Maiden Voyage, Day 3: From the Parking Lot to the Open Road
We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of RV mattress ATC uses. We had heard it’s better than most stock mattresses, and we honestly had a great night’s sleep. We do plan on at least adding a mattress topper and maybe someday changing it out altogether, but it’s better than a lot of hotel and Airbnb mattresses we’ve endured over the years!
We were up early to do our test dump and to conquer our very first breakdown checklist. We were hitched up and ready to go only 17 minutes late, which we think is a win for being totally new. Then we returned to Trailers of the East Coast for a couple more small repairs that we discovered we needed before our long journey home. Our water pump had been having issues, and our door was getting stuck, requiring a lot of force to close it tightly. Thanks to the efficiency of Trailers of the East Coast’s service department, we were in and out of there within an hour, and then we…
…didn’t hit the road.
Instead, we took the time to practice towing around the parking lot. We figured it was the wise choice before hitting the highway for our first couple hundred miles of driving. We needed to establish our own towing/navigating vernacular, learn the space around our rig, and practice backing up. Our 20-minute practice session turned into 2 hours, and finally we needed to get on the road if we wanted to make a dent in our 850-mile trip back home. Feeling just slightly more confident, we headed out on the highway, with destination unknown.
No one wants their first towing experience to include so many rites of passage, but somehow the first leg of our trip included GPS confusion, hills/mountains, rain, fog, and traffic jams. We also learned the trials and tribulations of driving a gasoline-fueled truck and needing to find gas stations that fit 56 feet of combined length. In an ideal world, we would get gas unhitched, but that doesn’t work when traveling hundreds of miles a day and getting only 8mpg to the gallon when towing. We fell into our roles, with Anthony as the driver and Nicole as the navigator, and with every mile and every obstacle, we gained just a little more know-how of handling life on the open road.
Our final rite of passage for the day was our first experience crackerdocking. We found ourselves a cozy spot behind a Cracker Barrel in VA, went in for dinner, and then turned in for the night. Our Relion batteries worked like a charm, and we even had a little nook of shrubbery right outside our door. The cool breeze coming in through our cracked windows and the sound of distant traffic put us right to sleep.
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Nicole Anderson