Experience has a way of turning expensive lessons into pretty good campfire stories.
Published on September 6, 2026 – Narrated by Jim
After ten years and more than 78,000 miles of towing our Airstream, we confess that our full-timing success has been shaped by a series of experiences that, in polite discourse, we call foul-ups.
The Road will teach you. It will lift you up and smack you down. Class is always in session, and the surprise quizzes are gnarly. But if you pay attention, one day those gut-wrenching foul-ups become good stories — a nice bag of Road Candy to pass around the campfire.
How’s that for a sunny-side-up view of full-timing?
Had we known then what we know now about what lay ahead, would we have made the same decision to live like criminals on the run?
Yes. Undoubtedly. Absolutely.
But we might have looked more hardened:
In our first 12 months on the road, we traveled more than 14,000 miles through 28 states and stayed in 86 campgrounds, snatching as much freedom as possible as quickly as we could just in case what we were doing was actually illegal.
It wasn’t all fun and games, though. We had a tire blowout that damaged Beauty, hail battered her in South Dakota, a tornado chased us out of Kansas, and we encountered several wildfires, including the devastating fire in Gatlinburg. Flooding stranded us for days on a peninsula in Florida, stink bugs invaded us in St. Louis, and an Arizona dust storm became so fierce we couldn’t see The Beast parked inches away from Beauty.
Though none of that was our fault, we managed to pull off a whole string of undignified foul-ups with no help at all from Mother Nature. Some cost us money. Some cost us time. Some merely cost us our dignity. A surprising number cost all three.
These are seven we’re willing to publicly admit.
But coming clean and having a good laugh about our early-career foul-ups might make someone out there feel better about their own. So let’s go full-frontal.
We Drove Down the Road With the Door Open
More than once.
Roadside bio-breaks are to blame.
One morning, upon leaving Carpinteria State Beach campground in California, a motorcycle cop pulled alongside us, flashed his red lights and hit his siren while pointing back at our Airstream. Carmen waved at him and smiled, thinking he must really like our rig, until he hollered, “YOUR DOOR IS OPEN!”
Wha—?! 😲 Oh, yeah. We knew that. Do it all the time. No big deal. Just airing it out. 🥴
What we do now: Doors, windows, vents and outside compartments are physically checked before we pull out.
We Went to Sleep With the Awning Out
Our first anniversary on the road, July 18, 2017, we camped at the Airstream factory’s Terraport in Jackson Center, Ohio, while Beauty was undergoing repairs from our first-year mishaps.
At 3 a.m., we were jolted awake by a violent noise outside. A sudden storm had caught the awning, billowing it up like a sail and slamming it back down.
Half-asleep, Carmen and I threw on our parkas and braved the torrential downpour as we wrestled the awning down and locked it in. Miraculously, neither of us suffered a serious head injury.
What we do now: The awning is never left out when we’re away or sleeping.
We Dragged the Hitch Down the Road
Early one morning while pulling out of Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana, a horrible sound escorted our departure. What was making that freaky sound? Carmen stopped, and we both looked out the windows.
Seeing no tree limbs or vehicles near us, we got out of the truck.
That’s when we discovered the hitch (actually the “tongue jack” – thank you Bob from Oregon for correcting us) dragging across the pavement, foot plate and all. 😲😳
We don’t make screw-ups often, but when we do, we like to make a big, noisy, stupid mess of it.
What we do now: Before Beauty moves – even if it feels dumb – the last one in the truck visually confirms the hitch is up and clear of the ground.
We Forgot the Chocks
We unhitched in Mammoth, California, in a shady site that looked level to us former tent campers but was actually gently sloped. We didn’t immediately chock the tires.
Carmen strode off into the distance to get a photo of me and the rig to send to her dad. When she turned around, Beauty was rolling away. Her blood-curdling scream clued me in to what was happening behind me.
The next thing I remember, I was running behind our five-ton Airstream with my arms out, apparently intending to stop it.
Fortunately, I never got the chance. A tree root pushing up the asphalt did the job, bringing Beauty to a gently rocking stop.
Shaking from the terror of what might have been, we still had to hitch up and tow Beauty back into our campsite.
Once we were firmly chocked in, we guzzled a bottle of champagne — no glasses — just passing it back and forth to calm our nerves and celebrate not being crushed into road jerky by our dream retirement plan on Day 16.
What we do now: We chock the tires the moment we arrive, before doing anything else.
My Brown Shower
At a rest area dump station off I-20 in Mississippi, I attached one end of the sewer hose to Beauty and inserted the other end into the sewer connection in the ground.
At least I thought the end attached to Beauty was secure.
Then I pulled the black tank valve.
The hose immediately blew off the Airstream.
