Camping Journal #6

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Well, looks like we made it through our second "real camp," with the fam along. We stayed at the Double J Campground in Chatham, Illinois just south of Springfield. To say the least, it was a bit of an adventure—but then, I have been warned that all of them will likely be like that. "Makes for the memories," some would say. Had a few hiccups, but nothing at all major. For one, we started off with massive winds of 30-40 miles per hour which made for a treacherous ride to say the least. This was twice the wind speed we had coming back from Sundermeir on our last trip. But we got-r-done. Before I left I already was aware that the campground would not have running water since they called me a few days prior to let me know of that. But not to worry, we had 2/3rds fresh water in the tank. The tank showed empty yesterday, but nonetheless we never did not have any water. Probably works similar to the gas tank. It's not really empty even though it says it is. You still have a couple of gallons to work with. Of course, the "no-water-supply" situaton was due to very cold temps. It was cold outside, so we didn't really get to spend any time outside the camper. We do have heat, and we had plenty of propane. But I was still learning how the system works and how to operate the thermostat, so we had some issues. But nothing dire. We had too much heat at times and not enough at others. I did bring a space heater along, but realized it was fried when we got there. We bought a new one and the sister and brother in law brought a small one. At one point with both running at the same time we tripped the main circuit. Luckily we were able to just reset it and were back in business. Emptying, or trying to empty the black and gray tanks turned into a nightmare. First off, when I took the cap off waste starting coming out immediately. I swear the levers were in the "closed" position, but now I am confused which way they go. I went to shut one lever and when I tried the gray tank one the lever broke off. All this before any pipe was attached to anything. Needless to say we left a little mess but luckily it was just mostly pee since we have so far been resigned to go #2 in the facilities. Didn't get the tanks fully emptied, so we will still have to deal with that. Some learning to do. The last hiccup was about 7 or 8 miles from the house I noticed the waste cap had popped off and we were spewing waste onto the roadway. I pulled over and put the cap back on. Is this damn thing still open????!!! I have no idea. Next week I am going to try to get an appointment set up for Camping World's service department to get it winterized and get a lesson on how the hell to properly drain the thing. Plus, fix that broken lever. After that she will be stored for the winter and we won't see her again until next year. Onward and upward.