Transport Time!

Campventures, Family, Home, Life, Travel, , , , , , , , , ,

We’ve made it to the middle of May after all our cross country work travels and home base in NC. But that means its RIVER TIME!!

We’ve been so excited to get back up to A-Bay for the summer season. One of our happy places where we have a work-life balance better than ever and supportive family around us most weekends. So excited, that we contracted a transport company to haul the camper up to to NY for us after returning the 350 we used last year. Pre-planned, smooth sailing expected…. of COURSE that would turn into a pressure point for us… CAN NOTHING GO AS PLANNED?!

So here I was in February, searching for auto transport companies that were licensed and insured – and found one from Cocoa, FL that had great reviews. I reached out February 16th and put down the deposit Feb 17th for our GOOSENECK (this is important for later) 41′, 5th wheel to be picked up on May 15th (our last day at the RV Park in NC). We signed our contract and paid the deposit no problem and went about our days.

May 3rd I reach out as we haven’t heard anything from the company about pickup or had any additional customer service. “Hey we’re excited about the move” I also included confirmation request for pickup May 15th, confirmed pickup & drop off addresses, phone numbers, gate codes, the whole kit & caboodle. Received emails back saying “yes you’re on schedule, we’ll have a driver when we get closer to pickup day. We have everything we need”. Not ideal 12 days away already but okay – we’ll hang out and wait.

May 12th – STILL NO DETAILS. I email again “hey, do we have a driver for FRIDAY’S pickup? and I get a phone call from Brian (who has been my only contact) 2 hours later. He asks literally on the TUESDAY before pickup “can you all convert your gooseneck back into a regular 5th wheel?”. ummm

WHAT?!

You’re asking me to remove the $2500 hitch system that was installed by Camping World over a year ago… my guy – that thing needs a FORKLIFT. it’s not just a quick 4 bolts and tuck it in the back seat of a car….

“Well, most of my guys have the standard 5th wheel hitch in the back of their trucks and those are like…. 500 lbs to move, it’s just easier for them and would give them more opportunities…..” That’s not my problem, bud. Austin thankfully was on the phone with us (I conferenced him in) and I heard the switch in his voice go from “work-no-bullshit-Austin” mode to “wait a second, this is the first ask and we still need them to complete this service, agitated-but-nice-Austin” mode.

We told Brian “no” and he says “okay”.

Wednesday, May 13th (our 3 year anniversary, mind you) – Austin gets a call from a guy named Chris. Chris starts humming and hawing about “oh, well your quote was done in February and now fuel prices have increased…..” NOT MY PROBLEM, BUD. The whole point of the quote & contract for ANY BUSINESS is to build something like that in! You’re not going to change the price 2 months after I’ve signed the contract because the economy has changed. But also, if you had COMMUNICATED this too us 2 weeks ago, we probably would have had NO PROBLEM adding $200 or so to the original quote. NOT 2 days before our contracted pickup date. We’re also probably going to tip the driver on delivery as research tells me it’s appreciated but not required.

We were still awaiting a transport driver’s name & pickup time, mind you. Austin calls to tell me this fuel tale while I’m at one of the nephew’s games – and “I F*CKING KNEW IT” came flying straight out of my mouth – I had literally said it to him in conversation the night before… “watch them come back to us about fuel prices and try to increase the quote price”. Luckily, I had walked away from the small ears already. So we tell this Chris fellow “you all need to figure it out – we need to know by noon Thursday if you’re sending a driver and what time they’re going to be there, or if you’re refunding our deposit.” It kicks in then….”shit, do we need to find another company on last minute notice, just buy a semi on FB Marketplace for the drive up, or do we fork over financing a new truck?!”. We were given “Friday Evening” as a pickup time… maybe…

Thursday comes & goes with no phone call… I tried texting Brian, we both called, to no answer and are probably just left on read.

We’re up to Friday Morning, Austin has taken the day off work because our contract stated pickup for today, and was confirmed multiple times. At this point we’re still waiting on the driver information and we both call around 9am to no answer, voicemails left, and feeling VERY ghosted. (I even tried using my work phone because they didn’t have that number – hoping they might answer it thinking it’s a new customer quote).

I pulled the contract the previous night to confirm our options – until they assign a driver, we could cancel and get our deposit refunded. But even if we tried to do that, NOBODY IS ANSWERING THE PHONE. I tried Brian, I tried the numbers from the website directly which were either disconnected or rerouted to Brian… And if I tried to email it (paper trail/date/time) and THEN they assign a dispatcher, they could still argue to keep our deposit. We wait…FFS! I have zero patience for this bullshit.

Friday, May 15 @ 9:52am – I get a text message that a transport driver has been assigned. “Showroom Auto Transport. Coast to Coast has assigned us to pick up a 2020 Keystone Montana 36’L for you. Our driver will be arriving sometime between today and tomorrow; we will let you know asap”.

I call the number in the text message – it goes to voicemail.

First – it’s 41’… if you show up with a truck without enough pull for the extra 5ft/and weight. I’mma be pissed… also, TODAY OR TOMORROW?! Our contract is TODAY. Figure it out.

I message back that our contract states today, and the length is incorrect – they need to contact Coast to Coast for confirmation – that’s who they get their info from, and it was incorrect.

I get a call an hour later from the owner of this sub-contracted company saying that they’re delayed today because they’re delivering in Maryland and the customer got delayed till 12-2p, then it’s a 9 hour drive to us. I get it. but again, NOT MY PROBLEM, BUD.

He says they guarantee to be at our camper for pickup no later than 10am Saturday Morning with their top A+ driver… so then I get the call from the RV ark at 10:54am asking “are you all checking out today?! (checkout is at 11am) We have 9 arrivals today” – luckily nobody is in our spot, so I’ve extended our stay to Monday morning just in case.

So, that worked out. Austin is still in NC as I’ve been in VA the past week for Mother’s Day and Niblings games.

Mom and I also made sourdough bread from my first ever starter while I was home – I’m cautiously proud that the first loaf turned out fabulously in mom’s bread maker, but I also hate the “discard” idea before feeding, it feels wasteful! So we’ve made about 4 loaves in 2 days…. Looks like we’re gonna have a TON of bread around here this summer!!

After what feels like 100 phone calls back and forth, Austin tells me he HAS spoken with Brian today (still being Friday) – and he let him know how disappointed he is in the “service” (lack thereof), the communication is shitty, and attempted to get him to understand that he deals with logistics, shipping, etc. for HIS job so giving us excuses is a no-go in our books. We both have professional, customer service jobs. WE KNOW how to speak professionally and that COMMUNICATION is the cheapest part of your business. That 24-hour customer service notation on their website – BULLSHIT.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the actual owner of the subcontracted company to respond to my text message so I can get the Cashiers check made out to the correct company. The original contract says it should be to the drivers name, when I asked about it on the phone with this owner he said it has to be made out to the company… fine, I just need whatever name it is before 5pm when the bank closes. I know their delayed delivery in MD was between 12-2p so I’m waiting, if it turns into 3pm without the info I have to call back. In the back of my head I’m feeling like they’re withholding this information to make us have to pay cash directly to the driver but jokes on them because ChatGPT will help me write a services received/paid in full receipt that this driver WILL be signing and photographing before I hand him any money.

I’ve watched too much Judge Judy for this shit…

So we’re now delayed a day. But we were told by the subcontracted company that they’ll be there in NC before 10am… Good thing Austin is an early riser! They showed up at 7:30a and apparently Austin had to help him remove the 5th wheel hitch from the bed of the transport truck. It’s safely tucket away in the camper for the haul – which also meant Austin got to scramble moving OUR already packed items back there around to fit the hitch.

That means A got on the road around 8am-ish and made it to VA after passing the camper on 81 by 4pm. But wouldn’t you know it…

I get a text message literally 3 minutes before Austin walks in the door here in VA (after 8 hours on the road) that there is a problem with the driver/camper. Apparently somehow a leveling foot has fallen off one side, and another foot is automatically lowering itself. How did the driver know to stop? Did he DRAG my camper going 65mph+ down the highway?! Austin says “wait to worry, wait to worry”…. We didn’t leave the camper’s keys with that driver and the leveling mechanism is locked, so A got to say hello to mom & dad and swap out Tacoma keys for my Hyundai to drive 2 hours BACK the way he just came to find the driver in a Harbor Freight parking lot near JMU… question here is, why didn’t the driver CALL AUSTIN? LIKE HE WAS TOLD TO THIS MORNING.

Is it just the foot? Can we quick fix with a steel plate until Camping World opens again on Monday? Or is it a bigger problem with the leveling leg as a whole?! Looks like we’ll be on the hunt for a Semi of our own in the next 6 months. So much for trying to support the economy/small businesses with paying a transport company. #neveragain

These are the photos from the driver.

