The day started well enough. I was so organized that the early morning start went smoothly. I loaded up, threw the cats in a shopping cart and wheeled them to the car (they really enjoyed that but I don’t have room for their carriers!). Puck walked. All I had to do was pull out of the garage, load the bikes and head toward the trailer. An aside, we need to give her (trailer) a name…suggestions welcome.
I am driving a 2016 Volvo plug in hybrid. I love it, but there is always a risk when you put “Volvo” and “new technology” in the same sentence. I turn it on – remember I have not even attached the trailer yet – and up flashes a bright orange warning: “HYBRID SYSTEM FAILURE. SERVICE REQUIRED”. You have got to be kidding me.
First of all, Volvo needs to work on their warning language. How about “Hybrid system is having some issues, not urgent, just get it fixed when you can”. I’d even take “hybrid system needs service.”. “HYBRID SYSTEM FAILURE” screams CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE, right?
No way am I stopping so I decide to a) ignore it and b) Google it when I get out of the garage to see if I need to locate a Volvo dealer sooner or later. Funny thing is that the hybrid system is working just fine. I drove on battery all the way to the trailer just to test it. My Google search turned up false alarms and unknown problems (in that Volvo couldn’t figure it out). So I will a) continue ignoring it b) call a Volvo dealer in Bend (my first real long stay), c) hope the warning just goes away.
After about 15 tries to line up the hitch – it is not easy with no spotter – I’m hooked up and ready. It is 6:15 on a Saturday morning so I don’t have to deal with much traffic. I’m stoked because my fancy tow mirrors work great and make me feel so much better. Pretty soon I am on I-25 North driving and thinking this is a piece of cake. As long as I am driving in a straight line on a really wide road I should be good. It feels funny, but I will get used to it. I’m looking forward to my driving lesson, which is now Monday morning!
I arrive at the Loveland RV Resort (Resort is a stretch, but I’m playing it safe this trip) around 7:30. They open at 8:30, but that’s ok, I have plenty to organize. Jim (owner) is so kind that he takes me to my site, helps me hook everything in, and shows me the ropes. We soon find out that my rental dude has forgotten to supply me with a sewer pipe. Seriously? Luckily they sell them here, so I’m in business.
Before doing anything else, Puck and I need some exercise. After two days of rain and snow the trails are still impassable, so we are both going stir crazy. We are hoping tomorrow we can get to the trails…
As I’m parking to access the little lake paved trail for our walk, I drive under a tree without thinking and take my mountain bike right off the top of the car. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I am just a little frazzled today (although now that I am organized I am feeling much better). Fortunately they make bike racks with the understanding that people rip their bikes off the top of their cars all the time, so the bike rack gives and the bike is not hurt. Crisis averted.
I do some shopping for a few things I realize I need then head back to organize. I have not hooked up my new sewer pipe yet so I go ahead and do that and realize there is a leak somewhere in the piping on the Trailer. Really? Got anything else for me today?
Fortunately there is a mobile repair guy at another unit and he comes over and eventually is able to replace a cracked valve and fix it. This thing is 3 months old, what the heck did the previous renters try to put down the toilet? Diapers?? A cat?
I brought the cats up here in the car then transferred them to their new home when we got here. They hid in their litter boxes (in the under seat storage) for most of the day. Once I put Puck in here, they began to emerge and now Maya is thinking she can adjust to this. Makoya is still in the litter, hopefully tonight she will decide to come out.
As you can see from the header photo, we are ready for our first night in the trailer. Puck and I hope to hit the trails in the morning!
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