MISC.

T-Minus a few days, and counting…

We’ve got three lists of ‘Do Not Forget’ items, six piles of clothes, and two freezers of food waiting to be crammed into the coach. But first, maintenance chores at the farm are required before we can leave the cabin unattended for a month, so we traveled the two-hour round trip this evening.

We just purchased a swanky new portable generator for the cabin. Opting for the cheaper route, we bought a refurbished unit on ebay, saving hundreds of dollars.

Last week we diligently tested the generator at home. Ran great, easy start, super quiet operation. We congratulated ourselves for finding such a great deal. Then Pin-Head mode set in, and we didn’t actually plug an appliance into the blessed thing.

You can guess what happened next…

That’s right, it doesn’t work. We hauled it out to the farm tonight only to find the outlets are dead. Fired right up, but doesn’t produce any AC power. So tomorrow I’ve got to make a special trip to the “authorized factory dealer” and put in a claim before the 30 day warranty expires next week. Meanwhile the cabin chores are left unfinished, and we’re out of time.

Yup, leaving is the hardest part of going on vacation.

We’re counting the weeks until our big Wild West Tour begins. In the meanwhile, we’re reviewing all our supplies & equipment to make sure everything is ready to go.

Last weekend we discovered our George Foreman electric grill is a big energy hog!
1400 watts to be exact, which is a large draw on our power system.
We rely on that grill for cooking indoors when it’s raining, or when there’s a ‘No Fires’ policy at the campground (especially during the drought this summer), or sometimes we’re just too lazy to drag out the charcoal grill.

So yesterday we stood in the aisle at Target for a long while, mulling over options. Ended up buying a smaller George, less wattage, but still plenty big for burgers & steaks. Should be easier to store, too -and space is always an issue with a coach our size.