Chores

Even though we have a 26-1/2 foot motor home to take care of instead of a house, we still have plenty of chores.

Some chores fit in the repair  category.  In two and a half months on the road, we’ve had three of those.   The first was a brake lights snafu in Chadron, NE (see our Tuesday, August 9, 2011 post).  Then we had to get our hydraulic levelers fixed.  We also replaced our front windshield.  We noticed a small crack (too big for a chip repair) at the beginning of the trip, but it was not in our line of vision. When cold weather hit for a couple of day in Marietta, that crack shot across the windshield.   

There is rig maintenance.  We dump the black and gray water tanks and refill the fresh water tank about once a week; most campgrounds have facilities for that.  We waxed the rig while at my mom’s in Ohio and today the rig got a sponge bath. We check and usually fill the rig and Honda tires everytime we take off for a new location.  If we don’t use the generator, we have to run it once a month. We just cleaned the electric heater/air conditioner filters. We just had the rig’s Ford 450 truck’s oil changed.  Etc. Etc. Etc. And so on.

Plus we still have tasks we do at home: cleaning, dishes, shopping, cooking,  laundry, etc.  At our “stick and brick” house, I do the cooking, Jim does the dishes and it’s the same on the road.  At home, I’m the yard work instigator; now Jim is the one who sets up and sweeps the “astro turf” lawn we put near the entry way so we don’t track dirt into the rig.    About every six days we do a major cleaning of interior surfaces.  The rest of the time, we try to be tidy.  


Some chores photos are below.  

Laundry on the road seems expensive to me -- we spent $20 in quarters at this place in Newport, Ohio. When I use the change machine, it sounds like Vegas.

I was so caught up in helping Jim suds Cooper that I forgot to take a photo.  But this is where we went in Parkersburg, WV to get the job done.   In a small rig a regular doggy bath is a necessity. 

We met barbers Judy and Don at our Marietta, Ohio campground; they told us about their shop, Emerson Barber Service in Parkersburg, West Virginia.  Here, Judy gives Jim a buzz.  On the wall, you can see (besides me taking this picture) photos of people Don and Judy have met, including Tonya Tucker, Randy Travis, Wolfman Jack and Reba McEntire.  Don and Judy have athletic grandchildren, including a 9-year-old world champion wrestler in the 58-pound class, and a 16-year-old high school touchdown machine.

Cooper at the vets.  He got some sort of gastrointestinal infection in Marietta but was well treated at Green Meadow Veterinary Clinic.  One of the doctors was a vet school classmate of my brother Bob’s. (Thanks for the phone consult, Bob.)  Also: Doggie gastrointestinal infection + middle of the night + small motor home = big trip to the laundromat.  Thank goodness for lots of washable area rugs.

Bev after we leveled the rig in the pouring rain at Blue Licks State Park in Kentucky.  (Someone’s got to be outside to watch the tires and levelers while Jim operates the controls.  I know socks with sandals are a fashion faux pas, but believe me, soaking wet socks with sandals are even worse.)  Each time we get to a campsite, we have to level the rig and we use a combination of our hydraulic levelers, boards and plastic ramps to do that.  If the rig is not level, the fridge will be damaged plus you feel like you are walking around in a fun house.