My first central vacuum

Our new fifth wheel came with a central vacuum and I was excited. My very first central vacuum! No more lugging and pushing a vacuum cleaner around. No more avoiding the electrical cord while vacuuming. Just the simplicity of plugging the hose directly into the wall and vacuuming.

Unfortunately, the reality of the central vac didn't live up to my dreams. The central vac has a pretty strong motor and it does a passable job of picking up dirt. But, since it is just a hose with attachments, I had to lean over and push down. Also, there is no beater-bar in the attachment. So, even after I vacuumed, the carpet was still matted down.

Fortunately, we spend the last month in west Michigan near our storage unit (more about that later) and I was able to grab our Oreck vacuum.  Sure, it's one more thing to store and lug around with us, but it's worth it! It's actually easier to pull the vacuum out of the closet, than it was to pull out the central vac hoses and attachments. I can vacuum our entire home in about 3 minutes and it looks great. The carpets are clean -- and fluffy!

- Amanda (New Hudson, MI)

Where are we?

Brother-in-law Steve asked me where we are this morning and I realized many of our friends and family may not know where we are at any point in time.  So, in addition to posting stories about where we've been, I will now add 'Where We Are' updates.

We are currently in Hopkins Michigan for the month of September visiting family. Hopkins is in the Grand Rapids area. Next, we're heading over to the Detroit area to see more family before heading south. It's starting to get cold here! No more snow for us!!

Necessary Camping Gear: A Golfcart?!

Apparently, we didn't get the memo. We've seen countless campers with golf carts.  We even saw one motor coach towing a flat bed trailer with TWO golf carts. The adults spent the weekend giving the kids rides around the campground in the golf carts.

In St. Clair, they had a golf cart parade through our campground.

And, when the weater gets cold, they add canvas enclosures to their golf carts!

 

Honey we have water pressure again

Well now that was an interesting few days .... we developed a low water issue when we were moved to Shelbyville, MI.  First we had a an issue in St Clair MI, of the waterpump short cycling this means after the pump stops it will restart after 15 seconds this indicates a leak ...... Whoa not good, between the noise and just where is that water going what to do what to do?  Ho hi ho it's off to the dealer we go ..... after a pump filter change nothing improved or fixed  so we have to go back.  Dang not good so started looking through our owners information low and behold I find a datasheet on the switching unit and give them a call.  Scott from Anderson Brass stopped by on Saturday and replaced the shaft and it worked. No more short cycling

Big KUDOS to Scott and Anderson Brass for the quick turnaround.  Now why the low pressure?  After several different reviews on what was done so far I had to start over.  Short story the water filter was the culprit 

when I bought the green filters they were marked for drinking water however after I viewed the package again it was marked for reverse osmosis systems which I did not see before. The Black filter is working great ..... now off for a pedicure by a 3 year old

"The Map" Controversy

You may have noticed that many RVs have USA maps. We added ours today.

The map starts out blank, and you fill it in as you travel. The controversy is "when" you fill in a state. There is much disagreement among RVers about when you can properly fill in a state. Different groups of RVers have different criteria for when you can fill in a state. For example, you can fill in a state when:

• You've traveled through that state in your RV
• You and your RV have spent at least one night in that state
• You've made love in your RV in that state

Terry and I decided which criteria we're using -- and we're not telling! Here is our state map so far:

We stumbled upon a DRV Rally!

When we pulled into the Hidden Ridge RV Resort in Hopkins, Michigan we were surprised to see an entire row of DRV Mobile Suites parked near us. As we were setting up, Everett walked over, introduced himself and told us the Michigan Chapter of the DRV Suite Owner's Group (http://www.suitesowners.com/) is having a rally this weekend. And, he invited us to join the group!

Last night we gathered around a campfire, and tonight we had a pot luck chili dinner - in the rain.  Hardy bunch of people.  And, funny. As one man left to walk back to his DRV, someone called out "Hope you can find your rig in the rain". And then someone else said "Pick a big one -- they all look alike."

The BEST part of Full Time RVing is....

.... seeing our friends!

We loved seeing many of our southeast Michigan friends when we stopped in Monroe and St. Clair Michigan. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again next summer -- and we want to see all of our friends who we didn't see on this trip.   - Amanda