{"id":474,"date":"2012-05-06T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2012-05-06T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/?p=474"},"modified":"2012-09-09T14:02:40","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T18:02:40","slug":"the-eagle-has-landed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/06\/the-eagle-has-landed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eagle Has Landed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yup, we have our fiver on our campsite.\u00a0 It wasn’t easy, but what do I care?\u00a0 I didn’t do the hard work.<\/p>\n

Saturday turned out to be pretty crappy, weather-wise, which meant that both of the other major activities of the day – Jett’s huge yard sale and my softball games – were cancelled.\u00a0 So, with those impediments out of the way, I was able to arrange for an earlier meeting with Bill the Tow Guy.\u00a0 I got to the campground at 10:30am (instead of the previously-arranged 1pm).\u00a0 He didn’t arrive until 11am but that was ok – it gave me a chance to meet the hosts and a few of my new neighbors.<\/p>\n

The campground is owned and operated by Les and Nancy.\u00a0 Nancy handles the business side and Les does maintenance, just as Jett and I would split our duties if we take on camp host jobs next year.\u00a0 They assured me that the campsite was ready and waiting. They had recently upgraded the electrical to 50 amps, which turned out to be a good thing as I discovered that our coach had only 50 amp and 20 amp connectors (note to self: get a 30 amp adapter).<\/p>\n

Les had just finished his other job (or, as Nancy put it, his “fun job”) the day before.\u00a0 Both would work the campground full-time for the season.<\/p>\n

Les, along with site #3 neighbor Ron, admired my truck.\u00a0 I think Les’ exact words were “Now THAT’S a truck!”\u00a0 There were many kudos for the tires, which surprised me.\u00a0 Apparently both the rims and the tires were, in their eyes, special: the rims being a high-quality aluminum and steel pair and the tires being extra wide.\u00a0 I took a look at Les’s dually and, sure enough, my tires were wider than his.\u00a0 Better traction and higher replacement cost, I suppose.<\/p>\n

When Bill arrived I immediately grabbed my little bag of goodies (containing, most importantly, the license plate for the fiver and some tools to attach it) and off we went.\u00a0 The trip to Tyngsboro was uneventful, but I learned a lot about Bill, his business and his health.\u00a0 For example: Bill had had 9 heart attacks and a stroke since 1996.\u00a0 My response: “but none today, right?”\u00a0 Always the sympathetic one.\u00a0 I just flashed on a vision of Bill slumped over the wheel and me, in the co-pilot seat, trying desperately to prevent my new pride and joy from being transformed into a ruin. And crushing me in the process.<\/p>\n

But Bill had no heart attack on this trip.<\/p>\n

His business consisted of leasing travel trailers and hauling them to\/from campsites.\u00a0 He and his wife owned 20 trailers which, in his view, was the right number.\u00a0 He said they had had as many as 25 but found that with more than 20 they had to hire help.\u00a0 And no motorhomes.\u00a0 “Too much trouble and too expensive.”<\/p>\n

The Open Range was still in Daryl’s driveway when we arrived.\u00a0 Bill immediately backed the truck into position and, on his first try, snagged the fiver’s pin with the hitch with a loud clang.\u00a0 Daryl was impressed.\u00a0 “He’s a pro!”<\/p>\n

I immediately attached the plate and then did a quick walk-around to make sure everything was ready to go.\u00a0 Turns out I should have locked the cargo doors as one swung open as we pulled onto the Route 3 expressway.\u00a0 But no big deal.\u00a0 Bill finished hooking up the electrical tow connection and with a handshake to Daryl, off we went.<\/p>\n

The return trip, excepting the cargo door, was also uneventful.\u00a0 Bill took the shortest route, up NH 43, which I intended to avoid in September because it is narrow, hilly and has one hairpin turn.\u00a0 But Bill handled it with aplomb.\u00a0 He had to swing wide on the hairpin, but his view is “take the space you need; others will get out of your way.”<\/p>\n

I got some good advice on hauling the fiver.\u00a0 On adjusting the electrical brakes, he said that just using the fiver’s brakes should slow the truck, but not stop it.\u00a0 On using the “tow” setting on the gear shift stalk: “I don’t like it and never use it.”\u00a0 On whether I should keep below 65mph: (with a glance at his speedometer) “I am going 67 now.”<\/p>\n

The struggle to get the fiver backed into site #7 attracted a cadre of helpers, gawkers and well-wishers.\u00a0 Getting the unit threaded between the trees on the narrow approach was difficult, but the only real problem arose at the top of the hill when the fiver leveled out and the truck was still on the incline.\u00a0 At that point the tail of the truck made contact with the nose stabilizer bars and the truck lost.\u00a0 There was a loud clang as the left top rear edge of the truck slid off the bar, breaking a small piece of plastic off the truck edge in the process.\u00a0 Bill cautiously moved the truck forward, Ron removed the bar, giving the truck a couple of critical inches of room, and Bill tried again.\u00a0 This time the edge of the truck made contact with the underside of the fiver’s nose, but the covering was vinyl and had some give.\u00a0 The journey was completed with no further damage to either vehicle.<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of the back-in adventure, with Ron providing direction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
Backing the Open Range onto the campsite<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

I spent a couple of hours getting everything hooked up, taking measurements (Jett wants to build a 12×16′ deck, which is entirely feasible – at least until we find out how much it will cost), and figuring out how to hook up the utilities.\u00a0 The electrical connection was a breeze, but the sewer connection was not: Ron had to dig out an extra plastic adapter to make it work.\u00a0 Even then, it wasn’t totally secure.\u00a0 Les says it needs a “donut” – whatever that is.\u00a0 He said he would take care of it for me this week.<\/p>\n

I like people who take care of stuff for me.<\/p>\n

I gave Ron and his wife Sheena a tour of the unit once I got the slides out.\u00a0 Ron continued to be helpful, showing me where the circuit breakers were located and helping me figure out how to operate the roof vents.\u00a0 Sheena loved the unit (watch out, Ron – you may have an expensive upgrade in your future).\u00a0 I also showed it off to the three tent campers from the site above ours (two women and a man… hmmmm).\u00a0 They also loved it.<\/p>\n

Everyone loves it.\u00a0 Including me.<\/p>\n

I tried the bed out (which, you would think, I would have done before buying it, but you would be wrong).\u00a0 It was bouncier than I expected.\u00a0 Not air mattress bouncy, but definitely more rubbery than our current mattress.\u00a0 Hopefully we will get use to it, but I am pretty sure that Jett will add an extra layer of foam before we move in.<\/p>\n

I also tested the water heater – another thing I should have done before buying – and fortunately it worked.<\/p>\n

I was smart enough to shut off the water and the water heater, pull in the awning and lock the doors before I left.\u00a0 I chatted with Nancy for a few moments (the cable will be ready next weekend), then off I went.<\/p>\n

A very successful day.<\/p>\n

Oh – and I called Jett to tell her that the Eagle has landed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yup, we have our fiver on our campsite.\u00a0 It wasn’t easy, but what do I care?\u00a0 I didn’t do the hard work. Saturday turned out to be pretty crappy, weather-wise, which meant that both of the other major activities of the day – Jett’s huge yard sale and my softball games – were cancelled.\u00a0 So, … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-preparation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VniU-7E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":612,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions\/612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}