Austin finds the driver & camper and inspects the foot that’s missing, along with the jack that’s automatically leveling itself. It looks like a little bit of hydraulic fluid leaking down but it might be dried/old. From the original angles it does look like the foot’s bolt has maybe just worked itself out and the foot just fell off… They zip-tie the other foot up and get back on the road. Good thing Austin is following him because THEN we see the real damage…

Shit is BENT. And the bolt is STILL IN THE LEVELING JACK WITH PART OF THE FOOT WEDGED IN. The Driver absolutely hit something or raked it across a curb to TEAR OFF the leveling foot. I asked originally back to the initial text “did the driver hit something?” and was told “No he didn’t. and if you look that jack is not even down. is completely retracted. They don’t normally fall off but this one did.”

I hate a liar.

The owner/boss of this driver calls me and asks to speak to Austin. I conference him in and he starts flying off at Austin saying his driver “didn’t do anything wrong and if you’re going to blame us for something that was already broken at pickup, we will leave the camper right were it is and YOU can figure out how to get it.” WHO DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TALKING TO, SIR. Austin very calmly responds with “Dariel, if you’re not able to have a normal conversation like a human being, then we will just get legal involved instead.” He shut up pretty quick after that. We told him we have photographs from hook-up in NC and current photos from right now showing damage, I text them over to him. And wouldn’t you know, he CAN receive and respond to text messages! (just not ones asking to confirm his company name for a cashiers check)…

He calls back about 15 minutes later with his tail between his legs, apologizing, saying “It definitely is bent and you’re right, it was not like that when we picked it up.” He agrees to take care of the replacement once we get a quote. I’ll be reaching out to Camping World/Keystone when they’re open again on Monday. And yes, I’ve recorded all of these conversations.

This means, not only did Austin get to drive the 8 hours to VA – missed the nephews game Saturday morning, he also drove back 2 hours to JMU (and back to the house – so add 4 hours total)… We are told first that the driver is going to stop driving overnight because of the other jack automatically leveling (even though it’s zip-tied up now), fine. And then when I ask for confirmation on delivery time for Sunday I get “driver will be there between 9-10am”. So he IS driving through the night?! Well shit… it’s now 10pm, we’re in VA loading stuff from Mom & Dad’s Garage. Looks like we’re driving a few hours tonight, taking a nap, and watching the sunrise from Rt. 81 Sunday!

So we did. We took off around 10:45pm Saturday, drove to a hotel in PA and arrived around 2:45am, took a 2 hour nap, and were out the door at 5:15a. We stopped at a Lowes for a 1/4in steel plate as a temporary fix for that missing foot (hopefully it works right still, even though it’s bent), and picked up a fuse for Uncle Dave’s truck. We arrived around 9:20am to our Alex Bay Marina summer home base.

I get a call about 10 minutes later that the camper is 1-hour away, so we head over to 12 for coffee and Krispy Kreme with the Aunts & Uncles. Finally, our summer home arrives!

We get her backed in to her summer spot and Austin helps the driver re-install his hitch for the drive back. Wouldn’t you know it, they still tried to charge us an extra $200 for the pull. The driver had a contract that said $1,550.00, mine says $1,350 (and no, we didn’t get any kind of formal update/change of price in writing or verbally from anyone). I showed the driver (who speaks NO English) my contract, and have him sign our Delivery Receipt that I created/printed out noting the damage. He had no paperwork from his company or way to write a receipt of delivery or receipt for payment. No way am I jumping into that hole. I had printed two copies before we left VA, so we sign both of them, I pay him his $1,350 (he’s pissed – calls his boss and we explain), and give him a copy to take back with him. No, we did not tip him either – he broke my shit.

I’m awaiting the quote from Camping World for the hydraulic jack & foot to send to them to order. We took a little time settling in and unloading the Hyundai so Austin can drive it to Syracuse Airport Monday Morning for is asscrackofdawn flight to Dallas. I’ll spend the rest of the evenings after work this week unloading the boxes inside and reorganizing to set us up for the summer.

We did manage to sit down for subs with everyone from the local corner shop and take a lovely sunset boat ride to catch our breath.

We are home. Austin got a few casts in (water is still about 46* so still chilly for any bites), and we can enjoy our weekends to come until we haul back to NC in mid-October.

This will be me for Summer 2026.

@pinkrottie

Melissa better hurry bc Summer 2026 boutta be lit. #melissa #summer2026 #summerfun

♬ original sound – Bryson Fogeh

Spring Updates!

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It’s been a minute since we’ve actually been able to enjoy the North Carolina Area again. Since arriving in early February, both Austin and I have been on the go! If I look at the calendar, it’s been a whole 13 days that I’ve slept in my own bed. Austin sometimes gets weekends but it’s not many more days than that.

So where to we start? How about the coincidence that we found side by side parking spots for our first trip out of Asheville Airport even though we arrived at different times/different days! That was fun. With AVL being our current home base – we’ve got the option of whatever American flights work at the airport 15 minutes away, or the option of driving to CLT (1.5 hours away) which we’ve also done a few times.

We do love the location of the RV Park though – it’s small, quiet, and has all the amenities we could need. Including a separate mailing address for all our Amazon packages… yeah – that hasn’t stopped.

After our Disney Trip in weirdly cold Florida, I was off to Phoenix for the next installment of the Travel & Adventure Shows on Feb. 11th and what would be my longest stint of the year of nonstop work. 33 days to be exact. It was a doozy, with Austin traveling Monday-Friday, and me jetting Wednesday-Monday we wouldn’t get to see each other in person until March 13th.

We had one of our Aqua Center Managers in town for the Phoenix show – so we got to take him on the road with us for sales calls, hosted hikes, and everything that falls under what a BDM does all day. One of those experiences happened to be ICE arriving to the parking lot just after we pulled in to visit a Dive Shop. You see these things happening on TV and I honestly didn’t expect to see it in Arizona – but that’s my privilege speaking, I know that. We hustled into the dive shop as the agents were kind of trying to get us to clear the area (rifles pointed at a guy in his car, who was already stopped and had his hands out the window). Lucky for us, the shop’s indoor pool area has a window screen image on the outside so we were able to bear witness to the event unfolding, and the location of the stop was not lost on us [Purified Ice Machine]…. It probably didn’t help that the guy driving was potentially antagonizing the agents with “F*ck ICE” spraypainted onto the hood of his car… We couldn’t hear what exactly was happening and we didn’t see them take the driver off but they must have, as eventually everyone left and only the car remained…

So after multiple sales calls we then made Ale (the St. Lucia Dive Center Supervisor/Manager) work the booth with us all weekend. Talk about major peopling.

I selfishly also talked him into doing the Wave Cave hike with me before the show on Sunday morning and man was it an excursion! A totally worthwhile one though!

A quick redeye flight back to NC gave me just Tuesday to follow up on my emails, do laundry and toss all those same clothes back into the suitcase before I was off on Wednesday for Chicago, I now understand how Austin feels every week living out of the same clothes and same suitcase. I did have to add a winter coat to the packing list (it’s a wonder how I didn’t get sick) as the weather was calling for snow. Our Aqua Center Manager Mikhael from Sandals Grande Antigua was joining me for the Chicago show and when I told him to “pack your parka and gloves!” he reminded me that he did not own those… so I packed him mine.

Another whirlwind weekend with sales calls, our BDM’s time and hosted evening events before the Travel & Adventure Show. It was great to have the resort team presence in town to see what we actually do on the road – how we drum up business, and how much effort actually goes into getting the client down to the resort. That’s where they pick up the workload and create the whole Sandals Experience.

Mikhael had been requesting chocolate lava cake to see if it was as good as Mario’s Restaurant on resort and we finally found it on our last night, at Fogo de Chao, which was another first experience for him. All in all, our happy [native] Jamaican experienced his first snowfall, his first McCormick & Schmicks dinner, his first sales calls, his first Travel & Adventure Show, and his first Brazilian Steakhouse.

Chicago to Asheville flights were a little more abundant, and I was able to get home for a day and a half this time. Wash, rinse, repack and Wednesday I was off to Miami.

