Airstream von Soich

I hauled our air compressor over to the in-laws today, to help winterize the Airstream. It was kind of sad, since this made it clear that we were done using it for the season, even though we had wanted to do one final fall camping trip.

The first step was to plug in the inverter to top off the battery, and to power the water pump. Then I turned on the pump and the galley sink faucet, and let the water pump drain the fresh water tank. While that was going, I opened the grey tank and let the water drain right out. (the black water tank was already empty.)

After the fresh tank was empty, I shut off the pump, opened all the faucets,  pulled the shower hose off the wall and laid it in the bottom of the tub, and attached the compressor to the city water hookup with a short section of hose that has a male garden hose adapter clamped to one end, and the other end with a air-tool quick release fitting clamped to the other end (just using hose clamps.) I was using pre-compressed air at 60 psi; the compressor blows the breaker that leads from the shed to the trailer.

When I attached the air to the fitting, the remainder of the water, plus a lot of air, started blowing out of the faucets and shower. The pipes also started buzzing; I imagined that was the check valve getting blown around inside it’s seat?

While the air was going, I went inside and opened the toilet flush valve until the water was cleared from that too. (I tried the toilet sprayer, but nothing came out, water OR air. I wonder if that will cause problems?)

I closed the faucets back up, re-pressurized the water line,  and opened the drain valve on the hot water tank. A surprising amount of water sprayed out, along with some black gunk at the end. (Ew!)

The final step was to pour some RV antifreeze into the drain of the sink, shower, bathroom sink, and some down the toilet. Hopefully, this will be enough to prevent frozen cracked pipes, and avoid having the water lines contaminated with RV antifreeze.

We also pulled out the sheets, games, and some wayward clothes hidden around the camper, and swept it out. I still need to go back with some D-Con traps, since there were mouse “signs” all over, too.

We packed up our camp into the camper and suburban at about 6:30pm yesterday, pulled through the dump station (we knew it was time to go, because the shower started backing up again, just a little.)

After a stop at a Shell station about a half hour from the island, and it’s interesting to see what the price caps are at the different gas stations are, (the Shell was $85,) plus air in all 8 tires, we were on our way.

The trip was really uneventful, but long. we probably left the shell station at 8:45pm, and unhitched at the temporary spot in front of the in-laws at 4:45am, and got back home to a house full of stinky dogs a little after 5.

Now what’s left is to go back to the Airstream, repark it, and clean it out.

I’ll log about the revelations about what needs done in the airstream in another post.

P.S. I calculated gas mileage with and without towing:

• Driving around MD, not towing: 9.5 MPG
• Towing back from MD, correct tire pressure in all 8 tires: 8 MPG

Yesterday, we got up early and went to Ocean City, MD, which is about 10 miles away from where we’re camped.

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We determined yesterday that the water in the grey tank smells just as bad, in it’s own way, as black water.

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Camden still had a fever, and was rashy besides, so we didn’t do much. The weather was overcast for the most part, anyway.

Mostly we stayed at the campsite (Cam had a three hour nap in the afternoon), and in the evening went to a little gift-shop/game room (attached to a “commercial” campsite, complete with a western theme and fiberglass sharks.) Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday also started out good. We woke at 7:30, grabbed a cookie breakfast, and headed out to the bayside to have a morning canoe ride through the marshes and shallows. (There is an untapped gold mine of industrial-grade stink there, and we found a particularly rich vein of it.) Read the rest of this entry »

If a beach vacation had to be condensed into one day, yesterday would have fulfilled all of the requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

We made it! With no major problems and only a few comical moments. Like when I thought the trailer brakes were locked up & I called a mechanic friend, only for my wife to point out that the emergency brakes were on : @ Read the rest of this entry »

We finally decided on a destination.

Unfortunately, our plan of leaving last evening and driving halfway there so the suburban wasn’t too taxed hasn’t really worked out, so we’re leaving this morning instead.

We should really be a sight, a big blue SUV pulling a big silver twinkie, with a big yellow canoe on the roof.

The inspection this morning went well. Within the first 5 minutes, they determined that all the things that need to work worked. Read the rest of this entry »