May 9, 2013 - Our First Trip

May 9, 2013

 

Well our first trip did not go as well as planned because we had wanted to go with Ed and Debi to Wolfe Creek on Lake Livingston but the delay in getting the coach did not allow for that.  As things had it we needed to take some furniture to family in Mississippi and the family crawfish boil was planned for the weekend of May 11th so we decided to make that our first trip.  We worked all week getting the coach loaded (at least everything we would need to make this trip) and this morning, Thursday, May 9, 2013 we headed out.  Made the beginner mistake and forgot to put the TV antenna down but did remember it before we got 200 yards away for the house.  Then we headed for gas and propane and at 9:30 am we started out for our first adventure.  The dogs are all confused but have settled down.  Boots is one the couch and Scootin and Boogie stood between Fred and I so they could see out the front window.  We must look a site to those that notice. 

 

As we headed out I-10 we ran into rain around Baytown and the wiper in front of the driver started acting up.  So we pulled off the interstate and got out the wrenches and pliers and tighten up the screws on the wiper arm.  That seemed to work for about 10 miles down the road.  They started acting up again and this time worse.  I got on the internet and found a RV repair shop in Orange and they were willing to see us right away.  I would highly recommend them if you ever have a problem in the Beaumont/Orange area - they are Lloyd's RV and Repair.  Even in the rain the owner came out and looked at our problem and fixed it right there on the spot.  He did tell us that he had only temporary fixed it as we need a new wiper arm, but he did not hold us up and did not charge us for what work he did do. 

 

Back on the road and in Lake Charles we had a car that kept waving at us and yelling.  I finally looked at what they were pointing at and saw that our stairs were out - now what is this.  We were not in a place where we could stop so Fred pulled over to the far right lane until we could find some place to stop.  The next thing he saw was flashing lights in his and we both just starting laughing.  He pulled over and the officer waived for him to come back to his car.  As I said in my first post Fred is a retired federal police officer so when he asked for his ID Fred made sure that his retired badge was visible.  The officer told him that he pulled him over because he was not driving straight.  Fred explained to him that we just got the coach and with the wind that was blowing with the rain storm he was just getting used to handling the coach plus we had a problem with our stairs.  The officer was nice and only asked that he show him our insurance and bill of sale on the coach.  He then help us get the stair in and let us go down the road.  We both were wondering what was going to happen next.  The stair kept giving us a problem but I figured out what to do and how to get the stairs back in each time they came out.  It appears we have loose connection and each time Fred hit a bump the stair would go out.  Well with that problem solved for the moment we continued our trip on to Mississippi.
 

We had no more problems we made it to Mississippi only 3 hour later than we originally planned.  My cousin lives in the backwoods of Mississippi in a small town called Caseyville and she has about 400 acres of land, so I was not sure where she wanted us to setup.  We pulled in front of the house and she said for us to just stay there as she has a large front yard with a circle drive.  Now the fun began again - we started to set up for the first time ever.  The generator was not working right and was running off the batteries and not gas and Fred or I nether one knew why.  Needless to say the batteries went down to nothing and we just looked at each other wondering what to do.  We finally decided just to plug into my cousin's house and just give her some money for electric.  Guess we still have a lo of things to learn!!