Every single time.

It seems that every single time I get the RV out of storage and ready to go somewhere for a weekend or a week, or whatever – there’s something.  Something new and small, but wrong or broken or not quite working right. It’s been the generator on some recent trips, and other times it’s been just odds and ends or things out of place.

This time is no different, but luckily it’s not one of the bigger issues I could have had happen. It would seem that something decided to chew into the cable I used to keep the RV hooked up to 15A service while it’s in storage, which caused the van and house batteries to nearly drain to null. It was an interesting few minutes trying to start the RV in storage, and I almost started to give it a jump from the Jeep. On the way out of Katy, stopping for dinner gave us another odd moment to start, even though I though the battery should have charged enough between storage and the restaurant.

Finally it kicked over and we were off. 2/3 the way to Austin we stopped at a truck stop for the night and out of fear of not being able to start it in the morning, and wanting to keep the heat going a bit (it’s actually cold in TX in January!)… I let the van idle through the night. $15 of fuel spent is still better than a motel, and the RV is still the best sleep I ever get so, well worth it.

A few more starts and stops as we got into Austin and did some errands before hitting the park this morning, and it seems the battery is just fine. Unpacking everything and setting us up to shore power and sewer is when I finally noticed the extent of the cable tears and that it was indeed the cause of the batteries not being charged while in storage.

Luckily, we’re in Austin for the weekend to grab some mac & cheese at The Roaring Fork, and possibly do some biking at Veloway. This should make up for the frustrations of last night, and the fact that I still have a generator that won’t turn over so shore power is required to make most things work. Why lucky we’re here other than awesome food? Because Monday morning we’ll be dropping the RV off with a local dealer and workshop to get a few things addressed before our ‘big move’ in 2 months.

Oh yeah, did I not mention that yet? 2 Months or thereabouts, before we pack up and ride down the road from Houston to NYC! More to come on that in future posts though.

Before that can happen though, we have a large slide out that needs fixing, the generator diagnosed and repaired, and an apparent leak in the attic area. Fun fun. Thank goodness for extended warranties though, right?

I unfortunately won’t be able to get many pictures while it’s being worked on as it will be several hours away from home, but I will update the blog as things go through the process for sure. With this particular dealer, I had to make a decision to go with one with less than stellar ratings on customer service, in trade for it being the ONLY place in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, or Dallas that could promise me a completion before the end of Feb. We’ll see how this gamble turns out…