Disruptions in our RV Life: Part 2

Life continued on, mostly without me, but I still managed to have almost daily struggles with Lorelei. We would argue; she would get
angry, I would yell at her; she would cry, I would cry, she would carry on forever about how much she hated me and what a terrible mom I was... and eventually David would smooth things out.  I briefly mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to stay hidden in my room at my parents' house.  This is because we basically moved in with them after dropping our RV off for minor repairs at Open Roads Complete RV in Acworth, GA.

Let me give you a little back story about that whole debacle:

We had arranged to drop our RV off at Open Roads a few weeks prior to our arrival in Georgia and when we made our appointment they informed us they were running about 2 weeks behind for scheduling.  We told them that would be fine since we wanted to drop the RV off on Halloween, which was a little over 2 weeks away.  When we arrived in Marietta, my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins helped us unload pretty much the entire RV and move everything into my parents' house.  We figured we would be there for a few weeks, maybe a month and a half at most while the RV was being repaired.  This worked perfectly because we wanted to be with my family for Thanksgiving and figured around that time we would get the RV back and head to Hartwell, GA to stay with David's parents on their farm for a while and then head back out on the road after Christmas.  

When we arrived on Halloween to drop the RV off, we were once again informed that they were running about 2 weeks behind.  We reminded them that we had made an appointment (over 2 weeks ago) to have the work done starting on that day so they could start right away on our rig, right?  Apparently, in the RV repair world, that isn't how things work.  They wanted us to bring it in so it could sit on their lot for 2 weeks before they even looked at it...???   &*$^*@%)&*  SERIOUSLY??  We felt a little powerless but we left our house there and headed back to our temporary home away from home to wait it out.

A few weeks passed and I finally had my appointment.  The psychiatrist determined I was depressed (you think?), anxious (possibly), and OCD (hmm, not too sure about that one, but whatever).  To make things all better, he gave me a prescription for Zoloft.  I was supposed to gradually increase the dose by 25-50 mg every two weeks or so.  As time passed, I still wasn't feeling much better.  I still didn't want to get out of bed.  I was going to bed early. I was always exhausted but I could barely sleep. And, I was still crying (or felt like I needed to) almost all the time.  

Thanksgiving came and things didn't seem to be getting much better.  Our RV was still in the shop and we were still at my parents' house. My parents were being super supportive through all of this.  They weren't giving us a hard time about being there but I was still feeling incredibly guilty for disrupting their routine.  A few more weeks passed (with little to no progress on the RV) and all of a sudden, it was Christmas.  

I always look forward to Christmas with my family.  All of my cousins and their families, aunts, & uncles, my brother, his wife and kids come over... We get together to celebrate and throw wrapping paper at each other.  Christmas just isn't the same for me unless I can be around all that chaos.  This year was different however.  As people began to arrive, I started feeling  overwhelmed.  I couldn't handle the chit chat and chaos of my family, who I normally love to be around.  I ended up retreating, once again, into the safety of my bedroom.

After a few more visits to the psychiatrist and a few more tweaks to the medication, I finally began to feel "normal."  I am currently taking Zoloft (to make me happy), Wellbutrin (to give me energy), Adderall (have I ever mentioned my ADHD?), and Trazadone (at night, to help me sleep).  I really don't like taking all these medications, but I guess for now, it is what my brain (and sanity) needs.  Hopefully I can eventually go back to being "normal" without so many drugs but with all the changes and uncertainty that has been going on in my life I suppose it is OK to have a little help.

We finally picked up our RV and headed out on the road again, but unfortunately, we are just on a short jaunt to Florida. We began our trip with our first RV rally, then spent a little time outside of Orlando with a trip to Legoland and we are currently in the FL panhandle so I can spend time with my Grandma Betty.  We are heading back to Marietta in a few days to celebrate Grandma Lucy's birthday on Saturday and... big surprise here, drop the RV back off at Open Roads for them to FINISH the repairs they were supposed to do over 3 months ago.  Oh well, that's why I'm taking medication: so I don't have to get upset about $h!t like this!

Disruptions in our RV Life: Part 1

Wow, I can't believe how quickly the last few weeks months have flown by.  I feel like life has jumped from early October to mid February in the blink of an eye!  Hmm, that must be the medication talking.  Yup, let me explain...

