Monday, September 29, 2014

Refrigerator door fixed

Chad put glue behind the door latch which makes it stick out just a little, so now it holds & won't fly open going down the road.  Refrigerator door-flying-open problem fixed!  :-)

Special Anniversary Dinner - September 28th

Yesterday was our 1st anniversary.  Chad made a special meal.
Bacon wrapped charcoal grilled sirloin steaks with caramelized onions and mixed vegetables.  And, not just any bacon.  This was bacon we bought from a Oscar's smokehouse in the Adirondacks.
And for dessert....
Leftover wedding cake - Chocolate mousse

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Never a dull moment


Today we accomplished some more work.  Here is the new water valve being installed:






We also hooked up an external propane tank that we are now connected to.


Marshall Gas Controls 53700 Deluxe Extend-A-Stay Tap Kit

Also, installed some new door handles.

Here's our latest solution to the fridge door coming open.  It still can open a little bit, though, as you can see, so we are going to have to come up with a better ideal.  But, this will do for now.


Well, this is funny.  Look what happened to our water filter.



It melted!  The water intake is right above the furnace as you can see from this previous picture.  So, the water filter got too hot from the furnace.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

More little fixes

We have been very busy with work the past few days, but have come home in the evenings to work on the RV.  Last night we went to Home Depot to pick up some things.  Chad installed two more new light fixtures.  He also soldered the tee to fix the plumbing.  Tonight, he replaced some light bulbs on the exterior and put up another valance in the bedroom.  We also bought a tee for the propane tank so we can use smaller tanks as needed.
Little by little....

New Check valve

Monday, September 22, 2014

Water Problems

When we arrived home today, the fitting on the water hose was leaking.  So, that had to be replaced.
The gray fitting on the right was bad.  So, it had to be replaced with the one on the left.
The new fitting
 Meanwhile, Chad went to work to check out the pump.  It was not in fact dead.  It had a bad ground wire.  So, when he fixed that it seemed to work, but there was no water pressure.  Upon investigation, in fixing one problem it created another problem.  The new fitting didn't have a check valve, so now the pump was sending water out of the RV through the hose connected on the exterior.  That means that we are now sending our water into the house that we are connected to and increasing the water pressure there. Lol. To fix the problem, we have to add a valve at the water tank to keep the water from exiting when the pump is on.


The infamous water pump

Related Posts
No Water
What we did to move in

No Water

Last night I noticed that our pump was starting to sound funny.  And, sure enough it died.  Chad checked it out this morning, and confirmed its death.  Fortunately, we can connect a hose directly to the water system which bypasses the pump.  It works better for us to use the pump though.  But, we will be fine for now.  This is a brand new pump, so it will be promptly returned to Amazon .

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Our trip home

Everything went well on the drive home.  The refrigerator door kept flying open.  After many attempts of keeping it shut, I came up with a barricade for it.
When we arrived home, there was gas leaking out by the generator.  Seems like it was coming out from the line that runs from the gas tank to the generator.  Will need to address that later.

Daggett Lake & Lake George

Next, our RV life takes us to a campground on Daggett Lake.  We stayed two nights here with full hookups.  It was really nice.  It's getting late in the season so there weren't many people around.
Hudson River

Our campsite

Chad's parents' campsite

Late 60's Mini Cooper van



Daggett Lake





Lake George
We took a steamboat ride on Lake George



Boondocking in the Adirondacks

Boondocking, a.k.a. dry camping, refers to when you camp without any hookups.  We stayed two nights in the Adirondacks without hookups. Our RV has an on-board generator & batteries. So, when we have no electricity we still have some power. The lights & fan for the furnace can run off the battery.  The hot water heater and the fridge can run off of propane.

  The second night it got down to 27 degrees, but we stayed warm & cozy,  :-) So far, so good.


Chad's parents' setup
The line from the generator to the gas tank has holes in it, so Chad set up a line from a gas jug so we could run the generator.


Whiteface Mountain

Ausable River



Thursday, September 18, 2014

Our maiden "voyage"


Yay!! Our first trip. 
September 17, 2014 We did a test drive loop this morning to make sure nothing was wrong.  The transmission fluid temperature was 150. Previously, it was over 200. The coolant temp was at a steady 200.  The engine sounded good.

When we returned home, we checked for leaks.  There was just one small drip of transmission fluid.  Probably nothing.

So, we are off.  Chad's parents are joining us in their camper.  Looking forward to a fun weekend.  We are going to the Adirondacks - a journey of 206 miles.  Left at about 10:30 a.m.

Our first checkpoint 

We stopped about 25 miles up the road to fill up with gas & check everything out.  Everything looks good.


Our first big hill. Looking good.

We went another 20 miles and stopped again to check over everything.  Bummer the radiator leak is back.  Guess we will be buying a new radiator when we get back.  It's not a really bad leak, so it should be fine for now.

Getting on the interstate
Crossing the Hudson River

We stopped at a rest area for lunch north of Albany.  We noticed some water dripping out in the back of the RV.  Upon investigation, gallons of water had leaked out of the tank because I overfilled the tank.  The hose came off its connection right where the hose connects for filling the tank.  On a better note, the radiator was no longer leaking.  The Bar's Leaks PLT11 Pelletized Radiator Stop Leak - 11 oz. must be working.

Turning into our "home" in the Adirondacks 

Our caravan

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Heat - Just in time...

Well, it was 46 degrees this morning when we woke up.  So, we got our furnace going just in time.  It is working really good too.  It heats up really fast.  And, I had a nice warm shower this morning.

Also, our additional sewer hose arrived yesterday, just in time.  We still can't move the RV because Chad is working on it and it is all jacked up with the tire off at the moment.  But, the additional hose was just the right amount.  I decided to try dumping it by myself while Chad was gone to the store.  I followed all the directions for tightening up the new fittings, got everything hooked up, and sure enough it was dripping.  Something was wrong somewhere.  So, I removed it from the outlet twice more, tightening it up again each time.  Still dripping.  :-( Chad came home right about this time and took one look at it & saw that I had the fittings on incorrectly.  So, he fixed it.  Now there were no leaks.  I'll get everything figured out eventually....

 Chad's dad is also fixing the window awning brackets for us.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Floor "decorations"

In preparing for winter, we bought some thick rugs for the floor.  The carpet doesn't look very good, so this looks nicer & feels so nice and soft on your feet.  Also, bought a rubber mat for the kitchen area to make spills easier to clean.

Living area

Kitchen