It seems each time we go camping, we gain new “RV lessons learned.” Some are simple and don’t require any action, others are best noted and remembered for next time. Here are a few:
RV LESSONS LEARNED – PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN
I had my lovely model demonstrate how you WOULD put your foot down, but NEVER in sandals, and ONLY when the hose isn’t sufficiently secured in the hole.
In this list of RV lessons learned, we’re going to start off with an easy one.
If you can’t secure your waste hose to the sewer hookup on your campsite, put your foot down (or a heavy rock) on top of the business end of the waste hose before releasing the Kraken!
In other words, before you open the valve on your camper to free your sewage, secure the business end at the sewer opening with something heavy so the dirty water goes where dirty water belongs and NOWHERE ELSE!
How was this RV lesson learned, you might ask? Well…let’s just say I had a pooptastrophy. Yeah, I just said that!
Our black tank had filled to the “fill no more” point and I went outside to download the brown-load. When I pulled the valve open under the camper, I heard a sound like a water from a hose on the pavement. No big deal, right? WAIT, WHAT?!
Looking towards the sound, I realized the business end of the hose had popped out of the safety of its nest in the camp’s sewer hookup and was spewing refuse all over the neighbor’s concrete. I quickly closed the valve, got the water hose and sprayed my neighbor’s concrete and yard clean before they returned from wherever they were. Thank GOODNESS they were gone!
RV lessons learned…yep…that was a nasty one to learn! After I cleaned my mess, I invited Glynn (or our son Austin, I can’t remember) to step on the business end of the waste hose elbow BEFORE pulling the valve.
RV LESSON LEARNED – FLUSHING PRACTICES
While we’re on a dark subject, the RV lessons learned here were not born from any accidents. They were more observations of best practices.
We noticed that when we flushed, rinsed, or basically held the toilet flap open for ANY amount of time, well…we noticed. The smell was unpleasant.
What keeps those smells from coming into your brick and mortar home? Water. You have roughly a gallon or so of water in your toilet at home that keeps raw sewage smells from entering your home.
At some point, one of us (can’t remember which one) decided to add a small amount of water to the bottom of the toilet in the RV like we have at home BEFORE flushing.
In our camper, this is done by putting VERY light pressure on the foot switch flusher. The point is to keep the flap separating the unpleasant odors from the main cabin closed. When you keep that flap closed, it will allow water to partially fill the tank BEFORE doing any big business.
This little bit of water makes for a cleaner flush and eliminates the need for the dreaded “poop pillow” or “turd tarp.”
A friend of mine used these phrases when I told them our flushing technique (we were talking about tips to blog about…I promise I don’t talk about human waste in civil conversation), and I about PASSED OUT LAUGHING!!! So thanks friend, for the funny phrases!
RV LESSONS LEARNED – PRACTICE COURTESY
Let’s clean up the conversation a little bit and think about the camping experience for a sec.
You’re laying in bed enjoying the fact that you’re not at home…all cozy and well rested. All of a sudden you hear the guy next to you using his OUTSIDE voice BEFORE 8 a.m.!
Now, people, I am a VERY patient person by nature, but mess with my rest and the situation is BOUND to change!
If you are a morning person, practice courtesy and use your INSIDE voice before 8 a.m. EVEN IF YOU’RE OUTSIDE! Not everybody IS a morning person and we all don’t want to know about the fish you caught yesterday!
The same is true for those of us who are night owls. I LOVE to play my guitar and talk around a campfire late into the evening. It’s not uncommon for me to go to bed after 12 or 1 a.m.
HOWEVER, after about 10 p.m. (or whenever the RV park deems quiet hour begins), I quiet down. I know what it’s like to have someone impose their lifestyle choices on me early in the morning and quite frankly, it’s RUDE!
Try to practice quiet hours both early and late. Remember that MOST of us have paper-thin walls and can hear pretty much everything…and no, you didn’t catch a 15″ trout in a warm water river yesterday…LIAR!!!
Be sure to remind kids to follow quiet hours as well. Kids get excited to be somewhere different and to be doing something fun, but not everybody has kids with them. Some of us have paid our dues and like the quiet! 🙂
Along those lines, be sure to mind your pets. This one is not just about keeping them quiet but make sure they behave. I did a whole post on whether or not to take your pets with you. There are some great tips in there for pet families.