When I came up with the crazy idea of downsizing and traveling around the country in an RV, David jumped into it pretty quickly but Lorelei wasn't too keen on it.  I figured once we got on the road she would embrace it and everyone would have a great time.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  Lorelei is a homebody.  She likes her routine & predictability.  She does best with a schedule and needs to socialize with other kids her age.

Before we left, I began researching various homeschooling options and decided that I would go with an on-line curriculum called Time4Learning and supplement with various activities as we travel.  I envisioned frequent hikes, zoo & museum field trips, and having Lorelei complete the various Junior Ranger programs at the National Parks we would visit.  It didn't take long for before I realized that this wasn't going to work.  Lorelei refused to do the Junior Ranger programs.  She had no interest in exploring the museums and would pretty much shut down anytime we would go out; whining, complaining, and constantly arguing to make sure everyone was as miserable as she was.  In addition to disliking any adventures we tried to enjoy, she was also extremely unhappy with the curriculum in Time4Learning and had a very difficult time focusing and getting anything done.

Everyday was getting more and more difficult to get through.  Lorelei was frequently melting down and I was beginning to feel horrible for uprooting Lorelei from her happy life in Colorado and forcing her to travel without her friends.  I was dreading getting out of bed in the morning and was completely drained from all the arguing and yelling going on between myself and Lorelei.  I eventually began to feel that this was a horrible mistake.  Our house still hadn't sold in Colorado so our savings was just about depleted from basically having an additional mortgage payment (campsites & RV payment) while still making payments on the house.  In addition to all of this, David's job wasn't going quite as well as we had anticipated and it looked like he was going to have to find some contract work to do while he waited for his company to start making a bit more money.

In mid-October, I shut down.  I went to bed and couldn't get back up. Life had become more than I could handle and I had a minor major meltdown.  I shut everyone out and slept and cried for about 30 hours (or maybe a bit longer.  I can't really remember how long I stayed in bed since time was passing so quickly).  There is never a good time for this to happen, but my timing was pretty horrible because it was David's birthday.  David managed to drag me out of bed to go out to dinner for his birthday.  I sat at the table, feeling numb, not touching any food.  I eventually couldn't handle the stimulation around me of the noisy restaurant and retreated to the car while David & Lorelei finished their meals.

It was around this point that David began to realize something really wasn't right; that I couldn't just snap out of my "funk."  He decided I needed professional help so he began researching psychiatrists in the Atlanta area and made an appointment for me to see someone soon after we arrived.  He got the soonest appointment available, but it was still a few weeks out.  Over the next few weeks, I was still pretty miserable.  I was crying a lot, always tired, and didn't feel like being around anybody.  I would have been perfectly content to stay holed up in my room at my parents' house where we were staying while life continued on without me...

Fun With Water

By "Fun With Water," I really mean a series of events that make you question your life choices. Why am I laying on the floor of a poorly-built, miniature, rolling home with my head and arms squeezed underneath a toilet? Why am I missing the first quarter of the Superbowl by making my second trip of the day across town to Lowes?

We recently picked up our RV after leaving it in the shop for 3 months. More on that in another post, but suffice it to say that we didn't winterize it because we never planned to be out of it for so long. The shop assured us that the brief freezing temperatures experienced in Georgia over that 3 month period were nothing to worry about, as they weren't going to be "hard freezes", so we didn't need to do anything to prep the RV.

Whether or not that is true I can't say, however on our first trip out after the shop, after the first shower, we noticed a huge puddle of water on the bathroom floor. We weren't sure exactly where the water was coming from, but it was late and we were tired, so we sopped it all up with towels and decided not to use that shower again until we could have someone look at it. Luckily, our RV has 2 full baths, so no big deal. The next day I used the rear shower instead, and within minutes Christy noticed another puddle forming on the floor. Exasperated, I quickly finished my shower and sopped up the water yet again.

My first week back on the road, with a new job, and 2 broken showers. I did NOT have time to deal with this. Luckily we were at a rally and they had a mobile handyman on premises ready for just such an occasion. I was more than happy to let him troubleshoot the issue. He quickly determined that the faucet fixtures were leaking on the back, after the valves, in the mixing T:

The area circled in red is a small stream of water spraying from a leak in the mixing T. This is with the shower barely turned on, and the pause valve open. If I turned the water up more or closed the pause valve the water sprayed uncontrollably. This gushing stream of water had been spraying in the space behind the shower, running down the wall and running along a conduit behind the toilet before pouring onto the bathroom floor.

