Tag Archives: Life

SEMI Insane

Campventures, Fun, Life, SCUBA, Travel, Vacation, , , , , , , , ,

Do we ever do things a “normal” way?

So, y’all recall the challenges we had with getting the Camper back up to the river, right? (you can relive it here). We decided to go an alternate route and find a truck that would pull the camper no problem, but that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. So Austin got the wild hair idea to start looking at Semi Trucks on Facebook Marketplace.

“What do you mean your husband can’t?”

This man surprises me at almost every turn – and I should be used to it by now, but I’m still in awe of him. With some of his previous work experience, he had a CDL. While growing up driving tractors was also a thing in his wheelhouse, a semi was just “another vehicle” in his mind. In my mind, I’m thrown back into the driving course I had to take after my first speeding ticket, sitting next to a truck driver who said out loud… with his whole face… that he’d just SET THE CRUISE CONTROL TO 55MPH AND GET OUT OF HIS SEAT TO BRUSH HIS TEETH ON THE HIGHWAY.

Meanwhile, A just shrugs his shoulders and gets to shopping….

Our time at the river seemed to go by incredibly quickly this year but it was jam packed full of family, river time, and oh yeah… we bought a little Lowe fishing boat too 🙂 (hooray for Facebook marketplace again!)

Because she’s a Lowe, we’ve named her “Expectations” and will be purchasing the name stickers in time for next year’s drop in. Here’s the lookbook of our summer:

Not only did we get quite a bit of fishing in (I caught 2 Walleye this year!) so that makes me 3-1 against Austin and won me a “Walleye Whisperer” t-shirt, we also did quite a bit of traveling.

Locations checked off this Summer for fun

  • Disney Springs/Disneyland (I have a pin problem)
  • Clayton, NY
  • Chittenango, NY – Mitchell Tenpenny Concert
  • Leesburg, VA
  • Mexico
  • Chicago (YAY an O’Hara Baby is due in November!)
  • Niagara Falls/Canada side
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Orlando
  • Miami
  • St. John
  • Curacao

Locations checked off for Work

  • Jamaica
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • Atlantic City
  • Dallas
  • Grenada

This year my role at work has had some updates, I’m still the National Manager of Dive Sales, but I’m also taking on some of the video and event elements. Which means I was a co-host on our Jamaica Independence Day Live event, the content collector during the Travel Advisor Golf Tournament, and of course attending Dive Week!

But back to that semi thing… Austin found a gentleman in Tampa selling a 2012 Volvo 670 with almost a brand new engine in it. He was in FL for work already so he was able to go take a look at it, and for the price – it was checking all the boxes, including the APU unit which allows it to run on a smaller engine instead of keeping the big engine going if you wanted to overnight in it. Now, there are a few loophole ideas that take a bit of work to get this thing “normal person” ready – meaning, registering it as an RV so it’s no longer a commercial vehicle. A found a way to do so by starting his LLC back up (in Montana), registering the Semi as an RV under the LLC, and then us going back and forth to get the correct elements into it to receive the tags/title, etc. It already had 2 bunks, a fridge & inverter, so it just needed a cooking element, and toilet really.

We added a camper toilet, microwave, and coffeemaker. Now the back & forth with the company helping A do the paperwork was annoying, but we finally got the permanent tags (due to the truck’s age) and the title. So all we had to do was fly to Tampa and drive it back to New York… 23 hours.

We took a weekend to do this together and start the adventure. As we made our way from Tampa through Jacksonville, and up I-95 – we stopped for an upgraded mattress for Austin’s bunk (my top bunk is smaller), we fueled up, and made a few stops. First in Leesburg to show the family the new RV, then in MD to see Brother & sister in law, then we overnighted about 15 minutes from Nana in PA. I will have to say, some of these truck stops are NIIIIIICEEE.

They’ve got 24 hour buildings/bathrooms, showers, hot food, and of course the convenience side of things. If it’s a true trucker stop, it’ll also have some of the little things a trucker might need – equipment wise, etc.

