We were anxious to do a test trip. It was decided that some place close and no towing would be best. Elk Neck State Park is close and the grandkids were going to be camping, real camping in a tent, there, so it was a no-brainer. We invited the oldest grandchild to stay with us and that made it special too.
The road to the park is narrow and the branches that overhang need trimming. These are not opinions, but facts based on the whipping of the rv by said branches with subsequent grimaces from Gin and me and my heart rate that easily exceeded the worth of Mitt Romney in dollars on the narrow, curvy road. Remember that I was still having issues with driving on a regular road at that point.
We got there, backed in, got hooked up, and started to explore the rv in earnest for answers to questions that caused the anxiety closet door to screech open at night.
Mostly, it went well. Oh, about the hot water heater.... We had not been able to test the hot water heater at the dealership through ignorance, forgetfulness, and other traits peculiar to rv newbies that start from scratch (or maybe it is just us). After an hour of stumbling and bumbling about, removing a panel to the bottom of the hot water heater, a call to a salesman at the dealership, and severe gashes in my scalp from scratching, it was determined the vaunted check list of the service department had let us down again. Apparently, a bypass valve was on that should have been off or some such variation on the seemingly 142 valves, water lines, and radioactive cores related to the water heater. After figuring out the correct connection/valve position, the ominous words of the orientation service person were raging in the decision making center of my brain and saying that the Western Hemisphere was in danger if cold water or some such thing filled the tank while the heater elements are hot. That yellow streak down my back is not a racing stripe. Discretion is the better part of valor and so on - we did not want to devastate mankind or even womankind in any hemisphere, so it was no hot water for the trip.
In general, we had fun for the evening with the granddaughter, the dogs did well, and my heart rate receded to below one thousand or thereabouts. We slept terribly as expected. The next morning was fine and then it was time to go home. The granddaughter went to join her family.
The time had come to perform the task, that for me, is probably comparable to child birth for a woman, but thankfully there is no bundle of joy at the end. It was time to empty the BLACK WATER TANK. I dutifully got out the black water hose while given immoral support from my faithful wife of 43 years. If you have not guessed by now, this is the most intimidating and frightful task an rver can have for me. Yes, it is a somewhat minor hangup, but it is mine and approached the terror of imaginary spiders crawling over one's body that some people experience.
I unhooked the cap leading to the water drainage system on the rv and started to put the hose on the line. The hose was broken! Alas and Alack or some such profane words.... We did not tow, so we had to go to a local Walmart in the rv - down the narrow, curvy road with branches whipping us unmercifully along the way - and then back again on the same road to the park to dump the tanks. It was anticlimactic. We made the trip, bought the hose, and dumped with no problems to speak of. And there was no bundle of joy from the black water tank either.....
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