouble just stop and walk away, call a friend, ask for help, but at least quit making it worse! This site has hundreds if not thousands of dollars damage, at best it will be scared for the whole season, and for no other reason other than someone did not know how to drive their RV. So you are either efficient at entering your site and setting up or you quickly become the campgrounds latest entertainment for the day. In Ontario right now it is early spring so the ground is very soft, so your inability to back up your rig gets magnified, so do yourself a favour practice backing up your rig, go to an empty parking lot and practice, set out some markers, use your mirrors, and practice. I do understand it can be difficult, but it is a skill that can be learned, and practice both directions, it’s always easier backing in to the right but you need to be able to back into the left as well. An assistant or spotter can help but they need to know what you want to know, is their task just to spot concerns on the corner you can’t see or is it to tell you when you reach your pivot point so you can start your turn, or whatever information you need to know. That spotter should be there when your practicing, information is great, too much can just be overwhelming or confusing. So they should just tell you what you asked them to, as simple as that. And if you are into a situation you can not handle ask for help, either get a different site, assistance with spotting, or maybe just let them back it in place for you, some people are just better at understanding the angles and turning ratios than others. But you need to learn how to park your rig your self, so practice, practice, practice.

And don’t be this idiot, and if you are that idiot wash your wheels off so that the new people can’t figure out you are the idiot…just saying.