Bob & I have stayed at this particular RV park for several years on our way to Moab, Utah. The Amarillo Ranch RV Park is conveniently located just off I-40 so it's easy on & easy off. This time we decided to take it more leisurely on our way to Moab. So we're spending two night at this park and two nights in Albuquerque.
The reason we chose to stay here for two nights is (1) it's a Camp Club USA park and we can stay for 1/2 price for the first night. Sweet!
The second reason was to spend a good deal of time in the "indoor heated pool." Since Bob's allergies are giving him fits with the dry Texas summer and considering it's still triple digit heat in Texas, the indoor pool sounded good. I don't like to get too much sun with my fair skin.
After we arrived late yesterday afternoon. We still are not able to run all three air conditioners in the RV because of a wiring issue that our last tech did not get fixed... arghhhhh! So we were hot and soooo looking forward to a long, fun swim and some water aerobics.
So we put our suits on, grabbed our noodles and towels and off to the pool we went. As soon as we opened the door to the building, the stench of stale chlorine assaulted our nostrils. They had the windows and doors open and it was still enough to knock us over.
Trying to be hopeful, we looked at the pool and we could hardly see the bottom it was so murky. Bob decided to test the temperature. Well, they must have figured that an indoor pool in this hot weather did not need to be heated because it was COLD! Not cool, but COLD!!! We were so disappointed. It sounded so nice in the brochure and on their website.
On our way back to the rig our neighbor in the next campsite looked at us and said, "That was a quick swim." So we told him all about it. He was thinking of going over to swim but changed his mind after we described the pool. As we talked to this fellow more, come to find out he was driving the tour bus for Bob Wieland. You can learn all about him here http://www.dreamride3.com/
The man we met drives a tripped out Prevost Coach pulling a 25' trailer with all of Bob's bicycles and parts. And he said Bob actually sleeps in the trailer and not the Prevost... go figure that one out!
Bob is a double amputee and is in the middle of his current trip across the country and was meeting with some Amarillo officials last night. We wish him good luck on his current trip and in this heat, please be careful!
As we got to our rig, another neighbor was experiencing a problem. As I looked out the window I could tell just what the problem was... a cone stopping up his waste tank.I'll explain...
If you are going to go RVing you should do some reading and go to forums to learn about what problems can occur and how to avoid them.
You see, many people think that these "homes on wheels" are just like a land based home. Well, they are and they aren't. One big mistake people make (including this person) is to hook up to the utilities (water, sewer, and electric) and viola, open the valves on the waste tanks and you're ready to kick back and relax.
Not so fast buckaroo!
You see, RV toilets are not the same a household toilets. First of all they drain into what's called a holding tank. This tank should always be left closed until it is near full and then you can pull the lever and dump into the sewer line. Adding a good bacteria/enzyme additive is a great idea as it will help break down the solids and paper that sit in the tank waiting to be dumped. And the biggest thing to remember is to always use plenty of water at all times when flushing.
When Bob worked at an RV dealer we took a used unit on vacation one time. Bob and my Dad spend three days trying to get rid of the "cone" problem in that unit. The bad part was it was not even our cone material... yuck!
So what is this cone?
Sometimes when RVers hook up to the utilities, they pull the waste tank valve, assuming they can leave it open and just let everything drain with every flush of the toilet. Well, that is not exactly how it works.
Since the waste goes into a holding tank, it hits a flat surface on the way out. So when the valve is left open, the liquids drain and solids are left on the flat surface. Now keep doing that and you start getting a build up of solids and sludge. When you go out on the road and drive on these hot roads you bake this material and it turns into a very hard substance, like concrete. As you keep doing this, solids keep building into a sort of cone and before you know it you can no longer flush anything into the tank because it is full. And in our neighbors case, he could not empty his tank.
Well, he was at that point. After going to the office to see who he could call, three men came out and spent hours helping him get some of the crap (pun not intended) out so he could empty his tank. I saw the technician describing how this cone effect builds. I did not have to hear the words I could see by his hand gestures.
So if you are going RVing, get some knowledge. Go visit some forums. Get a book explaining the basics. Many problems like this one can be easily avoided. I can imagine that this poor guy had to pay a portion of his gas budget on these three men helping him out.
In the morning we head out to Albuquerque for a couple of days. We're going to get the rig washed at the Blue Beacon truck wash nearby first then we're on the road again.
We'll be staying at a Coast to Coast park in Albuquerque. We've been members of C to C since 1992 and we enjoy staying at member parks for about $15/night. These days that's a real bargain.
Till next time...
Happy Trails,
Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)
How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!
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