I had to fly into Miami for a night to pick up a branded Sandals wrapped car from HQ, and then make our way up to Fort Lauderdale area. Jody-Ann from the Director of Watersports office joined me for this leg and it was another full week of running. Travel Advisor Meetings, evening hosted dinners, local evening events (I got to present again!), and then all day at the shows. I did get the sweetest surprise as we checked into the hotel late Thursday night – Austin had sent flowers to the front desk for me so I got a sweet reminder each morning as I woke up. The girls in line behind me did that little *gasp* “that’s so sweet!” and one on the phone made the meme joke:

To which I turned around, flower vase in hand and said “nah, get you a robotics engineer” which got a few laughs and a “that’s SO true”. 🙂

I was able to fit in a little family time on the next turnaround, now that we have made it to the first weekend of March! That meant I was cross-country hoofing it to LAX where Abby, Greg, Mom & Dad were all having a merry week or so full of tennis, wine tasting, and San Francisco fun. I managed to meet up with them in the evenings since this final batch of Travel & Adventure shows didn’t have aqua center attendees with me.

It has become a bit of an obsession with the Disney Pins, and I thought “well I’m already HEEEERE” so I talked them into hitting up Downtown Disney and collected more trading pins (that let’s be honest, most likely will not get traded).

I had the time without having to worry about the BDM or the Aqua Center Manager, to actually hit the road again and visit some more dive shops in the area that I hadn’t made it to in previous years. This year I was able to drop a flyer that included a promo code to the weekend’s show!

There just so happened to be a Duck’s game as well! We were all properly outfitted and the game ended in an overtime shootout for a Ducks WIN!

The show went off without too many hitches, besides the unfortunate event of a gentleman losing his balance and toppling into one of our banners – which in turn snapped the screws out of the bottom of it. We pivoted and propped it up for the next day, but good thing there were 3 BDMs in California at one point! There were plenty of replacement pieces for the next shows.

Instead of having my first weekend “off” from shows back at the camper, Austin and I decided there was no better time to be looking for our second home than the present… Weirdly enough my connecting flight out of PHL was actually a BUS, apparently that’s a thing. I was not prepared for that, had I known better – I would have just waited for Austin to arrive to PHL later in the day and hopped into the rental car with him. Live & learn!

And by second home I mean…. a liveaboard boat/yacht/motor vessel – whatever you want to call it. So we met up in Bear, DE to take our first steps on board a potential home.

First up! A Navigator 46′. We’ve been looking at it’s listing for a while and needed to get a feel of the amount of space onboard. We’ve also been following a family of 4 who are on a similar boat (a 48′) and vlogging their experiences sailing down the east coast.

A great first boat to look at, as we thought we might be willing/able to take on some of the projects noted in the listing. When we walked through it, it just seemed to be a little more than we wanted to chew on our first bite. So we took it as experience and will keep looking.

We had to skedaddle back to Charlotte for the weekend as Austin was the canvas for his tattoo artist at the Villain Arts Show! The were taking care of that large bicep’s empty space and making major work of it. Saturday I dropped him off around 10am before the doors officially opened and took myself over to walk my old stomping grounds in SouthPark Charlotte. When I arrived back (using my free radio station winner tickets) I got to see where their work was getting to and wander around all the booths. I found myself a bunch of stickers and a new lotus flower silver ring!

His artist, Phil, truly is incredible and this was drawn entirely freehanded. If you’re in the Charlotte Area and feel like making the trip up to Mooresville – definitely give Overkill Tattoo a call.

I had also booked myself one of those new head spa appointments nearby, and was super excited about it. It sadly didn’t live up to the expectations in my head so I don’t know that I’ll need to do another :/

We returned to the show on Sunday as requested so Austin’s arm could be entered into the final awards round. Surprise Surprise….! He won 1st place in Medium black & grey!!

So proud. So excited. Can’t you tell?!

We were both out again on Monday, Austin early in the morning, my flight wasn’t until later… getting me back into the swing of Travel & Adventure Show season. I was headed back down to Miami to give a new proposal to my boss before checking out another boat with Uncle Dave & Aunt Judy (it was a no from us), and cross-country jet setting again, but this time to San Jose!

I had less time in San Jose than on previous trips thanks to a delayed arrival in Miami. Remember that weird week/Monday where all the cold front weather came through dumping weird snow, rain, etc. on the East Coast and shutting down airports?! yeah – I was caught in that too. My flight was delayed at 4:27am, it originally was supposed to depart 12 hours later and ended up being fully cancelled by the end of the day. Luckily I was able to hop a different flight but that meant overnighting on my own dime in Charlotte, and then taking ANOTHER connecting flight to Raleigh before I could get to Miami. We’re flexible here, and I’ll take all the loyalty points thankyouverymuch.

We were alerted earlier in the week that we’d have a double booth for this show – so I finally got to break out my Amazon putting green and make a game out of our appearance! A lot of attendees liked the interaction, with the [thankfully] counted few that argued with us about wanting a golf ball…. seriously, they’re $2.50 at WalMart, that’s where I got these. Go get your own – cheap-o’s.

We’ve finally made it to the last week of March with the Dallas Travel & Adventure show looming ahead! I was on a flight through DFW from San Jose, CA Monday morning, and coincidentally enough Austin was arriving in Dallas for work that week! I decided it was silly to take my flight back to AVL just to turn back around and be back in Dallas on Wednesday so I headed down to baggage claim to request my bags and waited about 30 minutes for them to appear at a different gate. Then I cancelled my ticket and pulled out my book to wait for Austin to pick me up so we could spend a couple days in the same place! I was also able to get work to swap my rental car pickup to the following day so I hopped a ride back the next evening and planned a road trip to Houston dive shops.

We HAD to find all the Buc-ees!

We did some shopping in the area at Cavender’s, and of course Academy. Our go-to when we were in the house for something to do/somewhere to go. And then we had probably our best experience at Medieval Times ever! Dinner date for the Green Knight Win!

Because there were 3 shows happening that weekend in Dallas, I was running all over the Fort Worth and Denton areas for sales call meetings, dive shop visits, and to pick up banners for the show setup on Friday. I headed in to the convention center to be surprised that we were given a double booth with no notice! Good thing I had my full setup from the San Jose show and didn’t go home! I wasn’t planning to bring my big show bag with me for this one!

While these shows get thousands of attendees, I actually started tagging how many people stopped in the booths to chat, starting with Phoenix. After the Dallas show I can confidently say we’ve spoken to 1,119 consumers and 258 Travel Advisors in the last 2 months.

I was finally able to get a shortened week at home with the Easter holiday quicky approaching. So it was the perfect time to run the ‘ol Young animals to the vet for updates, visit with Papaw a bit, and watch the classic Brendan Frasier’s George of the Jungle.

Everyone got a clean bill of health outside the fact that Charlie has put on a little weight… Vet says “it was a hard winter” and our next year of flea/tick/heartworm medications. What else would you do with Good Friday off but…. yup, hop a flight to Jacksonville, FL to look at 3 more boats! [can’t stop, won’t stop!]

Austin found a flight that connected into mine from Charlotte to Jacksonville AND he gave me his first class upgrade #spoiled. We had 3 appointments booked and naturally they’d all be in different Floridian cities…

First up: a 1985 Gulfstar 49′

While beautifully updated, it just wasn’t the right fit for us yet. We hopped into our rental and set off for a stuipdly unplanned Orlando Disney Springs stop so I could feed my pins addiction. Seriously, what were we thinking – it’s SPRING BREAK. IN ORLANDO.

SO. MANY. PEOPLE. I almost wished for the cold Orlando we’d just had in January again! BUT I got my pins, and we made out with a few chasers! Our next boat appointment was the following morning in Tampa.

Boat 2: the Kha Shing 53′ Tarquin Trader. [our front runner so far]

She’s definitely a big boat, but so far she’s checking all our “want” boxes! She’s got that “Big Deck Energy” about her and an engine room Austin can comfortably access with his wide shoulders.

We treated ourselves to some Chicken & Waffles, a Jameson Breakfast, and a Bloody Mary at the marina’s Dockside grill (we love a good Dockside!) before jumping in the car for a 3 hour drive back across the state to Stuart, FL for our 3rd boat showing.

Boat 3: 1990 Yachtfisher 48′

There are some insanely beautiful elements to this one. I especially love the bar there in front of the kitchen and the wide bedroom space. Our challenges here were that she was taaaallll, so you felt the sway and the listing more so than other boats. The access points onto each space would also pose challenges; they were more ladder style than steps and that would not be fun to navigate on a windy/rough seas day, or when bringing groceries onboard. Also – the idea of walking through the owners cabin/stateroom from the swim deck wasn’t my favorite.

Because we were able to get to the 3rd showing about 2 hours early, the broker got to make cocktail hour with his family and that put us in the perfect timing to catch the 8pm flight out of Orlando to Charlotte so we could get home more conveniently. We had originally planned to drive it (9+ hours) so we could be at Papaw’s for Easter lunch. We also recognize how cool a life we live to be able to just hop on a plan when we feel like it. Hooray Points!

Austin again gave me his first class upgrade and I celebrated with a sparkling wine for a weekend well done.

