Provisioning

With the route to Red Bay pretty much determined it was time to focus on getting the house ready and the RV loaded and ready to go.  Jack Spain, now an adopted sibling, would be holding down the fort solo until April. Systems he did not need like the outdoors water features, the now defunct spa and garage refrigerator needed to be quiesced.  Notifications were sent to the Extra Storage Garage space relaying the Smitanic exit date and a promise to return in April. Before leaving the storage facility 1.5 cups of bleach was added to the fresh water tank so it would slash around a bit on the way home.  This was the first step in sanitizing the fresh water tank. A warning email to the Tasman neighbors had been sent to announce the dockage into the cul de sac for 4 nights for a leisurely loading and prep of the RV for the extended trip.

Once parked on top of the Tasman pickleball court the first tasks would include 1. Finish the sanitization process of fresh water system including replacing 2 filters, 2. hook up to shore water and power.  As the coaches fresh water tank was filling the power was hooked up to the house. Kevin had dialed down the RVs draw to 15 amps & shore power draw 10 amp max, but each time the power came up the GFI on the house plug tripped.  Different outlets on the house were tried but each failed. Finally a plug not on the garage circuit did the trick. Kevin concluded that there must be an issue with the gfi outlet in the garage as that was the one that kept tripping.  Add that to the fix list for Tasman.

The fresh water tank was now full.  The next step in sanitation process was to run the now deluded bleach water through each faucet to clean all the pipes (actually the water lines are plastic tubing). The last step was to drain the fresh water tank and refill.  This was followed by running water through the lines to determine if there is any residual bleach smell. Kevin determined it would be best to partially dump the fresh water and top off with new water from the hose attached to the house.

Before any items were loaded, the bays(storage under the RV) were inspected for any unused items or ones not required for this journey.  Surprisingly not much was removed just some rearranging.

First loaded in was a ample supply of wine purchased from Kurt at a favorite wine store, the Wine Merchant.  Theresa has committed to no alcohol until September 1, so the stash will go even further! A new Coleman Roadtrip xl grill was also loaded to replace the original one damage in a severe storm in red bay in March.

With the basement items complete, the slides were finally extended so inside items that have been staged in the living and dining room could find a home in the RV, including Kevin’s birthday present a matching recliner so he doesn’t need to steal Theresa’s.

     

Frequent breaks from loading were made to accomplish other exit-related tasks such as:

- Toad serviced at  Cricket Service Center for oil and oil filter change, radiator flushed, new battery, and new tires and alignment.

- Costco trip for meats and other supplies
- Request Absentee ballot since they will not be in NC for the November elections.
- Loading bikes & airplanes in Jeep.
- Installed the tire monitoring system on RV and Toad.

The food, Clothes, biking & pickleball gear were the final items to be loaded.  The Tasman residence seemed to gain its square footage without all the staging piles.  Jack will be able to breath now with the increase in space!

The Smitanic was ready for a 1pm departure the next day to the Bandits Roost campground in Wilkesboro,NC.