After a few emails and phone calls with our RV manufacturer's service department, we were assured that the parts and labor to fix this would be covered under warranty. We could have our mobile handyman here at the rally do the work, pay him, and get reimbursed. Yay! Problem 1 solved! But there would be more.

Now we had 2 working, non-puddle-forming showers again, but we still had wet walls and floors behind the showers and toilets. A quick post to the Facebook group for our rally and our friendly neighbors came to the rescue, loaning us 2 small fans, a small space heater, a hair dryer, and a dehumidifier.

I ran the various appliances in cycles, with the most effective seeming to be the hair dryer. The shower has several access ports that let you get to some of the plumbing behind it, so I put the hair dryer into each of these, and into the space behind the toilet to dry each in turn. Before long everything seemed to be in good shape again, so we returned the loaned appliances and breathed a premature sigh of relief.

The next morning Christy discovered another puddle on the bathroom floor... in both bathrooms. No one had showered this time, and it was smaller than before, but I was in no mood for it! We cleaned up the puddles and I hoped the problem would magically go away on its own. No surprise here, but it didn't. We went through 3 or 4 soaked towels in each bathroom over the next day or so before I gave in and decided to see what the problem was. It was the weekend by now, so instead of enjoying my time off and the beautiful Florida weather, I broke out the tools.

It seemed there was a very slow leak from the supply line providing water to each of the toilets. Nothing spraying like before; just a slow drip that could soak a washcloth overnight. I tried tightening the connectors but it had no effect and I was wary of breaking the fragile plastic pieces on either the hose or the toilet and making the problem even worse.

After more fiddling, I determined that the leak wasn't coming from the connector to the toilet, but rather where the supply hose and fitting were joined together. They were joined by some kind of permanent clamp holding the hose in place so there was nothing for me to tighten or adjust. I cut off the clamp and set off to Lowes to buy a pair of tiny, adjustable, replacement hose clamps.

My theory here is that I actually caused this leak myself by blasting the hot air from a hair dryer onto this hose (which is designed for cold water only). It's likely the material started to shrink from the heat, allowing the water to slowly escape. No matter; with fresh parts and tools in hand it wouldn't be a problem for much longer. I tightened the new clamps, reattached the hoses to the toilets and had Christy go out and turn the water back on while I inspected my handiwork for leaks. It didn't take long to find one.

Within seconds of pressure being restored a powerful stream of water began spraying out from under the conduit behind the toilet about a foot to the left of the area where I had been working. I grabbed a handful of towels while yelling out the window to Christy to turn it back off. I had no idea what was wrong this time but I just wanted it to be over. I went outside and climbed around underneath the RV and opened up several access ports, looking for a valve that would cutoff water to the rear bathroom completely so I could just look at this more another time. Unfortunately it didn't appear that anyone designed for this scenario and I could find no such valve. I had no choice but to figure out what the problem was if we wanted to have any running water during the rest of our trip. I started ripping off the trim around the conduit so I could lift it up and access the leak behind it and soon discovered a pinprick-sized hole in the toilet supply line. It seems that I caused this incident as well!

After I disconnected the supply line from the toilet I had given it a little tug to pull it out from behind the toilet so I would have better access. When I did this, the hose caught on one of the trim nails inside the conduit and ruptured the line (brilliant idea, by the way, lining the plumbing conduit with tiny nails suitable for destroying the hoses it contains). There was no good way to replace this hose, as it snaked off underneath the shower and down through the floor to join up with some plumbing which I had no access to without removing the entire solid molded plastic bay container on the bottom of the RV.

I tried to fix it by covering it with rescue tape, which I had on hand for just such an emergency after reading other RV blogs. Rescue tape is a stretchy, rubbery, self-bonding material that is supposed to withstand high pressures when properly applied. Unfortunately the dirty, wet, cramped space behind a toilet does not lend itself to the proper application of rescue tape and my repair job failed miserably with the tape bubbling up and the water stream finding an escape within seconds of repressurizing the line.