Our Easter Sunday consisted of seeing Austin’s family + Papaw and the dogs. We got up early and prepared the last few elements of lunch; Brown Sugar Glazed Ham, scratch mashed potatoes, brown sugar roasted butternut squash, fruit salad, deviled eggs, etc. I was also forcefully [not really] shoved [asked nicely to help] into the side by side to drive Austin up and down a trail by the house while he chainsaw-ed overgrown limbs from the banks… It started off well enough, it ended with me overstimulated and crying from exhaustion as the previous weeks finally came crashing down.

This week I’m trying to find the balance back in my work as I lead up to the final Travel & Adventure show of the year, Denver. This will be the shortest time I’m spending in a place because travel doesn’t slow down just because these shows end and I’d like a moment to breathe.

I’ll FINALLY get on island for the first time this year at the end of the month for a Sales Meeting, and I’m making my masquerade mask into my tiara to match my gown. Full outfit to be revealed later!

We’ve got 4 weekends left before the camper gets picked up to head to Alexandria Bay. We still have to do some cleaning at the Tennessee Property, finagle how we’re getting the bins left over at Mom & Dad’s here in NC, coordinating cars for our drive up, and attempting to get to some Nibling’s spring games… all before May 15th.

Wish us luck!

Home sweet HOME!

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The update we’ve waited 4+ months for, is FINALLY HERE!!

We tried to do this the second to last week of January and it didn’t work out, so we went to Disney instead for a very special 7 yr old’s first time, and re-scheduled for February.

I went through the rabbit hole of Disney Pin Trading last year and got the kiddos involved at the park this trip. I’ll proudly be displaying my pins in the camper from now on (and yes, Austin got some Star Wars ones too).

We are OFFICIALLY in our camper, back in North Carolina! After a lot of back and forth with Camping World Hendersonville, and some last minute issues needing a second look, we confirmed pickup for Friday, February 6th and made our way to NC.

I spent Tuesday & Wednesday packing after work hours to ensure all our stuff fit in our beloved 27 gal black & yellow bins (they were on sale for $7.99 at Costco – YAY!) and I loaded as much as I could into the Tacoma. I had a bloodwork appointment for my annual at the ass-crack of dawn Friday Morning so I drove down Thursday and Austin was able to fly into Charlotte late-late Thursday evening. The original plan was to pick him up from CLT airport around 11:30pm, but sadly, his flights from the mid-west kept being delayed and he made it to the hotel via uber around 1:30am. I was already in bed.

Friday morning we were up before sunlight for my appointment and I was able to work from the car as we drove to Papaws house to pick up the ’99 Ford that we originally used when we purchased the camper. The 350 was requested to be returned so this is what we had… it didn’t come without it’s own challenges, of course… because apparently we have to learn EVERY LESSON all at once.

This ’99,while keeping sentimental value and still being in great working shape (usually) – had been left in the cold for juuuuust a bit too long in the mountains and the batteries were completely drained. (She’s about to be a Cali truck) Austin also learned that the Highway Tire & Auto we had left it with for service (you know, back in MARCH 2025, and didn’t get back until October 2025) “replaced” his deep cycle, cold weather batteries that he spent good money on with regular ole batteries… he was NOT happy about that.

First he tried the jumper box we always carry with us. Not enough juice.

Then he pulled Papaw’s tractor over to jump it (it’s a 24v system 7.3L engine vs. a 12v like regular cars) the tractor gives it a little more juice and it attempted to turn over but again, not enough juice. He used all the starter fluid he could find, and then finally brought the Taco down…

Taco jumper cables attached to 1 battery, tractor attached to the other, and after 2 hours and a few more tries with more starter fluid she FINALLY turned over. We were hoping to be at Camping world by 12pm… we finally got there just after 2pm. Once we got her started, we never turned her off – you stay idling big girl.

After a walkaround inspection, flipping a couple extra switches (to make sure lights work), and trying all the slides, we were hooked up and ready to head 15 minutes south to the campground.

The ’99 looks like a tonka truck pulling this mammoth. It wasn’t a super smooth pull (his bed airbags were also disconnected by the mechanics….), but we made it! We’re already planning to pay a company to pull this up to the river again for the summer season so we’ll just be driving our own personal vehicles instead of purchasing a new/used truck. More convenient/easier for our needs.

Saturday we had our appointments at Overkill Tattoo to celebrate our return to NC, finish Austin’s sleeve and spend a little of my bonus on us. The guys here are extremely talented – we love all of them.

Austin’s additions for this arm were the connecting piece with the elk, and Papaw’s mayfly to Mamaw’s flower, he’s keeping them on his left side.

I took the plunge on a rib piece I wanted to remind me of my Daddy Tom (P-51 Mustang, the Daddy Tom Dollar, and a Rum Swizzle – he was stationed in Bermuda for the Korean War). The other side has Poppy’s Celtic Triquetra, so I’ve got both grandfathers by my side.

We returned late Saturday, exhausted and healing. Sunday was another “run” day and we headed to the Tennessee Storage to pick up a few of the necessities to put back in the camper – hoses, kitchen supplies, bathroom items, etc. This load-in will be much more calculated for me, our first time packing the camper I was just trying to get stuff OUT of the house so we could sell it. Now I’m able to actually see what we need and what wasn’t used at the River to bring less back in. Little by little we’ll get all the pieces together but for now, we’re just happy to be HOME.

We spent more time Sunday with Papaw, eating Long John Silvers and playing with the pups. We’ve been SO grateful that he’s been loving on Charlie for us for so long – it’s the best place for Charlie to be, with Papaw and Sassy. But we do miss him. I was craving the family recipe of Beef Stroganoff (comfort food) Sunday night so we ate late – just in time for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I stole this skillet from mom I think when I moved to New Orleans over a decade ago. It’s my favorite kitchen gadget ever, although we did just by a brand new air fryer that does many additional things (our Oven doesn’t hold a constant temperature here so I’m still getting used to it). Now it’s just getting re-organized, learning the little oddities of the camper – like the heat pump not liking to work in below freezing temps (we have a propane furnace and additional heating elements too), and setting ourselves up for the upcoming weeks. I’ve got a lot of travel happening February – March and we won’t see each other till March 13th with our overlapping schedules. I need those airline miles to keep my Platinum Status for the year! At least we have our house back and can go little by little moving back in.

Austin flies back into VA this upcoming Friday to pick up the rest of the stuff we left in mom & dad’s garage, and the cat. For now, the Starlink is setup and working like a charm, the washing machine is washing, and the Olympics are on the TV. It’s a great start to a new month and a new week.

Our Camper is in NC… We are not.

Campventures, Family, Travel, Work, , , , , , , , , ,

We got the news we’ve been waiting for over the last 3.5 months!! OUR CAMPER IS IN HENDERSONVILLE, NC!!!

It’s been a long wait, and I’m sure the Keystone Service people were SO tired of looking at our rig everyday. It just seemed like one thing after another after another went wrong with the inspection and fixes. It’s a long list of things…

In case you needed any more reason to get an INSPECTOR to check out your rig, new/used car, boat, WHATEVER… here is that long list of fixes completed since Mid-October:

