April 1st is the start of camping season for us, and that is no joke.
Sorry, but I can’t help the lame joke. I’m just so happy to be, as Willie says, “On the Road Again…”
But before we hit the road each camping season, we take a little shake down trip. This is a trip to figure out all the things we forgot over the last five months and to resolve all the issues our camper developed since our last visit to the RV dealer.
We visit our dealer at the start and end of each camping season. We get the travel trailer either winterized or de-winterized depending on the time of year. You should be able to figure that part out.
I know others do the winterizing/de-winterizing process themselves, but Dan and I like to leave it to the professionals. They find other issues, too, which we wouldn’t even know to look for. Like last Fall. Timmy, the Service Manager, suggested we get our travel trailer’s roof resealed. We want to keep our travel trailer for a long time. We trust Timmy as he has always treated us right. So when Timmy says jump, we say how high.
But not literally. I don’t want Dan to get up on our travel trailer’s roof, and I’m sure not gonna get up there, so we happily paid the price and got ‘er done.
This spring, besides getting de-winterized, there were a couple of surprise, minor issues which needed to be resolved.
Timmy showed us some kind of anode which lives in the water heater. He said it should be replaced. It looked like a giant stick of rock candy but not a flavor you would want to lick. Go for it, we told Timmy.
The water pump had a leak at one of the fittings. That was fixed, but the service technician recommended we replace the fitting with a “barbed connection.” We told him we were thinking the exact same thing! Not really. We didn’t even know the darn thing was leaking. We asked him to have Timmy order it, and “Barb” would be invited in the next time we passed through.
Then there was that matter of water on the floor after putting the slide out. It turned out some fittings had shaken loose. So, those got tightened up back there, too. We’ve used our camper for three years now, spending 179 nights in it. So, stuff is gonna happen.
We also get the propane topped off, the tires checked and take care of any other miscellaneous concerns that have popped up since our last visit.
We always plan our de-winterizing/winterizing and shake down trips to line up with our dealer’s location. So, once we were all good to go, we told Timmy goodbye and said we hoped we wouldn’t see him until the fall. It sounds kind of unfriendly, but if you’re the owner of a recreational vehicle, you get it.
Then we traveled down the road for another hour and fifteen minutes where we found our home for the next several nights.
Where did the road take us? Our fascinating destination will be the subject of my next blog post!
Chambers on the Road 
I’m happy to hear you and Dan are on the road once again. As Dr. Seuss says, “Oh, the places you will go!” I look forward to reading about all your travel adventures, told in your own humorous style. If you ask me, there should be another zero on your number of followers. Come on, folks, 4000+ followers for Chambers on the Road!
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David, you are very kind. I have fun writing these posts, and I hope it makes the day better for those who read – even if just a bit. We have lots of trips planned for this year, so – God willing – there should be a lot of fun adventures to share. Enjoy your Sunday!
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💗
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Congratulations on the start of your camping season, Betty. I hope your shakedown is mostly uneventful in terms of those little surprises RV’s manage to send our way. I look forward to reading about your summer adventures!
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Hi Terry! Yes – “uneventful” and “RV shakedown” are good words to put together! It’s what we all pray for, and what we shoot for when visiting our dealer and trying to address every little issue we see. Because we all know little issues can quickly become big issues! We have some fun trips planned, and like I told David, God-willing, I should have some interesting posts to write and share. Hope you have a great day and a great week ahead!
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Sounds exciting and like an April Fool’s day I would enjoy!
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Yes, going camping is enjoyable any day. I, personally, don’t want any April Fool’s day jokes. We’ve all had enough of the rocky ride over the last couple of years! Hope you have an enjoyable day today!
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Yes, and I am grateful none of my students pulled any jokes other than verbal!
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179 nights in three years spent in a camper, that’s a lot of time on the road. It seems you are ready to go ‘on tour’ again and I hope you will reach -and explore- all the places you might have on your list. Safe travels!
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Thank you very much! Safe travels is first and foremost what we want! There are many places to see and explore in this country of ours. I’ll be happy with whatever we can do! Enjoy your day!
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I have made my secret guess as to where you are going, and placed it in a hermetically sealed Mason jar, not to be opened or revealed until after you regale us with your destination review. I am thinking of opening a private investigation business, and am honing my detective skills, especially those with very few clues. I hope you had a great trip! Happy Monday–sun shining here so I am ready to do my own little shake-down!
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Well, it will be interesting to know if your secret guess is correct or not! I do think it could be figured out though – by someone who is a regular reader of my blog and who doesn’t have much else to do. There are a number of clues! First, who is our dealer, and where are they located? Second, what campgrounds are within one hour and fifteen minutes? Next, what amenities do those campgrounds offer – electric? water? sewer? all three? Lastly, what amenities are required by the Chambers? Vwa-Lah! There is your answer. However, I know you have a full life, so you can just discover our destination with my next post. Enjoy your sunshine and your day! P.S. It’s Sunday morning here in Missouri.
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Apparently, I need to hone my detection skills first on knowing what day of the week it is. 🙂
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🙂
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You are very smart to do a shake down cruise and to also have any little repairs left it to the professionals. They find the tiny things that we might overlook.
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Thank you. We know there is a lot we don’t know! Hope you have a great day!
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Best wishes on the new camping season.
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Thank you very much. Feels like a national holiday to me. 🙂 Enjoy your day!
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May the roads lead you to new adventures. Enjoy!
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Thank you for your kind wishes! Hope you have a great week ahead!
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Happy Trails!
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Thank you!
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I am sure that you are doing a happy dance. I am looking forward to reading about your travel adventures.
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Thank you! Yes, I am doing the happy dance. Enjoy your day!
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Wishing you many memorable days ahead on the road.
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Thank you very much!
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It’s always great when you can find an RV technician close to home who you can trust and feel comfortable with. Now with a clean “RV” bill of health away you go. May you have safe travels and miles of smiles. Two days for us and we’ll be on our way as well. Enjoy. Have a great week.
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Looking forward to reading about your adventures! Safe travel wishes for you and Barb, too!
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So glad to see you are getting the trailer out of storage. I’m sure there is lots of adventure ahead.
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Yes, 2022 is all planned, and God willing, we will have some great adventures. Now we are starting to think about 2023. The weekend spots go to the planners!
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