Weekend Spent Organising Freddy….

It’s Sunday night, and we are sitting in the Walmart Parking lot after a weekend spent organising Freddy.  Hotel California from the Eagles playing in the background, enjoying a beer and Michelle is working on her corner.  This post may end up being mostly about her, but once you see the designs she has come with you will understand what I mean.  I am pretty sure up until she came to Canada, she never knew what a motorhome was, or even what you could do with one.  Not long after moving in, she says to me, “Hun we need to get some peg board, I want to do something with it.”  Do something with it?  Really, what could you possibly do with peg board?

Time Spent Organising and Repairing

I completed Michelle’s peg board install last night, and she went to town organising and ensuring everything had its own spot.  I have to admit she has done a fantastic job.  The past two weeks has seen a large amount of rain, with cooler than comfortable temperatures.  We have had our challenges for sure, but there have also been some fantastic victories!  We went down to the Flying J to fill our domestic tank and see if we could get some good old fashioned pump fed water so we could stop living out of 4 to 8 water jugs.

The fresh water taps will not be back into operation until the 15th of May at the earliest, so we started a bucket brigade.  After what we figure was twenty-two 4L jugs we were ready to test out the water pump.  The time of truth was upon us, would the pump work, or was this going to be our first real problem?  Sure enough, though the pumped started up right away, we could not get the water to flow.  While living in Nova Scotia, my place was on a well, and there were many times that I had pump problems.  My first thought was figuring out how to prime the pump.  Ok, my first thought was where was the pump, then how do I prime it.

Priming the Pump

I have to admit, I was not sure the easiest way to prime this tiny little pump.  Do I take the pickup hose off the pump, and fill it with water? Should I take the hose off the tap, and fill it?  I would not be able to open the pump to prime it that way, so how would or how should I do it?  Yes, you guessed it, I turned to Google.  I read a number of articles, and blog posts, but one stood out to me, and I have to say, it had crossed my mind but I thought it a little too crazy even for me. After trying a couple of different options, I decided to go crazy and try the simple but what turns out to be the most effective way to prime the pump.

As it turns out, simply switch on the pump, and in the kitchen sink, give a good hard suck on the facette, and you have enough suction to get that water to flow.  Strange possibly, did it work, it certainly did!  As the pressure built I kept a close look on the various water fittings in the bathroom, because if you remember, I have this wet spot under the driver’s seat.  At first, I never saw a leak, but the next day Michelle found it, and as it turns out (I hope) there is a small leak on the hot water connection and I can see the floorboards of the van directly below the facette, so I am hoping this is the culprit for the water leak.  It’s still early but after the addition of some plumbers tape and a couple of extra turns to the fitting and done.

Weeks Passing By

It was important the time we spent organising Freddy for our future.  It is an ongoing chore we will need to do every few weeks.  You spend your time cutting the lawn or doing renovations we spend the same amount of time organising and perfecting.  I think the only difference is we can move whenever and where ever we want.  Sadly though it would appear there are many people out there who will judge us as we make our travels.  A perfect example is believe it or not the Service Person I was speaking with at Sicard RV in Smithville.  At first, she was helpful, almost even friendly, but as soon as she found out we were living in Freddy full-time, she quickly changed her tone and helpfulness.  Our next purchase for Freddy is a Solar charging system, and I will make sure our money is well spent elsewhere.

What’s up next for us?  We are working on our Tour video so you can come and check Freddy out.  I am organising a photo shoot and the theme is “Ontario Yours to Discover”  It’s not what you’re thinking so be sure to check back and see what we are up too!!