Ants, Power issues, and Sewer Mayhem

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Notice the white ant powder by the wheel and stabilizer jack?

Life on the road is very similar to life at home in many respects. Stuff happens and it has to be dealt with. The big difference is being somewhere unfamiliar makes finding a store a little tricky sometimes. You never know what problems will spring up and it isn’t the problems in your life that define you; rather it is your reaction to the problems and how you handle them.
Our current camp seemed great when we went to sleep the first night, but in the morning we quickly realized that an infestation had occurred. Small ants can be extremely hard to get rid of and the whole family went into emergency mode. First Sarah started to empty the pantry for a thorough cleaning. At the same time I went outside to stop the invasion and asses whether we needed to move or not. Ants can cover a huge amount of ground though and I decided to stand and fight till the end. Our sewer connection was the main entry point, so I used a bit of gel that I had to slow the ants down. I then went to a nearby camp where I saw ant dust on the ground and used a glove to scoop some up to supplement my gel. While I was doing this Sarah and the kids cleaned, bagged food, and killed ants inside the trailer. After we had turned the tide of the war around we went to the store and purchased some ant dust. I put some around all nine points that we touch the ground and the ants lost the war.
While outside dealing with the ants I also had to figure out a sewer issue. It smelt like, well like the sewer was at our camp. Gross as it was I had to sniff out where the problem was, so that it could be dealt with. I tracked it down to the sewer main and went to find a ranger to figure out what they wanted me to do. Unfortunately the park knew there was an issue and didn’t tell us. I then unhooked our sewer and only hook it up to drop the tanks. The smell dissipated and we were able to go outside again. Not the greatest thing and I will be mentioning it in my review for future campers, but it isn’t my park and we will soon be moving on.
The last camp we were at without power was the last straw. The propane detector went off in the middle of the night because the battery dropped too low. Travel trailers typically come with only one mediocre battery that doesn’t cut it. I finally got fed up with it and headed to the RV parts store. I purchased a new battery, a battery case and a 30 amp extension cord. I then hooked up the batteries and we get an extra couple days before we drain them too low. The hard part was the battery case because the space only fit one and I had to trim the handle off of one. A little tricky when your on the road with only one bag of tools, but I managed it and it didn’t take too long either. I still haven’t bought a generator or solar panel, but I still might at some point. I keep going between the two and can’t decide, so I just try to make what we have work.

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One Comment

  1. Yes chris rv,ing full time is not like going to the lake for the weekend,you & the family are now 1 of the few who get it! I met & helped a lot of full timers when i was in the rv biz,so big thumbs up from me,whem mom and i lived in the motor home we purchased a small ie”one i could lift”honda 900 watt gen.just to charge the batterys& and run the systems, 2 batt.s twice the charge time, good luck 😎

    Dad

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