RV Squid: Travel Day Prep

Quite some time ago, Bill, a friend of ours, asked us what our travel day preparations are like. It's a lot of small steps. Knowing that I'm sure to leave out something, or someone is bound to comment on our negligence or better ways to do something, I've been putting it off. Well, today as I babysit the washing machine, I thought it was time to tackle it. So Bill, this article is for you.

First off, I wouldn't leave out anything if I did what people recommend. That is, to have a complete checklist. Yes, not doing so has caused some thankfully minor issues on travel day. Maybe the bathroom door slammed shut or cups in the cabinet fell over. Once, we realized we had had a close call when we got to a campground and the check in staff asked if we knew our outside steps were out. Normally the steps automatically retract, but due to a motor failure, they hadn't. Yikes!! So, a checklist is important even if you've done this over and over. That said, we will still rely primarily on a mental checklist.

Our preparation typically starts the night before leaving. We put away any chairs and tidy up. Harold checks fluid levels and tire pressures. He plans our route, including fuel stops. We use the Garmin 1090 system for our GPS routing. It allows you to plug in your RV height, weight, and dimensions and routes you around known limits of bridges and underpasses and considers any of your personal preferences such as no dirt roads or no toll roads. Harold will use Google earth satellite to review fuel stations. Can we maneuver easily?

In the morning, we generally start at the back and work our way forward for the interior prep. Will our travel involve significant elevation changes? If so, we need to deflate the Sleep Number air mattress. You can pop your mattress if you're going higher in elevation. Are the closet doors latched closed and drawers completely closed? Is there anything on the floor that could impede slideout operation? Is there anything on the dresser and bedside counters? Is the bedroom door latched in place?

On to the bathroom where the shower door must be latched in the open position. Is the shower seat in the down position? Is the counter cleared? Latch the pocket sliding door in the open position.

We typically eat a light breakfast on travel days. All the dishes have to be washed, dryed, and put away. A process that takes time and we typically don't like to unhook water until that's all done. We do leave some things on the counter. They have rubber feet that keep them from moving too much. On occasion when we've braked hard, they will move forward or the bananas may fall over. So far, it's not been something that has alarmed us.

Once the dishes are done, I pack the throw pillows in the dish cupboard. It cuts down on the rattle as we go down the road. The refrigerator gets special attention. We place tension bars across the shelves and then lock the doors.

We pick up the rugs in front of the sink and the entry. We turn off the ac or heat. We move a small coffee table and place it on the bed or under the dinette. We again check cabinet doors and drawers. We verify the dinette chairs are in the slideout area. We check the position of the captains chairs. They must be far enough forward to allow the slides to come in.

Outside, we confirm the awnings are stowed and unplugged and the tv door is locked. Harold takes care of hotel services - sewer, water, electric.

When we think we're ready, we store the jacks. We have an automated leveling system where one button push retracts all jacks. Then we start the airing up process.When we're completely aired up, then we bring in the slides. Some folks have different systems whose owners manual tells them to bring slides in, then jacks, then air up. You wouldn't believe the amount of forum and social media posts on the proper sequence.

Then we hook up the car. It's a little mini process on its own. Once hooked we go through a light check and rolling wheel check on the car. We check the cargo bay doors a final time.

Once we get rolling, we engage the external tire pressure monitoring system. We have an onboard tire monitoring system that checks the coach every time the engine starts. The external system allows us to monitor the car's tires and serves as a backup to the onboard system. Oh, and after the most recent incident, take another look at those steps to verify that they are retracted!

Bill, thanks for your patience in waiting for this overdue post. : )