We figured out that this thing is easiest to drive at night when theres almost no traffic and you can just set the cruise control. It is a 10-speed manual, so I’m just the passenger princess here. But it’s short lived as I’ll have to drive the Tacoma down to NC while A pulls the camper.

It did take us 2.5 days to get up from FL to NY with our stops & overnights, and we still had to get a hitch installed (because it was originally a 5th wheel puck). I swear, nobody has more confidence in their wife than a blue collar man with no other help. A and I maneuvered that puck from the ground back onto the semi to take it to his friends at a steel company for scrap.

BUUUUT by the time we did get back to the River, the hitch hadn’t arrived yet and we were heading out on vacation! We’ll plan it better next year because, while we had an amazing vacation, we were RUNNING when we got back to get everything packed up and done to head down to NC. We were on our last days and the water at the marina had been shut off (I didn’t fill the freshwater tanks before I left either).

Our first vacation stop was Miami where A would fly in from work and pick me up for a night before our flight to the Caribbean. BUT he was already in Orlando for work so I packed up early, joined a work training in Syracuse and stayed at Hotel Grandma for a night before hopping a flight there. That meant we got a day at Disney Springs Orlando for me to get my Disney Pin fix (and a seafood boil)!

From there, A’s suitcase had a broken zipper so we headed off to TJ Max to find a new one – then we had to ship his old one full of work clothes & his 70lb toolbox back to the river so we weren’t traveling with it for the next 2 weeks.

Our flight Saturday Oct 3rd was out of Miami, we headed that way in the rental car for a night in an airport hotel. The next morning we were off to St. John to meet Mom & Dad and Chris & Becky for some Island Time! The 4 of them had arrived a few days earlier, and it was Uncle Chris’ first opportunity to scuba dive in the ocean! (I took him to sinkholes in FL last year… he won’t let me forget it). So we loaded up our 2 hard case suitcases, our regs box, and our backpacks for the first flight to St. Thomas (St. John doesn’t have an airport).

Upon arrival in St. Thomas, we found our way to a taxi to the marina, then the marina onto a ferry to St. John, and then St. John marina to the Westin where home base would be for the next few nights. It was a lovely 2 bedroom condo and Becky has been to this island many times so she had all the hotspots noted.

We especially loved the Maho Bay Beach and spent most days there snorkeling and enjoying the Vanilla Chilla beverages at the local bar. Each night had a new restaurant for the tasting and we even tried Triggerfish for the first time! YUM.

Our dive excursion took us to Lowkey Watersports right in town and we almost had a private charter! It was the 4 of us divers, our 2 snorkel companions (Mom & Becky) and ONE other dude that booked last minute.

The water was beautiful, clear and warm and we got a turtle sighting! Had we known we could have been lionfish hunting here, we would have pulled our spears out – but USVI have some permit requirements for hunting that we had been researching online.

We thoroughly enjoyed the first vacation stop and weren’t done yet! We hopped a flight back to Miami for a couple nights before heading off to Curacao. But you know we can’t sit still… We did some boat shopping (still on the hunt for our perfect liveaboard) and then in my all-knowing-Google-Machine-Research…. I found out that the Lionfish ZooKeeper company is actually headquartered just north of Miami! So we took a drive up, unannounced, un-appointment-ed… and knocked on the door.

Tim, the Owner, was in for the afternoon and was so welcoming. We told him we were looking to purchase a ZooKeeper for our upcoming trip, and figured we’d come straight to the source vs. waiting for it online or searching through different dive shops. He brought us in, asked us what color we wanted (told us if he didn’t have it he could make it in about 5 minutes) and then ended up GIVING us a brand new Mini in the military partnership green. I had remembered seeing the Sandals Branded one he made for us at DEMA last year, and he mentioned he’d been trying to nail down some conversations with our ops team. I’m setting that up for DEMA Show in November – we’ll see if we can’t get the ball rolling there. Our divers LOVE the conservation aspect of lionfish hunting, and ZooKeeper sponsors SO many events.

