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Day 23 of full-timing - What we have learned - OR 385RLS
Posted On 09/01/2009 21:26:25 by bercher
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Well here we (wife and I) are 23 days after we first started full-timing it in our 2010 Open Range 385RLS. We hope to be hitting the 'retire button' March 2011, until then we will be perfecting 'getting small', our maintenance routines and all that goes along with this type of adventure. Before this neither one of us had ever even stayed the night in a RV!
So far so good... so far we have moved three times and will be moving again in two weeks. Just checking out different locations around Oklahoma City at this point, so we can find a place we might call home. Currently at Twin Fountains in OKC, noisy but nicely kept. They did have a bicycle and motorcycle stolen from here this week.
All systems seem to operating smoothly. We did have a that pesky slow leak tire on the 5th that we had to remove twice to finally get it repaired correctly.
Its been six weeks since we notified Deans RV in Tulsa, Oklahoma (where we purchased the Open Range on July 3rd 2009) of a cut in one of the leather reclining chairs that we found the day after we picked it up. I would guess we will not be seeing a replacement chair from them. Cant forget that it took three days to get the 'OK' to get a flat tire fixed. When we purchase our next rig, chances are it wont be from Deans RV.
The day we brought the OR home we weighed in at 11800 (with stackable washer & dryer). After putting everything in it to live, we weighed in at 12800 (empty grey & black tanks). This included food, lots of kitchen items, cleaning supplies, clothing (winter and summer), tools, shop vac, hoses, filters and air compressor to name a few.
OKC has had a LOT of rain in the last month, over 8 inches. The OR has shown no signs of any leaks. The high temperatures have range from just over 100 to the upper 80's. When we had only 30 amps, the one a/c set to 68 had a hard time keeping things cold. If we ran a small fan it was not to bad, but if you moved away from the fan, it was a little on the warm side. With 50amps the two a/c units of course did much better, in the 100 temps they both would run much of the peak heat times but kept the inside temp around 70 degrees with it set at 68.
We haven't stretched our grey and black water tanks to the max yet. The black tank seems to go about 3-4 days before it starts even flirting with the 2/3 full mark. And thats using plenty of water to flush. The grey tank 2 which only covers the kitchen seems to be going 5-6 days before hitting the 2/3 mark. Once again thats not trying to conserve water at all. The grey 1 tank which covers the shower, bathroom sink and washer and dryer starts hitting the 2/3 mark around day 3-4. Once again not conserving water at all. When we run the washer we open the grey tank handle to let it run directly into the sewer as the manual recommends. The one day we forgot, we ran the washer twice and it just hit 2/3 full mark but that was also with 2 or three showers before those loads of laundry. The washer and dryer work very well. The washer is very very quiet while doing the wash cycle and does wiggle the fifth a little when in the spin dry cycle. The dryer does an excellent job drying the clothes in one cycle.
The refrigerator and freezer works very well. It did take a full 24 hours or more to really cool down, but once it hit being cold it has done very well. I had it set on the coldest setting to start with, but that would freeze many things in the frig as well. Although we have it packed full most of the time, it surprisingly holds everything we need. We keep extra bottles of water or soda in the large cabinet next to the fireplace under the big screen TV.
When we first started using the SVA 42" big screen TV, we thought the picture was not that impressive. After living here for a week or two, we finally had time to play with the TV settings and after making some adjustments, I have to admit, the HD channels really look great! That is the same story for the built-in BOSS DVD/Radio player next to the TV. When we first started using it, we were not that impressed with the sound coming from the speakers, but after we adjusted the settings, it really does put out some good sound, NOT great, but good. It also has an 'auto' radio program function that you can use when you roll into a new area, you tell it to auto program and it saves the channels with the strongest signals.
When looking to purchase a fifth, one of our 'wants' was that the couch be directly in front of the TV. We enjoy sitting together during TV time. Well as it turns out, the couch quickly converts into a small bed, which we use every day to get comfy during TV time. We have enjoyed it even more than our old full size couch at the old house which even had recliners built in.
Something we have found very little use for at this point is the wine rack under the kitchen counter. We have a couple of bottles that of course don't fit exactly, so we do not leave them there while traveling. May try to come up with some black foam to cut into shape so they will ride better.
Storage is great in this OR for us. The only set back is the bedroom closet. It could stand to be a little deeper. With shirts on full size hangers the sliding mirror doors don't close without first having to push the hangers to the side. Solution might be to buy all smaller hangers? The bedroom and bathroom area is full, but we actually have a few extra pockets of space in the kitchen, living and the under belly storage areas.
At this RV park, the street and highway noise is on the loud side. At night, we close the door between the kitchen and bathroom and we slide in the bedroom slide out. This puts the two windows that are on both sides of the head of the bed, inside the walls of the fifth wheel. The doesn't eliminate the noise, but it does help reduce it. The single pane windows just dont do a good job of stopping outside noises.
I did bring a one gallon bug sprayer that I have used a couple of times, to knock down the ants and bugs running around. The first few days we noticed several ants on our ceiling, so it has come in handy.
Not knowing if I would actually use it, I also brought a small battery powered leaf blower. I actually pulled it out yesterday after they mowed the park grass. Grass was all over the sidewalk and outside sitting area, just took a couple of minutes to blow the grass away. Helps keep the inside of the fifth clean as well so we dont drag the grass in on the bottom of our shoes.
A cordless drill & socket set has been very handy around here. Since this is a new rig, I have been using them to install a new max-air vent cover, install some hose hooks and a few other things.
The air compressor came in very handy when we had the tire with the slow leak. Instead of letting the tire sit there empty putting all of the weight on one tire/axel we kept it inflated until we were ready to change it.
The flat tire tools were a huge life saver with the slow leak tire we had. The ramp worked like a charm, but we did learn that we need to put down one of our leveling boards under the ramp to get the 16" tire all the way off the ground to change it. The torque wrench for the lug nuts is a must.
The wireless tire pressure monitor, while expensive, made discovering the slow leak very easy. It will give us peace of mind during our adventures to come.
Well thats all the time I have for now...
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