Instead of several gallons of everything you never want to see or smell traveling politely down the hose, it geysered straight out of Beauty’s arse-end and splattered all over the ground.
And me.
This is one RV mistake you only make once, assuming you make it at all.
One and done.
What we do now: Before either of us pulls the black tank valve, we physically check that both ends of the sewer hose are secure, connected, attached, joined, allied and fully committed to the relationship. Then we check again.
Who Latched the Fridge?
After stopping for a roadside lunch along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi, someone failed to latch the refrigerator door.
When we arrived at Meriwether Lewis Campground and opened Beauty’s door, it looked like the kitchen had succumbed to motion sickness.
Who had closed the door last was the hot topic of the day.
What we do now: Before departure, both of us listen for the click of the refrigerator latch, whether or not the other claims they checked it.
We Forgot to Tell Our GPS We Were an RV
Driving north toward Montreal, the GPS routed us onto Vermont Route 108 through Smugglers’ Notch.
We had an RV-capable GPS specifically designed to avoid this kind of drama-trauma-oh-help-me-mama. 🫣
But we forgot to set our journey preferences to “RV.”
We realized the foul-up too late. We were committed to a narrow, twisting mountain road, one-sedan wide and winding tightly around enormous boulders. Carmen was so petrified that she couldn’t take a usable photo.
Beauty emerged unscathed. Our nerves… not so much.
What we do now: Before we pull out, we make sure the GPS knows we’re an RV.
Memory Sucks
Somewhere along the way, we finally accepted that there are just too many small details to remember, so we stopped beating ourselves up about it.
The most important things became habits. Others became rules. And everything that matters before Beauty moves became part of a departure checklist.
Before every travel day, one of us reads each item aloud. The other verifies it has been done and checks it off. No separate lists. Just one list we do together.
That way we both know it is done. Not, I think I did it.
Not I’m pretty sure.
Done.
At first it feels kinda dumb, but we soon noticed how much more relaxed we were when pulling out. And if we stop along the way for a meal, a dog walk or anything else, we run the checklist again before Beauty moves.
The checklist isn’t evidence that we’ve become extraordinarily disciplined RVers, just that we’ve made enough mistakes to know better.
We’re Better at This. Mostly.
Ten years, more than 78,000 miles and hundreds of campgrounds later, we still have foul-ups, but not nearly as many as Year One.
Foul-ups, we’ve learned, are a stress-sandwich. Stress can cause the foul-up, and then the foul-up causes even more stress. When stress takes over, we’ve learned it’s better to take a shower or a nap or go for a walk than to wrangle with five tons of Airstream or tackle a big job.
We just try not to foul up anything expensive — or dangerous — and never make the same foul-up twice.
Or invent new ones.
Eventually, somewhere way down the road, it becomes another good story to pass around the campfire.
Now it’s YOUR TURN. What was your first RV mistake, or the one you still laugh about today?
And the Winner Is…
Last month, as part of our 10-year anniversary celebration, we invited readers to solve our Living in Beauty crossword and enter a drawing for a $100 Amazon Gift Card.
The entries are in, the drawing is complete, and we have a winner.
Congratulations, Robbi Starnegg!
Robbi lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and told us she loves “traveling, experiencing other peoples and cultures and dogs (not necessarily in that order!),” which she says is why following Living in Beauty has been such a delight.
Robbi is a certified arts trauma therapy responder/facilitator and soon-to-be certified life coach. Her hope is to get back on the road herself and use those skills to serve people whose lives have been upended by war and other man-made or natural disasters.
Congratulations, Robbi — and thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating ten years of Living in Beauty.
You can see our exact route on this map.
*Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, were taken and copyrighted by Living in Beauty.
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Oh my god, this is too funny. Maybe it is a good idea we do not travel full-time in an RV. Loved the podcast!
Maria, well… it took a lot of time and distance from those foul-ups to laugh about them. Glad you enjoyed our misery! 😉. Jim
Great read thank you! I had stopped on the side of the road to use Starlink to find a campground (no service). I was so happy when I finally found one I took off dragging the Starlink behind on a mountain road for a few minutes.
Stephanie, thank you for sharing your Starlink story. I am positive if we had Starling, we would have included a similar story here.😳 Jim
Thanks for sharing!!
Marsha, glad you enjoyed it! Jim
Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. – Will Rogers 🤣
Dude, Brown shower ??? 🤢
Will, love that quote. And yep, a brown shower! Jim
well maybe you’re not affluent…but effluent
😳
Thank you for making us feel… “normal”. Our first mistake was the Open Door fiasco with steps down. thank God a neighbor in the park caught our attention before anything happened. The second, not chocking the wheels, fortunately the tow chains were still attached.
What a great story… and hopefully a chance to learn vicariously! Thank you for sharing!
