First Night....

Our original thought was to leave Mooresville around noon and then we made a list of what we needed to do before leaving -we left about 8pm last night.

Some of things we had to do was get a new battery, mattress (we threw the one out that it came with - gross!), laundry, pack clothes and food, wash the rv, pay the mechanic in beer and get some cash. The problem is....there were other things we should have done but didn't know that we should....

We were and still are trying to figure out what runs on what - the car battery, the second battery and the generator. The refrigerator didn't seem to be working so we were turning on and off the generator, re-charging the brand new marine battery, filling up the gas tank and a lot of screaming (from me!) Finally, after we realized we were going to be at Mom/Dad's for dinner we walked away (inside the house!). Dad made the best pork roast and though I am pretty much a vegetarian - I had to have some! When we went back outside the freezer was cool but the not the fridge. I got so frustrated! "What are we doing? We just bought this thing and we have NO IDEA how it works, etc" My very calm husband says "That is part of the fun of it" Oh boy, it is going to be an adventure for sure!

So, Dad was talking to a friend who is an avid RVer and he reminded us that we have a propane tank that runs all the appliances! Of course - another thing to factor in to my all ready very confused brain! Well by this time it is 7pm and there is no one around to service the propane tank. We think it is 3/4 full but we are not sure it is running. If the freezer is getting cold is it using propane or the battery or both? Still this is somewhat of a mystery to us (even if Andy says he knows..I am not convinced!)

The things we know for sure we need to get fixed or maintenced or do in NY: A/C fan is jammed so we have no central A/C (the truck one in the front it great though), service the propane tank, figure out all the hoses and READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL (Danny (Dad's friend) said tell them to read the owners manual - from beginning to end - first rule of a true RVer he said. Oh boy!)

Okay....Andy had went to Wal-Mart to get us a mattres pad - we both HATE Wal-Mart. We rarely go there but we needed a mattress of some sort for the trip out and Wal-Mart was closer than Target. I open it up and it is NOT what we wanted - it was mushy and yellow and just not right.

Now, we are packed up and have put the cold food in the freezer (the freezer was not freezing - just cool enough for keep things good). We decided to leave Mooresville, go to Plainfield return the pad to Wal-Mart and get the one we thought we wanted from Target. After doing all that it was about 9pm! We put the new Target set-up - memory foam pad, feather alternative topper and the cheap cotton protector down on the plywood bed in the back - it doesn't fit! It is hot, we are tired and the $180 "bed" isn't working. Target was closed and we were done. Like Scarlett O'Hara - I won't think it about it now, I will think about it tomorrow!

Dad had made us a CD for the trip - he is a music guru and was actually our DJ for the wedding. He is really good at it! The first song made me bawl - it was about living in van and traveling the country and even though we don't have much money it just the two of us. I need to figure out the name and artist. After I exhausted my tear ducts I went to take my sleeping shift. It was a bit bumpy in the back and I started getting very nervous about driving...

We stopped for gas (no idea what time) around Dayton, OH and Andy said I was not driving at night until I drove some during the day. He said it is heavy and catches the wind. I felt defeated. Now, I can't even drive our new home! (that sounded funny). But, I trust him and agreed we would just pull over and sleep until morning. So, about 2:30am he parked and I made him get out a take a picture. I was cracking up - we are parked in a big parking lot with a bunch of other truckers. Life on the road.

Good news!! We were expecting about 6miles to the gallon. Andy got gas twice and the first time was 9 miles per gallon and the second 10.5 miles per gallon.

When I got up this morning I was ready for my morning ritual - brush my teeth, go the bathroom, check my email and workout. I used bottle water but I did turn on the sink to rinse it down. I started to go to the bathroom and Andy suggested I not :) He said he wants to check all that out before we start using it. He said we were parked near a Bob Evan's. I had no idea where we where - city, state or place! I was like - Oh - I am going to the bathroom, get coffee and get on the computer - come over when you are done! :)

It was NOT Bob Evan's but Dutch Heritage - Amish style cooking. I still had no idea where we were and my phone was dead so no GPS to tell me. I looked up the restaurant and figured out we are in Bellville, OH - about 9.5 hours from Glen Cove, NY.

I have been stressing a bit about working out and living in the RV. I can run anywhere but I lift weights and do circuit training too. For now I will do it outside at a park or something I guess. But, I was not working out today anyway. That is something to think about though.

I am going to send some other pictures and do some more blogging today - since I will be awake! Hopefully, I can figure out how to get the outlets to work without the generator. Yes...this is an adventure.