RV living the downside

Truck Camper life and road repairs part of RV living.

I, like many others, have watched many YouTube and blog sites on full time RV living. Most sites are intriguing as they feature the most beautiful camp spots, great hikes with great views from the windows of their home. While this is true there is the not so glorified aspect to living on the road. Every home needs maintenance and same goes for our homes on wheels, just sometimes not in the most convenient places.

To continue on with Ron and Anne in their Northern Lite who you met in my last post, they exemplify the resoucefulness one must have to survive on the road. Their truck air conditioning was not working so Ron left the Narrows to Prince Albert to get it looked after. While Ron was gone Anne discovered water in the basement of their NL 10.2. The leak was coming from the grey water tank where a fitting had cracked. The grey water tank was only accessible through the basement crawl space and very hard to get at. This is not the first time a crack has happened on this model as when Ron contacted NL they knew exactly how to repair it.

They would have to cut the drain pipe in two places, screw out the fitting and replace it rejoining the drain pipe with a rubber hose and clamps. Now Ron is a pretty big fella and no way was he going to be able to crawl into that space, he sized me up instantly and I agreed to help with the fix. It’s a good thing all pieces needed for the plumbing fix are standard and parts were available after a drive to Prince albert.
When it came time to get the job done, I could not get past my mid-section and if I did we would not have had enough butter to get me out. Poor Anne, she was the only one left that could fit in that basement, but like a trooper she did what had to be done with guidance from Ron and encouragement from the cheering squad.

The fix was almost complete, Ron wanted to support the rubber connector with about a 3 inch foam and none was to be found. Charlotte suggested the canoe seat I had purchased on line and was made of rigid foam and being as it was not one of my better purchases may work. We tore apart that seat, sawed off what was needed and it worked great.

Last account well on their way to Labrador the fix was 100 percent.
Thanks Ron and Anne for letting me share your story it is so typical of the things that can go wrong on the road and the imagination required to fix them. This was not their first repair and one would hope but will probably not be the last either on their home on wheels. One must just think it through, if it’s broken it can be fixed.
After having spent a month at the Narrows Charlotte and I left to visit with friends on a farm at Smeaton for five wonderful days. My surgery appointment for June which we had waited in Saskatchewan for July 3rd did not happen due to a different procedure needed. It cannot be too serious as the soonest it can be done is if we drive to Humboldt is in October, if I wanted it done in Saskatoon probably 18 months to wait. So we are back on the road again and that story for another post, my next post I would like to introduce Owen and Lynn full time in their van for two years and visiting the Narrows from Conneticut, USA.

I had no idea just how flexible we would have to be when I posted that article, at the time of this writing we are at the Wood Mountain Rodeo down south near the Montana border. Did we plan this not a chance but here we are. More on that and the story of our on the road repairs and the rodeo in upcoming posts.
Until then stay safe, enjoy your summer and if travelling may the wind be at your back, we really hope to meet you down the road. Look for the studiowest.ca Northern Lite.
Gerry (RVcowboy)
Charlotte (Editor in Chief)