Lessons we've learned over the years
I would be curious to hear from all the veterans on this forum about the (sometimes painful) lessons you've learned over the years of owning a TT. I'll start: I rarely, if EVER, make U-turns w...
Forum Discussion
Tell all your family members only three things are permitted in the RV toilet (besides the Black Tank Chemicals): What comes out of your body, water, and RV toilet paper. Unlike home sewer systems, It’s not “out of sight/out of mind.” It’s more like “out of sight/you’ll discover it causing trouble later.”
After nearly 25 years of blissful marriage to my wonderful DW (and the last 15 of those camping in some type of trailer), I would have thought our communication skills would be better when it comes to backing up TT. I still don’t understand the “swatting flies” hand signals I see out the side view mirrors.
When using the dump station, realize that when you pull the black tank valve, it often gives a slight jerk to the stinky slinky, and even enough to cause it to come out of the dump station inlet, leading to the hinged metal dump station cap closing up, and a “black tank lake” quickly being forming in the basin around the cap. Best course of action is to quickly close black tank valve, reach in newly formed “black tank lake” and lift open dump station cap and reposition stinky slinky. Always good wear those rubber gloves. After removing gloves, I washed my hands all the way up to my arm pits about a half dozen times.
When leaving the campsite after following the detailed breakdown camp list, the last thing on the list is now, “pull up a few feet and go get those leveling boards.” Left a beveled wood set I had built and didn’t realize until next trip they were missing.
We often use a plastic grocery bag for the last bag of trash when packing up. With the used rubber gloves and other unfriendly trash in bag and with no dumpster close by, I didn’t want to store the bag in the TV while we drove out of the campground, so I placed it on the hood of the TV ready to throw out at dumpster when leaving. After sliding off the hood, I thought best to place the handles of the bag around the radio antenna on the TV to hold it in place. With short term memory problems and the heavy part of the trash bag sliding down the side of the TV and basically now out of view of the driver, one can drive for over 100 miles before stopping for lunch to notice the bag (and its contents) still there. There’s now a new last thing to check on the breakdown camp list.
Not a TT but a utility trailer story: When unloading mulch at house, I was trying to unhitch utility trailer (no jack) and it would not release. I figured it was tongue heavy, so I tried pulling it off hitch. No luck. So, I placed myself in a better position by straddling the tongue and lifting with arms on either side of the hitch. Still no luck. Fiddled with it a little more, and presto, it disengaged and the tongue headed straight up! It was tongue light (apparently most of the mulch was in rear of trailer.) Fortunately, I had abandoned my straddled position or else I would have been singing two octaves higher and no longer been able to pro-create.
After nearly 25 years of blissful marriage to my wonderful DW (and the last 15 of those camping in some type of trailer), I would have thought our communication skills would be better when it comes to backing up TT. I still don’t understand the “swatting flies” hand signals I see out the side view mirrors.
When using the dump station, realize that when you pull the black tank valve, it often gives a slight jerk to the stinky slinky, and even enough to cause it to come out of the dump station inlet, leading to the hinged metal dump station cap closing up, and a “black tank lake” quickly being forming in the basin around the cap. Best course of action is to quickly close black tank valve, reach in newly formed “black tank lake” and lift open dump station cap and reposition stinky slinky. Always good wear those rubber gloves. After removing gloves, I washed my hands all the way up to my arm pits about a half dozen times.
When leaving the campsite after following the detailed breakdown camp list, the last thing on the list is now, “pull up a few feet and go get those leveling boards.” Left a beveled wood set I had built and didn’t realize until next trip they were missing.
We often use a plastic grocery bag for the last bag of trash when packing up. With the used rubber gloves and other unfriendly trash in bag and with no dumpster close by, I didn’t want to store the bag in the TV while we drove out of the campground, so I placed it on the hood of the TV ready to throw out at dumpster when leaving. After sliding off the hood, I thought best to place the handles of the bag around the radio antenna on the TV to hold it in place. With short term memory problems and the heavy part of the trash bag sliding down the side of the TV and basically now out of view of the driver, one can drive for over 100 miles before stopping for lunch to notice the bag (and its contents) still there. There’s now a new last thing to check on the breakdown camp list.
Not a TT but a utility trailer story: When unloading mulch at house, I was trying to unhitch utility trailer (no jack) and it would not release. I figured it was tongue heavy, so I tried pulling it off hitch. No luck. So, I placed myself in a better position by straddling the tongue and lifting with arms on either side of the hitch. Still no luck. Fiddled with it a little more, and presto, it disengaged and the tongue headed straight up! It was tongue light (apparently most of the mulch was in rear of trailer.) Fortunately, I had abandoned my straddled position or else I would have been singing two octaves higher and no longer been able to pro-create.