[ ] Replaced the axle shackles
[ ] Replaced the axle bolts
[ ] Replaced the lug nuts
[ ] Replaced the off-door side leveling leg pad
[ ] Replaced the door side and off-door side fender skirts
[ ] Replaced the off-door side center leveling leg
[ ] Completed the door side and off-door side KSBs
[ ] Rebuilding the front deck cabinetry
[ ] Replaced the slide out carpets
[ ] Installed the slide out mechanisms on the slide outs.
[ ] Disconnected the entertainment cabinets
[ ] Removed the front cabinets
[ ] Removed the door side sidewall interior panels at the front and rear slide out openings
[ ] Repaired the front interior step squeaking
[ ] Removed the bedroom slide out
[ ] Prepped the door side and off door side front sidewalls for the KSB repair.
[ ] Removed the off-door side front fiber glass filon (fiberglass shell)
[ ] Removed the rear wall
[ ] Replaced the rear wall with new
[ ] Removed the slide out toppers
[ ] Replaced the axle shackles
[ ] Replaced the axle bolts
[ ] Replaced the lug nuts
[ ] Replaced the off-door side leveling leg pad
[ ] Replaced the door side and off-door side fender skirts
[ ] Replaced the off-door side center leveling leg
[ ] Completed the door side and off-door side KSBs
[ ] Rebuilding the front deck cabinetry
[ ] Replaced the slide out carpets
[ ] Installed the slide out mechanisms on the slide outs.
[ ] Rebuilt the entertainment cabinets
[ ] Installed the lighted crown molding
[ ] Installed the front knee wall
[ ] Removed the dinette slide out
[ ] Replaced the dinette floor
[ ] Replaced the dinette slide out woven carpet
[ ] Insulated the upper deck floor
[ ] Replaced the passthrough wall
[ ] Installed the new passthrough panel
[ ] Connected the wiring in the front passthrough
[ ] Installed the door side slide out drop pan
[ ] Installed the dinette slide out
[ ] Installed the TPO
[ ] Installed the front compartment doors
[ ] Replaced the motion sensor lights
[ ] Installed the bedroom slide out
[ ] Installed the trim in the slide outs
[ ] Installed the off door side fender skirt
[ ] Installed the dinette slide out
[ ] Installed the bedroom slide out
[ ] Installed the compartment doors throughout the unit
[ ] Installed the slide out toppers
[ ] Installed the front door side slide out
[ ] Air tested the water lines (no leaks found and lines held pressure)
[ ] Flood tested the holding tanks (no issues found)
[ ] Secured the loose trim throughout the unit
[ ] Installed the door side slide out toppers
[ ] Prepped the new underbelly
[ ] Installed the new underbelly
[ ] Repaired the damaged linoleum
[ ] Reinstalled the sofa and lounge chairs
[ ] Installed the off-door side front countertop
[ ] Replaced the rear corner molding on the door side
[ ] Rebuilt the bed base
[ ] Installed a new tire carrier
[ ] Installed the front cap
[ ] Torqued the rims
[ ] Installed the off-door side living room slide out
[ ] Completed the LP test
[ ] Installed the decals
[ ] Installed the off-door side living room slide out topper
[ ] Sealed throughout the unit
[ ] Sent the unit to the Rain Bay
[ ] 12/30 Found leaks during the rain bay test
[ ] Technicians are inspecting the areas to prevent the leaks

The last we heard from Keystone Service was on January 7th that the work order was complete (they sent us that 8-page order too) and they were requesting a transport driver to pick it up from Indiana to drive it to Camping World Hendersonville, NC. We kept waiting and waiting for an update for the date it would be picked up/delivered as they told us originally it could be the next day, or a week+ from then when they found a driver. The weather coming through up North made me nervous as well. WELL, they forgot to email us that it had been picked up!

Austin called on the 15th to check-in on it and first they didn’t know what he was talking about…

And then they found the right person to talk to and told him that the rig is waiting for us in Hendersonville!! PERFECT TIMING!! I had been openly positively manifesting that it would be here this weekend as we already had plans to be in Charlotte for a friend’s daughter’s Quincenera on Saturday. This makes my heart SO happy because we’ll be able to get there Friday, Quince Saturday, and head to the Tennessee Property early Sunday morning to pack up our necessary camper hookup stuff before we drive to Papaw’s house for the F-250 and GO GET OUR CAMPER!

All good plans right? So we head to NC for the Quince (which was fabulous, by the way). I may have accidentally scarred Alejandro’s daughter for life when “Low” by Flo Rida came on – the millennial in me came out and shawtie got LOW.

Austin was called in to help coach the shotput High Schoolers at his old High School, so Saturday he was up at the ass-crack of dawn (5am Saturday Alarm, ew) to head up to Marshall, NC – do some coaching, then he was going to swing by Camping World Hendersonville to check out the camper. Good thing he did….

UNFORTUNATELY, Camping World again proved to us that they don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to inspections….

They had a 2 hour inspection on our rig which turned up that our brand new batteries were dead (they replaced them) and a few other items which they supposedly fixed. Austin, being the thorough robotics engineer that he is, decided to go in the rig himself and look everything over/test it all to make sure it was right. We were not picking it up if things were still broken and lo and behold…. There was a leak in the the under storage from the main bathroom toilet (how they miss a brown splatter mark – I’ll never understand. There was also a crack in the windshield up front, and NONE OF THE INTERIOR LIGHTS WORK.

Please explain to me how you do a 2 hour inspection AND NEVER TURN ON A LIGHT SWITCH… So, surprise surprise…. we didn’t get to pick the camper up, and we’re waiting until this winter storm Fern passes to get more updates.

Our RV Park has already charged us for the month of January, so our spot is there and waiting – and they’ve been sending updates for the past week about ice and how they expect to lose power at the park. It’s a blessing and an annoyance that the rig is SO CLOSE, yet so far away but I would have been SO pissed to arrive ready to pick it up and still have things wrong.

We still visited the storage unit in Newport, TN to pick up some things I’d need for the upcoming shows through February & March, and stopped by to see Papaw and the dogs.

Q1 for work is full steam ahead – I headed to GA first for a Dive shop event Wednesday-Friday the following week, and then NYC to make the most of the weekend! Mom came up Friday afternoon on the train as I arrived to JFK and we headed to Longacre Theater to see 2 Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York. (If you’re planning to go- buy tickets in the Orchestra seats – their facial expressions through the show are half of the show and you don’t want to miss that!)

It was SO good, incredible even, how a cast of JUST 2 take you through an entire soul journey of 2 characters, their lives, the highs & lows and kept us laughing the entire show. I had been hearing the music since pre-Thanksgiving and it’s been on my list to see so it was perfect timing for the Travel & Adventure Show NYC.

I’ve got 8 Travel & Adventure shows on my calendar Jan 24-April 11th. I’ll hopefully be racking up those American Airlines miles to keep my status or else I’ll be bumped back down to Gold in Group 4. ugh.

Saturday’s show was busy busy! We had a partnered Staten Island Agency with us in the booth, but with the incoming weather I made the last minute decision to change my flights and head back to DC Saturday evening. Good thing I did! Most flights currently into DC and Charlotte airports are cancelled – I would have been stuck for a bit.

It was about 12*F all weekend, feeling like 0

So here we are, watching the Neighborhood Dad (my dad) snow blow the sidewalks and neighbors driveways while we count down the days till Disney! (bonus – the snowblower started up on the first pull!)

Keystone – Week 7 (Nov 26 updates!)

Campventures, Life, , , , , , ,

We’ve just started receiving regular updates now that Keystone has brought our unit back onto the line, and let’s just say – they are being THOROUGH. We are hella grateful for that as it seems like we’ll almost be getting a brand new camper at the end of all this work.

We sometimes think it may have just been easier for them to total this one and offer us a new one to save on the cost and manual labor, but that’s their choice – not ours as we should not be seeing any bill for the fixes they’re doing.

From the sounds of it – they’ve basically stripped down the camper to it’s bare bones and are going piece by piece, combing through it with a fine toothed comb.

Since hearing that it’s been brought into the warehouse in Mid-October here’s what they’ve done:

November 13 Update:

  • Disconnected the entertainment cabinets
  • Removed the front cabinets
  • Removed the door side sidewall interior panels at the front and rear slide out openings
  • Repaired the front interior step squeaking
  • Removed the bedroom slide out
  • Prepped the door side and off door side front sidewalls for the KSB repair.
  • Removed the off-door side front fiber glass filon (fiberglass shell)
  • Removed the rear wall
  • Replaced the rear wall with new
  • Removed the slide out toppers

November 19 Update:

  • Replaced the axle shackles
  • Replaced the axle bolts
  • Replaced the lug nuts
  • Replaced the off-door side leveling leg pad
  • Replaced the door side and off-door side fender skirts
  • Replaced the off-door side center leveling leg
  • Completed the door side and off-door side KSBs
  • Rebuilding the front deck cabinetry
  • Replaced the slide out carpets
  • Installed the slide out mechanisms on the slide outs.

November 26 Update!

  • Rebuilt the entertainment cabinets
  • Installed the lighted crown molding
  • Installed the front knee wall
  • Removed the dinette slide out
  • Replaced the dinette floor
  • Replaced the dinette slide out woven carpet
  • Insulated the upper deck floor
  • Replaced the passthrough wall

Now, some of these things, we didn’t even know needed fixing. So we’re feeling pretty good that the Keystone team has pretty much stripped the camper down to the framing and is catching all these little pieces.

That front squeaky step? Didn’t notice her.

Kitchenette slideout floor & carpet replacement? THANK YOU!

Slide out carpets? Didn’t even ask for that – just took the janky fix that Camping World offered and went with it. The challenge here was that when they replaced the furniture from the previous owners, they didn’t replace the front futons with the same model item, so the new futons sit up on top of the slide out and all the wiring on the front of that step is showing and rather unsightly. When we purchased the unit, we asked them if there was a way to cover those wires up so we weren’t looking at them all day and their fix was to take a short piece of different carpeting (close enough only works for horseshoes and hand grenades) and affix it over top of the wires, which then pushed out the framing around the slides and some of it fell off…. We’ll see what it looks like when we get her back!

