the zen of rv

I wanted to go back to last Tuesday and recapture some of the "Almost Comical Events" that took place on the day of our leaving Connecticut. These will tie in nicely with the "Somewhat Comical Events" that have occurred since we left home, regarding the RV itself. I am learning and practicing a new level of ZEN. Brought directly to me as the new owner of a Recreational Vehicle. For this, I am grateful. Perhaps this is actually a new strain of practice, appropriately named "rvzen", previously unknown to me.
We rose early Tuesday morning, in wild anticipation or was it sleep deprivation, of this being the actual launch day for our road journey. We still had quite a few items to do to be able to check them off the list but seemed confident that we would be able to pull out by noon. Almost everything that was going had been brought to the attic. We really had only our bed to take apart and move up there and then to finalize the clearing of the Master Bedroom, the back office and the kitchen. Of course as we did this we brought the stuff from those rooms into the dining room and living room and sorted them into appropriately sorted piles that would later be moved to there final destinations, attic, RV, curb or given away. And this would be done by noon along with getting the RV itself fit and ready for travel. We'll see! All our good byes had been said and we were bound and determined to hit the road Tuesday even if it meant we would spend the night in New Haven.
Now lets see, the tow dolly (which I have never used or even been able to actually hook up to the RV yet) is embedded in ice and snow way back in the back yard. To get to it we would have to shovel through a mound of ice that had been snow pushed into a pile by the driveway plow guy a couple of days before. We would have to get this leveled before I could drive the pickup in 4 wheel drive back there to hook onto the dolly to pull it out and over to wherever we would end up putting it and the car onto it attached to the back of the RV. Meanwhile, the RV itself is not only embedded in the surrounding ice covered snow on the ground, but the entire top of the unit is also crusted over, like the icing on the top layer of wedding cake after being left in the freezer for a year. It sits somewhat patiently waiting (in Steve and Monica's driveway) for us to get ourselves together, to get in, pay some attention and get going. You know, as I think about it, maybe it was waiting more like a spoiled 4 year old.
Since I brought it home from Michigan and parked it in the driveway of our very loving, caring, generous and compassionate friends, the RV could be seen as having been quietly throwing little temper tantrums. Not interpreted by me that way of course but possibly by some. Myself though, in the spirit of Zen, I have seen them only as passive opportunities to accept what is and be at peace.
First there was the wiring for the lights and electric brakes for the tow dolly. I bought the dolly from a guy in Berlin (No! not Germany, Connecticut. I don't always have to travel far to get what I want) As I was buying it I asked him if we could hook it up to his RV so I could see that the lights and brakes actually worked. He hemmed and hawed and muttered about the wiring being screwed up and that he had to put the wire connector on himself cause it fell off during his trip up from Florida and that he may not have done it just right. "Besides", he told me, "there are no states in the US that require lights on a tow dolly. I mean you should check for yourself in the states that you are going into but my research has concluded that the lights are not necessary anywhere". Although this may seem like an omen to some, to me it is just a bargaining chip and I used it skillfully chopping a hundred dollars of the price he was asking, immediately. So, all negotiations complete, I hooked it to the back of the pick up and drove it home. After all,this is just perfect, I have a wonderful and talented son who works in the field of auto electronics and he would be more that happy to help out his dad by rewiring the tow dolly.
As it turned out, as soon as the RV realized that we had bought the dolly and was paying more attention to it than the RV it quickly reorganized or phased shifted or something and changed its own wiring harness on the back so as not to fit the tow dolly. This was crafty! Suffice it to say that we rewired a new harness hook up onto the RV along with the electric brake controller along with the new harness onto the dolly as well as finding the elusive short in the tow dolly that was preventing the lights from working at all. All of this zen-fully occurred so as to allow number one son, Andrew, and I to spend quality time together. And for me to see, experience and appreciate the man who has become a qualified and skilled technician along with acquiring the skills of patience and tenacity while working with his Dad. He is very adept at the latter skill set. Something that I am just present to and reminding myself of as ultimately important during this particular trip here to my parents house.
I may not have mentioned this is previous blogs but there is one person who has been an outstandingly huge contribution regarding our actualizing the break from the the house on to this trip without whom I would still be in CT. As a result of his steady and constant assistance, he has also witnessed, first hand, all of the afore and soon to be mentioned affectations involved in our break out. That person is the infamous Don Coyle. In the very next entry I will explain the RV tribulations that he and I experienced together, albeit from different angles, on the last day in the winter wonderland.