Dave, misery loves company! Thank you for sharing. Jim
Thanks for the chuckles! I’ve been following you ever since you recommended the Malibu Beach RV Park which we enjoyed immensely.
One rule we made is after getting in the cab and starting the engine, I get back out and do a complete walk around, carefully looking at everything both high and low, even potential collision/scrape hazards upon exit (like the site number signs at the Las Vegas NM KOA) (oops!). I usually do this with the four ways on to check brake and turn signals as well.
Brian, glad you got a laugh and thank you for following Living in Beauty. I like your process of departure.Carmen and I are discussing it and think it is a good idea. We do a walk around before we take off, but I like your idea. Thanks! Jim
Leaving for our shake-down trip before we officially hit the road, we left one of the stabilizers down. Bent it all to heck. Luckily there is an edge on the driveway we used to bend it back enough to retract it. 🤣 List making started that day!
Cindi, we had to limit the number of foul-ups because if we didn’t this post would have been much much longer. AND… leaving the stabilizers down and bending it beyond use is just one of the ones we did not list. Thanks for sharing. Jim
We stopped for lunch in Paducah, KY in our Class B Sprinter-based Roadtrek. It was drizzling lightly, so we extended the awning about 1 foot so we could have the side sliding door open while we ate lunch in the rig. When we finished lunch, we closed the sliding door and headed out, got on the interstate headed west. 20-30 minutes later, a fellow RVer honked at us and waved. We thought they were just being friendly and rolled on. At our next stop, we figured out all the honking and waving. Miraculously, the awning survived the interstate speeds without any damage.
Darrell, so wonderful to see your name pop up. Send our love to Kris. What a great story. Thanks for sharing and so happy to hear your awning had no damage. Jim
Oh yeah..!! Leaving the refrigerator door unlatched, with two 0.5 gal “glass” milk bottles isn’t a great way to relax while traveling..
Been there and bought the T-Shirt…
S., it sure can make a mess of things when stuff that is supposed to stay in the refrigerator decide it is about time they got a bit of freedom. Thanks for sharing and wear that T-Shirt proudly! Jim
Love this and you both.
Brian, love you too! We gotta get together next time we are in San Diego, Jim
I remember the first time Tricia and I met up with you and Carmen at the dump station in Seward, AK back in August of 2022. We then crossed paths again in Haines and once more in Tok on the way out of Alaska in early September.
Don’t know if it will make you feel any less foolish, but we too ignored our RV GPS and pulled our 28′ Airstream through Smugglers Notch back in July of 2020. So we know how that feels!
You can read our story here if you like: https://www.twopeasandthepod.com/2020/07/towing-through-smugglers-notch.html
Phil and Tricia, we do indeed remember you both from 4 years ago. You two are one of only a few who we have accidentally met more than once, and with you two, three times. At a dump station in Seward, then inside Fast Eddy’s restaurant in Tok, and then on the road near Haines. And of all places… that small little state known as Alaska. 😳 Sorry to hear you had a similar experience with Smuggler’s Notch. Ouch! Here is the photo we took back on September 8, 2022 just north of Haines, Alaska.
I remember that day well. It was a good day! Thanks for sharing the photo
We have 5 years experience and Agree with all of it!
Patricia, and I bet you would probably agree with all of it in your first 12 months! 😳. Stay safe out there! Jim
This is so validating. And ya got the pictures too…that’s humility personified!
Ruth, glad you enjoyed it. And yep, we always have our iPhones handy “for such a time as this.” Jim
It’s good to have some distance on the mishaps to be able to laugh about them! I particularly loved trying to stop your Airstream with waving arms. That God for tree root stoppages! We had an unlatched refrigerator incident too. There have been other mishaps. But the weather you spoke of is the part that really makes me nervous. We aren’t fulltime but I grew up in South Dakota and know how destructive weather can be. Scary!! We are packing to leave on another trip in a few days. Looking forward to the travel in our Airstream home on wheels.
Terri, yes, time does seem to make those awful mistakes less painful. Maybe our paths will cross someday on the road. Stay safe out there! Jim
We chose a Harvest Host site “just off the expressway” in West Virginia. “Just off,” and 2000’ UP. Up what had obviously been a two-track before it was generously graveled. We made it, in our 36’ class A, and had a gorgeous stay with a 5-mile view of WV and TN. Driving back down, we met someone head on who had to back about a half mile before he found a driveway to let us pass. We learned.
Melody, thank you for sharing your story. We have not had that same experience and hope we never do. We have had a similar one, but on a flat road where we had to backup to a pullout to let them pass. Not fun!!!! Jim
One important lesson: if someone or something interrupts setup or leaving camp, start over when the interruption is over. You will save yourself some trouble!