All the emails have ended with “The technicians are working as quickly and efficiently as possible to complete your unit with quality and safety in mind.” Which we totally appreciate.

We’d love to have a return date, as we’ve found an adults only RV park in Hendersonville, NC for the winter that DOESN’T ALLOW the camper skirts, one less project for Austin and mom! Our reservation starts on Dec 1 (we had a previous spot, but when we visited to actually see it in person….. it wasn’t great, so we swapped) but with the holiday next week, I’m not too optimistic that we’ll be getting her back by that first week of December. They have to finish all the fixes, and then still pull it down to Camping World in Hendersonville where we can then pick it up and park it till May.

Nov 26th update: NO chance of getting this camper Dec 1, as expected. With my guesstimate and the updates we’re getting, they’re about halfway through rebuilding the whole thing. Im guessing they still have to check the Kitchen appliance slideout (oven, stove, microwave & residential fridge), the half bath, and then they get to the back where our bedroom slideout, the washer/dryer, and the full bathroom are. The RV park’s team and management has been so incredibly kind to allow us to push our reservation to January 1 now without penalty (even though we are within the 2 week cancellation period).

I’ll take the little wins though! 4 more weeks with Mom, Dad, BigSeester, Niblings and more!

Camper & Updates

Campventures, Family, Fun, Life, SCUBA, Travel, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We’ve been bunking with mom & dad in VA for the month of October while we awaited Keystone’s driver to pick up our rig. While we did have the space in A. Bay until October 13th, we had a wedding in Lancaster, PA I had a work trip, and then our Jamaican Vacation was scheduled so it was time to pack it up (yet again) and make the moves down south.

The wedding in Lancaster was a hit! And we had been able to repack (for the umpteenth time) the camper into those black & yellow Lowe’s bins that we’ve come to love so much… With items at Mom & Dads, In condo 4 at A. Bay, and leaving one of the trucks parked at Grandma’s house in Syracuse we just about emptied the entire unit!

September 26th Austin flew back into Syracuse and rented a car. We headed to Grandma’s house (I had breakfast with her that morning!) to pull all the stuff out of the Tacoma in her driveway, reload into the rental and start the 6+ hour drive to VA. I had the F-350 loaded down bed to roof with all the last bits & pieces and we caravaned down 81. We passed quite a few accidents on the way down, but came through unscathed.

The driver was supposed to pick up the camper the week of Sept 29th. We waited, and waited, and waited for the driver to let us know he was on his way/there to pick up the camper – and he finally showed up Oct 3rd. Apparently he tried a few excuses with Austin to say he wasn’t sure he could pull it because of a “toolbox in the bed of his truck” and “he couldn’t find the camper” (it’s kind of hard to miss…) and Austin set him very straight. So the camper was picked up and driven the 12 hours across NY and into Indiana where we waited for more updates.

We have no idea what the camper looked like once it made it to Keystone – they didn’t send any photos but we did get an update (finally) while in Jamaica that it had arrived and they were doing their own inspection of all the elements as they don’t rely on Camping World’s reports.

We were hoping to have the camper back by November as we have a space reserved in Hendersonville, NC Nov 7- mid May…. but that was obviously wishful thinking. We are glad they are doing their own full blown inspection and not relying on Camping World, they’ve already noted that they’re replacing pretty much the entire fiberglass exterior sheeting, interior wallpapering/walls that were cracking, the front entertainment center cabinetry, and a new back ladder (apparently it’s bent?!), and they’re adding flex adapters to the front area that will actually allow the unit to flex as it should when on the hitch. We’re hoping we get the update that they’ll be re-welding all the connections that we saw were broken as well once they get that front cap off again for those flex pieces… It sounds to us like there have been MANY issues like ours with this particular model and they’ve had to fix more campers than expected which is why we have not paid a penny out of pocket for fixes past 2 new tires. When it’s all complete which sounds like another 6-ish weeks…. (3-4 weeks before they get it IN to the production line, and another 2 weeks working on it) they’ll then tow it down to Hendersonville’s Camping World for us where we’ll pick it up.

After the Pennsylvania Wedding, I had a trip up to Ohio to cover some events for work where I presented and met with new advisors and got more interest for diving at the resorts! Because it was just a 2 nighter, I packed myself in my backpack and caught a quick flight from Dulles.

It’s been great to be around close family – as it allows us to get to the nibling’s sports games and take advantage still of walking into town for experiences. We celebrated our house sale & the money being deposited – which we then turned around and wiped out some debts, and invested with our financial advisor! We also finally decided on an eBike and it arrived for Dad and I to put together!

Mom also called Dad and I to jump into some Pickleball at the local gym they’re members of as they needed a few extra players. It’s only my 2nd time actually playing games and I’ve got to get my swings under control – I tend to hit it long A LOT. BUT I’m running my butt off getting to stuff and burning ALL the calories haha!

It was just about Jamaica time!! So we packed our suitcase (and Austin’s backpack – because he’s weird) for a 6-night stay at Sandals Negril with friends! It was Austin’s & our friend Sandy’s birthdays, what better way to celebrate!

We were immediately spoiled on arrival in Jamaica – the resort team (who I emailed ahead of time and told them we were coming) put us in a beautiful butler villa (without the butler service) that had it’s own backyard and pool!! We figured out in Antigua back in 2020 that we are definitely room pool people, Austin gets uncomfortable just sitting on the beach in the heat and either has to have something fun to do, or be in the water.

I, on the other hand, am perfectly fine with a book and a beach chair soaking up all the sun…. I finished that book on the 2nd afternoon and had to steal Austin’s book for the next 3 afternoons. Thanks Babe!

We also got some diving in!! I finally talked Austin in to completing his Invasive Species Tracker Certification which “legally” allows him to hunt lionfish!

He’s a natural and got about 5 on the follow up dives we did! We also got to do a super cool dive called the Throne Room where you descend through a crack in the coral formation and come out in a opened coral cavern.

Hangry Austin – Happy Austin!

We had a fabulous time on a worry free vacation in beautiful Jamaica. Did some professional resort photos (our first since our wedding), and I even got to practice my bubble rings on dives 🙂

We had planned to fly back into Syracuse for Punkin Chukin weekend in Clayton, NY but plans changed and we swapped our flights to fly into Charlotte to spend time with Austin’s family instead. It was fun to watch him & his brothers run around like kids again, especially when they caught glimpse of a black bear running across the ridge! (its black bear hunting season and they all SPRINTED off to try to get it).

After stopping by the Tennessee storage unit and seeing if we could cut the locks off (we couldn’t), we headed over to see Mamaw & Papaw and of course Charlie. He’s a happy pup there and has gained probably 15lbs with Mamaw’s cooking.

A 6.5 hour drive from Marshall, NC back to Leesburg had us arriving back at our current home base just around 11pm. Austin was headed out on a flight to Canada for the week Monday and I was back in office to follow up on all the vacay emails that came in. Plus prep for DEMA Show which is the largest trade dive show of the year! This year it’s in Orlando and is only a few weeks away!

Mom & Dad arrived back home from Punkin Chukin to a full house – Meg & the Niblings were riding bikes and it was the perfect fall day to kick the training wheels off Knox’s bike and get him riding like the big kids. He was a little nervous to start but had a whole fan club cheering him on and he GOT IT!

I’m super grateful to be here for moments and memories like these. He was so excited to be a full blown bike rider that we all took our first big family bike ride up to the park across the street!

It’s been a trying year for me and Austin – but we are so lucky to have family support everywhere that is open to helping us. We’ve had so many good moments among the craziness and I wouldn’t want to trade any of them.

One final happy update for me – I finally applied for my Master Scuba Diver Certification with PADI! While this isn’t necessarily a “certification” in the same sense as most – it does have a few requirements:

  1. Complete your Rescue Diver Certification
  2. Complete 50 Dives
  3. Complete 5 Specialties
  4. Submit application with all those elements & receive a new card!

So I did!

  1. Rescue Diver Certification completed 2022
  2. 214 Recorded dives to date
  3. Specialties Completed: Deep Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Emergency Oxygen Provider, Digital Underwater Photographer, Boat Diver, Enriched Air Diver, Full Face Mask, Invasive Species Tracker

On to the next adventures!!

The House is SOLD!

Campventures, Life, SCUBA, , , , ,

We are super excited this process is finally OVER!

After months of packing, trips to storage, projects completed, and dealing with a terribly unorganized Law Firm…. We Closed the house sale September 17th and the new owners have a new home!

To say it was a process is an understatement. While the listing was fairly simple, the anxiety of the showings and waiting for feedback and offers was grueling. We were on the market for just over 45 days.

