Our First RV Outing

This weekend we enjoyed the RV for the first time. We had previously scoped out several RV parks in Provo, Heber and Deer Creek State Park. It was the later we decided to visit first. It was not far (about 10 miles away from home), had electricity, water and sewer connections, and was close enough to major population centers (Provo and Heber City) that if we needed anything or had an emergency, it would not be far to go.

Deer Creek State Park, as seen from our site

So we made reservations for Deer Creek State Park. DeeAnn packed the RV while I was at work and after I got home and tried to fill the water tank she finished the packing. We got up to the park at about 2:00 pm and set up. It was surprisingly easy, only took about 30 minutes to make all the connections and even pull down the awning.

There she is - our first adventure

We were able to sit under the awning and enjoy a nice cool breeze in the shade for a while. DeeAnn cooked a pasta dinner which was followed by some TV watching and a game of Scrabble.

Enjoying a little shade and the cool breeze

The next morning I got up and had a nice cold shower. We later discovered that if we left the water heater on for about 20 minutes, the water was plenty warm. We also discovered a couple of leaks, one around the shower (after the water had drained from the shower) and one in the bathroom around the toilet, probably coming from the sink.

Still enjoying the shade and breeze

Breakfast was cubed potatoes. After doing the dishes, we discovered a major water puddle under the sink that was also leaking out to the floor. Definitely some warranty work for the dealer to do! We will drop it off on the way to the airport later this week and pick it up on the way back.

Our site, complete with a picnic table, fire ring and barbecue grill

After cleaning up floods and the kitchen, we sat down and enjoyed a game of Phase Ten and two rounds of Disney Sorry while watching a Monk DVD.

Site 39 - Remember this one!

The time quickly fled past and we broke camp at about 12:45. Then it was back down the canyon. We had made arrangements with the Broberg's and Welch's to pick them up for a ride and lunch. So we headed back up the canyon to Heber City to enjoy a lunch at Dairy Keen. Then it was back home and unpacking.

Charlie and Abby all ready to go!

The RV is now parked safely in the back yard, thanks to the new fence and gate installed earlier this week. A pretty successful trip, considering the minor problems we encountered.

Dairy Keen as I remember it as a kid and as it is now

All I can say about the experience, is it sure beats tent camping! It's nice to have a solid roof over our heads, two flat screen TVs, a DVD player, microwave, refrigerator and freezer, air conditioning and heater, toilet and shower, all within 30 feet. My idea of roughin' it!

Issues we still have to deal with:

• How do you fill the water tank? It does not seem to work the way we were shown or the way the instructions indicate
• Leaks around the shower, toilet, and right sink in the galley
• Flushing holding tanks does not seem to work like the way were were shown or instructions indicate
• Sound system does not seem to work correctly
• Oven pilot light does not seem to light correctly
• Select a name!
  

Review - Killing Ground

The last book I finished was The Killing Ground by Jack Higgins. It was okay. I enjoy Jack Higgins, the characters he writes and his stories. Higgins, a pseudonym for Harry Patterson, has been writing since the 60's. This novel is typical of his writing--political thriller.

After a young girl is kidnapped, Sean Dillon and party decide to rescue her. But they rescue her from a fortress in Irag and from the "Hammer of God" himself. This sets off a chain of events that threatens everyone involved.

Part of the plot was that Dillon's boss, General Ferguson, was to be killed along with Harry Salter, a former London mafia boss whose son is now a member of Dillon's special assignments team. But the story fell flat on it's face at that point. It was dealt with in probably a single paragraph. I was disappointed to the lead-up and the let down that centered around the plot.

As I said above, the book was okay. I would recommend it if there was nothing else to read or if the reader liked political thrillers. I won't stop reading Higgins and I'm looking forward to his next book, Rough Justice, due to be released later this year. Oh, well, now it's time to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Finally!

The RV Decision

Ok, we decided on an RV that suited our needs. Drum roll... Greyhawk by Jayco was the winner. Pictures of it are posted on the previous entry.

So, yesterday we headed up to Salt Lake to sign our lives away. We had a nice lengthy walk-through that showed us more buttons and switches than we cared to know about. Then it was off to the service department to learn about warranties, then to the finance department to sign a dozen forms. Finally, we were able to take delivery of the vehicle!

Our first stop was at the Grondels to show it off to them. Then we returned back to the dealer to spend a bunch of money at Camping World. We purchased some of the basic items such as hoses, toilet tissue, tank chemicals, electrical adapters and the such. Since we had a considerable amount of money to still spend, we bought some plates, wheel chocks, etc. We ended up spending about half of the total coupon we had, so we are making a list of the items we might still want. Since we were getting pretty hungry, we ate an early dinner.


Then it was to take the vehicle home, or at least to it's temporary home. Until we can get our gate re-configured with a larger gate, Jeff and Christina have graciously allowed us to store it at their home. We pulled in and immediately had children jumping up and down with excitement!
We gave a quick tour and talked about all the features. Their favorite was the "bunk bed" or the bed over the cab.

Left to right: Tyler, Kent, Charlie, Reed, and Abby check out the "bunk bed."

So, now we have two things to decide: 1) an appropriate name for the vehicle, and 2) our first getaway. Send us an email and we can conduct a poll on the name.