Deborah, all I can say about your comment is AMEN! 🙏🏻. Jim
I really enjoyed reading about all of your adventures and how you learned from them. I remember you as pretty unflappable with a good sense of humor, so I’ll bet those skills have come in handy. Enjoy your continued life on the road!
Zachary, so great to see your name pop up. I still think about all those meetings you and I attended so many years ago where the goal was to help provide better healthcare to San Diegans. I still feel we did some good work. I continue that mission as a member of the Board of Trustees of Alliance Healthcare Foundation. They allow me to attend meetings via Zoom. I love the mission of the organization you currently work with: PATH’s mission is to end homelessness for individuals, families, and communities. God bless you in this important work. Jim
“Before either of us pulls the black tank valve, we physically check that both ends of the sewer hose are secure, connected, attached, joined, allied and fully committed to the relationship. Then we check again.” We watched that happen to an experienced campground host. He was talking and not paying attention.
After the hose is all hooked up (and checked) I pull the GREY valve first. I let enough water out that I can see it at both ends of the hose connections (clear plastic at both ends). Then I close the grey and open the black. That does two things: first, if something isn’t properly connected, it isn’t quite as embarrassing. Second, the hose is wet inside, and anything that was left there may be loosened so that it will slide on out.
David, Sorry to hear you had to watch that happen to someone. I too was distracted when I took my brown shower. 😝 Your idea of checking the connections with grey water is a great concept. I love it and thank you for sharing. Jim
6 September 2026
Excellent post, as always, dear B’s!
I love your honesty, your transparency, your side notes, photos, and humor! Even sound effects this time. 🙂
I believe you have probably saved several RV’ers from similar haphazards because you have written these experiences.
Good job!
The Tahoe area is so majestic! Dave and I lived in Incline Village, NV (beautiful and picturesque, but I’m glad we only had to be there for one snowy winter – I’m a CA girl!) for 6 months in the 70’s while we became acquainted with the ministry of Albie Pearson who played for the (then) Washington Senators and (then) Los Angeles Angels of MLB – a saint of a man with a huge heart. We had years of loving communication with the Pearsons. I miss them still.
You’re in my heart, always.
Love, Eva C
Eva, it always warms my heart to see your name pop up. We agree how beautiful Lake Tahoe is. When we kayak on it the color is so blue and it is amazing to be a surrounded by it. That and the mountains is just breathtaking. Thank you for sharing your story about Albie Pearson. Love Jim
These are good things to consider! My lips are still sealed on which ones I’ve done! 😝
Pat, as are ours!!! For the sake of brevity, we left out many foul-ups that we will never share publicly. 🙄 Jim
J & C. The only mistake made was made by Sam — 52 years ago. She shoulda held out for a unicyclist who ran a magic shop
Actually, I think she made the right choice then… and now. Jim
We also left the door open once on our Airstream. Other goofs: left the steps down, forgot “lego” levelers at a camp, forgot the heavy rubber chocks at a campsite, forgot the stabilizers were still down before starting to raise the tongue to hitch up. Forgot to fill the fresh tank before leaving home. Bought the trailer 10 years ago, travel 6-9 months a year and appreciate all your tips over the years. We bought the Dolphin bikes and so did four of our friends!
Kat, what we admitted in the post is subtle, but true. We left the door open 3 times on our Airstream in the past 10 years, about 3 years apart. I guess at our age, remembering something 3 years isn’t all that bad. Yep, we have driven off with the steps down, forgotten twice to pick up the lego levelers, left a chock at a roadside rest area, and bent the stabilizer. But we are still alive and still here!!!!!!! We still love our Dolphins!!!!!! 🚴. Jim
😊 Hi, great story. Sorry to correct you but you did not drag your hitch; You dragged your tongue jack. My GPS also has an RV mode, which I don’t use anymore because it sends too many warnings that block the screen from things I need to see. I have luckily been OK useing my car screen, on my Garmin RV760 GPS for about 12 years. My sewer hoses fit really tight so I bought two oil filter pliers from Harbor Freight to connect and disconnect my sewer hoses. I almost lost my trailer on a hill once. If disconnecting my trailer while on a hill, I remove my safety chains last. So if it starts to move, I know to chock my wheels.
