Loud Tidbits
Well it was certainly a lesson learned. Don't try to drive any big vehicles on sandy beaches. We got our 3500 Dodge Ram Dually stuck about 1 foot into the sand at the beach when Kati opted for the easy parking spot. A sheriff stopped by but didn't have a tow rope. We tried to improvise by braiding 3 small tie down straps together to make a strong enough rope to tow with, but all we got was 3 broken braided tie down straps. Then 2 guys stopped to help and one was good enough to point out that 9 out of 10 people he pulls out of the sandy beaches are from Texas. That makes us a statistic now I guess. So it is worth the extra walking time to get to a proper parking space.
Black Water Tank Cleaning help
I have recently learned from a great friend of a COOL way to clean
your black water tank. Make sure before you get on the road you have
it 1/3 or 1/2 full of water then add a bag of ice. The ice will bang
up against the inside of the tank and break away anything that may
be sticking around. Then when you get to your destination drain it
and do a good rinse and now you have a cleaner black tank.
Thanks Eddie
Wheel Chocks-
We were camping in the Kissimmee, FL area. Our camp site was all sand so the wheel blocks did very little to help stabilize the trailer. My kids for Christmas 07 got me a pair of Wheel Chocks that go between the tires and you crank them open and them pinched or bind the tires and prevent them from rocking. They are so awesome. So now the tires don't budge at all. We still are trying to figure out additional ways to help secure the trailer that fits into our quick stop ways. It is too burdensome to lug around alot of different gadgets to assist with the trailer rocking. But these wheel chocks are small and very easy to use.
Simply place between the tandem wheels on your trailer
and it stays stable and secure.
"BAL" Deluxe Tyre Locking Chock Applies opposing force to both tyres.
Comes with ratchet wrench that extends the tyre chock between 2 1/2" and
10 1/2"
Steel chock with rust inhibitive coating. This unit is lightweight and easy to use and store.
Water pressure at campsites--How to NOT explode your pipes
I have already heard from some friends on the road that have made the mistake of too much water pressure from their campsites and blowing up their pipes inside their RV. Luckily for me this was not a lesson learned the hard way. Dad might be proud to see that i haven't chosen all of my lessons the hard way in life. In order to prevent your pipes from exploding in your 5th wheel or other RVs please be sure to put a pressure regulator from the outside hookup to the attachment to your unit. This can be directly at the faucet before your hose attaches or attach the hose to the faucet and place the regulator after the hose and to the entrance into your unit. This is very important because many places have very high pressure coming from the city lines and it will cause serious problems. If you are anything like the LOUD Family you need to avoid as many of these as possible because we get our fare share even with these subtle attempts to prevent them. We got ours at Wal-Mart. They have a plastic one and a brass one. The brass being a few dollars more at around $9. This little investment is so worth your time.
Awnings
Stay tuned to the local weather forecasts. This will help you know if you should leave the awning out or not. We have (not once but twice now) had a storm blow in during the wee hours of the morning causing Vernon to go out in pajamas to get drenched trying to retract the awning in the dark.
We went into town while in New Orleans area and while we were away a storm blew in brought with it mini tornadoes that ripped threw the park. Yup you guessed it, we left our awning out. It did cause some damage to the awning hardware but miraculously it didn't tear the awning. The side of RV got banged up a bit too.
All of this could be avoided with a simple weather forecast review.
Electrical outlets
Familiarize yourself with your outlets. While we were in Timber Lodge Resort in Texas we had a storm pass through and in the morning my outlets didn't work. I checked the breakers and they were not tripped. I checked the fuses too and no problem there. The park host stopped by and mentioned to me about the GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). This is the button that pops out on the outlet when it is overloaded. I told him I didn't have one and I commenced in removing every outlet cover and disconnecting all the wires from the plugs. It was during this process that I realized I did have a GFCI outlet. With a simple press of a button the problem was fixed. I did then have to spend the next 30-40 minutes reassembling my mess of wires and outlets.
I also learned of a common problem with exterior outlets. Moisture gets into them frequently. I went ahead and caulked all around the outlet during my reassembly phase. I have had no reoccurring tripped GFCI since.
Slides (our slide was having trouble sliding in and out)
I have been working on my slide. I went to Wal-Mart (what would we do without that store) and bought those furniture skids that you use to slide furniture across your hardwood floors without scratching them. I placed these under the slide and it is sliding in and out across our tile floor much easier now.
Securing your load while driving
We have gained a strong testimony in the secure straps sold by RV places to secure your TV and other large items. We have 2 TV secured by them and a DVD player. We use Velcro straps to ensure our cabinets doors don't open. I put small eye screws into the wall above the kitchen cabinets. I put a small rope through the hole to tighten all the cooking supplies in place so we don't end up with 5lbs of flour or sugar on the floor when we arrive at our destination. We are very lax on our computer storage and simply place them on our bed above the hitch. We keep the printer and 2 laptops on the bed and they have been safe at every place. They even survived the crazy I-10 from Texas across to Florida. That was one bumpy road.
WiFi
If you need to connect to the internet at your stop and they offer WiFi, please be sure to ask them the best spots for the signal. They will usually know which sites complain the most about bad connections. If your signal is week you can purchase a USB card that will almost double the bars you have with the receiving signal. We just solved this problem completely by purchasing a DustyStorm Portable Satellite.