Maiden Voyage, Days 7 and 8: Avoiding Arrest in Massachusetts

Let’s catch you up on why it was so important to stay near the Massachusetts border on our way home. We mentioned briefly that we were having registration problems, and here’s why. Massachusetts, which is not RV-friendly and also chock full of weird rules, requires you to go and register your RV in-person, after you’ve taken delivery of the RV. However, Massachusetts also does not honor temporary license plates. Therefore, acquiring an RV out-of-state means that, in order to register the RV, you need to drive it into the state, which isn’t technically legal, because it’s not registered. Kind of a catch-22, don’t you think? So, we came up with the idea to drive as close to the Massachusetts border as possible, and then go to the nearest RMV in Massachusetts. We booked a campground in the Berkshires, about 20 minutes past the border, meaning for 20 dramatic minutes, we’d be living outside the law!

The drive into Massachusetts was already stressful, with the shame of poor towing still hanging over our heads and the fear of the next time we would find ourselves in a similar pickle. Driving into the state with illegal plates just added to the heightened emotions. Arriving to the campground was a huge relief, until the camp host alerted us that our spot was “a little tricky” to back into. Uh oh. So much for picking one that looked easy! The camp host offered to come and help us, which we eagerly accepted. However, besides asking if he minded us using part of the empty campsite across the way to help us straighten out, we backed in without issue, avoiding trees, branches, and roots. The camp host complimented us on our system of navigation, which was a definite proud moment. Then, as we set up, we also discovered that we had somehow found a perfectly level spot in our rustic campsite. Celebrate the little victories while they happen!

Anthony went to the RMV first thing the next morning, armed with all the documents and more that were registration-related. Shout out to Trailers of the East Coast’s Business Manager who was amazingly organized with giving us everything we needed! Registration was smooth, and I got to spend my day alone in the RV. I did what anyone would do: watch other campers back into their sites! A tight, precarious spot proved extra difficult for two of our new camping neighbors, who were clearly veteran RVers. It’s nice to see that newbies aren’t the only people who take 35 minutes to back into their site. At the end of the day, we’re all just being diligent and careful – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

We were looking forward to finally getting back on track with our enjoyable camping experiences, but the RV universe gave us a big “not so fast” once again. We began having electrical issues during the final afternoon of our maiden voyage. I noticed that our trailer was not being powered by the shore (campground) power. Anthony was out picking up an early dinner, so I took it upon myself to be a fixer – something I promised myself I’d jump right into once an RV owner. I began troubleshooting: checking breakers and fuses; making sure the generator powered all the appropriate appliances; and checking the inverter. By the time Anthony got home, I was 99% certain that the issue lied in the transfer switch, or the panel that switches from generator to shore power when we’re plugged into a campsite.

A deep dive into the ATC Facebook groups lead to a few different solutions, from as simple as “clean the contacts” to a total unit replacement. Naturally, it made sense to try the simplest option, though the day was creeping into night, and our options to buy the necessary supplies were few and far between.

If you’re familiar with the Berkshires, you probably hear about the mountains, fall foliage, and high-end spas and artisan shops. However, Pittsfield and surrounding towns at night have the exact opposite feel. Our excursion to find contact cleaner and compressed air turned out to be way more of a saga than we expected. Most stores closed very early, limiting our options even more. We made it to Walmart shortly before closing and successfully found contact cleaner. Compressed air was proving difficult. We left Walmart and started towards Staples, only to find that they had closed 10 minutes prior. So we tried Home Depot, where the lady at the service desk responded with, “No, we don’t have anything like that here. Did you try Walmart? How about Staples?” Who would think that it’s this challenging to find air?!

We were about to give up and try contact cleaner on its own, when I thought of one final attempt. I had noticed signs for a Target at the Berkshire Mall and knew it was on our way back to the campground. Should be simple, right? Pop into Target and see what we find. Turns out, like many other “shopping malls” in the area, the Berkshire Mall is no longer a mall. In fact, it is a completely deserted building, with a Target attached to the side of it. Our GPS had no idea how to direct us to the Target, and after driving around in circles, we ultimately decided to try the back road behind the mall. There were zero lights and signs that looked like this:

I also could have sworn I heard rustling in the bushes when we stopped to take a picture of the sign. We could not get to Target fast enough, and by the time we turned the corner and saw the shining red glow of the bullseye, we felt we had reached an oasis. We went into the store, all business, and headed straight towards electronics. Interrupting two workers chatting in the empty computer aisle, I asked, “You guys have compressed air?” And, after clarifying that we meant for electronics and NOT for automobile tires, we were directed to the correct aisle. Many hours and stores later, we finally had everything we needed. We just needed to keep our fingers crossed that this was actually the solution we were looking for.

We were unconvinced that simply cleaning the transfer switch would solve our problem, especially because our rig was brand new. How much dust could have already accumulated? But, at 9:30 at night, flashlights and contact cleaners in hand, we got to work. We’ll never know for sure if the contact cleaner alone would have sufficed, but I do know that, when I sprayed that compressed air, a lot of dust came off. We also weren’t thinking, this is an all-aluminum trailer, and aluminum shavings are plentiful. When I saw how much debris dislodged with the spritz of air, I became more optimistic.

A flip of the 30 amp switch on the campsite panel, and a wait of 30 seconds that seemed like minutes, we heard the most beautiful click. Our transfer switch had switched over to shore power! It certainly wasn’t the relaxing final night of the trip we would have wanted, but we felt really good about ourselves. We diagnosed and solved a problem with our RV. Our “get our hands dirty” attitude also fooled a lot of our camping neighbors into thinking we were more seasoned that we actually were, and when we told them we had been camping for a week, were met with reactions of pleasant surprise. Also, we could have easily swept this issue under the rug. We could have spent our last night on battery power and then gone home. But we knew that, the next time we hook up to shore power, we would be kicking ourselves that we didn’t solve the problem right away. A major win to add to our list of victories in the Berkshires.

Heading home, the overall feeling was exhaustion. It was surely a rollercoaster of a maiden voyage, with lots of amazing ups, and lots of ditch-level lows. To be extra cautious, we decided to drive the rig to my parents’ house, where there is more space to keep the trailer. We set it up in the old basketball court, a space sized perfectly for our Buggy. It’s a wonderful home for him as we start on phase 2: Outfitting the rig for full-time life.