My two biggest mistakes were: (1.) While driving in Eastern Oregon, I passed a gas station figuering on another one being fairly close by. There were no other gas stations. I also had a brand new [empty] gas can that I had planned on filling up at our first gas stop. We ended up at a country ice cream shop in the middle of nowhere. My truck said that I had about 15 miles left to zero and our choices were to turn back for 35 miles or go forward for 35 miles. I talked to a motorcycle group that told me that the next gas station only had two pumps in front of a mini market, and that if I blinked I would miss it. Before heading out my wife and I pumped the gas out of my Yamaha 2400 generator into my truck. It was over 100 degrees out so turning my engine off was not a choice. We made it safely, so my wife didn’t kill me. (2.) We were headed to a country camp ground and between me, my wife, and the GPS, I made a wrong turn. It was a dead end. My wife said that I should just back up my truck and trailer, which I could have done, but I decided to go off road and make a quick “U” turn around a tree. Mistake number one I didn’t listen to my wife because I’m the man and I know better. Mistake numbe two, I didn’t get out of my truck to check out the situation; If I did, I would have noticed a sizable ditch on each side of the road. I made it off of the road, around the tree, and got stuck. My truck’s front tires made it onto the road. My rear tires were in the ditch and my trailer’s tongue, battery box, and tongue jack were plowed into the dirt. Knowing that I wasn’t the only dumb @$$ that tried that trick, someone from the campground saw me and pulled me out.
This and many other true stories are on “Bob, Lee, and Dusty’s Random Trips“
Bob, thank you for the hitch clarification and I have added a note to the post and indicated it was you who gave us this feedback. We have on occasion found that when in RV mode on our GPS that is has added a crazy amount of miles to the planned trip. When that happens, we switch back to automobile mode and hope for the best. It usually works out OK. We now also remove our safety chains after unhitching, just in case, even when the tires are chocked. I like your idea of a plumber’s pliers to help when the sewer hose doesn’t want to come off easily. Thank you for that tip. In ten years of traveling and putting 140,000 miles on the Ram truck, we have driven on fumes twice to the point I was certain we were going be stranded. And I have been told it is really bad to let a diesel engine run out of fuel. Both times we were mistaken about there being a gas station up the road. Your #2, winding up in a ditch, gave me the shivers. OMG!!! So glad someone was there to help you. Thanks for sharing all this. Jim
“…fully committed to the relationship”…in a way that had never even remotely entered my psyche. Or yours, presumably.
Take it from a fella that used to haul and offload copious quantities of chlorine, toluene and naphtha, there is only one way to properly hook up for discharge. And weirdly enough it’s the exact opposite of the signed instructions I’ve seen literally anywhere there are signed instructions.
Do it wrong in my field and people die. So we did it a precise way. I do it the exact same way with our Airstream.
*Edit* Answer to your question regarding our (my) first RV mistake; lowering the power tongue jack to line up with the truck hitch and realizing a moment later that the stabilizers were still down. By that time the snap-pad was a half inch off the ground, levitating.
Alan, well… we now treat that stuff that comes out of the black tank as if it is chlorine, toluene and naphtha. Yep, we treat it VERY carefully. Sorry to hear about your stabilizer, ours experienced that same damage. Jim
LOL, they were all funny! – best ones was the Beauty rolling back & Jim w/ the arms out. sewer w/ photo Jim looking disappointed! LOL & Vermont RV GPS – I had an experience driving a car one time up in the mountain Hawaii one way up only 6 ft wide 2-way traffic roadway no guard rails. have a safe trip Labor Day & as always Cheers.
Mason NYC
Mason, so glad to hear we brightened up your day with a bit a humor (at our expense 😉) We love sharing this amazing lifestyle, even the bad stuff. Thank you for following Living in Beauty. Jim
Lessons are usually only learned after they are experienced 😎
Joe, so true so true. Jim
You made me laugh! We have a 33′ Classic named Sylvia. We drove away with the tongue jack down. Yes that’s a horrible noise. We also left the awning out in a FL torrential downpour that was an $8900 mistake. Our first AS a Flying Cloud didn’t have a TPMS, I got one for hubby to install. He didn’t do it. We had a blowout 1 hr from home. No damage…still didn’t install, we had another blowout the next yr. Waited over two hrs for roadside to come. I pointed out this was preventable with the TPMS, then he installed it. 🙄
Jana, glad to hear we brought a little humor into your world with this post. Carmen absolutely loves the 33′ Classic. She wants that bathroom. $8,900 for repairs on the Airstream after an awning mishap. Ouch! So sorry to hear that! We have a TPMS and have it on the dash at all times. Saved us in Arizona a few years ago when the brake drum detached inside the wheel well and over heated. The TPMS alerted us in time to pull off the road. Thank goodness!!! Thank you for sharing. Jim
Thanks for this post. I’ve had a few of the same issues. Glad to know we’re all human.