We had a few rude, lowball offers from investment companies that we immediately turned down. But were finally able to get a decent enough offer from a new family. Lower than we’d hoped for, but thats the market these days. We like to think that if we had hit the original project deadlines we would have been in a better spot, but the sale is done.

I dont understand how some people become “law assistants” when they cant even read. We had so much frustration with a non-preferred firm through this whole contract that it made you want to grab that persons shoulders and shake them to see if there was any kind of rattling in their head. We would ask questions that went unanswered, we were given blank paperwork on Law Firm letterhead that wasn’t editable and told to “just sign it, we’ll fill it in later”.

HUGE NO.

And when we told them we couldn’t edit, it was another month (just before the closing date) till they actually updated the form. Still uneditable, still wrong, and when I voiced those concerns about my signature on a blank legal document, I was told “its not actually a legal document”. Now, I’m no lawyer, but Judge Judy would see that as a contract/legal document FOR SURE.

We had to constantly remind the firm that we were doing a mailaway closing and were coming up on that closing dates without receiving any paperwork. Plus, hubby and I were both traveling, so we had minimal time to get things done and return by the deadline. We apparently had to pay an additional $100 for this service that was seriously lacking.

We FINALLY received emailed documents on Sept 11th and had them printed out on the 12th to sign & notarize. We then were told to fax them in before UPS-ing them back to the firm. We faxed at 4:11pm that Friday and emailed asking for confirmation that it went through. No response. So we sent the full paperwork anyway, we couldn’t wait any longer for the Sept 16th closing date.

Get this, we got an email on MONDAY from this assistant saying “our office was already closed when you faxed it, but it looks okay. I see you’ve already mailed it, we should get it soon.”

  1. We told you we were out of the COUNTRY (me this week) and out of town (Austin)… we couldn’t wait
  2. it was 4pm on a Friday…

Good thing we didn’t wait for the actual paperwork to arrive in the mail for signing… that didn’t show up till MONDAY. THE DAY BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE.

Im just glad the whole thing is over and we can tape this project box up and toss it in the memory bank.

Now we’re just repacking the entire camper and waiting for Keystone to tell us what day they’re picking it up!

Dive Week is going GREAT by the way. Super excited that our inaugural event is being met with such enthusiasm!

Feeling Back to Normal

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It’s been a few weeks for us being back in our actual home and we are loving it!

With the one minor detail, that we’re living around a bump out that’s fully closed in the living room, everything else is working perfectly (knock on wood). We’ve been able to enjoy our evenings and weekends again without feeling like we’re on borrowed time. I especially love having my own washer & dryer, although the loads are smaller and I have to empty the grey water tank every 3rd load.

Since moving back in, we have kept busy – I headed to the Bahamas for work and introduced 4 colleagues to Scuba! They got to try Discover Scuba Diving with our team at Sandals Royal Bahamian and enjoy all the resort amenities.

We ate all the sushis, soaked up all the sun, and even got to see a Shark on their first ever dive (at a Shipwreck)! There’s just something about floating in the sea that warms your soul.

After the Bahamas Trip I came home for a quick weekend to welcome BigSeester and the Niblings (Nephews & Niece) before I had to take back off for Ohio.

That weekend happened to be Pirate Weekend in A-Bay! I had some portions of a costume already in the camper (some of my favorite shirts, by Migdalia – I found her in a booth at the Hendersonville Apple Festival a few years ago!)

Is it giving Pirate? or more Kid Rock?

I tried to swap the dates on the Ohio trip so I’d get more than 3 days with the family but sadly that wasn’t meant to be. Watertown has a teeeeeny tiny airport, the photos below are both the check-in counter, and baggage claim. And most flights take off at 6am, so you’re there around 4:30a to check bags and head through security. The actual gate waiting area is on the other side of this wall, but they do have donation coffee and a vending machine!

The Ohio trip went really well! We had about 3 days to connect with Travel Advisors from Cleveland through Columbia and the BDM did a phenomenal job on our itinerary. While there wasn’t time for a visit to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, we did take a drive around Cedar Point! Both add on’s for the next trip for sure.

We ended up meeting 41 Travel Advisors and opening up their travel opportunities to SCUBA in those 3 days. Here’s hoping for more visibility soon!

Austin had been pulled from his Syracuse job that week as well, so he was back on the road in Texas. By the time I got back to NY, the fam had been having a fun week leading up to a very special 7 year old Birthday Celebration! I was glad to not have missed that day.

Oma and Daddo treated us all to mini-golf, digging for treasure, and bumper boats! I had to jump out mid-day to coordinate a virtual meeting from the car, but it was buckets of fun for everyone!

As the weekend approached, it was time to get everyone “home” and back on the boat, into the water with C&B and Adopted Uncle Dave & Aunt Judy. I managed to pack all the dive masks & snorkels and got all the kids snorkeling around the boat with Austin – they FLOCK to him and he’s so great with them.

The Niblings’s final night was spent on a foam mattress with blankets for everyone, outside stargazing till late in the evening – on BigSeester/mom’s approval. We even downloaded some stargazing apps for each kid to look for constellations. We had so much fun pointing out the big dipper, and all the satellites streaking back and forth across the night sky.

With Keystone still planning to collect our camper at the end of September for fixes, we’re looking forward to spending some time in VA with everyone. It’ll allow us to get to fall practices and games and just be with family a little bit longer.

Austin was able to get the trolling motor all situated on my kayak like he’s been wanting all summer. So now it’s a true fishing kayak and he took the big kids out on a ride before they packed into the car to head home. I took it out myself (without using the motor, because I didn’t realize it wasn’t hooked to the battery) as a core/upper body workout the other windy day and it got my heart working!

It’s been extra windy this last week so I haven’t ventured back out with it again.

That next weekend we decided to head into some of the local dive shops and grab some new, and some rental gear to check out the 1000 Islands dive experience. It’s COLD.

BUT I’m obsessed with my new Halcyon backplate & wing BCD. It’s a discontinued color so we got a hell of a steal deal on it. It was also time for my regs to be serviced and good thing, the shop said they were gross. Somehow I managed to wedge a small piece of metal into a spot where it shouldn’t be and it punctured another spot and had been rusting! The Dive Shop is fixing all that now ahead of my next 2 trips in September.

Did I mention that the water is COLD here. Well, colder than I’m used to so I also bought a 5mm wetsuit, but we got Uncle Chris hooked – sorry, not sorry! Welcome to the cult… I mean Club! Next up is Uncle Dave!

It’s been nice to have our own space back as I noted before. The cat is a happy camper on his spot on the couches, and I’m able to finagle my work schedules a little bit so I can enjoy some early morning fishing some days.

I caught my first Walleye this past Monday!

As we get into our final month of time here at The River, we’ll start unpacking the camper for Keystone. It’s been helpful as I’ve always been an over-packer so we’ll be able to actually get some of the things we didn’t use the last 6 months out and have a better understanding of the basic necessities for our future trips. We’re also planning to be back here next summer so we’ve been graciously offered to keep the summer necessities stored here at Grandma’s our C&B’s houses.

I like my stuff. D&J have figured that out with us as we’ve used their address here for our Amazon deliveries… sorry, and THANK YOU!

This first week of September brings another 2-week out of the month travel month for me. It’s Labor Day weekend here at The River and should be an exciting bit of fun. Then I’m off to host some divers in Antigua, do some dive training webinars for Travel Advisors, and help host our Inaugural Dive Week in Curacao!

I’m so excited for Dive Week – we have an awesome itinerary scheduled and some of my favorite people partnered with us.

We’re still trying to fit visits in with the rest of the family in the area – our plans were just so thrown off by this camper debacle that we feel terrible it hasn’t all happened yet and now we’re running into a time crunch.

The plan is to head back towards NC/TN area for the winter (once Keystone tells us we can have our house back) but we’ll see what happens! The house closing is still on for September 16th – we’re just waiting for the closing lawyers to get paperwork together and sent out to us. They originally tried to get us to sign blank documents which I absolutely was NOT doing, and it seems to be a challenge getting them to understand why… You’re a law firm! You should know better! We’ll be doing a mail-away closing so we’ll also need to connect with a Notary up here.

We are HOME!

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Temporarily.

Good news! Camping World Cicero was able to fix the leaf spring and replace TWO tires (apparently they’re only ordered in pairs) and Hubby was able to pick up our house on wheels last Wednesday. Things are finally starting to feel normal again.

Uncle Chris came up and helped Austin move the temporary camper we were borrowing, Austin backed our baby in and set it all up. He said it pulls like a totally different camper with those two fixes and an adjustment to the pin box. It didn’t beat him up as hard on the hour-ish pull up 81.

Now we have to move all the stuff I packed into the other camper over the last month back into our camper for 2 months.

