Pictures from Clark's maiden voyage

As Trent described in his last post, we took Clark for a spin last weekend! Our excursion consisted of just one night at the nearby state park, so nothing too challenging - except that it dropped to below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and we didn't know how to work the furnace. Learn by doing!

On the drive over to the campground (I pretty much had to bribe him to get this smile, but it was worth it because HE IS ADORABLE)

Trent hooking up the power. The campground had electric hookups but no water. That's fine, since Clark isn't dewinterized yet. We just used the facilities at the park.

In the RV with the slideout extended. The slideout makes the RV seem positively spacious.

Dinner! I made this at home and then we re-heated it in the microwave in the RV. We didn't try to turn the stove on. Baby steps.

View from the bedroom

Clark looking all handsome

Morning in a very cold RV. We were fine while we were under the covers, but by the time breakfast rolled around we felt like we were living in an icebox. Trent consulted the owner's manual, turned on the propane, and got the furnace fired up. Nothing exploded. Success.

I made coffee in the morning. I can give up most things, but coffee is not one of them. We brought the grounds with us, heated up water in the microwave, and concocted our brew in the press pot.

Lessons learned:

• We picked the right RV for us. Clark is great, with tons of storage space, lots of comfortable seating, and room enough for three people who have already spent the past two years in close quarters.
• You can not know what you're doing and still avoid breaking your house on wheels. Especially if one of you actually cracks open the owner's manual and follows the instructions.
• Climate control is probably going to be a challenge. We're going to do our best to move with the seasons so that we don't have to excessively heat or cool our rig, but weather is hard to predict. We anticipate some uncomfortable days and nights every now and then no matter how well we plan.
• I like the people I live with. That's a good thing.
• This was fun and I want to do it again! Like, now.

Gear Check

Trent will be your driver for this post.

This past Friday night we took Clark out for our first overnight in the RV. Clark is still winterized and we didn't do anything to change that. It has been dipping below freezing at night and so we will wait a few weeks before we de-winterize.  This means we did not use the plumbing/water systems. This trip was mainly an electrical and propane check and experiencing our first night in the RV.  Susanne will blog later about that aspect. This post is about the equipment.

Summary: It all worked!

Electrical hookup: We bought a Progressive Industries PT30C 30 Amp Portable Electrical Management System to protect us from high voltage, low voltage, and a host of other possible electric issues. It worked well and we were able to see exactly how much voltage was being supplied at the post, how many amps we were drawing, and that the AC was cycling as expected (60 times a second). If there are any problems with the electricity, this system will not allow it to pass to the RV.

We did consider getting a similar system hardwired into Clark but decided against it after reading about how people to tend to switch RVs after a few years of full-time living. We also wanted to save some money.

Electricity in Clark: I was able to test all the AC outlets in Clark and they all worked. I did additional tests using a multimeter and again everything was good. It's not that we were really worried but we had not checked every outlet before buying Clark like we should have.

Slide-out: Our RV slide out worked. It's amazing how sliding out part of the RV just a few feet really makes the whole RV seem much larger.

TVs: Yes TVs. Clark has more TVs (3) then we do in our sticks and bricks home (1). The antenna went up well and we checked out two of the TVs. They worked and were picking up about 8 strong channels.  We watched a dog shake in slow-motion and then turned off both TVs and put the antenna down. If given the choice we would have used the money on other improvements for Clark. However, the person that bought Clark new picked the entertainment package.

Refrigerator/freezer: We bought some food and drinks along for our trip. This was our first check of the frig and it worked well. I did discover how small it really is when I could not fit a gallon jug of water into it. I think we will be eating a lot more fresh food because we don't have the storage to stock up for more than a few days.

Microwave: Susanne heated up some yams and some dinner she had made ahead of time and it worked.  Most importantly it supplied the hot water for our morning press pot coffee.

Heat pump (powered by AC): It was our first test of the heat pump and it worked.  The heat pump was able to supply heat that worked well enough in the early evening. However by the middle of the night it was too cold for the heat pump to work well. The RV was cold.

RV cover: We got an outside RV cover for privacy and to add a bit of insulation to the big heat sink that is the front window.  The cover went on well and stayed on during the night wind and rain.

Furnace (powered by propane): I read the manual and then opened up the propane tank and fired up the furnace. It started up quickly and the furnace supplied the heat needed to keep Sam from revolting. The furnace supplied heat worked very well.

Generator: We didn't have to use the generator but the user's manual recommends that it be run for about two hours once a month if it's not otherwise being used. So I disconnected the AC from shore power (the electrical post at the park) and hooked it into the generator after it was running. We ran the  generator for about two hours and used the heat pump to supply a load (about 20 amps) on it.  The generator worked well and we used its power to bring in the slide out.

Clark's Chevy chassis: Clark got us the 7 miles to our spot in the State Park and got us back home. Good going Clark.

Not checked: We will de-winterize in about three weeks. We will then have to test the black and gray tanks, the hot water heater, the shower, the sink, the freshwater connection, and will have to drain the tanks as we sanitize the systems.  We also didn't bring the cat.  She will provide another test for us on the next trip.

Still need to get:

TPMS: I really want to get a tire pressure monitoring system. All the full-time RVers suggest them as a must have safety system. Checking the air pressure on Clark is a pain because the hub dust covers must be removed to get at the values. This is the brand I'm thinking about but I need to do more  research and bite the bullet money wise. This system likely will cost less than a tire blown out.

Cellular signal booster:  I need to get and install a signal booster before we leave. I am basically waiting to make sure we have the latest technology.  I'll likely go with the recommendations from the https://www.rvmobileinternet.com.

??? other stuff ??? I don't know what we are forgetting or don't know we don't know but we will find out quickly when we start RVing full-time.

Today we bought an RV!

Today we purchased an RV... Our very first RV. It's a used 2015 Coachmen Freelander. Just in time for Valentine's Day, we're in love. We're calling him Clark.

Here's Clark from the outside. He currently needs a bath because he's been sitting on a huge dusty lot for several weeks, but we think he'll clean up quite nicely:

Here's Clark on the inside. He's extremely beige, but he also has a lot of features we love: plenty of space for people to hang out, multiple sleeping areas, a double sink, an oven, tons of storage, and linoleum flooring throughout:

The restroom. Clark has a large crack in the shower floor, and that's one thing the dealership has to take care of before we pick him up and take him home:

Lots of seating and storage. The couch pulls out to become a sleeping area (though to me, it doesn't look all that comfy):

The cab area, the overhead bunk, and our driver:

The kitchen. We're pretty pumped about the relatively decent amount of counter space here. There's a microwave, an oven, and a double sink, plus a folding countertop that we can set up if we need some extra room:

After we'd toured the RV but before we sat down to crunch numbers, the sales guy took us out to an empty truck stop parking lot and had us drive Clark around. To our surprise, it was a pretty smooth ride; Clark is easier to handle than we expected.

What we're thinking right now: Wow... We're really doing this. We're all in. And we can't wait!