Day 65 (August 26): Murphy's Law

And so, on the first day of traveling in an RV with four children, significant things began to go wrong. It was inevitable, of course. We’ve been talking for more than a year about how we would handle problems, how it would alllow us (adults) to grow through adversity, and how it would teach our kids valuable life lessons, including the fact that their parents are fallable. 

First, the retractable bed above the cab (driver’s and passenger’s seat) became stuck in the down possion. This meant that departure day began with a trip to a local (Duluth) RV shop, only to find that a repair was not possible on the spot. Fortunately, this situation doesn’t prevent us from driving (or driving safely) but it does interfere with keeping our scalps intact each time we stand up from those front seats. On the plus side, more storage. Here were are pre-departure. All smiles!

Second, after we reached our destination (Munising, MIchigan) in the middle of a downpour, we found that the automatic leveling jacks were drunk, and not just a little. I’ve set up tents on apparently-level ground only to find out at bedtime (or worse, in the morning) that my head is the new collecting point for my circulatory system. After a short battle that included downloading a terrific and free iphone app, the rig was level.

Third, one of two slides no longer slides. That means that the “hallway” is 18 inches wide instead of 4 feet. It means the arts/crafts are inaccessible. It means the sink is only accessible from the side and our trash/recycling is blocked in.  It means approximately 10% less room in this tiny space for the first night of six-person occupancy. 

So the kids got to see dad cry because, seriously, how many major things could be wrong at the same time. Oh, did I mention that none of our tech worked and it was 8:00 and raining so our kids were tired, hungry, rammy and unable to move (or be entertained in their preferred way).

Eventually, Elise performed one miracle and cooked dinner. Then I performed a second miracle and got Rocky & Bullwinkle to play on a laptop (affirming my decision to pack DVD’s afterall). The kids enjoyed seeing a line drawn on the map to show where we had driven earlier in the summer and then in this one day. By about 10:30, everybody was in bed and too tired to complain any more. The rain meant it was cool inside and we had the pitter-patter to enjoy.

The view from the back. Lily slept on the bottom bunk and Henry on the top. Ali and Cate slept on the non-retracting front bunk (full-size mattress). just past the 18" hallway.

I've received a demand for a video tour starring and directed by the children. While you wait for that, here are some pano pictures of the front and back. Maybe it will give you a sense.

When the "sofa slide" was working, the "hallway" was about 4' wide. The non-retracting front bunk leaves 4-6" of clearance for this 6'2" driver (when seated).

A more successful pano. Now you can see that the sink, at far left, is obstructed when the slide is in. Awesome!

This is the "master" bedroom at the back. It's a king size bed, which means plenty of space for storing ALL of the bedding while we are driving. It's also enough space for all four kids to watch one movie when the macbook is the only functional screen.