I had another solution in mind, but it involved going back to Lowes. With the superbowl starting in minutes and my home team Falcons^* playing in it, this was not what I wanted to be doing. Sacrifices must be made, however, so I found the game on the radio and set off to find more parts. All I needed were 2 more hose clamps and a straight through hose barb like this:

I cut out the section of hose with the hole in it and replaced it with new piece and within minutes we were leak free again! I cleaned myself up and sat down to enjoy Christy's delicious Instant Pot dinner while the Falcons proceeded to poop the bed and blow a 25-point lead to lose the superbowl in spectacular embarrassing fashion. No matter; I would enjoy my victory over leaks instead.

^{*In the spirit of full disclosure, I should reveal that, while I am from the state of Georgia, I'm a rabid college football fan and don't really care much for the NFL. I was cheering for the Falcons but for the most part don't really care. The addition of this part of the story to the blog post was mainly for the added dramatic impact.}

Maps Location Madness

Have you ever been at a campground, pulled out your phone, opened maps, and found your location displayed far from where you should be? Maybe the map is still showing you at a campsite you just came from, or at another campground clear across the state. Sometimes your location can jump between several different spots each time you open maps. Needless to say this can get very annoying. Setting up navigation to a destination only 10 minutes away can result in your phone giving you an estimate of 4 hours or more as it has you coming from the wrong location. This is a problem unique to the mobile lifestyle, but what's going on here, and more importantly, what can we do to fix it?

First, a quick explanation of what's happening. Your phone is using a location shortcut knows as WiFi scanning. Getting a full GPS lock can be time consuming and battery draining, so often times your phone will scan the area looking for WiFi hotspots. It will then send a list of WiFi hotspots that it sees up to Google, who maintains a database of locations for each of these hotspots. Then they can send back down a rough location for you which is usually sufficient for most location requests. This can also be used to speed up the process of getting a more accurate GPS lock. This WiFi scanning method takes place even when you have WiFi turned off on your phone.

The problem arises when the list of hotspots that your phone sees includes mobile hotspots and routers in all the RVs parked around you (and even your own). There is an assumption made by Google that routers are generally stationary and can be used as fixed points for determining location. This is a pretty good assumption for more traditional homes and businesses, but doesn't work for RVers.

So what can we do to fix it? One solution is to disable WiFi scanning on your phone. The exact method for this will vary depending on manufacturer and OS version, but for most Android devices running version 6 (Marshmallow) or 7 (Nougat) open Settings / Location and then click the 3 dots in the upper right and select Scanning. This will take you to a screen similar to this:

Simply switch off the "Wi-Fi scanning" option to disable this feature. This will have the desired effect, but isn't ideal, as WiFi scanning really is a handy feature to have enabled. You'll find your maps takes longer to determine your location after opening with this turned off, and it could have some undesired impacts on 3rd party apps as well.

So what else can we do?

The solution I prefer is one that lets you exclude your hotspots and routers from Google's location database. This not only helps you, but other campers which might be within range of your signal. Unfortunately, if you are in range of someone else who hasn't done this, you may still occasionally be subject to incorrect location information. Since making this adjustment ourselves, we've only noticed this problem manifest one time: at the Full Time Families Rally in Tallahassee. Being around such a concentration of full time travelers, our location was bouncing around between 3 or 4 different cities. This inspired me to write this post in hopes that a few of these families would take this advice and help out themselves and their fellow travelers by implementing this simple fix.

The solution is to rename your router and/or hotpot's SSID to include _nomap at the end. For example, if your router's SSID is linksys, just rename it linksys_nomap. This is an indicator to Google that it should not be used for location services (or any other purposes). Originally I think this was added to help satisfy privacy advocates and give people a way to keep Google from collecting data about them, but it works nicely for our purposes as well. Routers that are frequently on the move, like ours, are less than useful in a database used to help pinpoint location, so it's doing everyone a favor to rename them and get them purged.

I can't speak to the efficacy of this solution for people with iphones, as I'm not sure where their location data comes from or if there's a way to opt certain routers out of that database. If anyone has any information about this I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Keep in mind that after you update the SSID you will have to re-pair all your devices with the router. That can be a bit annoying but I hope you'll take the time to update yours as we have and maybe by the next rally this won't be an issue for anyone!