We’ve been back in Maryland for more than a week, but I still haven’t wrapped my head around the idea just yet. Been in a little bit of a fog, despite the fact that I had to return to work last Monday. It’s that odd time right before the start of the semester when classes haven’t started yet so instead we fill our days with the most boring meetings imaginable.
To help me get better “anchored” here, I’ve done a few things to the rig and around the house to help make life a little better. First, when we parked the rig, we put all the wheels up on leveling blocks. Since the site floods easily, this insures that our tires won’t be sitting in water or snow and mud for weeks on end and rotting off their rims. I also put a pair of tire guards over the wheels. These are fitted plastic covers that help protect the tires from UV degradation. Most RV tires fail because of rot, not wear. Since the rig may not travel again for another 10 months, we need to do what we can to make sure it’s still roadworthy when we finally do hitch up again.
I’ve also ordered little screens to cover the furnace, fridge, and stove vent openings so bugs don’t make their homes in my house and the right size Combi-Cams for the outside compartments so they’ll be a bit more secure (the RV dealership I ordered them from in San Antonio never called me back, so I bought them online instead). These little improvements are my way of “nesting” and reestablishing my sense of “home.”
One of my biggest complaints about this place is that water pools outside my rig right at the bottom of my steps when it rains. To help alleviate that issue, Lex and I went in the middle of the night to Home Depot, bought 12 bags of gravel, and spread it on the ground out front. We then covered the gravel with our awning mat, all under the cover of dark so that our nosy groundskeeper wouldn’t have the opportunity to complain about it. If the management had put in new gravel like I asked, I wouldn’t have been forced to spend $50 just to keep from being ankle deep in muddy water every few weeks.
Speaking of said creepy groundskeeper, he was on hand yesterday when the promised new neighbors arrived. I was off camping, but Alexis was here and offered a full report. Chip apparently didn’t know the new tenants were set move in yesterday so tried to give them crap about it. Then he proceeded to stand around and watch them back in and hook up. Well, at least it’s good to know that it’s not because he’s a sexist, racist, or homophobe that he stands around and stares in disapproving silence at us; he’s just rude to everyone!
The neighbors arrive
The new neighbors, Bill and Jeanne, are settled in with their 42-foot park model trailer along with their two adolescent children, a dog, and their two vehicles. That’s a lot of rig for one decidedly-undersized site! Turns out my strategy to get more people in here has worked. Jeanne told Alexis that she “found the place on the Internet.” Only one way should could have done that, RV Park Reviews.com! And it looks like the third and final site will soon be occupied by Jeanne’s mother and her rig. I don’t know what the mother has, but you can bet she’ll have a car, too. Oh, boy.
There really isn’t anyplace to park at this point except at the end of the block. I have a feeling we’ll be fighting over the spots that Lex and I have occupied to this point. Right now, Bill has his truck on the pad in which his mother-in-law will soon be parked, and their car is parked to the other side of their rig (not really a parking space, so I’m sure Chip will grumble about that).
Looks like they are here for a good, long while. They’ve enrolled the children in the local schools, and Bill has a job here. At least we’ll have stable neighbors. Given that, I’m hoping that I can enlist them in some collective bargaining with the owners to get these sites improved a bit. I’m not thrilled with the current state of affairs.
I really should make them a cake or some cookies or something and take them over to welcome them,but first I need to stow all my camping gear in the basement before it starts to rain again. I went on a little overnight trip last night to test out my new tent. Last week, I spotted a car tent for sale on Craigslist, and on Friday I drove to Odenton to pick it up. It effectively turns my VW Golf hatchback into a pop-up camper! A Golf is a compact car, so someone much taller than me (and I’m 5’4″) probably wouldn’t be able to comfortably fit in the back. I’m fine, though, especially since the car tent allows me to hang my toes out of the back of the hatch.
The one problem I haven’t completely solved is how to make the back of the car a level sleeping surface. I’m thinking of having a piece of foam cut to fit the trunk so that it is level, or nearly so, to the backs of the seats when they are flipped down. As it was, I used a mishmash of an eggcrate mattress topper, folded sleeping bag, and a chaise cushion. It was very soft and comfortable, but I was sitting a little too upright. That caused my neck to be a bit strained. Still, when I woke up, I wasn’t all achy and in knots like I usually am when I sleep on the ground.
Breaking in the car tent at Patapsco Valley State Park
The tent itself is lightweight and easy to put up and take down. There’s only one pole, and it fits to the car with bungee cords. Of course, if you want some nice cross ventilation, the back windows ought to be put down. Of course, during mosquito season, that’s not the best idea. I found a product online called Magna Screen and ordered a pair of the magnetic auto window screens. They won’t be here for a week or so, so for the sake of going camping this weekend, I rigged one up using fiberglass screening, strip magnets, and duct tape. It worked fine. Not a mosquito bite all night long!
Towards morning, it started to rain, so I had the opportunity to discover whether or not the tent is actually waterproof. I had to reach into the front seat and turn the key on so I could put my screened-in window up. Rain was coming in on my blankets. The screen tent door on the hatch was fine, though. The way the tent pole extends over the lip of the hatch makes the water drain down toward the front of the car rather than the back. I’m glad because if I’d had to put the hatch down, it would have been a sauna in there.
In all, the new tent passes muster. I did have to take it down in the rain so when I got home, I had to spread it out and let it dry, but now it’s stored in the basement, ready to be used again the next time I get an itch to go tent camping.
