Day Three: Second Day on the Road

Every day gets easier and easier. The driving, the set up and breakdown, and everything in between. One of my favorite aspects of the RV upfront is the navigation system tells you when you are going over the speed limit. Will said it’s his second wife talking and I love as she does the work for me. Friday, we drove for six and a half hours from Florida to Louisiana. Before we could depart Will had to hold his “office hours”, which allowed for the kids to sleep in, have a relaxed breakfast and down time before packing up and heading out. We also needed to stop at Walmart for some purchases before leaving town too. The joke was wondering how we were going to fit everything on the RV!

The drive was straight down I-10 with a few bridges and one tunnel. Today I have a feeling we will have more white knuckles when we cross the Mississippi River! Knowing we would be arriving around 7:00 pm to our campsite I started prepping Will’s birthday dinner as we were driving. Did I mention I LOVE being able to use the kitchen while we are traveling. Prepping dinner was a huge bonus making the arrival to the campsite so smooth with set up and hungry kids!

We stopped in Denham Springs, Louisiana right outside Baton Rouge at the KOA Holiday. It was great! We called ahead to let them know we would be arriving after the office would be closed and they gave us the check in instructions. It was easy and seamless! I made many of our reservations so long ago, I forgot what type of RV spots I reserved. There are many options to choose from….pull through paved, pull through gravel, back in paved, back in gravel, standard, premium, and depending on where you are located you could have the option for waterfront or waterview. We always reserve a pull through and most often paved as long as it is offered. Pull through means exactly what it says, you pull in and pull through to leave, no backing up.

I completely forgot we reserved a premium spot at the KOA which meant we had a patio area with a table and chairs, a swing, lamp post and grill. It was perfect for Will’s birthday. However, what was equally surprising was the cool temperature. We were shocked how cool it was and the breeze was lovely. It was a birthday treat for sure after the last two days of blazing sun and humidity!

Within 40 minutes of arriving set up was complete, new grill was unboxed (Will ran into Lowe’s which was near Walmart) and working, outdoor table was set and dinner was completed. It truly was the perfect evening. We had greek turkey burgers, greek orzo salad and apple crisp with vanilla halo top. Many friends are asking what we are having for dinner so I will start including it in my posts.

Everyone got to bed a little later due to our late arrival and extended time outside enjoying dinner and conversation. I think Will had a memorable 46th birthday for sure!

Saturday morning Will, Eli and I were up at 6:00 am sitting outside enjoying the cool air over coffee, until Eli wanted to go back to bed. Around 7:30 I ventured over to the bath house as it got the stamp of approval from Betsie, Eli and Will last night, before coming back to the RV to start stirring everyone to start the day. Tip for future RVer’s: invest in a pair of shower shoes for the bath houses.

Before departing today, we got to experience emptying our tanks. There are three tanks levels we check daily; fresh water, gray water and black water. The fresh water is the water we use in the sink, shower and to flush the toilet. At every location, we add water from the city fixture into our fresh water tank. The gray water is the used water from the sink and shower. And the black water is everything that gets flushed. First step is always to be armed with gloves, preferably disposable. I took a video of Jeff going over this whole process knowing we would need to refer back to it at some point. Tip for future RVer’s: I highly recommend taking a video of “how to hook ups” so there is no blaming or pointing of fingers. Simply direct to the video as you do not want to make a mistake. Will and I agreed to empty the gray tank first for two reasons, one our tank was full. But two, in case there were any issues with hose connectivity or anything it was gray water and not black water. To say we made a very smart decision is an understatement, as our hose had a leak!!!! I assume we were all paying such close attention to the “how to’s” in our tutorial the day the RV was delivered we didn’t notice the hose had a leak. And this part was rather short as the tank was empty. As I was getting Anna Cate ready for the day Will ventured off to the KOA store in hopes of a new hose. They had ONE!!! Thank you Jesus!!! Eli then was the lucky recipient to help dad empty the black tank. It’s amazing what a difference a new hose makes!!!! Tip for future RVer’s: empty part of your gray water first to make sure there are no connection issues.

By 11:00 am we were packed up and ready to continue on…..next stop Sugar Land, Texas!