RV LESSONS LEARNED – ASK QUESTIONS
I think this RV lesson learned applies to EVERYTHING IN LIFE…not just RVs. The only silly question is the one left unasked! If you don’t know how to do something, find an RV forum or Facebook group and ask! I’m part of one on Facebook called RV Tips that has over 100,000 members in it. These people know EVERYTHING!
I would be remiss not to mention asking on my own Facebook page!
The point is, we all have questions all the time…not just beginners. How do we weigh down the dark matter flap (I couldn’t help it), how the heck do we back this beast into a spot, how do we winterize, how do we stabilize the sway, what stuff do I need for this thing, and on and on and on?
When you first start RVing, you know NOTHING! We kind of felt like we were on an island when we started RVing. Fortunately for us, we had RVing friends who helped us find our answers.
I’m also fairly techy, so I did A LOT of searching on the internet! The point is, you WILL have TONS of questions. You will inadvertently find the answers to most of them yourself. It’s just nice to not be alone.
RV LESSONS LEARNED – BE FAMILIAR WITH YOUR RIG
This RV lesson learned wasn’t learned through Hard Knox. It’s just common sense to me. The first few times we camped, Glynn hooked up the RV to the truck, drove it to our destination, unhooked it at camp, and set it up alone.
I told him that if anything ever happened to him, I’d have to know how to do these things. While it was SO SWEET of him to be chivalrous, I also felt it was necessary for me to learn.
Even if I NEVER have to drive with it, I still had to learn JUST IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY!
Here we are over a year later. Most of the time when we go camping, I do the hook up while he’s at work. When he comes home, all we have to do is GO.
It’s my pleasure to report that I HAVE driven my Pathfinder with the camper attached. It did NOT scare me…it was actually exciting. He still does ALL of the driving when we’re going camping, but I’m not scared of it anymore and feel confident that I can get it from point A to point B if needed.
When we get to our campsite, he unhooks and levels the camper (which I can also do), while I hook up the waste hose, water hose, and electricity (and cable if available).
I’ve learned how to turn on the propane, operate the water pump, the heater, the stereo, the waste hose, etc. Be familiar with your rig…men and women alike. Learn how to use your camper and you will have a MUCH more enjoyable time.
RV LESSONS LEARNED – LEAVE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
This RV lesson learned hit me like a ton of bricks one evening. We were on our way home from our Biloxi trip and had stopped for the night at the Ameristar in Vicksburg, MS for a night.
I looked around at this RV park and there were RVs of ALL KINDS in this park. We had our little camper (which wasn’t even the smallest or cheapest in the place) parked right next to our friends’ camper (which is probably worth double or triple the cost of ours), who was parked next to about a $2M tour bus/motorhome.
Glynn and our friend were sitting outside watching basketball as it started to drizzle. The guy in the fancy rig said, “Hey, y’all wanna come over here under our awning and watch here?” He then proceeded to open a bin under the tour bus (insert Star Trek door opening sound), pull out this 50+” TV from underneath, and turned it onto the basketball game.
He offered us all beer, and actually even offered to cook dinner for us. This guy was just lovin’ life and enjoying time at the RV park. We made fast friends and he even extended an invitation to his home in Oregon!
My point is this, LEAVE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND PREJUDICES AT HOME when RV camping! You don’t need them!!!
When you meet some random person in life, you know nothing about them…zero, nada, zilch. When you meet them at an RV park, you already know SOMETHING about them. There’s something in that person that made them want to buy that RV and get away.
You have that SAME THING in YOU! So even if the person next to you is white or black, rich or poor, old or new camper, you already know you have at least a little bit in common with them. You AT LEAST have that same adventure-seeking attitude that says, “I know what you know…camping is FUN!”
I don’t find this practice difficult, but I’m an extroverted introvert and prefer to keep to myself. I will usually avoid talking to strangers if it is at all possible. Some of you guys actually know this from experience, but I will speak when spoken to if walking down a quiet riverside path looking for pics for the blog, or in laundry rooms at RV parks! 🙂
We always seem to make new friends everywhere we go. Of course, having my logo on the back of my car is kind of a conversation starter…WHOSE IDEA WAS THAT?!
The point remains, if you leave your expectations at the door, you’ll usually have a GREAT time and almost ALWAYS come home with a new friend or two!
In my opinion, this is THE BEST RV lesson learned!
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