That hose that melted? It’s the hose that links the fresh water tank to the exterior non-pressure outlet.
I discovered this when I tried to fill said fresh water tank and noticed water pouring out of my coach.
As I stop gap measure, I removed the melted section and plugged my water hose directly into the line going to the fresh water tank. But if I ever want to sell this rig, I’m going to have to do some major taking aparting to splice in a new, non-melted, hose.
At least, my tanks look okay….
Wow, leaving in winter conditions after being stopped for almost twelve weeks is a major undertaking! Today, I managed to get my black tank thawed out and emptied. I filled it with potable anti-freeze and made a vow to use the resort facilities until I leave. 🙂 Tomorrow, I’m attacking the sewer and water hoses since it is supposed to be milder than it was today. I’m also hoping to flush my entire water system with chlorine since I’ve begun to notice a musty odour when I turn on the shower. So, for a variety of reasons, I’ve decided that a Thursday morning (January 1st) departure makes the most sense. The park in Surrey is expecting me anytime between tomorrow and Friday, for which I am grateful in that a lot of parks told me that I could not arrive on the 1st.
Another issue I need to deal with is Miranda’s key slot for the ignition as the key is difficult to insert and remove. Those who know think that it’s simply dirty and in need of a good cleaning, that someone probably WD-40ed it at some point and the oil had time to congeal over the past several weeks. I don’t think that this is so urgent an issue as to prevent me from leaving, but it’s something I’ll want to deal with before the spring.
I had the pleasure of hosting Donna this afternoon and realised that it was the first time anyone had come to Miranda for a social call! I have to confess to being a bit of a recluse and extremely protective of my ‘bubble’, but I discovered that having a friend over for tea (my jasmine/Earl Grey blend!) and a good gabfest added an unexpected layer of ‘home’ to the rig.
It’s hard to believe that, weather and road conditions permitting, forty-eight hours from now will find me within minutes of the ocean and a short drive away from family and friends I have not seen in too long. I thought that the Okanagan was my ‘final’ destination on my cross-country trip, but now I realise that I need a glimpse of the Canadian Pacific Ocean to feel that this part of the trip is truly over. Last November I was in Halifax, walking along Atlantic beaches, never guessing that just a little more than a year later, I’d find myself on the opposite coast. I’ve covered a lot of ground in the past eighteen months.
I’d say that I’m ready to go. 😀
It feels like years have passed since my last post. That’s how it feels, sometimes, when the internet is down a for a few days!
I learned at 8 o’clock Sunday morning that my duties at the resort ended at 11PM Friday night. At least, I was eventually informed of this…. My last ‘discussion’ with management really got my butt in gear in terms of departure preparations. I’m not hanging out here a day longer than I need to. I’m waiting for a clearing in the weather (or, at least, ‘less worse’ weather) and confirmation from the park I’m going to that it will be okay to pull in on December 31st or January 1st. What irritates me the most is how hard I worked at a job for which I will not be getting a reference. I so badly needed this reference in order to update my resumé in the areas of hospitality and bookkeeping. But if one place was willing to hire me based on outdated qualifications, surely there will be another.
The park I’m going to sounds like paradise. The difference in cost between parks located near Vancouver isn’t very much, so I picked one with an indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna! I will be walking distance to the United States and about forty minutes from downtown Vancouver. Fewer than 400km separate me from this park, but the terrain between here and there is mountainous. Poor weather here could mean very bad weather on the road; I am expecting the drive to take a full day and my backup plan is to break up the trip with an overnight stay at the Walmart in Chilliwack.
Miranda is just about ready to go. I would have liked to pull out at first light tomorrow, but we had tons of snow again today so I must go back up on the roof and clear some of it off, plus I’m pretty sure that my sewer hose is frozen solid (author pauses for a moment to laugh at the absurdity of her life). So, tomorrow will be a ‘apply heaters to all external fixtures that need to be removed and packed away’ kind of day.
There was a thaw on Sunday that allowed me to begin assessing the damages. My air conditioner cover cracked from the weight of the snow, but the fault line is on the side, not on top, so I do not think this is something I should worry about. A hose melted in the basement compartment I was heating, but I’m not sure what melted it, or even what the purpose of the hose was; I need to do some research on that. Within Miranda, there is evidence of water damage, but it is too early to tell yet if the damage is from condensation or infiltration. I hope it is the former! Only a test drive will tell if she is mechanically sound. After recharging the engine battery, I was able to start and run the engine without any effort, so I think Miranda is as ready to leave as I am. I have faith in her. “She’s tore up plenty, but she’ll fly true.” Another quote from the movie that gave Miranda her name. 🙂
I am melancholy. I remember how enthusiastic and naïve I was when I arrived in Oliver in October. I feel so much older now, worn out and wrung out. The past eleven weeks have sometimes felt like eleven years and there is not much of them I will wish to remember when I look back on my first year on the road. But I do not regret this time, or, more truthfully, I am happier to have been malcontent here than I was back in my old life.
Because the winter thus far has been exactly like I planned, my spring will not be. Unless something extraordinary happens, I will be in British Columbia until May. I have but one goal when I get to Surrey, one that makes me laugh: stability. I need to find work and rebuild my coffers and keep one thought in mind: summer will bring me to the Yukon.
Even though the past weeks have not been good, they do not diminish the quality of a life that allows me to leave when I have had my fill, a life that makes it easy to find fresh beginnings when endings taste like ash.
Guess what pulled into our park a few minutes ago? One of Miranda’s relatives–a slightly older and shorter Royal Classic! This was my first time encountering another Glendale Royal Classic RV on the road!
It was a brutal minus seventeen this morning when I went out at 6:30, but the temperature has been steadily rising (minus eleven at time of writing). Tomorrow, we are still being promised minus three (which we reached yesterday!) and then Sunday onwards it looks like we’re pushing up above zero. Yaaaaaay!
The forecast for January 2nd is a little worrisome (looks like it could end up being freezing rain), but I’ll be monitoring things closely and taking off as soon as I feel I can safely travel. I’ve slowly begun to make preparations for departure and I plan to spend January 1st readying Miranda’s exterior. Hopefully, my black tank will have time to thaw out in the next week! I hope to have a sufficient number of days of above freezing weather to determine if any major damage was done to my holding tanks and also to clear off the melting snow and ice to prevent water infiltration.
My next stop is officially Surrey and while I have pretty much made my decision as to what RV park I am going to next, I will withhold details about that at this time. 🙂