Jerry, yes there is comfort in shared misery! Jim
Love this post! I was laughing with you since I did most of the things you have done here, plus a few more. My checklist came from not latching one of my windows and having it fly open and break just before heading out across country. Luckily I was right by an RV shop and could convince the staff to make me a board up window to get me to the next airstream shop. I was so excited in Northern Washington to be visiting my aunt and uncle on lake Chelan, that I didn’t do my parking checklist. I didn’t do any of it and came out to two truck batteries and two trailer batteries drained with no sho in site for over three hours a way. My trickle cell charger and extension chord got me through that. And I warned my aunt and uncle I might be staying and getting a job in town. And if you like you can read about my bear encounter due to hauling my dog’s food in REI Bear Proof Canisters in my truck…. the blog is “Do You Carry A Gun?”. Apparently Bear Proof just means, they can’ get into the containers. But yes, the chocks, steps falling down on a 75 mile gravel road… and more… has all taught me a lot about myself. I’m glad for every experience, every story. Thanks for sharing yours.
Elisa, glad to hear you enjoyed this post and sorry to hear you have basically replicated our foul-ups. 😳 We have left the windows open and many times unlocked, but luckily no breakage…. so far. I just read your Do You Carry a Gun? blog post.What a great story of mistaken identity. Hilarious… now that time has passed. Not so funny when it happened. Thank you for sharing. Jim
Yup, done all of that – including Smuggler’s Notch! Not proud, and if I gave it more than a passing thought could probably come up with 10 more! Safe travels.
Brad, sorry to hear you also experienced Smuggler’s Notch. I will never forget it. If we had unlimited space, we could have shared many more foul-ups. Stay safe out there! Jim
What a good read. I really enjoyed this.
Joyce, glad you enjoyed it. Jim
Very good knowledge shared here. Thank you! Being new to RV’ing we have done some of these already. Including the fridge latch and a fresh giant brand new container of Greek yogurt which broke open when it hit the ground and splattered up to and including the ceiling. I am still finding yogurt splatters although long dried. Have not left the door open but had it pop open while driving down a highway. Quite scary.
Paula, how wonderful to see your name pop up. Welcome to the world of RVing. We love it and hope you do also. Having the refer open up on the road can be a horrible mess, and I think we both know that first hand.😳 I still think fondly of those days so long long ago when you helped me furnish the new Lamb’s Players office that I remodeled 26 years ago. I haven’t had the opportunity to keep up with Donna. Stay safe out there and happy travels. Jim
Before my maiden trip in the Retro 179SE, I went to a Truck stop to weigh the unit.
I jumped out, lowered the tongue jack. A Trucker behind me honked his horn because the line started moving.
I jumped in the cab, put it in drive and there was a horrible scraping of the tongue jack sliding across the ground.
When I stopped, I raised the jack as far as I could get it to raise.
I got weighed and went home.
I went to Camping World and got the only tongue jack they had. The holes didn’t line up and the crank was on the top so it hit the propane tank cover.
I ordered the correct one and sent it to my brother’s house in Iowa and replaced it at my nephews.
Lesson learned: It is a Truck Stop but also an RV Stop. Don’t let a trucker hurry you.
Jody, thank you for sharing. We have the same feeling when we go to a Love’s or Pilot or TA or Flying J truck fuel station. If a truck get behind us, we feel the pressure to get it done and get out of there. We avoid these places if at all possible. Jim
At a campground near Yosemite I used Anderson blocks to level our trailer. After I rolled up on the blocks, I forgot to put the chocks on the opposite side of the wheels. When I unhitched the trailer rolled forward. Fortunately, the tow chains were still attached, avoiding a disaster.
Ivan, thank god for chains!!!!!! Jim
26 years and 6 Airstreams later we’ve made most of the mistakes you experienced. Once I even hooked the campground water to the black tank flush and blew sewage out the roof vent.
Jay and Cherie, wow!!! 26 years and 6 Airstreams. All I can say is Wow!!!! We figured we were not the only ones making these foul-ups. You are the 4th person to tell us about hooking up the campground water to the black tank flush. So, let me tell you a story. In April 2015, we found our Airstream here on Airforums. It was located in Alabama and we were in San Diego, California. So my Carmen’s dad, who lives in Mississippi, 4 hours from the Airstream, said he would go check it out. He did, we bought it, and he towed it to his home. The plan was to fly out in July and drive it home, which turned out to be what happened. But… Carmen’s dad thought it would be a kind thing to fill our fresh water tank for us so we would have water when we arrived. After not seeing the fresh tank gauge rise up while filling, he said he gave up after about 20 minutes. What he didn’t realize is he filled up, almost to the top, our black water tank because he attached the garden hose to the black tank clean out spray connection. It could have been a total disaster. Luck was on our side…. thankfully. Jim
Here is a pic from June 10, 2016; a day that will live in infamy for me. 6 months into Airstreaming I had yet to master hitching with a ProPride. 2-1/2 hours in mid 90’s heat, including unloading the truck, before finally getting hitched on the slope of our driveway. Had I only known this would be only the 4th WORST mistake of the day.