After our warehouse tour and chatting with Tim about all his partnerships, sponsorships, and events – we left with a brand new Mini ZooKeeper, a brand new travel size spear, a couple stickers and registration for their Winter Challenge Lionfish competition…. (Guess that means we’ll be taking another dive trip before New Years!)

After collecting all our Amazon packages from the hotels, and waiting hours for other packages that never arrived…. We were packing back up for our next flight to Curacao for A’s Birthday!

We arrived on Oct 10th which is of course Austin’s actual Birthday AND Curacao’s Independence Day! Indulge we did on the Sushi, birthday cake, and evening fireworks! I think besides the scuba diving and constant breeze, the resort bikes were Austin’s favorite part of this resort. He’s been busting me for not taking him to Sandals Curacao since it opened – I’ve been almost once a year since it’s opening for work and we were finally able to get this time booked for him – we also had friends traveling at the same time so it was a win-win!

We got right to work Scuba Diving & Lionfish Hunting. I had emailed & whatsapped the team ahead of our arrival to let them know we were coming, A was finally coming with me, and we were bringing our own lionfish gear. We had pretty full boats each day, and didn’t hear any complaints about the hunting (some guests don’t like to see it/don’t understand that Lionfish are invasive and are killing the reefs). We made out with 7 fish on the first day (and missed about 5 others) which almost filled our Mini, thank goodness they make a packable extender!! We’ll be ordering that ASAP. Austin prepared/cleaned the fish right there on the floating dock when we returned and we brought it to the beachside restaurant to be prepared for supper. Our friends were arriving that day as well so we were able to share with everyone!

That first day of diving had some pretty rough swells, and we decided it was probably due to the hurricane that has just passed through the Gulf. While Curacao is outside of the hurricane belt, that doesn’t stop the connected Caribbean Sea from getting churned up when weather is on this side of the world. We slept in and had breakfast with the crew Monday morning and then did some pool time.

The remainder of the week was spent diving in the mornings, and finding the group after lunch. We also took one afternoon to grab a taxi into downtown Willemstad and wandered around a bit! I finally got my ChiChi too!

As we walked across the floating bridge, the first spot we found was of course a Brewery! We actually spent most of the day there, The Swinging Old Lady. Beers were tasty, snacks were delicious, and they had a breezy outdoor patio for us to enjoy some Country music!

As Curacao’s time came to an end, we weren’t yet finished with vacation – we still had a wedding in Charlotte, NC to get to! The rest of the group was staying another day, but we arrived a day early to accommodate the Friday wedding date and headed back through Miami, then into Charlotte on a late night flight. We hopped an uber to our hotel and got a good night’s rest before the wedding.

Totally normal to walk into a Lowes at 10pm in formal wear… They didn’t have enough of the bolts that we thought we needed for the hitch, so we collapsed into the hotel bed around midnight.

The following morning had us up early and back on a flight to Syracuse. Grandma kindly picked us up and took us back to her house where the Taco has been parked since October 2nd (THANK YOU!).

BUUUUT We still had some stops to make along the way before we could get back to the river; pick up the amazon deliveries, and install the semi’s hitch… yeah, remember that’s still a project to complete before we leave MONDAY.

We also still had to return that second mattress we bought from Costco for the Semi… the one that was too big for my bunk. So a stop at Costco ON A SATURDAY, ARE WE INSANE. yes. Then stops at 3 different Lowes stores to collect (6) 3/4″ Grade 8 bolts. We finally made it back to the river around 5pm, hauled the Lowe out onto her trailer and after a couple snafu’s… Austin finished the hitch install close to midnight.

Up early Sunday morning (for A… I got to stay in bed an extra hour) and we were cleaning/packing/organizing as best as possible for a lunchtime departure….

We found out that the light connections from the semi to the camper were juuuuust a bit too short, so off on a 45 minute trip I went to the Tractor Supply in Governur, NY that had the right part.

