Second Guesses - it's not all StressLess Camping
We stayed stationary today and spent the day in the travel trailer at our desks. We avoided potentially driving in the wind. We have fewer days of limited air conditioning. We got some laundry done. However, we also got a hole poked in our travel trailer. And there was a tornado warning. We are second-guessing our decision to stay the extra day.
One More Night
We decided this morning that because we have full hookup, good wifi, and a close laundry room, we should stay another day at the Springfield Route 66 KOA. Tony went to the office to make sure we could stay, and I texted Julie to let her know we’d be a day late.
Those details being worked out, we set to editing and writing and - well - all that other stuff we do when we sit at our desks all day.
Laundry Day
We’ve only been out for a week, but it was a week of more humidity and more hiking than we are used to. We had more laundry that really needed washing. So, I piled the towels into the laundry bag and headed to the laundry room.
Usually I like to stay with our clothes while they wash and dry. Here, though, the laundry room doesn’t have a very large laundry room. It is pretty close to our campsite, and the campground was pretty quiet. So I set up the machines, set an alarm on my watch, and went back to the trailer to work there.
I walked back to put softener in the washers (boy, do I ever prefer front-loading washing machines). Then I walked back to put the clothes into the dryer. They all fit in one dryer, which was nice. Then I walked back to retrieve our clean, dry clothes. SO, bonus, I got some exercise as well!
Trees
If you ever talk to Tony for very long, you learn that he would like to ban trees in all campgrounds. This is not a topic where we see eye to eye. I understand his points, but I still like trees.
Tony’s reasons are really valid. Trees block our solar panels. Trees block our Starlink. Trees get dead branches that need to be cut down before they fall on an RV.
Such was the case this morning at the KOA. The site next to us had a tree with a dead branch. The camp staff was working to cut the branch. When he couldn’t reach with the extension chain saw, he brought a ladder. Plus two helpers to hold the ladder. It was in the site next to us, and the branch was on the opposite side from us, so I thought we were safe. Unfortunately, when the branch finally let loose, it knocked the ladder right into the side of our travel trailer. We didn’t actually see it because, though I had been watching the whole operation from our office window, Tony had decided to go out and watch and right when we were distracted with him heading outside, the ladder smacked us.
This was the first stage in wondering if we should have just left on schedule.
Tony contacted Rockwood and made arrangements to leave the trailer for repairs. We had actually considered leaving it there anyway, to avoid the hard miles home and back to Indiana. This just sealed the deal.
The owner of the campground spoke to Tony and said they will, of course, pay for repairs.
And pedestals
That site, incidentally, also had a bad power pedestal. We had noticed that our neighbors had pulled out of the site yesterday around 7:00 pm, and thought it odd. Today I figured they must have been moving to a different site. I think I mentioned this yesterday. When we were at this campground in 2021, we also had to move after a pedestal went rogue.
The staff worked at the pedestal for a while. Then they told us that the electrician was on the way, and they would have to turn the power off for a while. We said that was fine, we had a full battery to last a good long while. I’m really glad they called an expert, after watching them sit on a metal chair on the wet ground to work with electricity.
Red Dog
We got cocky and ran the air conditioner while the power was out. We monitored the battery to make sure we didn’t over-drain it. After the power came on, we figured all was well.
When we headed out for our evening walk, I noticed the dog was glowing red on our Hughes Power Watchdog.
Was this another reason we might regret staying an extra night?
Everything was fine in the end. Because we had used so much battery when the power was off, the power pedestal was over-taxed trying to run the air conditioner and give the battery all the power it wanted. Lithium batteries are different from flooded acid batteries - they will take all the juice you can give them.
Tony adjusted the amount of amps going toward battery charging and everything was fine from there.
Tornado?
In the mid afternoon, it got a bit breezy. We were glad we weren’t driving in that weather, anyway.
Tony saw a tornado watch on the Clime weather app. Heading back to the office, he asked where we would shelter if the need arose. The told him to go to the nearby bath house, but that they weren’t worried about anything going that far.
I turned on the weather radio just in case. We had a moment to consider, for whichever time today, whether we had made an error in sticking around Springfield. On the other hand, Julie texted me and said they were also having a lot of weather, so in the long run it seems we are better off here, because the storm seems to have blown over.
Chicken dinner was a winner
We did take advantage of staying in camp all day, and made up a recipe to cook in our Omnia Oven. It was a winner! Keep an eye on the Campground Recipes Page, this one will show up soon!
Today I posted another Omnia recipe, Patty’s hot dish. Try it, you can bake it in any dish and any oven that you like!
Have you had such a day?
Have you ever had a day when you second-guessed your decisions? Today was really productive, but also sort of stressful.