Had a 6 yr old grandson with us. Towed Rose 8 miles to nearby Maumelle Park, a lovey place on the Arkansas River, and put Rose into a pretty site, unhooked and then discovered I had not considered side to side level ingredient. Because booking up was so much fun, I hooked back up and put plastic blocks under the offending side tires. Unhooked and then…
Hooked up city water…guess to which input?…a bit later, opening the main awning, I got a brown shower. Good old black tank clean out inlet…the black tank had filled and pushed brown water up through the roof vent, which in turn sent water flowing across the awning to an egress point directly over my head. The 6 yr old thought this was hilarious.
The site was water & electric, so… hooked up again, drove VERY carefully to the dump station and returned to set up, for the third time our Rose. Judy, noting I did not smell like a rose, suggested we drive the truck to the house and re-group.
Back at Villa Shelley, I was backing into the garage stall where we parked Tex (our F250). As I backed into the garage, I felt a bump and said I didn’t recall a step up at the garage front. Judy said “It’s so hot and you are so tired, let’s just leave the truck here and go get into the pool. After jumping into the pool, I came up out of the water and said “Oh *^#*!, the bikes! Yes, the bump was the bikes hitting the stucco arch over the garage door. $900 damage to Judy’s bike and $3,000 damage to the stucco.
Learned several tough lessons that day; it is a testament both to Judy’s patience with a sometimes idiotic husband and to how much we love Airstreaming that we continued after that grim day.
Didn’t want you guys to think you are the only ones to experience brain farts along the way!
Michael and Judy, OMG, we share a brown shower event. We came about it in different ways, but the end result was the same. Thank you for that sharing that story and the very expensive story about your bikes. Ouch! Stay safe out there! Jim
This was a great post. The picture of you at the dump station is perfect. OMG!!!! That has to be the worst mistake ever. Fortunately I can say it hasn’t happen to us. We actually have a Class A so we can see most of the mistakes we have made. Haven’t gone to writing it down yet but I’m sure that is next. Right now we both have our jobs and my husband double checks everything I was supposed to do. hmmmm. It works for us :):) Probably our worst mistake was pulling into Washington Pass pull out that was actually closed. No sign that said that and since we can’t back up we had to unhook our tow to get out. Actually did that again on a street we went down. Only twice in 11 years so that isn’t too bad.
Posticat, thank you for sharing your story about pulling into a place that forced you to unhook your tow vehicle to solve the problem. And I agree, only twice in 11 years isn’t too bad 😉. Safe travels! Jim
Love this. So surprised you did not already have a “Departure List”. Check, check, check! Thank you for sharing, it is always a treat! ❤️😍❣️
Jan, the Mammoth Airstream rolling event happened the same day as our tire blowout. We had the blowout on Hwy 395 about 20-30 miles south of Mammoth, spent hours on the side of the road having that dealt with, and then drove on the spare tire to Mammoth where we almost lost the trailer down that slope. All that all happened on day 16. It was the next day Carmen and I came up with the beginning of our departure list (and arrival list) and wondered why we didn’t have one before we started. Lessons learned. Jan, it is always a delight to see your name pop up in comments. Jim
the refrigerator latch lol
i can see us doing that
😉
Finally had time to read, chuckle and nod my head! Yes, we did that – door open, frig unlatched AND closet door open! And vents open flapping, ran over chocks, alsmost lost our lovely Lil Cutie down a bank – for got to use the chocks. Best was our first Airstrean, a 1974 we lovingly restored. And never realized there was no grey water tank, until the dish washing water rose up in the shower…. Ah those were the days. Going to be hanging up the keys in the not too distant future, but what stories we have to tell in the “home”! Love your blogs.
Carol, thank you for sharing. We also didn’t realize our first trailer back in 1979 didn’t have a gray OR black tank. We had to buy a honey wagon and had to place it under the trailer. Sorry to hear you will be hanging up the keys soon. Funny you would mention “the home” because Carmen and I joke all the time that this blog will be our only way to remember these amazing years once we are in ‘the home.’ 😳 So glad to hear you enjoy the blogs. Jim
Our scariest almost foul up was in 2016 when we purchased our first trailer. On the way home from the dealership we passed under an underpass near our home without giving it a thought. It was labeled 2.90m which is about 9’6″ and 1/8th. We got home and I got to thinking, and double checked the manufacturers specs of our trailer which turned out to be 9’6″ or 2.89m. I drove back(without the trailer) to confirm the underpass height. We literally were within about 1/2″ of taking the roof off our brand new trailer that we had picked up less than 2 hours prior. I now have a sticker on the dash of our tow vehicle with the exact height of our trailer in both feet/inches and metres. When I come to any lower than standard underpass, I don’t want to be relying on my old memory. Now I can check at a glance and be sure that I am going to clear.
