The Maiden Voyage

From 9/20/17 – 9/27/17 we took Rosie out on her maiden voyage.  This was supposed to be a trip which would shake out any issues so that we could get warranty service performed.   

On 9/20 we set out for VA Highland Haven in Floyd, Virginia.  VA Highland Haven is an Airstream only park and is on a beautiful ridge overlooking the Blueridge Mountains.  This was almost a 250 mile drive and took about 5 hours and 50 minutes.  I was disappointed that the Jeep only got about 17.8 mpg for the trip but otherwise it towed fine with no problems. 

  

My first time backing into a camp parking space provided entertainment for others already parked but after several attempts I was finally able to get Rosie into an acceptable (if not ideal) orientation in the space.  We then proceeded to hook up Rosie to the water, electrical, and sewer.  The only problem with the setup was when power did not seem to be working.  I was convinced that the box was not providing power but soon got assistance from some of the experts at the park.  As it turns out, all of the outlets are GFI protected by the outlet in the bathroom (which had tripped).  Once this was reset everything worked fine (not too embarrassing for an EE to miss such a simple electrical problem)! 

 

 

 

As I said the park was beautiful.  We watched deer eating from the apple tree right behind Rosie while we ate dinner and we walked around the campground and took many photos of the gorgeous sunsets from there.  We also got to test out our new propane fire pit (including wine) … it was a success.

 

 

 

 



The town of Floyd was about a 30 minute drive and once you arrived there were limited entertainment activities.  We ate wood fired pizza at Dogtown Roadhouse in Floyd which was delicious but they do not open until 4:00 pm and many of the establishments were not open on Mon or Tues.  There was a farmers market on Sat morning which had fresh produce.  We also went to School House Fabrics (a large 3 story fabric store) and walked around. 

 

 

 

 

Having exhausted the opportunities in Floyd, we proceeded to visit some wineries including Chateau Morrissett, Villa Appalachia, and White Barrel.  The wineries were in a great setting with views of the mountains and although we bought a few bottles of wine, we were not impressed with the offerings.

 

We visited a college friend who lives on Claytor Lake (about a 1 hour drive).  Claytor Lake is a man-made lake.  Claytor Lake is a 21 mile long artificial lake on the New River created for a hydroelectric project of the Appalachian Power Company and is known for sport fishing and boating.  We also went to Walmart in Christiansburg to purchase some additional things we “needed” for Rosie.  Finally, we did some hiking on the various trails around the area.  There are numerous trails with panoramic views of the Blueridge Mountains and we hiked up the Buffalo Mountain Trail.  We also toured Mabry Mill which is a picturesque grist mill on the Blueridge Parkway.

On the way home we took Rosie back to the dealer to get some warranty work done.  In addition to the water pump issue we noticed that when she was hooked up to city water, the onboard fresh water tank was filled and overflowed.  There were several other small issues which we want to get addressed while she is in the shop.  The service manager wrote down all of the issues we identified and said he will call when he has an estimate as to how long it will take to fix.  On a more positive note, the trip back was only 5 hours and the Jeep got 19.2 mpg!

 

Getting Ready

Since we purchased Rosie 2 weeks ago, I am still trying to catch up with all we have done.  We spent a night in Rosie on 8/31 and determined there were a few things we need to get fixed.  We moved her to get her out of the way when we removed a tree in the back yard and we moved her again when we had the driveway repaved.  In addition, we have been super busy outfitting Rosie for her maiden voyage.  So far we have purchased:

·         A Propane modified generator

·         Towing Mirrors

·         Rear Camera Monitor

·         2 Drinking Water Hoses

·         Portable rechargeable drill with Jack Socket for Leveling Scissors

·         15 feet of sewer hose

·         Lynx Levelers and wheel chocks

·         Super grip X-Chock with lock

·         15A to 30A plug converter

·         Blue Ox BXW1000 SWAYPRO Weight Distributing Hitch

·         Mud Dauber Screens

·         Grease Gun & Torque Wrench

·         Portable  Propane Outdoor Fire pit

It seems the list of “requirements” is endless but this will probably do us for now!!  Anyway, the biggest purchase was to get the driveway resurfaced and extended to give Rosie a more permanent and durable home. 



Rosie is Waiting Patiently for Her Pad to Dry

Rosie is Home!

Well we have finally taken the plunge and purchased a Travel Trailer!  By the way we have decided to name her "Rosie" for Rosie the Riveter of WWII fame. 
It was raining as we brought Rosie home for the first time on Aug 29^th .  Aunt Dona was with us.  We arrived at Airstream of VA about 12:30 and it was about 5:00 before we got out.   Not sure about their setup of the BlueOx … it seemed to be low at the front of the trailer and at the rear of the Jeep.  They set it up on chain link 7 but I believe it needs to be on link 8.  The drive home was fine but slow.  The most difficult time was backing Rosie into the driveway.  This took about 15 minutes but managed to be accomplished without ending up in the ditch or hitting a tree.  By the time I got the hitch off and the Jeep into the garage it was about 6:30!  Needless to say, it was a long and tiring day!