While we cant use that right side living room bump out because the track is broken, its so nice sleeping in my own bed, and knowing all my stuff is right where I put it.

We’re a bit of a mess still as I was traveling last week, will be in the Bahamas this week and Ohio next week… But little by little we’ll reorganize and settle back in.

The plan now is to enjoy our camper through the end of September until Keystone heads over to pick it up and haul it back to Indiana. We’ll then be waiting again for fixes and updates as they comb their way through the flexing, welds, slide, and anything else they break on the road back.

We’d like to be back in Tennessee for the winter near Hubby’s family and are already ready to claim our summer 2026 spot up here in Alex Bay. We both recognized Friday evening that we’ve never been so happy/excited to come “home” than when we’re up here. Having our house was nice (and what I wanted 6 years ago) but the freedom we have currently to come home, have no projects or yard work, and be on a boat fishing within 20 mins of parking the car is *chefs kiss*

We are toying with the idea that we could find a nice catamaran to winter on in the Keys, and then summer in NY… maybe plot the sail up, but depending on size we’d have to find a different marina so it fits. We’ll see!

Right now I’m very happy to have my washer & dryer back so we’re not stopping at the bank each week for rolls of quarters. I’m taking in all the moments here and prepping for Pirate weekend next weekend!

At Last We See The Light

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Good things always seem to happen around Shark Week! We’ve had a very promising week and a half!

First Up – we decided to order Starlink for our new internet provider while we’re mobile. It seemed to be the best option that we saw, and we heard first-hand after the devastating hurricane that hit the North Carolina Mountains last year – the people with Starlink were the ones getting information in and out of the area. That was good enough reason for us! It arrived July 16th and it’s made SUCH a difference in my work week to not be kicked off the WIFI every 3 seconds.

Where did we leave off on this camper debacle, ah yes, that Keystone was scheduling a date to come pick up our unit for the major structural repairs. We were told that while the “manufacturer’s warranty expired in 2023 and we know you’re the second owner of the unit, but none of this qualifies for manufacturer warranty repair… BUT out of GOOD WILL, we will come get the unit and complete the fixes.” YOU CERTAINLY WILL WITH THE PHOTOS WE HAVE OF WELDS MISSING AND SHODDY WORK. This is a structural issue, and clearly the quality control inspector was off the day our unit came off the line – so they’ll come get the camper from our summer campsite at the end of September. They’ll tow it from here to their corporate headquarters in Indiana, and then we’ll wait some more to hear when we’ll get it back, and where we want it delivered. We do have to clear everything we “would be upset losing” out of the camper for them… so it looks like we’ll be visiting Lowe’s for a few more storage bins.

The next order of business was to get Camping World Cicero to FINALLY submit our requests to warranty for the leaf spring diagnosis (which they told us about first on June 21st) and surprise surprise…. we also have to replace a tire because it’s ” seriously damaged, bald” from the leaf spring issue. Cool, thanks for tossing that one on top of the pile. Can we just get this sh*t ordered/submitted already?! You’ve been holding our camper hostage for a month with no fixes or movement…

Hubby has thankfully been working about 2 hours away from our summer setup for the last 2 weeks so he’s been able to come home every night and enjoy longer weekends. He’s a bit of a motor head, so we took one Friday afternoon to enjoy the Syracuse Nationals Car Show at the fairgrounds. All while monitoring email waiting for the warranty approvals to come through and liason-ing between CW and Keystone.

Keystone says we can’t move our camper until that leaf spring is fixed, CW doesn’t know what warranty will cover… it’s been a Catch 22. BUT we do know (and got approval from Keystone) that once the leaf spring IS fixed, we could take our camper with us and use it until they come get it. We just can’t use the front room/living room bump outs because the track is broken on one side. CW also told us that for some odd reason, now the driver side living room bump out is also not operating correctly. So I’ve got 3 couches that we’ll just be sitting REALLY close together on. Whatever – I get my camper back!

CW tells us that the leaf spring is covered by warranty, but the tire is not. At this point, I DON’T CARE ABOUT A DAMN TIRE – JUST ORDER IT AND I’LL PAY FOR IT. Although, we did also purchase the tire and wheel coverage as part of the insurance/warranty package… weird. We go back and forth more on “do you want to buy the tire and bring it to us? the install will be $102.60”…. for a 10 minute tire change, that we could do ourselves because the dang camper has hydraulic feet/lifts attached to it. Also… do they not have tires available for purchase in service?! It seems like a regular need to just keep in inventory, but what do I know.

On July 21st, With the leaf springs being approved and ordered from Keystone, there was one sentence of CW’s email that really set me off “It is estimated to take a few weeks to get there”. A FEW WEEKS?! Not okay. At that tidbit of information, I suggested we call our friend Alan at the Statesville CW location and ask if he could help us expedite that shipping through his Keystone contact. Turns out, he hadn’t heard back AT ALL from Cicero about what was or was not going to be covered and he called CW directly. It was a good call because Statesville decided to cover the tire for us! Bonus!

We’re also told that “a few weeks” is ridiculous, and there is expedited shipping that can be requested. So another call to Keystone tells us that the leaf springs are “already on the truck, not sure why they would tell you a few weeks. And here’s the tracking number.” FABULOUS.

Hubby is checking the tracking number and as soon as he sees that DELIVERED notice on July 24th, he’s emailing CW to check on install times. We get the typical runaround “I haven’t been told they’ve been delivered, if they went to retail instead of service… blah blah blah” so we nip that in the bud and Hubby Says “It says it was received by Matt if that helps”. BOOM go find it. “I’ll ask him when he returns from lunch”…. that was at 1:12pm… we ask AGAIN for an update at 4:30pm – quite the lunch – and are told (no surprise) “they’re here – I have to find out when we can bring the unit into the shop”, and then she’s gone by 5pm. So we waited till Friday Morning to find out they can bring the camper in on Monday the 28th. Ideally they’ll fix it quickly Monday and I can bring the F-350 down to pick it up that evening, or hubby will drive the truck to work Tuesday to swing by on his way home (I’ll be traveling for work the rest of the week).

We spent the weekend out on the boats taking in the 1000 Islands Poker Run which was a blast to see then a tour & history lesson around Singer Castle on Dark Island with Captain Dave. We headed over to a local bar after, Hurricane Joe’s, for a beer or two and make our way back to the Bay for a relaxing evening.

Mom & Dad also came up for the week and we visited Clayton, had a fabulous meal at Bella’s where we found a citrus Corona, wandered a little farmers market, and played a lot of Farkle. Aunt & Uncle have their little tiki bar space setup right in front of the boat dock so we’ve been getting a lot of jealous stares all week. They also added a sun shade on a few posts to keep us cool and comfortable while we enjoy that outdoor space. We cooked up some fresh caught Walleye and Perch Sunday night and I’ve been testing out a few white wine sauces.

In other news – while we had received 2 (terrible) investor offers on the house in the last month or so, $100k under asking price, we finally received a real person offer that we chose to accept! We still had the Ring doorbell attached to our internet service so we could confirm showings arrived – and a new family with a 16 month old put in an offer! Albeit was a lot lower than we were hoping for, it’s time for us to move on. I’m happy to get a new family into this home to make it their own. The due diligence period starts Monday, 7/28 for 15 days. Then we’ve scheduled closing for Sept 16th (to work with their requested schedule). Hopefully everything sticks and they don’t walk away from it – because we’ve taken so much off for the offer, we’re not contracted to do any concessions, fixes, or closing costs.

I’ve also been celebrating the 10th birthday of one of my favorite companies – Stream2Sea! They are fantastic people who I absolutely adore, and they’re doing a 20% off with free shipping! I am OBSESSED with their shimmer sunscreen, leave in conditioner, and their mask defog – those are staples in my dive/water bag. They sent over a collab box with a bunch of their amazing product that I’ve been incessantly shoving into friends/families faces all summer. sorry not sorry!

I also made a Canva template for my travel advisors to use Stream2Sea’s information on their own business card! I think they came out pretty cute! The company is also really great about partnerships and co-branding. I can’t wait to bring them on resort for Dive Week!

The rest of the week will include one more wait for a camper pick-up time/date, a trip to Florida for work, and sweating out the Due Diligence period of the house. Anybody need a 2023 Samsung Washer & Dryer? The new buyers don’t want them so we’re either putting them up for sale or taking them to the TN property for future use.

Recent Wins:

  • It was SHARK WEEK!
  • Starlink Internet was delivered and is working fabulously
  • Camper is livable through the end of September
  • Keystone is fixing everything else
  • I’m down 37 lbs since April (Thanks Tirzepitide!)
  • WE ACCEPTED AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!

This is how I expect to look sleeping once I get my own bed back this weekend.

*fingers crossed!*