Sunday, February 7, 2016

The Weekly Ritual


Living in a motorhome has it's specific and distinct advantages. One of which is that if you tire of your view out the window, you simply exchange it for another.

Whether your rig is your "cottage at the lake" as ours currently is, or your cottage by the seashore, mountains, desert or river, it is entirely up to you. This freedom is not to be underestimated.

If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to go to YouTube and check out our channel located conveniently here  where you will find 488 videos (at last count) of our wanderings and what we have found along the way.

Along with the joys of RV living, there are chores to which one must attend on a periodic basis. Once a week there is a specific chore we take care of and that time came yesterday. Here we see Grace, wearing her winter skirt of  Reflectix.


Just behind the rear axle is a storage bay which contains the plumbing controls. Since we are self-contained, there are valves to open or close for waste water removal.  During the winter these valves remain closed and are opened weekly to evacuate the tanks. I left a little access panel in the skirting to allow ingress.


With the door open, you can see the water hose (white) which has been insulated with pipe wrap and a heat tape to prevent freezing. There is a light which we have left on over the winter, and the sewage hose, also know as the "Stinky Slinky".


The first order of business is to open the valve which drains the black water tank. This tank collects only that which is flushed, and is separate from the gray tank which collects the sink and shower drain water.


The effluent now becomes someone else's issue as it exits our premises and goes into the park's system through the sewage hose.


Once the black tank is drained, the corresponding valve is closed, and the valve for the "gray water" is opened. This effectively flushes the hose, and drains the gray tank. This tank is always larger than the other, but with the normal usage of water it is the first to reach capacity. There is a video early on in the vlog which shows what happens if you are not paying attention when it does. Fortunately one of the design factors includes an audible warning when it is approaching full. When the sink is drained a menacing "glug-glug-glug" sound is heard in the bathroom. This lets even the unwary know that time draws short.


All that's left is to button up the skirting and rake the gravel back over the base of it, and we're done for the week. Now to go back inside where it's a balmy 73F.
Not that the weather has been too bad over the winter. We had about 10 days where it was cold, but the remainder has been hovering around freezing and now it's low 40's during the day (almost springlike).


Thanks for coming along with us. You can get more information about us HERE
 and HERE or follow the Sista HERE . Additionally my book is available HERE
We'll look forward to seeing you down the road. Keep Trippin'.

2 comments:

Trobairitz said...

Glad to see you two are alive and well and still in the motorhome.

I don't get much time to view videos at work so I always forget to check the Youtube page.

Tripping Sister! said...

Oh I do hope you go to and subscribe to our other channels...:-). It would be fun to see you there!