At least it was a pretty drive! Upon returning we continued to pack the camper, the semi, and the Taco along with getting the Kayak over to 4 for the winter… sadly the wheels on the kayak carrier got brittle and broke in half. We sat there looking at it for way too long before we both went “it’s a boat…. we’re on a marina… why don’t we just kayak it over to the boat house?!” and so I did… against the wind… in 4.5 minutes. I definitely started that on my Garmin Watch for workout credit – HA!

C&B were up to take their big boat to Keewaydin State Park for haul out and we hooked Lowe Expectations to C’s truck for winter storage at his house. Then it was just us to hook up and haul out… closer to 6pm that evening, so we only went as far as a truck stop in McGraw, NY which was about 2.5 hours from the river, but South of Syracuse traffic for Monday morning.

Monday morning about 6:30am we were on the move again and this was my view for the next 16 hours.

What’s life without a few challenges right? Everything was fine on Sunday evening’s pull – the hitch of the trailer sits a little too high on the semi but Austin can fix that with some upgrades once he gets to a place that has all his tools. We went VERY slowly down the highway and kept to a max speed of 65mph regardless of the posted signs. The hitch carrying our eBikes sparked on a few bumps but until Monday morning everything was smooth. As we hauled onto the I-81 on-ramp in McGraw… I started to smell and see smoke coming from a driver’s side camper wheel. We immediately pulled over and assessed that the rotor on one of the tires was RED hot…. glowing.

*not our actual wheel*

Our fix was…. disconnect the lights. It was daytime so we were very visible but as we crept into the afternoon, we decided our next best option was to figure out which wire controls the electric brakes and “modify” the connector so we have running lights, turn signals, etc. still.

I’ll tell you what…. I have learned SO many things in my 8 years with this man. He found the connector’s diagram, and we modified that thing perfectly. All lit up for the remaining hours to Flat Rock, NC and we were almost HOME!

The RV Park called me as we were still about 5 hours away – I let them know we probably wouldn’t make it there that night, and that we’d see them in the morning. We’re booked into our spot Mid-October 2026 through Mid-May 2027 so our spot is OUR SPOT for the winter. We rolled into the QT parking lot down the road from the RV Park around 10:30 that night and backed everything into a truck spot to go to sleep. The next morning we were up at 7:30a, in the RV Park by 8 and setting up.

About 9 people stopped to talk to us in that first 30 minutes that we were there. We were rushing through the basic setups as I had a hair appointment that’s been booked since April, but we got electric, water, and sewer lines ready to go and the heat on. Gremlin is certainly happy to be home again (he’s not really a car-ride cat).

We then hopped back into the Taco and headed up to Papaw’s house for a little time with him and our pitiful pup Charlie. Austin also decided it was the perfect time to teach me how to shoot a crossbow… he was pleasantly surprised with my aiming skills as I went 4 for 4 shots on target! The final one I actually accidentally managed to put through the first bolt… so we’ll have to replace that one for Papaw. Whoops!

This also means we’re going on my first deer hunting trip this weekend, so OBVIOUSLY I needed super warm camo coveralls. I’m way more excited than I should be about cold-weather clothing. I do be loving my sweats, blankets, electric hand warmers, etc. though.

Austin was off on a 6am flight to Indiana for work Wednesday, and I’m back in office catching up until the first week of November when I head to New Orleans for the big DEMA dive show.

It’s been a rush of a month and we had an amazing vacation, but I think we’ve decided that we need to be SEMI-sane and give ourselves that lead-up time to pack up and be ready to transport. We’re learning each trip what we need/don’t need and how to make the transitions smoother.

Here’s to Blue Mountain Fall/Winter, hikes, hunts, and hot chocolates.

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

Home sweet HOME!

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

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.

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!

Where is My Voice?!

DIY, Festivals, Fun, Holidays, Life, Travel, Work, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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No, this isn’t a political post…. it was just Mardi Gras. Continue reading Where is My Voice?! →