Shawn, what a great story. A fraction of an inch away from disaster. Thank you for sharing. Jim
Oh Jim and Carmen, we have shared similar learning experiences in our RV life. I will say though you would not be able to do the drive through Smugglers Notch any longer. We are in the area now and I read your blog the evening before we were going to drive the scenic drive without our Airstream. I have attached an image of what you encounter now before you get to the scary part. I still can’t believe you got through their unscathed. It was scary enough in just our truck. Our video camera caught all our expletives. LOL.
Your brown shower brought back another memory of a time our black valve handle wasn’t sealing and I got a brown shower when I pulled the cap off. I immediately bought a valterra waste valve to prevent that from happening again.
And for the jack we injured ours a few weeks ago when we forgot to raise it back up after getting the spare tire out and replacing it with the damaged tire before taking the Airstream off the trailer tire lift. The jack looked about like the one in your photo after we were done. The jack is currently still working (with a lot of coaxing) until we can get it replaced in October at a scheduled maintenance appointment.
We have had many other experiences, luckily we have survived them.
Here’s to more uneventful trips.
Steve, it looks like they have made it very obvious the road ahead is not designed for long rigs. I am fairly certain we could don’t get our Airstream through that roundabout. Maybe that is a good thing. We also have done the same thing and purchased the Valterra Twist-On Waste Valve for a similar reason. And our power jack still worked for awhile, but ultimately we had to replace it. Thank you for sharing your stories. Jim
OMG, these are hilarious! My favorite part is you took pictures of each and every disaster. I swear, it’s a blogger thing. Even in the midst of the mess and the stress, you just know: “this is gonna be a great story one day!”
Laura, it warms my heart to know you find humor in our pain 😳😉. And why we photograph our foul-ups is a total mystery to us. Someone needs to say to us “Get a Life.” But we do love to hear about your life when you do post occasionally on your website, Chapter3Travels. We could really relate to your last post about Thor. It doesn’t look like anytime soon we will be making it over the pond to Europe, but know we think of you two often and hope all is well in Portugal. Thank you for being with us all these years. Jim
We have done many of these! Left the step out, took a curb to close, bent it nicely into another configuration!
Sharon, well then, we are both in good company. 😉 Stay safe out there and happy travel. Jim
These are great foul-ups that can (and maybe will) happen to any RVer (caravanner)! We’ve had cabinets and the fridge jump open, either from not latching them correctly or, more often in South America, from hitting a camouflaged speed bump or crater of a pothole.
I can’t believe you actually took and have photos of all these unfortunate situations!!! When something like this happens to us, we are either too shocked/annoyed to think about taking photos or too busy immediately cleaning up the mess or fixing the mistake.
A camper rolling downhill is a true nightmare. And it seems to happen more than you think. Our friends had this happen when the handbrake wasn’t engaged and their overlanding rig ran into a jeep on the parking lot while they were sleeping in it. I have nightmares of similar situations even though it has never happened to us.
A departure checklist is a good idea. We’ve been too lazy to make one, but we always do a visual check around the camper inside and outside to make sure everything is latched and stored. Our most common issue is forgetting to pick up Maya’s full water bowl before we drive off. Not surprisingly, on European roads that has caused less of a mess and water damage than on South America roads.
Liesbet, we agree with you that our foul-ups are not that unusual. As a matter of fact, in these comments, folks have admitted to experiencing some of the same mishaps, as you have. In those first few years, we did photograph just about everything that happened. Lately, not so much after ten years. We are so thankful there was nothing behind the trailer when it rolled down the slope. We were soooo lucky. It did take us awhile to create and follow our departure checklist, but it is a religion now. Even when we are tired and think we did everything. One time we didn’t go over the check list and found later one of the windows wasn’t locked down. We’ve heard stories of the wind catching such a window on the road and ripping it off. So, now… we follow the list. As always it is such a pleasure to see your name popup here. Stay safe and we hope the remodel on your new rig is going well. Jim
I’m so glad you posted these now instead of during year 1. I’m sure you both have gotten to the point of some laughter about them.
We also have a checklist and “rules” we follow.
Enjoy your adventures!
Barb and John, we did wait many years to publicly admit to our first year foul-ups. And yes we do laugh about them, except Carmen is still mad at me for trying to stop the trailer with my body. She thinks that is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. And considering how many stupid things I have done in 72 years, that is saying something. Thanks for following Living in Beauty. Jim
What kind of truck do you use to haul Beauty?
Don, we bought a 2014 Ram Laramie 2500 Diesel 4×4 in April 2015 and still have the same truck. Jim