Another Day in Paradise

Some people may think that living on the road, must be great.  Seeing new places, experiencing new adventures is the life of dreams, right?

Well, I had a new adventure the other day that I will share with my four faithful followers.  Deb and I have sort of defined roles regarding the upkeep and chores associated with our travels.

One responsibility that I have been (thus far) commanding well has been the laundry.  While Deb says that she would be happy to do it, I rarely give in.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe she is highly capable of performing the task.  There is one item us RVers have to contend with that you, sticks and bricks people, don’t need to think much about.  That is - where will all the water go? On board the 5th wheel, we have two 40 gallon grey waste water tanks, with an additional shut off right where the drainage lines leave the RV.  I often shut that one and leave the two 40 gallon tanks open, basically giving me one large 80 gallon tank.

Well it got cold here in Florida the other night, so I emptied a little water from the waste tanks. Then closed the individual tanks and opened the outer valve, as that section of pipe is fully exposed to the cold and would freeze more quickly.  I also left, I believed, an appropriate amount of water in each of the gray tanks.  Having a little more in the tanks would reduce their chance of freezing - I mean this kid has thought this through (Not my first rodeo!).

 All was good, nothing froze. I got up early and started my day.  Needed to get some laundry done and knew I just let some water out, so I started a load of clothes.  Didn’t think much about it when I pushed the extra rinse button. I should have!

I never went and let any more water out, nor did I close the main valve and open the two inner ones, providing that one large tank.  You guessed it, I flooded the RV!

So, what do you do first? I shut off the washer/dryer and began throwing towels down to soak up some of the gallons of water that backed up into our trailer.  I then opened the tanks (don’t worry, I was giving myself heck the whole time).  I borrowed a shop vac from a neighbor who had it at his immediate disposal and began cleanup.  Two fun-filled days to reassure myself that mold and mildew would not become our new traveling companions.   I braced the heavy washer/dryer up off the floor so I could vacuum the water up there.  Then I ran a fan underneath it.  Did I tell you it was heavy...especially for this old - overweight - one armed - fat guy.  I had to near completely empty the closet.  Then where do you put all the clothes and boxes? It is a small place!

Closing the bedroom door with an electric radiant heater on and the fan going worked well.  In an effort to assure myself all water was gone, I removed the front of the bed.  But the front of the bed holds the sides of the bed in place which supports the risers, which provide us under bed storage.  I braced the sides in place, removed the front of the bed to find no noticeable water.  Still ran the heater and fan for a while to be safe.  Then removed the safe and support I built underneath it.  Made sure again, all was dry, heater and fan (you know the drill).

While Deb rarely does laundry, one thing she always asks me before I get started is “is there enough room in the tanks?”.  I wish I could have heard her ask it with that load of clothes.  Would have saved me a few minutes.  I guess I can’t have “Paradise” without her!